The solved grid
1S
O
2M
E
3D
A
Y
4Q
U
5O
T
6A
E
E
U
N
L
7C
U
T
E
R
8E
P
A
U
L
E
T
O
A
R
N
R
Y
E
9N
E
L
L
Y
10G
Y
R
A
T
O
R
T
R
E
O
C
11R
E
12D
13W
H
O
R
L
14O
R
A
O
I
R
S
T
15V
E
S
T
A
L
S
16R
I
17S
H
I
E
A
N
E
O
N
O
18R
A
V
A
G
E
D
19A
D
O
R
N
S
O
L
N
W
20Y
O
W
I
E
21I
N
S
I
S
T
S
Across
1 Across Wild yam odes, eventually (7) → SOMEDAY Anagram
Anagram of “YAM ODES”.
4 Across Limit seen in status quo talks (5) → QUOTA Hidden word
Hidden inside “quo talks”.
7 Across More attractive following a trim and a pause (5) → CUTER Charade
CUT + ER.
8 Across Wildly recast plea Tue as shoulder ornament (7) → EPAULET Anagram
Anagram of “plea Tue”.
9 Across An unknown quantity, fifty and Len, turned into a timid character (5) → NELLY Reversal
Y L LEN reversed.
10 Across Alligator holding a year, device that spins (7) → GYRATOR Container
YR inside GATOR.
11 Across Doctor, nurse, arrived, ultimately a communist (3) → RED Initialism
Last letters of: doctor, nurse, arrived.
13 Across Spiral pattern that sounds like a whirl (5) → WHORL Homophone
Sounds like “whirl”.
14 Across Argon and oxygen, reversed, pray! (3) → ORA Reversal
AR O reversed.
15 Across Broken staves and fifty, Roman priestesses (7) → VESTALS Anagram
Anagram of “STAVES L”.
16 Across A sage, poorly described as Irish (5) → RISHI Anagram
Anagram of “Irish”.
18 Across Devastated by grave ad rearranged (7) → RAVAGED Anagram
Anagram of “grave ad”.
19 Across A commotion, right and north, decorate (5) → ADORN Charade
ADO + R + N.
20 Across Old word for you holding a cry of pain and I, a legendary hairy beast (5) → YOWIE Container
OWI inside YE.
21 Across Tin's sis, mixed up, demands (7) → INSISTS Anagram
Anagram of “tin's sis”.
Down
2 Down A team, some light and an opera final ultimately form a base element (5) → METAL Initialism
Last letters of: team, some, light, opera, final.
3 Down Arid, holding hesitation, Northern Ireland city (5) → DERRY Container
ER inside DRY.
4 Down Diamond-shaped windowpane, or a heated squabble (7) → QUARREL Double definition
Two separate definitions of the same word.
5 Down A tony loo, rearranged, is extremely so (4,3) → ONLY TOO Anagram
Anagram of “tony loo”.
6 Down Walter cations conceal a heated dispute (11) → ALTERCATION Hidden word
Hidden inside “Walter cations”.
7 Down Furore from redesigned rosy convert (11) → CONTROVERSY Anagram
Anagram of “ROSY CONVERT”.
8 Down Excessive charge inserted between a narrow measure and an editor makes one utterly absorbed (9) → ENGROSSED Container
GROSS inside ENED.
12 Down Deny a scrambled Visa and Dow (7) → DISAVOW Anagram
Anagram of “VISA DOW”.
13 Down Leaders of wild rabbits ate nine green leaves eagerly, to herd cattle (7) → WRANGLE Initialism
First letters of: wild, rabbits, ate, nine, green, leaves, eagerly.
16 Down Heads of racing over a new stadium, speckled horses (5) → ROANS Initialism
First letters of: Racing, over, a, new, stadium.
17 Down Blankets in white hidden in a glass, now sadly (5) → SNOWS Hidden word
Hidden inside “glass now sadly”.
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.
