I solved this one and Puzzle 3 together – moving back and forth when I felt bogged down. I felt this was marginally harder.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | PA(DLO)CK – DLO = OLD (over the hill) reversed |
| 5 | OUT(R)AGE – OUTAGE is a more common term in the US, I believe. Certainly uncommon enough over here to slow me down |
| 9 | QUARTERDECK – not difficult with the initial Q in place |
| 10 | S(to)OD |
| 11 | E,ARNE,D |
| 12 | EMPYREAN = (name pyre)* |
| 14 | MARY MAGDALENE = (medley, anagram)*. Quite straightforward |
| 17 | RUN A TIGHT SHIP – a tight ship is obviously the wasted sailors, captain as a verb means to run |
| 21 | DOWN,LOAD |
| 23 | SEE,THE – see=take out, in the sense of dating |
| 25 | GUM = mug (=hold up) reversed |
| 26 | PRIZE,W,INNER – inner = secret and “out of” is the containment indicator |
| 27 | LA(N)TE,R.N. – late = delayed around (spi)N, followed by R.N. for Royal Navy the Senior Service |
| 28 | T(U,SCAN)Y – T and Y are the extremities of T(rend)Y. We have spent a couple of pleasant holidays in Tuscany |
| Down | |
| 1 | PI(QUE)T – QUE is What? in Spanish |
| 2 | DI(A)G,RAM |
| 3 | ON THE TROT = (TO, NORTH, E)* followed by T(ime) |
| 4 | KERB – from stockbro(KER B)elt |
| 5 | OVERMIGHTY – OVER(M,(r)IGHT)Y – not a common word |
| 6 | T(he),OKAY |
| 7 | AU,STERE = (trees)* |
| 8 | END,ANGER – compromise as in expose to risk. A very good smooth clue |
| 13 | E,MIG,RATION – MIG = fighter is a fairly regular occurence |
| 15 | ATHLETICS = (his cattle)* |
| 18 | NEW(S)MAN – the S is from S(ee). For once journalist is not ED, and Cardinal is not RED, both of which were part of my initial thinking |
| 20 | HE,ARTY – this took a long time. HE = eh (or “what?”) reversed. I amn not sure that HEARTY=rude, unless it refers to rude health. Strangely enough I did not have Chambers at hand to check. |
| 23 | LAPS – sounds like lapse |
| 24 | NE(X)T – X = times, another one that often misleads me, and held me up in this case |
9A might have helped a bit if still in the mind when you got to Grand Final No. 2/18A, but there’s probably too much “fog of war” in between.
The game of Pit isn’t recorded in COED or Collins, which prevents “game” being used twice in a clue for PIQUET.
I guess 24’s “Closest times seen during final” was intended as a joke – I wonder how many had time to laugh?
Edited at 2009-10-13 01:04 pm (UTC)