The solved grid
1T
U
2R
M
3O
I
L
4Z
E
5T
A
6S
A
A
R
I
A
E
7T
U
T
T
I
8C
A
L
C
I
U
M
E
T
G
O
C
N
I
9S
A
R
C
A
S
M
10H
O
T
E
L
A
M
M
O
11A
12P
O
I
S
O
N
13P
E
14N
G
N
T
A
A
15A
W
16A
I
17T
18I
N
R
U
I
N
19S
R
M
A
O
V
L
H
20C
L
O
C
K
I
N
21E
N
S
U
E
H
N
E
N
E
A
22Y
O
G
I
S
23C
L
U
T
T
E
R
Across
1 Across Toil for rum mixed causes chaos (7) → TURMOIL Anagram
Anagram of “toil rum”.
4 Across Odd haze tastes hide Greek letters (5) → ZETAS Hidden word
Hidden inside “haze tastes”.
7 Across Disapproving sound before a note, all performing together (5) → TUTTI Charade
TUT + TI.
8 Across Calm, holding carbon, iodine and uranium, produces a bone-building metal (7) → CALCIUM Container
CIU inside CALM.
9 Across Silly aunts rarely cook amazing salty muffins initially, revealing biting irony (7) → SARCASM Initialism
First letters of: silly, aunts, rarely, cook, amazing, salty, muffins.
10 Across Heartless hostel offers a place to stay (5) → HOTEL Deletion
HOSTEL without S from the middle.
12 Across Snoop and pine, scrambled, spell a spiteful style (6,3) → POISON PEN Anagram
Anagram of “snoop pine”.
15 Across Expect anxious warriors always ignoring threats, initially (5) → AWAIT Initialism
First letters of: anxious, warriors, always, ignoring, threats.
18 Across Iris and a nun, scrambled, are left devastated (2,5) → IN RUINS Anagram
Anagram of “iris nun”.
20 Across Start work formally, as careful llamas often carry kites inside nests, initially (5,2) → CLOCK IN Initialism
First letters of: careful, llamas, often, carry, kites, inside, nests.
21 Across Little space precedes legal action, resulting (5) → ENSUE Charade
EN + SUE.
22 Across Abbreviated signature and exclamation returning, spiritual masters (5) → YOGIS Reversal
SIG OY reversed.
23 Across Speedboat embracing fifty leaves untidy junk (7) → CLUTTER Container
L inside CUTTER.
Down
1 Down Set at target, reversed, are famous London art museums (5) → TATES Reversal
SET AT reversed.
2 Down Rodent caught in snare, a device to catch vermin (7) → RATTRAP Charade
RAT + TRAP.
3 Down A priori, gamine hides the art of paper folding (7) → ORIGAMI Hidden word
Hidden inside “priori gamine”.
4 Down Zealous inspectors love complaining harshly, initially amounting to nothing (5) → ZILCH Initialism
First letters of: Zealous, inspectors, love, complaining, harshly.
5 Down Titan, in disarray, leaves a trace of corruption (5) → TAINT Anagram
Anagram of “TITAN”.
6 Down Limoges shattered, one axis in tens? (7) → SEMILOG Anagram
Anagram of “LIMOGES”.
8 Down Uproar within a sitcom motioned by actors (9) → COMMOTION Hidden word
Hidden inside “sitcom motioned”.
11 Down Actor Cary recast as Han spells lawlessness (7) → ANARCHY Anagram
Anagram of “cary han”.
13 Down Golf's top par venue hides an upstart (7) → PARVENU Hidden word
Hidden inside “par venue”.
14 Down Spike fixed firmly forms tool for countersinking (7) → NAILSET Charade
NAIL + SET.
16 Down Some of a diagram ongoing means amid (5) → AMONG Hidden word
Hidden inside “diagram ongoing”.
17 Down Captures the antelope kept escaping swiftly, initially (5) → TAKES Initialism
First letters of: the, antelope, kept, escaping, swiftly.
19 Down Cut fleece, reportedly as steep as a cliff (5) → SHEAR Homophone
Sounds like “sheer”.
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.
