Times Quick Cryptic 1637 by Orpheus
Another well-pitched puzzle from Orpheus, with enough to chew on but not totally indigestible. I certainly started to get worried when 1ac, 5ac, and 1dn failed to appear, but as has been said many times on here, moving straight on rather than getting bogged down is the key. There are lots and lots of first/last letters to pick out, so good practice for this device, and plenty of standard crossword abbreviations/synonyms without feeling too clichéd.
Definitions underlined - now actually underlined!
Definitions underlined - now actually underlined!
Across | |
1 | Way to capture foreign part of fortification (7) |
SALIENT - ST (street, way) containing (to capture) ALIEN (foreign). An outward-pointing angle of a fortification - every day's a school day. | |
5 | Pith helmet — most superior one (4) |
TOPI - TOP (most superior) and I (one). I get the feeling I've seen this before in Crosswordland, but couldn't have defined it without the wordplay. (I now see it has appeared frequently - so the question becomes why haven't I remebered it yet!). | |
7 | Quiet member of the family? (3) |
MUM - double definition. | |
8 | Park-keeper visiting old Yankee where fruit-trees grow (8) |
ORANGERY - RANGER (park keeper) inside (visiting) O (old) and Y (yankee). | |
10 | Spice children initially think the world of (5) |
CLOVE - first letter of (initially) Children, then LOVE (think the world of). | |
11 | Substance burnt in church? Not something evangelicals initiated! (7) |
INCENSE - IN, CE (church), then the first letters of (initiated) Not Something Evangelicals. I'm glad the final part of the word was spelled out for me, as I would probably have gone for -nce. | |
13 | Cost of old-fashioned ballad (6) |
OUTLAY - OUT (old-fashioned) and LAY (ballad). | |
15 | Sound process identifying Russian plain (6) |
STEPPE - sounds like (sound) "step" (process). A bit iffy in my opinion; I guess 'sound' as in 'sound out' is adequate as a homophone indicator, but 'step' is part of a process (a series of steps) rather than the whole thing, no? | |
17 | A great many put me out — active men, ultimately (7) |
UMPTEEN - anagram of (out) PUT ME, then the last letters from (ultimatley) activE meN. | |
18 | Big house in local police area (5) |
MANOR - double definition, the second unkown to me. It's a slang term for a police district or area of operation. | |
20 | Dreadful resistance restricting the indecisive type (8) |
DITHERER - DIRE (dreadful) and R (resistance) containing (restricting) THE. | |
22 | Ultimate feature of tennis court? (3) |
NET - double defintion. As in 'net earnings' or 'net cost', ultimate i.e. after tax. | |
23 | Very old French painter returning without son (4) |
AGED - reversal of (returning) DEGAs (French painter) without the 's' (son). | |
24 | Wealthy duke associated with circle in Yemen somehow (7) |
MONEYED - D (duke) next to (associated with) an anagram of (somehow) O (circle) in YEMEN. |
Down | |
1 | Her music so confused a section of the choir (10) |
SEMICHORUS - anagram of (confused) HER MUSIC SO. Only vaguely known to me but generously clued. | |
2 | State of oblivion of bishop in posh car (5) |
LIMBO - B (bishop) in LIMO (posh car). | |
3 | Acquit former partner on single charge (9) |
EXONERATE - EX (former partner), ONE (single), and RATE (charge). | |
4 | Calamitous stunt mostly taking in a guide leader (6) |
TRAGIC - all-but-the-last letter from (mostly) TRICk (stunt) containing (taking in) A and the first letter (leader) of Guide. | |
5 | Tie-on label cheers granny at first (3) |
TAG - TA (cheers) and the first letter of (at first) Granny. | |
6 | Dad’s pin-up eating top of raw vegetable (7) |
PARSNIP - PA'S (dad's) and PIN reversed (up) containing (eating) first letter (top) of Raw. | |
9 | Lived it up, being famous (10) |
CELEBRATED - double definition. My LOI, despite its simplicity. | |
12 | Boat made by Russian woman in prison (9) |
CATAMARAN - TAMARA (Russian woman, apparently) in CAN (prison). | |
14 | First-class food garnish (7) |
TOPPING - double definition. I must admit that the adjectival first definition did not come to mind, but Chambers has 'surpassing, pre-eminent'. I biffed it from TOP and looked it up at the end. | |
16 | Worker on edge in Ulster county (6) |
ANTRIM - ANT (worker) on RIM (edge). | |
19 | Simpleton’s lodging-place in US city (5) |
NINNY - INN (lodgings) in NY (US city). | |
21 | Brick carrier finally buried under house (3) |
HOD - last letter of (finally) burieD under HO (house). |