Considering that I have been blogging QCs since #1 in March 2014 and Izetti is one of the original regular setters, he has appeared on my scheduled blogging day on remarkably few occasions - indeed this is only the 5th time - although I blogged another two of his puzzles when covering for someone else. This one is enjoyable and well up to his usual standard, and I completed it in exactly 10 minutes. It's a pangram.
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]
| Across | |
| 7 | Boozer opening — nothing inside (4) |
| ZERO - Hidden [inside] {boo}ZER O{pening} | |
| 8 | Favoured travel abroad in break (8) |
| INTERVAL - IN (favoured), anagram [abroad] of TRAVEL | |
| 9 | A king in control? Not after 1066! (6) |
| HAROLD - A + R (king) contained by [in] HOLD (control) | |
| 10 | Old sailors had a meal — fancy! (6) |
| ORNATE - O (old), RN (sailors - Royal Navy), ATE (had a meal) | |
| 11 | Junior's first monkey trick (4) |
| JAPE - J{unior's} [first], APE (monkey) | |
| 12 | One to observe pupils very closely (8) |
| OPTICIAN - Cryptic definition | |
| 15 | A fellow into cannabis lost strength (8) |
| WEAKENED - A + KEN (fellow) contained by [into] WEED (cannabis) | |
| 17 | Chump expected to keep quiet (4) |
| DUPE - DUE (expected) contains [to keep] P (quiet) | |
| 18 | Models misshapen? Not often (6) |
| SELDOM - Anagram [misshapen] of MODELS | |
| 21 | No good having strong drink in small cup (6) |
| NOGGIN - NO, G (good), GIN (strong drink). It can be the drinking vessel or the alcholic content. | |
| 22 | A servant working in restaurants (8) |
| TAVERNAS - Anagram [working] of A SERVANT | |
| 23 | Refuse to take notice of cakes brought around (4) |
| SNUB - BUNS (cakes) reversed [brought around] | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Somewhere in America Derek gets clued up (8) |
| DELAWARE - DEL (Derek), AWARE (clued up). I'm not sure if DEL as a short form of Derek existed before Del Boy, the character in Only Fools and Horses. Elsewhere it appears to be short for Delbert. | |
| 2 | Dour old male knocked over wine (6) |
| MOROSE - O (old) + M (male) reversed [knocked over], ROSE (wine) | |
| 3 | Gale not so bad? Reduce operations (4,4) |
| WIND DOWN - A cryptic hint and and a straight defintion | |
| 4 | Name of German unaffected by revolution (4) |
| OTTO - "Unaffected by revolution" tells us we're looking for a palindrome | |
| 5 | Mocking one “Reagan” in charge (6) |
| IRONIC - I (one), RON (Reagan), IC (in charge) | |
| 6 | Female to behave insincerely in truth (4) |
| FACT - F (female), ACT (behave insincerely) | |
| 13 | No disorder, doctor insisted (8) |
| TIDINESS - Anagram [doctor] of INSISTED | |
| 14 | Fancy design that could make IQ leap up? (8) |
| APPLIQUE - Anagram [could make] IQ LEAP UP. The SOED defines this as a piece of ornamental work cut out from one material and affixed to the surface of another. | |
| 16 | Child has ache rising in part of the body (6) |
| KIDNEY - KID (child), YEN (ache) reversed [rising] | |
| 17 | Summary of archaeological activity is in French (6) |
| DIGEST - DIG (archaeological activity), EST (is, in French) | |
| 19 | Service revolving around a biblical man (4) |
| ESAU - USE (service) reversed [revolving] containing [around] A. Those of a certain vintage may remember the song "I saw Esau sitting on a see-saw" based, I think, on a traditional tongue-twister. | |
| 20 | Fellow, unknown, from offshore island (4) |
| MANX - MAN (fellow), X (unknown). The Isle of Man, or IOM as it sometimes appears in crosswords. | |