ST 3245 (Full Review)

Sunday Cryptic No 3245

A full review by crypticsue

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This puzzle was published on 31^st December 2023

BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****

This Dada Sunday Prize Puzzle wasn’t that difficult but I did enjoy solving it while it lasted

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought

Across

7a    Heartbreaking redevelopment of Paignton (8)
POIGNANT – An anagram (redevelopment) of PAIGNTON

9a    A plank on a tanker, say? (6)
ABOARD – A (from the clue) BOARD (plank)

10a    So in love, Ryan (4)
VERY – Hidden in loVE RYan

11a    Outdoor activity, taking pictures? (10)
PICNICKING – This one made me smile at the idea of NICKING [a] PIC

12a    Performer raced off, baton finally collected (6)
DANCER – An anagram (off) of RACED into which is inserted (collected) the final letter of batoN

14a    Fielder desires spinner (4,4)
LONG STOP – LONGS (desires) TOP (spinner)

15a    Artist places boy behind bird (6)
TITIAN – IAN (boy) placed behind TIT (bird)

17a    Almost first time? (6)
SECOND – Almost in first place or a period of time

20a    Break bar, there shattered (8)
BREATHER – An anagram (shattered) of BAR THERE

22a    Cyclin’, one gear for the beach? (6)
BIKINI – BIKIN’ (a synonym for cycling with the G removed) I (Roman numeral for one)

23a    Smelly pudding, eat! (10)
AFTERSHAVE – Something with a pleasant scent (smelly) AFTERS (pudding) HAVE (eat) –  If you asked a lady of a certain age what she had for Christmas, she might list a book, item of clothing etc but she’d also definitely add ‘smellies’, usually a boxed gift of a set of items such as shower lotion, body lotion, soap, eau de toilette etc. A search on-line revealed that a collection of such items for men are known as ‘Smellies for Men’ so AFTERSHAVE would definitely count as a ‘smelly’

24a    Swimmer in voice? (4)
BASS – A fish or a singing voice

25a    Concerning current opinion in Lebanon, somewhat taken aback? (2,4)
EL NINO – A ‘concerning’ current as the direction it takes affects what the weather will be. Hidden in reverse (somewhat taken aback) in opiniON IN LEbanon

26a    Seed found in brown loaf (8)
HAZELNUT – HAZEL (a shade of brown) NUT (loaf, head)

Down

1d    Some witches and crawler in agreement (8)
COVENANT – COVEN (some witches) ANT (creature which crawls)

2d    With yellow and white, say, grey void (4)
EGGY – EG (say) GreY (grey without its middle letters, so empty or void

3d    11 Across requirement, meat for each (6)
HAMPER – HAM (meat) PER (for each)

4d    A virtuous game? (8)
PATIENCE – Card game. As everyone knows, patience is a virtue

5d    As recess follows raise, express contempt (4,1,5)
COCK A SNOOK – AS NOOK (as recess) follows COCK (raise). An expression of contempt made by putting the thumb to the nose and spreading wide the fingers

6d    Pot on for cooking’s covered right now! (6)
PRONTO – An anagram (for cooking) of POT ON into which is inserted (covered) R (right)

8d    Grab two animals from below (6)
TACKLE – A reversal (from below) of ELK and CAT (two animals)

13d    An accommodating dish? (7,3)
COTTAGE PIE – A cryptic definition of a dish that has somewhere to live in the name

16d    Sticking head on is tricky (8)
ADHESION – An anagram (tricky) of HEAD IS ON

18d    Old fossil, and sour I suspect (8)
DINOSAUR – An anagram (suspect) of AND SOUR I

19d    Quiet stretch, sound off (6)
PREACH – P (musical abbreviation meaning quiet) REACH (stretch)

21d    Draw spirit a long way up? (6)
RAFFLE – A reversal (up) of ELF (spirit) FAR (a long way)

22d    Little wind, plain sailing? (6)
BREEZE – A little wind or something to be achieved easily (plain sailing)

24d    Might one have been pumped up for party? (4)
BALL – Something that is pumped up or a party