Crossword clues and answers

This will be a blog that I will (hopefully) be updating frequently with crossword clues and answers that I have found intriguing. All these are from the Guardian Quick Crossword series, available Monday through Saturday at Quick | Crosswords | The Guardian

More tomorrow!

Incrustation that forms on teeth and gums (6) - tartar

Secret place of seclusion (4) - lair

Room where martial arts are practised (4) -  dojo

Edict (6) - decree

Publication awarding stars to eateries (8,5) -  michelin guide

Belief that things should be run by a small group of superior people (7) -  elitism

Teach through insistent repetition (9) - inculcate

Imaginary cause of a malfunction (7) -  gremlin

Religious musical composition (8) -  oratorio

Cocktail stirrer (7,5) - swizzle stick

Bay window (5) - oriel

Principal post on a sailing ship (8) -  mainmast

African fly (6) - tsetse

Cheesy art or music (8) - schmaltz

Shadow (8) -  penumbra

Graphic and sensational (5) -  lurid

Mournful song (5) -  dirge

Roman coins (7) -  denarii

Unhealthy atmosphere (6) -  miasma

Material for filling between tiles (5) -  grout

Flat fish (6) -  plaice

Brave (6) -  feisty

Excessively proper person (5,3,5) -  goody two shoes

Synthetic playing surface (9) -  astroturf

Set off (6) - trigger

Dark formal clothing (7) -  subfusc

Assume to be the case (5) -  posit

Song like poem (5) -  lyric

Travel regularly (7) -  commute

Unit of astronomical distance (6) -  parsec

Fast moving river current (6) - rapids

Background (7) -  context

Widespread (4) -  rife

Violent attacks (8) -  assaults

Choose not to do something (7) -  abstain

By-product (8) -  offshoot

Bundle of papers, corn or arrows (5) - sheaf

Broken chord (8) -arpeggio

Where rivers meet (10) - confluence

Disprove (5) -  belie

Heart (informal) (6) -  ticker

Blend of coffee and chocolate (5) -  mocha

Jelly used as a mould for meat or vegtables (5) - aspic

Female roman oracle (5) -  sibyl

Steal apples from a tree on a private land (6) -  scrump

Apply cement or plaster to a wall (6) -  render

Dominant position (9) -  supremacy

Stymie (6) -  thwart

Wilful damager of another's property (6) - vandal

Expectation of failure (9) - defeatism

Unkempt (7) -  rumpled

Complete success (6,7) -  flying colours

Announce that one's beliefs have changed (6) -  recant

Exceedingly small (13) - infinitesimal

Artifically high singing tones (8) - falsetto

Poor densely poulated area (6) - ghetto

Hooded waterproof jacket (6) -  anorak

Straw broad-brimmed hat (8) -  sombrero

Lamp oil (8) -  kerosene

Big Ask (4,5) -  tall order

Heavy and unappetizing (6) -  stodgy

Cold spanish soup made with tomatoes (8) - gazpacho

Racist or violent person (8) -  skinhead

Cat for catching (6) -  mouser

Small basketful of fruit (6) -  punnet

The wit one was born with (4) -  nous -  [common sense]

Vertical supporting post (9) -  stanchion

Defy (5) - flout

Tightrope walker (11) - funambulist

Independent ruler in Arabia (5) -  ameer

Annoyingly slow motorists (6,6) - sunday driver

Carefree (6) -  blithe

Wake up bugle call (8) - reveille

Spraying fertilizer from a plane (4,7) -  crop dusting

Pivot (6) - swivel

I'm unable to assist (2,3,2) - no can do

Unidentified object (7) - whatnot

Brown with a red tinge (6) - russet

James Hilton's mythical paradise (7,2) -  shangri la

French bread (7) -  brioche

Reports of the work of a society or a learned body (6) -  annals

Oriental blade (8) - scimitar

Slow way of speaking (5) -  drawl

Little traveled country roads (6) -  byways

Dratted (6) - cursed

Quick look around (6) -  shufti

Coffee flavored liquer (3,5) - tia maria

Close shave (4,4) - near miss

Blow with the side of the hand (6,4) - karate chop

Heavy metal fan (10) - headbanger

Seaside walkway (9) - esplanade

Dramatic monologue expressing 'unspoken' reflections (9) -  soliloquy

Nonentity (9) -  pipsqueak

Defensive tower above a drawbridge (8) -  barbican

Compartment suspended from an airship (7) - gondola

Ringworm (5) - tinea

Old handbook of tables giving precalculated values (5,8) - ready reckoner

Speak (5) - orate

Recall the past (9) - reminisce

Arrogant (9) - bumptious

Small dog from Africa that cannot bark (7) - basenji

A little bit at a time (5,2,5) -  brick by brick

Smell (unpleasantly) (4) -  pong

In a cautious manner (8) - gingerly

Practice of growing different things in a field in sequence (4,8) -  crop rotation

Shifting voter (7) -  floater

Socio economic classes (6) -  strata

Gait between a trot and a gallop (6) - canter

Thin Porridge (5) - gruel

Triangular Russian Instrument (9) - balalaika

Weakest in the litter (4) - runt

Chills and Fever (4) - ague

That which holds a soldier's belongings (6) -  kitbag

Initial contribution that players make to the pot (4) - ante

Source of caviar (6) - beluga

Flat projection on the arm of an anchor (5) - fluke

Absolutely ordinary (3,8) -  bog standard

Goat leather (7) - kidskin

Pouch worn with the kilt (7) - sporran

Lady's private room (7) - boudoir

Deprived urban area (6) - ghetto

Cheeseparing (6) - stingy

Italian cream cheese (10) - mascarpone

Exaggerated masculinity (8) - machismo

Mixture of flour and butter used in cooking (4) - roux

In difficulties (2,3,5) - up the creek

Small fry (5) -  sprat

Strong English Accents (7) - brogues

Holier-than-thou (13) - sanctimonious

Honestly (4,3,6) -  fair and square

Eulogize (5) - extol

Protection from the sun (7) - parasol

Mexican Liquor (7) -  tequila

Small boat (5) - canoe

Muslim face veil (5) - niqab

Slender and graceful (6) - svelte

Line around an area to prevent entry (6) - cordon

Nit-pick (5) - cavil

Record Store (7) - archive

Thrift (7) - economy

Repressed (4,2) - pent up

Fat from suet (6) - tallow

Frost of things in the open (4) - hoar

Place providing pre school child care 96) - creche

Where to write notes (musically) (5) - stave

Water based paint (8) -  emulsion

What's left to rot in a garden (7,4) - compost heap

Put one image over another (11) - superimpose

Dark red sour cherry (7) - morello

Agreement not to publish material before a certain time or date (7) - embargo

Italian rice dish cooked gradually in stock (7) - risotto

One forced to leave the country (8) - deportee

Article of faith (5) - tenet

Act provocatively (9) - titillate

Advance cautiously (4) - edge

Unemotional (6,2,4) - matter of fact

Long handled broom made of twigs/Witch's broom (5) -  besom

At right angles to a ship (5) - abeam

Angle formed by the junction of two branches of a tree (6) - crotch

Unsophisticated young woman (7) - ingenue

Go here in disgrace (8) -  doghouse  - a little more context here, someone ends up in a doghouse because they are in a bad situation as someone is angry at them. For example, he is in the doghouse for forgetting his anniversary

Clever remark (3,3) - bon mot

Slight trace of color (5) - tinge

Get punished (3,2) - cop it

Proportionately (3,4) -  pro rata

High Fashion (5,7) - haute couture

Cook in hot (not boiling) water (6) -  coddle

Slow healing sore (5) - ulcer

Very softly (10) - pianissimo

Beneficial (8) - salutary

Practice (5,3) - dummy run

Change direction suddenly(4) - veer

Psychic (11) - clairvoyant

Highway feature to stop livestock straying (6,4) - cattle grid

Fraught with danger (4) - dire

Odds are stacked against it succeeding (4,4) - long shot

Rented room where one lives and sleeps (6) - bedsit

Cowshed (4) - byre

Central area in a building open to the sky (6) - atrium

I yell drivel (anag) — lacking courage (4-7) - lily livered

Girlfriend (9) - inamorata

Opening in clothing (7) - armhole

Town Square (5) - plaza

Funny business (7,6) - jiggery pokery

Intellectually undemanding (7) - lowbrow