Puzzle 21 Friendly I
No more handrails, or two-faced birds: our next series includes eight cryptic crosswords, minus recipe hints. But let’s start slow, increasing the brain-load as we go.
8 Hitches northward, OK (6-2)
9 You finally renovated patio—it’s perfect! (6)
10 Piano number enshrines fertile writer? (4)
11 A derelict’s eccentric liquid measures (10)
12 Bee’s knees barely found in old Greek city (6)
14 Stressed doctors diagnose (8)
15,17-across,24-across Yokel, or youth leader, gets detective, or youth leader, to cut nursery rhyme (7,7,4)
17 See 15-across
20 Revised, 4-down is loveless way to stand sailing (8)
22 Honest guide (6)
23 Military offsider developed idea to flee (4-2-4)
24 See 15-across
25 Mountain retreats take in Venus or Mars (6)
26 Sneak sleep inside, near a Sydney funfair (4,4)
DOWN
1 Wrongfully employ scissors—hang hair clump (8)
2 Zen chant reaching an Arabic nation (4)
3 Hit songs’ digressions? (6)
4 Exceptional places I travelled (7)
5 Cryptic clue: ‘Lion gets cellular bodies’ (8)
6 Toady let go hard stuff for auditors (10)
7 Acquire 20 quires, say, for ancient galley (6)
13 Plain dish lambasted naked babes (5,5)
16 Casino game allowed to obstruct path (8)
18 It’s often controversial to play this Flemington program, perhaps (4,4)
19 Warm Aesop story a female covers (7)
21 Alpine hanger-on discovered BMX, we hear (6)
22 Bank on dole? People need limits! (6)
24 Fool extremely dense to drink up (4)
Even if an answer is new to your vocab (such as 13-across, or 24-across, perhaps), a cryptic clue lends you a fighting chance via its wordplay.
1 Start to saw logs?! (7)
5 Bad omen upset stomach (7)
10 Small business got untidy crates repaired (7,8)
11 Wrong to pinch back-end of monkey? (6)
12 Spinning or cutting (8)
13 Residence prepared single divorce document (6,4)
15 Clean either side of willow tree (4)
17 Party buffet (4)
19 Pacific crop raised in sound, suitable to retain syrupy centre (10)
21 Amoebae A-To-Z, poor edition (8)
23 Cheers strike on one Pacific island (6)
24 Iraqi elite concerning taverner facing a drug bust (10,5)
25 Press heavies abuse steroid (7)
26 Prizes reflected athletics meet, serving hosts (7)
DOWN
2 The French ring number of king? (7)
3 Leading female Rita struggled during rally (9)
4 Spur description of a shamed face? (3,2)
6 Pump iron buddy! Boil bananas! (4-5)
7 Opening response that’s withholding (5)
8 Casualty receives money for South African jobs (7)
9 Phone-in tactic deployed sticker to restrict drawing? (8,5)
13 Call knight (3)
14 Fraudster to breeze around with laundered money—zillions initially (9)
15 Wasted wee hours sealing a storage space (9)
16 Saucy, naked photo (3)
18 Bimbo to help flightless bird nesting (7)
20 Meanwhile, winter imperilled hostage (7)
22 Ridicule Dad’s sister with tank-top (5)
23 Deliberately loses scuba gear (5)
1-across is no doddle, so don’t bust the brain for too long. Move around instead. Find the kinder clues and enter the grid that way.
1 Sets off charges to protect disc (7)
5 Place for acting surgeon? (7)
9 And not chew on the ear (3)
10 Factory needs years on web to produce royal French line (11)
11 Contrarily hides sheltered place for Soviet satellites (8)
12 Selected sides for coach—one’s unpredictable (6)
15 Snowman in yard certain to melt oddly? (4)
16 White House translated Bogart–Bergman classic (10)
18 Detective to grunt and flirt? (7,3)
19 Arab leader quiet before aftermath ends (4)
22 Doctors’ helpers squashed grapes (6)
23 Arrangement of pearl with one red gem (4,4)
25 Issues T-bone during Butcher Studies (11)
27 Pinch little drink (3)
28 He loved wrapping feral ostrich (7)
29 Robbery ringleader cuts into livestock grant (3,4)
DOWN
1 Heartless duty perverted 10-across, for one (7)
2 Spinning rake in olive process (11)
3 Again confined regret? (6)
4 Scramble and streak, exhibiting sleek bottom like this? (5,5)
5 Matching pair said to be tailor-made for 2-down? (4)
6 Yellowy-white barracks he’ll join (8)
7 Fairly small preserve (3)
8 Splash in sea to land (7)
13 Don’s sidekick devious on chap’s stated solution (6,5)
14 She minds minibar next to studio model (4-6)
17 Famed tenor Jose gets $100 to tackle arrears (8)
18 Haitian dictator owns a flat, cased by detective from Down Under (4,3)
20 CEO maintains edge in landing spot (7)
21 Perhaps F-11s, with radio band, dumped stuff (6)
24 Spanish river partly absorbed ebbing (4)
26 Gentleman curtailed iPhone voice (3)
Geography and Hollywood. Zoology and ball-sports. A cryptic square for the trivia all-rounder.
1 Some rhymes far from riveting? (7)
5 Rhythmic sound is bread-and-butter? (7)
9 Managed screen display (3)
10 Thought elder baited vagrant (11)
11 Get around foul tank spill (8)
12 Cloak upon chook section (6)
15 Possibly saw plunder going west (4)
16 Boor heard to serve at 25-across? (10)
18 Fluid study in daily crush, perhaps (10)
19 Sketch halved ninepins (4)
22 Wreck in a dock (6)
23 Sergeant shot blank (8)
25 Fine to be loud during remainder of grog-a-thon (11)
27 I improve golf slice (3)
28 Sprite exchanges $1000 at Russian castle (7)
29 Inadequate show to steer contradictory truth (7)
DOWN
1 Last offer (4,3)
2 Customised dream somehow buggered up inside (4-2-5)
3 Initially altered wee enigma (6)
4 Sound dog carries fruit down (10)
5 Bars turn up bands? (4)
6 Wrong racket uncovered amphibian (8)
7 Sink vessel (3)
8 Little frog bit European (7)
13 Coop grain or peanuts? (7,4)
14 Rocky Beach’s kelp outcast (5,5)
17 Can writer supervise a large man-eater? (8)
18 Noah’s son on faux-bed (7)
20 Actor Justin—protagonist in formal attire? (7)
21 Packer seen on the moon? (6)
24 DA 9-across country (4)
26 Little piggy to leave behind? (3)
All four longer entries involve anagrams in some way. Hence the friendly rating, but will you crack the puzzle in toto?
1 Pluck tree-top in wind (8)
5 Avoid Dutch illusionist dropping his last showstopper (6)
9 Shapes to 26-across speakers? (8)
10 Calumnies implicated graduates (6)
12 Utter power impairs (5)
13 Willing bear and eagle to tussle (9)
14 Composer can harm break by pool error (12)
17 Supreme Court exploited mouse owner? (8,4)
22 French father accepts cut to keep going (9)
23 Same backlot tidier in part (5)
24 Supplies grub to Blanchett and Roberts on fringes (6)
25 Terribly nice rug sporting a Picasso masterpiece (8)
26 Calm male pursuing smut (6)
27 Eventually tenth gal changed (2,6)
DOWN
1 Aussie parrots loiter over scattered ash (6)
2 Shop detains lightweight composer (6)
3 Crack unit eliminated continent’s leader in Africa (7)
4 I revere havoc becoming extravagant success (12)
6 2-down’s rival dressed falsehood? (7)
7 Heard that bloke reserve church tome (8)
8 Demolish immediately on the phone (5,3)
11 Party game somehow nurtures hate (8,4)
15 Preserve choices for mountaineering gear (3-5)
16 A horse to swallow tiptop liqueur (8)
18 Find caribou near the squirrels (7)
19 Cockney’s slow galloper, okay? (7)
20 Kind of quartet series (6)
21 Field hospital included on Melbourne campus (6)
Reverend Spooner makes his Part Three debut. He’s simple to spot, compared to a sneakier code clue that’s also implicated.
1 Confectionery to stuff final cost (6)
4 Bloody irate charity (3,5)
9 Slacker times integral to genuine retirement (5)
10 Venetian and I trashed Laos capital (9)
11 Return embargo on bundle (9)
12 Provide online gag? (5)
13 Qualification (with hesitations) for personal trainers? (12)
17 Old redhead is tribe’s only rebel (5,7)
20 Cockney paradises for Oz cycle champ (5)
21 Max needs a nap or stretch to find peace, historically (3,6)
23 Clubs revised up-to-date power grab (4,1’4)
24 Banned bill on ducks? (5)
25 Catastrophe as anticyclone enclosed game (8)
26 He fishes for laptop amid fury (6)
DOWN
1 Radio format to be fresh? (8)
2 Spooner’s pawns established dog breed (8)
3 Spectre’s close to Lake Strange (5)
5 My energetic ex undid escape hatch (9,4)
6 Church pet shredded Herald (9)
7 Pop a question, somewhat dense (6)
8 Plain pace recorded (6)
10 17-across’s successor contested valid margin reverting to Labour? (8,5)
14 Cromwellians throwing derisions (9)
15 Is brown bovine docked in Turkey? (8)
16 Liked four vain models (2,6)
18 Vessel stops near Pacific Ocean, bursts open in seconds (6)
19 Do for a gardener? (6)
22 Frequently decimal? (5)
16-down is perhaps your toughest clue so far, followed closely by 14-down. Meaning the grid’s south-east corner presents a real showdown.
7 Unbridled energy is very, very cool (8)
9 Chuck visits Zoroastrian’s ultimate paradise (6)
10 Articulate chief reduced weight (4)
11 Sydney race cuts tyro, if staggering (4,2,4)
12 Clear soup hardly commonest variety (8)
14 Hangs physician? That’s a mistake! (6)
15 Abandoned isle we chose (OK?) for October hijinks (9,4)
17 Impoverished duo minimised stringed instrument in wings (4-2)
19 Work (Sawyer novel) loses the plot (4,4)
20 Mesmerised for period near spring (10)
22 Hounds research facilities (4)
23 Caught actor Hathaway’s film festival (6)
24 Close to a dozen per town show perseverance (8)
DOWN
1 Mannerism worst in midst of backstabbers (8)
2 Love 7-across? (4)
3 Corporation’s last pay-cut to exhaust twit (10)
4 Tired go (4)
5 Asia copies corrupt stars (10)
6 Release The French Journey (3,3)
8 Vacuuming becoming obsolete? (9,4)
13 Skittish child genius snubbed one booking (10)
14 Offspring melody maintains climax (10)
16 Pacific island cocktail club feeding 11? (8)
18 Summit contracts top dogs (6)
21 Occupied coach at play’s end (4)
22 Beat guitar flourish (4)
Beware of upcasing in 2-down, although not in 7-down, where I was sorely tempted to downcase …
1 Merry company interrupts Joe’s jig (6)
4 We became drug-free due to Skype tool? (6)
9 Filming drawing room? It’s fair game (8,7)
10 Bank turned on inventor (6)
11 Food fanatic interchanged (8)
12 Fertilisers? They could be fit for a queen (10)
15 Belfast brigade question OPEC member (4)
16 Herb far from dill? (4)
18 She studies the divine tight/loose weave (10)
21 Heard to cut down box for crystalline mineral (8)
23 He waxed on high? (6)
25 Candid type likely to profit at 9-across (8,7)
26 Old man sees actress Fey in film (6)
27 My American 2-down in southern India (6)
DOWN
1 Toot almost suffices unknown male (4,3)
2 Ticked off Ford? (5)
3 Feral pets biting private silk producer (9)
5 Demand former law (5)
6 Two Manx dogs crashing (9)
7 Space station, plus NASA trailer, seen in The Tempest? (7)
8 Heard you look around African republic (6)
13 Dedicated to modify daft set as arrayed (9)
14 Greedily trade trimmed lace, discarded in dubious surrounds? (9)
17 One teacup-storm? Quiet! (3,2,2)
19 Blue records a feature of Canberra tavern? (6)
20 Significant other jam (7)
22 Heathen worship ending when I boycotted once more (5)
24 Many astonished ring (1,4)