Weekend Quick Cryptic 116 - Solution

Phil Jordan, Sawbill and I are continuing to produce our series of Quick Cryptic crosswords. We take turns, publishing one a fortnight, and this week it's Phil's turn. 

You can find a link to the crossword here and the answers below.  Feel free to leave any comments or questions here as you would do on  TfTT .  You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here. 

Before looking at the answers, if you would like some additional help, click the label below.

Hints and tips...

Some hints and tips:

• 22A It is not Victoria the state.
• 23A It helps to know your television hosts.
• 1D Barrie is J M Barrie.
• 6D George's full name is George Formby.
• 17D has a novel use of "Eastern" as a letter selection selection indicator.

And click on this label to get the solution.

Solution and explanation of the answers...

Definitions  underlined in bold italics , ( Abc )* indicating anagram of Abc,{deletions} and [] other indicators.

 

Across
1 A treat for a dog in pub on Exmoor (4)
BONE – Hidden in puB ON Exmoor.
3 Be in a frantic hurry to prepare eggs (8)
SCRAMBLE – Double definition.
9 Look out! We expect rain to start further south (5)
LOWER – Initial letters of Look Out We Expect Rain.
10 It may identify the captain of a Royal Marine group (7)
ARMBAND – A RM (Royal Marine) BAND (group).
11 At Bath I transformed the natural environment (7)
HABITAT – (At Bath I)* [transformed].
12 Promiscuous fellow may be found in the garden shed! (4)
RAKE – Double definition, the second a cryptic hint.
14 Distinctive smells from sandalwood our speciality (6)
ODOURS – Hidden in sandalwoOD OUR Speciality.
16 Spools back to find sailing vessels (6)
SLOOPS – SPOOLS reversed.
18 Make changes to crash diet (4)
EDIT – [crash] (diet)*.
19 Eluding trouble, pamper oneself (7)
INDULGE – (eluding)* [trouble].
22 Policemen found here in Victoria, perhaps? (7)
STATION – Double definition.
23 It's cold, David (5)
FROST – Double definition.
24 Removes short pieces from a film (8)
EXTRACTS – Double definition.
25 Kids shaken up by loss of control (4)
SKID – (Kids)* [shaken up].
 
Down
1 Invoice Barrie's captain for pruning tool (8)
BILLHOOK – BILL (invoice) HOOK (Barrie’s captain). Captain James Hook is the main antagonist in J M Barrie’s book Peter Pan.
2 The latest : all points distributed (4,9)
NEWS BROADCAST – NEWS (all points; North East West and South) BROADCAST (distributed like seeds)
4 Devious skill unknown (6)
CRAFTY – CRAFT (skill) Y (unknown in an algebraic equation).
5 Almost be a fan of Jolson - or Nelson? (7)
ADMIRAL – {almost] ADMIR{e} [be a fan of], AL (Al Jolson, the famous American singer of a century ago.)
6 George had a little stick of this Northern confection (9,4)
BLACKPOOL ROCK – Cryptic definition based on the 1937 song by George Formby.
7 There's nothing odd in Leonidas's aims (4)
ENDS – Alternate letters of [nothing odd in] lEoNiDaS.
8 Worry about sea mist (4)
FRET – Double definition.
13 Firmly insisted "red seats must be moved around" (8)
ASSERTED – (red seats)* [moved around].
15 Stainer's mixed drink from Greece (7)
RETSINA – (Stainer’s)* [mixed].
17 Songbird found in East Berlin trap (6)
LINNET – {East; right hand half of] berLIN, NET (trap). A bit novel to use East to indicate use half the word rather than just the last letter, but the answer is clear.
20 Silly American lawyer with pink paper (4)
DAFT – DA (District Attorney; American lawyer) FT (Financial Times, which is printed on pink paper).
21 Man! Maybe I will shortly be listened to (4)
ISLE – Sounds like [listened to] I’LL (short form of I will).