Times Quick Cryptic 1387 by Oink
This took me a bit longer than Oink's 2.2 on jackkt's hardenss scale might suggest, but not a lot. We have this setter's trademark porcine clue making an appearance at the top of the bill, and quite a lot of the funnies we've come to expect too (my COD to 14dn). I spent at least a minute with only 11dn left, and its either a bit of a clunky clue, or I'm missing something.
Definitions underlined.
Definitions underlined.
Across | |
1 | Laughing about Romeo’s crisp browned skin (9) |
CRACKLING - CACKLING (laughing) surrounding (about) R (romeo, phonetic alphabet). | |
6 | Fighting back? It might be bloody (3) |
RAW - WAR (fighting) reversed (back). | |
8 | Suggests one MP is telling tales (7) |
IMPLIES - I (one, roman numerals), MP, and LIES (is telling tales). | |
9 | Celebrate in bar after retirement (5) |
REVEL - LEVER (bar) reversed (after retirement). | |
10 | Do apple trees supply these shopkeepers? (12) |
TRADESPEOPLE - anagram of (supply, as in flexibly) DO APPLE TREES. | |
12 | Very good fruit (4) |
PLUM - double definition. | |
13 | Meet one’s maker when in outskirts of Paris (4) |
PASS - AS (when) inside (in) first and last letters from (outskirts of) PariS. | |
17 | It’s clear nuptial bed is disarranged (12) |
INDISPUTABLE - anagram of (disarranged) NUPTIAL BED IS. | |
20 | Pancakes left in bin by yours truly (5) |
BLINI - L (left) in BIN, then I (yours truly). | |
21 | Deceive on more than one occasion (3-4) |
TWO-TIME - double definition. | |
23 | Food soldiers may dig into? (3) |
EGG - cryptic definition, soldiers being the strips of bread or toast dipped into a runny egg. | |
24 | Overextend Her Majesty? She might be carried off on this (9) |
STRETCHER - STRETCH (overextend) and E.R. (her majesty). |
Down | |
1 | Murderer I put in prison (4) |
CAIN - I in CAN (prison). | |
2 | Clothes appear to be tangled on line (7) |
APPAREL - anagram of (tangled) APPEAR, then L (line). | |
3 | Japanese swimmer’s a little flirtatious they say (3) |
KOI - sounds like (they say) "coy" (a little flirtatious). | |
4 | Demand heroin sister’s hiding (6) |
INSIST - hidden in (...'s hiding) heroIN SISTer. | |
5 | Danger ape represented for occupant of pod? (6,3) |
GARDEN PEA - anagram of (represented, as in re-presented) DANGER APE. | |
6 | Vicar out of bed. Prepare to move off? (3,2) |
REV UP - REV (vicar) and UP (out of bed). | |
7 | Where to put money when everything’s getting wet outside? (6) |
WALLET - ALL (everything) surrounded by (with ... outside) WET. | |
11 | The arguments for maids? (9) |
DOMESTICS - double definition. My LOI by a long way. What is 'the' doing there? | |
14 | Inconsiderate son, a bit like a pixie (7) |
SELFISH - S (son) and ELFISH (a bit like a pixie). | |
15 | Two bishops in river, getting bite from fish? (6) |
NIBBLE - BB (two Bs, bishops) inside NILE (river). | |
16 | Stuffy executive or potential husband? (6) |
SUITOR - SUIT (stuffy executive) then OR. | |
18 | They say colouring’s on the way out (5) |
DYING - sounds like (they say) "dyeing" (colouring). | |
19 | Support beggar who’s lost heart (4) |
BEAR - BEggAR with the middle letters removed (lost heart). | |
22 | Yogurt occasionally available (3) |
OUT - every other letter from (occasionally) yOgUrT. |