Cliché Clues

The Classic double definition:

Quit and don't quit = RESIGN

CHA - GREENLAND - Limelight revealing European island

WILDCARD (DEL) - PENANCE - English resort loses last letter, makes amends

ANA - ORCHESTRA - Carthorse trips over strings and other instruments

Reposting:

CHA - GREENLAND - Limelight displays European island

WILDCARD (DEL) - PENANCE - English resort loses last letter, makes amends

ANA - REDUCTION - Introduce new cooking method

@DA - Are you on commission to Boris Johnson?

DM - LOWER - Sadden cow
ANA - CARTHORSE - Orchestra played in tower

@Bon - Boris Johnson? Is that because my hair is a mayor's nest also?

From last week's Shed:

CHA: AROSE - A flower came up

CHA- OPAL - No friend for a gemstone.

DM -POLISH - Buff European
And it's cousin:
DM -FRENCH POLISH - Two nationalities treat furniture.

ANA - ESOTERIC - Mysterious coteries formed (8)
or - Like coteries possibly? (8)

Trunk and twisted roots (5) TORSO

But hey, don’t knock the chestnuts! OK, I tend to avoid them, solely because those who follow my puzzles expect a particular level of style and difficulty – if I used the occasional old groaner I’m sure there would be protests. The important thing to remember, though, is the superb effect of the various cryptic blogs. These have only been in place for the last 5 or 6 years and they’ve done a marvellous job of a) bringing new solvers into cryptics and b) forming contact between solvers and setters.

New solvers need encouragement and clues they can readily understand… and ENJOY. The chestnut clues (in most cases anyway) have gained that status simply because they’re very, very good. For many new solvers these oldies will actually be new, and the best jokes are worth re-telling.

The classic reversal:

Crazy knock-out flips = NUTS

Just edges out the old faithful Dog/God

The classic anagram:

Earthquake centre = HEART

The one that seems to come up most often, in my limited exposure, is along the lines of

Summer serpent = ADDER

For some reason the earliest clue I can remember solving was Father's knife opens door = PASSWORD

Either I don't do enough crosswords, or my memory is too poor, but I can't think of any clues I've seen more than once. The ones I remember are so outstanding that no one would ever dare use them again, like GGSE (9, 4).

Ana:Increase general confusion (7)

I've seen this one a few times, in various guises:

CHA: WEEK NIGHT: Little piece on Wednesday evening, say

HOM: WEEK NIGHT: Battle-weary warrior heard it's time to stay in.

(REV) WARD: A minor drawback.

WILDCARD (PUN) - NEWS: Recent developments from the four corners of the globe

@DA - Not 100% sure of the category here, is it more of a charade? Re Boris, maybe you were making a list a la Puzzled. He's Mayor of London alright, but perhaps he should be Mayor of Hackney?

ANA (and &lit) - ENRAGED - Angered, cut up!

I don't know what category this is.

ETHER: Either one missing is a number

Similarly;

FLOWER: Loud cow found in the garden?

I think I've seen something like this in three crosswords in just the last year.

DM - LITTLE BY LITTLE - Stuart's autobiography incrementally?

It always bugged me whenever something similar to this cropped up.

REV - EROS: Hurt overturned by Love God (4)

Ah yes, LR, ye olde sore Eros.

@Anax, I take your point about the enduring quality of chestnuts, by and large. Sore Eros is a neat gag, and one that will recur for the same reason, though the mark of a fine setter is the knack to reinvent, what I call the Nadir Test: coding up with a fresh clue for a hoary word that avoids the obvious 'drain' on the cliche.

As Paul Kelly sings, all lovers were strangers once. A newish solver, like RM, as he confesses, will be meeting the chestnuts for the first time, before a solver's frisson turns to ennui. (Proven nuisance, anyone?)

Oi! Unnecessary - somewhat taken aback.

CHA - GOA: Travel to a state in India

CON - DINGHY: Husband in filthy little boat

REV - SUB: One kind of transport backs into another

Oh, and let's not forget this classic:

DM - LEAD: Metalhead

WILD CARD [PUN] - A FAREWELL TO ARMS: Ernest Hemingway's Venus de Milo?

CON - PROVERB - Saw dog in lead

what about the opposite of cliches in a way -- not so much too familiar as entirely unfamiliar ie clunky non-phrases that one desperately uses as a compiler, to fill a final awkward word-space! mine as half of 'Oskar' was 'hot oven'
Oskar invented a three-dimensional crossword for Easter, you folded it up into a cube and the words wrapped around

Dare I mention the old but faithfully bad.

ANA - SCRAMBLED EGGS - GSGE

Apologies, I didn't even do a good job at the joke:

- A ragman letter-sorter
- Gesture toast before parade's end
- Come on now, there are initials needing ends removed
- Word sounding like another drone buzz.
- Retraction, formulas reverted
- Averaging twice the equivoque

Oh good, nobody will know that was me.

Boniface's NEWS clue reminds me of this chestnut for the same answer:

All points bulletin (4)

One of the standard charades:

One man is a spy = AGENT

For some reason double definitions seem to provide a lot of the old favourites:

Shakespearean village = HAMLET
Poet in flames = BURNS
Violet river = FLOWER

For some reaon homophones don't seem to be as commonly used and reused. Maybe:

Vegetable making up a diamond, it's said = CARROT

(REV) See spinning tops.

Mr X's 'HEART' looks familiar:

Ana-grams

dg — 17 November at 02:50PM

unstitch looney = nuts
fast tsarevitch = starve
screen Bewitched = web
earthquake epicentre = heart

Hom:Heard that perfume was despatched = sent.

Rev: Made return to a Dutch town.

Today's offering has two fine entries:
Arrived and left with the animal (5) - Camel
Split as a hundred depart (6) - Cleave

Surprised this one hasn't come up yet:

CHA: NOVICE - Pupil with a clean slate?

Thought of a more fundamental homophone:

Country that's cold, it's said = CHILE

Can't think of a classic container, but here's a wildcard that should be familiar in one form or another:

When Xmas is yu__tide ? = NOEL

Speaking of 'CHILE'...I nominate 23ac in today's Times. I never thought I'd see that one!

2 unmentioned classics:

HIJKLMNO (5) = water
O (8,6) = circular letter

For the helluvit, I put together a cliche grid, with all across clues being taken from this list:

Cliche Crossword

(Also LEGEND, which is not meant to be a comment on yesterday's crossword, but just because it's an old favourite.)

And another:

(8)

CLUELESS

That's a skilful piece of interlock, DC. Usually, when trying to enlace theme words into a grid, I find the average quota is 13, esp with a select group. This is above and beyond, and not hackneyed at all!

To add to the cliché list:

CH - STANDING ROOM - Space for replacement newlywed? (Or a minor variation of)