A puzzle of intermediate difficulty, which has plenty of inventive crypticness and tongue-in-cheek definitions. There’s nothing unfair about any of these clues, but a decent amount of lateral thinking is required for some! I was held up by 1dn initially, and later by an unknown word at 20ac, and my favourite clues were the nearby 2dn and 21ac.
Definitions underlined as usual.
| Across |
| 1 | BASIC - put I’S (one’s) inside CAB (in taxi) and reverse the result (returned) for simple. |
| 4 | TIME LAG - delay from TIME (sentence, do time) to LAG (an unusual synonym for convict, known only to me in crossword land). |
| 8 | CLEANER - clubs is C (from bridge notation?), with LEANER (more efficient) for daily. More definitions learnt solely to solve crosswords: daily and char. |
| 9 | GORGE - GORE (blood) around G (grand) for canyon. |
| 10 | MAKE IT SNAPPY - “make its nappy” and be quick. |
| 12 | SOVIET - someone from the former USSR (former Russian) with SOT (drunkard) surrounding (overcoming) VI + E (six with English). |
| 13 | PROOFS - manuscripts or mathematical solutions; they need checking by the respective professionals. |
| 16 | ILL TREATMENT - anagram of TELL MARTINET (indicated by off) and abuse. |
| 18 | ADMIN - another anagram. This time of AND I’M (indicated by confused) for paperwork. |
| 20 | PAINTER - this is a rope at the front of a small boat used for towing or mooring, and was a bit of guess. The first half of the clue alludes to an artist. |
| 21 | RUSTLER - a cryptic definition that made me chuckle. We need to think of a conspicuous livestock thief. Reminds me of one in a series of jokes: what do you call a man… under a pile of leaves? Russell. |
| 22 | EERIE - remove the first letter from bEER (pint with no head), plus IE (that is), for weird. |
| Down |
| 1 | BECOMES - a double definition that held me up for longer than it should. Changes into and suits (as in, that jacket is very becoming). |
| 2 | SPEAKS VOLUMES - double definition, first part cryptic. This would be done by one who records an audio book, and an idiom meaning means a lot. |
| 3 | CONTINENT - CONTENT (happy) surrounding (to keep) IN (home) in Africa for one. |
| 4 | THRUST - H (hard) interrupts (to break) TRUST (confidence) for push. |
| 5 | MUG - GUM reversed (stick up) and rob. |
| 6 | LORD PROTECTOR - Oliver Cromwell’s title in the 1650s, and someone who might advocate for the House of Lords (defender of the aristocracy). |
| 7 | GLEN - GEN (officer (General) briefly) circling L (large) for valley. |
| 11 | AIR STRIKE - AIRS (publicises) and TRIKE (child’s toy) is something delivered by plane. |
| 14 | SET FREE - deliver (as in, liberate) from SET (group of items) with FREE (no charge). |
| 15 | REAPER - a field worker who harvests crops and a reference to the Grim Reaper. |
| 17 | FAIR - a straightforward double definition. Just and light (fair skinned). |
| 19 | NIL - our long river is the NILe, shortened to become nothing. |