The solved grid
1R
H
2E
A
S
3E
X
4C
L
5A
I
6M
E
W
I
V
U
7N
I
E
C
8E
9R
E
R
E
A
D
S
E
L
F
E
C
N
I
10W
H
A
R
F
11A
Q
U
A
T
I
C
M
I
S
L
A
12B
13B
A
C
K
S
L
A
P
14S
L
E
A
U
T
C
15R
A
16C
E
C
A
R
17I
C
H
O
18R
E
A
I
E
N
M
E
19T
A
B
L
O
I
D
20G
E
E
S
E
T
I
U
E
V
21A
M
N
E
S
T
Y
22B
A
R
G
E
Across
1 Across Stomach upsets, losing their opening four letters, produce flightless birds (5) → RHEAS Deletion
DIARRHEAS without its initial DIAR.
3 Across Old flame's demand prompts a sudden cry (7) → EXCLAIM Charade
EX + CLAIM.
7 Across A sister's daughter sounds like a French city (5) → NIECE Homophone
Sounds like “Nice”.
9 Across Browses a report again, taking another look through it (7) → REREADS Charade
RE + READS.
10 Across Workers haul all raw fish, initially, forming a quay (5) → WHARF Initialism
First letters of: workers, haul, all, raw, fish.
11 Across After taking on H2O, a nervous twitch turns marine (7) → AQUATIC Charade
AQUA + TIC.
13 Across Slab packs, rearranged, are congratulatory gestures (9) → BACKSLAPS Anagram
Anagram of “SLAB PACKS”.
15 Across Acre and arc, mixed up, make a fast track vehicle (4,3) → RACE CAR Anagram
Anagram of “ACRE ARC”.
17 Across Initially, insects cause havoc on ruins, exuding divine fluid (5) → ICHOR Initialism
First letters of: insects, cause, havoc, on, ruins.
19 Across Tiny animals bring loads of interesting discoveries, initially, forming the gutter press (7) → TABLOID Initialism
First letters of: tiny, animals, bring, loads, of, interesting, discoveries.
20 Across Wow, going southeast, farmyard birds (5) → GEESE Charade
GEE + SE.
21 Across Early hours in a bird's home, plus an unknown, secure a pardon (7) → AMNESTY Charade
AM + NEST + Y.
22 Across Argentina housed within being, a canal boat (5) → BARGE Container
ARG inside BE.
Down
1 Down Cyst and pause, reversed, extend (5) → RENEW Reversal
WEN ER reversed.
2 Down Wildly, we blame a young female sheep (3,4) → EWE LAMB Anagram
Anagram of “we blame”.
4 Down Critical gun, redesigned, doing the rounds (11) → CIRCULATING Anagram
Anagram of “CRITICAL GUN”.
5 Down Angry visitors are naturally tense at first, ahead (5) → AVANT Initialism
First letters of: Angry, visitors, are, naturally, tense.
6 Down A note, a chemical isomer, and a stammer's sound, all reversed, are tuneful (7) → MUSICAL Reversal
LA CIS UM reversed.
8 Down A ficus, a face and I/O ports scrambled prove effective (11) → EFFICACIOUS Anagram
Anagram of “FICUS FACE IO”.
9 Down Put at ease, hidden in tales told once more assuredly (9) → REASSURED Hidden word
Hidden inside “more assuredly”.
12 Down Italian pistol needs a hat with thanks (7) → BERETTA Charade
BERET + TA.
14 Down Prophet holding a chairman briefly, cream cheese spread (7) → SCHMEER Container
CHM inside SEER.
16 Down Current after a pen tip, turned around, is a hut (5) → CABIN Reversal
NIB AC reversed.
18 Down Manor official, concerning the evening before (5) → REEVE Charade
RE + EVE.
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
this page will be corrected. See the
corrections policy.
