Gor blimey. Having consistently finished the quickie in under 5 min all week, it comes to my blog day and I make a right meal of it. 14 minutes, minus the 45s it takes to set up Mohn2's Javascript thing. Bloggers nerves probably, but I rather think this one was quite advanced compared to the usual. Some nice clues and fun to do, but might stump a beginner.
| Across | |
| 1 | Aquatic creature— supply at sea: about a ton (8) |
| PLATYPUS - anagram of ('at sea') SUPPLY around A T. Bit of a decoy here, as I zoomed in on the word 'supply' as the anagram indicator. | |
| 6 | Advantage in seed germination (4) |
| EDGE - hidden word: seED GErmination | |
| 8 | Cat associations reported on the radio (4) |
| LYNX - sounds like ('reported on the radio') 'links' | |
| 9 | Go, with speed, running round front of herd? One might (8) |
| SHEEPDOG - this is a cracker and my LOI. It's an &lit, which means the whole clue reads both cryptically and as surface, and it's another compound anagram, one made up from elements spread through the clue, i.e. GO, SPEED, H (front of 'herd') The anagrind (anagram indicator) is 'running'. Whether this is fair in the quickie I will leave to commenters to decide. | |
| 10 | Someone eating ice-cream right to swallow everything (8) |
| CONSUMER - CONE (ice cream) with R 'swallowing' SUM. This is also a bit chewy for the quickster, I reckon. | |
| 11 | Printing error: treaty gutted and work set back (4) |
| TYPO - Treaty without its innards is TY and work is OP, set back. | |
| 13 | See key in PE: one somehow to remain proficient (4,4,3,2) |
| KEEP ONES EYE IN - anagram of ('somehow') SEE KEY IN PE ONE. | |
| 16 | Thirteen letters identifying a small thing (4) |
| ATOM - I've seen this clue before, and quite recently, but it's rather nice: A to M is 13 letters. | |
| 17 | Leading institution marks joint suitable for replacement? (8) |
| FLAGSHIP - FLAGS (marks) HIP (Joint suitable for replacement) | |
| 19 | Give money to support two aerobatic manoeuvres (8) |
| BANKROLL - BANK and ROLL are two things you can do in an aeroplane | |
| 21 | Statement in court sure to be overlooked in happiness (4) |
| PLEA - PLEASURE minus SURE | |
| 22 | Book featured healthy component of diet (4) |
| BRAN - B (book) RAN (featured, as in a newspaper) | |
| 23 | Port not vintage? Have last of Semillon (8) |
| NEWHAVEN - NEW (not vintage) HAVE N (last of semillon) | |
| Down | |
| 2 | Put down song as perceived by others? (3,2,4) |
| LAY TO REST - as we all know in crosswordland, LAY is a song. Also NEAT is a cow, LAST is a cobbler's tool and SUPPLY is an adverb. | |
| 3 | State: 'Times to invest in brewing products' (5) |
| TEXAS - Biffed (Bunged In From Definition) as the only 5-letter US state beginning with T. 'Times' here is X, brewing products are TEAS' | |
| 4 | One getting the sack maybe after us (7) |
| POSTMAN - bit stumped by this one. Is it really just a fairly lame cryptic definition? I suppose 'after us' means he's looking for us? EDIT: thanks to all who pointed this out - POST (after) MAN (us). I should have spotted that. I still think it's a bit lame. | |
| 5 | Fight involving energy weapon (5) |
| SPEAR - SPAR (fight) with E (energy) in. | |
| 6 | Fellow feeling making them pay, possibly (7) |
| EMPATHY - anagram (possibly) of THEM PAY | |
| 7 | Sentimentality is mostly beneficial (3) |
| GOO - Most of GOOD | |
| 12 | Puritan, English, accepting detestable social advantage (9) |
| PRIVILEGE - Puritan is PRIG, English is E, detestable is VILE. Spent what seemed like an hour trying to make it work with PRIM for puritan | |
| 14 | Grill family vegetable (7) |
| PUMPKIN - PUMP (grill) + KIN (family) | |
| 15 | Everyone in performance is superficial (7) |
| SHALLOW - SHOW containing ALL | |
| 17 | Father to admit a show of displeasure (5) |
| FROWN - FR (father, as in priest) + OWN (admit). I went through all the other things that 'father' can mean first: PA, POP, PERE, SIRE, DAD etc | |
| 18 | Brownish shade I included in copies, on reflection (5) |
| SEPIA - This was a biff, with the parsing coming afterwards. 'Copies' is APES, reflected, with I inserted | |
| 20 | Song from duo without piano (3) |
| AIR - PAIR without P | |