The solved grid
1S
I
2C
K
3O
4B
O
5O
M
6B
O
7X
A
R
V
A
E
E
8R
E
E
L
O
F
9F
10T
E
N
O
N
D
D
I
O
H
E
O
11I
N
O
R
D
E
R
12S
T
A
I
N
N
A
S
T
E
13J
E
L
L
Y
F
14I
S
H
15D
U
T
M
O
16B
A
N
E
17S
18H
O
P
E
19F
U
L
I
I
U
I
L
A
P
20R
O
P
E
S
21A
B
O
L
I
S
H
T
E
H
R
N
I
22H
E
R
R
I
N
G
23E
A
T
E
N
Across
1 Across Ski Co, in a muddle, is a deviant (5) → SICKO Anagram
Rearrange the letters of “ski co”.
4 Across Portable stereo held within kaboom boxes (7) → BOOMBOX Hidden word
The answer is hidden inside “kaboom boxes”.
8 Across Flee for safety, twisted, means to rattle through a list (4,3) → REEL OFF Anagram
Rearrange the letters of “flee for”.
10 Across Woodworking peg is a weight holding a printer's spacing unit (5) → TENON Container
Put a 2-letter run inside a 3-letter word.
11 Across Diner or somewhere else, mixed up, is properly arranged (2,5) → IN ORDER Anagram
Rearrange the letters of “diner or”.
12 Across Support, missing its middle, leaves a blemish (5) → STAIN Deletion
Remove 2 letters from the middle of a longer word.
13 Across Wobbly dessert going after information is a stinging sea creature (9) → JELLYFISH Charade
Join two pieces end to end, 5 and 4 letters long.
16 Across Ruinous influences, as bad apples never earn sympathy at first (5) → BANES Initialism
Take the first letter of each: bad, apples, never, earn, sympathy.
18 Across Confident, part of hope fulfilled (7) → HOPEFUL Hidden word
The answer is hidden inside “hope fulfilled”.
20 Across Cords from a fungal spore, jumbled (5) → ROPES Anagram
Rearrange the letters of “spore”.
21 Across Scrap muddled basil, oh! (7) → ABOLISH Anagram
Rearrange the letters of “basil oh”.
22 Across Smoked fish, a woman's call (7) → HERRING Charade
Join two pieces end to end, 3 and 4 letters long.
23 Across Devoured, having dined within a print space (5) → EATEN Container
Put a 3-letter run inside a 2-letter word.
Down
1 Down Turned back, Enid and an Ethiopian ruler become a fish (7) → SARDINE Reversal
Reverse a run of letters to build the answer, which begins with “S”.
2 Down Musical climax, missing its centre, is a belief (5) → CREDO Deletion
Remove 4 letters from the middle of a longer word.
3 Down Confused, avoid zero and litre, egg-shaped (7) → OVOIDAL Anagram
Rearrange the letters of “avoid o l”.
5 Down Only athletes train hard sometimes initially, promises (5) → OATHS Initialism
Take the first letter of each: Only, athletes, train, hard, sometimes.
6 Down Under a table, hen beat wildly (7) → BENEATH Anagram
Rearrange the letters of “hen beat”.
7 Down Muddled neon, plus Roman ten, is a noble gas (5) → XENON Anagram
Rearrange the letters of “neon x”.
9 Down Fairy shot, arranged, is a flowering shrub (9) → FORSYTHIA Anagram
Rearrange the letters of “fairy shot”.
13 Down Evergreen shrub from June's start, one, for each (7) → JUNIPER Charade
Join three pieces end to end, 3, 1 and 3 letters long.
14 Down An imp's ore hiding fifty, to plead (7) → IMPLORE Container
Put a 1-letter run inside a 6-letter word.
15 Down Marine mammal built from a pain measure, a Greek letter and north (7) → DOLPHIN Charade
Join three pieces end to end, 3, 3 and 1 letters long.
16 Down Entitlement, dropping what is correct, is a coming into life (5) → BIRTH Deletion
Remove 5 letters from the end of a longer word.
17 Down Some unhappy surfers hide inland, initially a raw fish dish (5) → SUSHI Initialism
Take the first letter of each: Some, Unhappy, Surfers, Hide, Inland.
19 Down Weak and dizzy, we hear, as in a boxing feint (5) → FAINT Homophone
The answer sounds like “feint”.
How this puzzle was checked
Every clue in this crossword was verified against its own wordplay by
software, then the finished puzzle was read and edited by hand before
publication: definitions, indicators, enumerations and surface readings
all get looked at, and clues that don't hold up are rewritten. The
editorial standards set out what that
covers.
Spotted something wrong here? Email
badclues@decryptic.app and
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corrections policy.
