Solving time: 6:51
Most of this puzzle was very straightforward as the clues were packed with clichés and most definitions were transparent. However, a few difficult words slowed me down: in particular, I didn’t know the long answer at 5d and had to work out the anagram with a few checking letters, while 14ac cost some time at the end. I think those with wider vocabularies and general knowledge would probably have found this about as easy as The Times gets.
Incidentally, I thought yesterday’s puzzle was very tricky.
* = anagram.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | refers to the 12 Labours of Hercules. |
| 9 | MERLIN – double definition, the bird and the wizard. Arthurian references are more common than you might think… |
| 10 | COUR(A + N)T + E – a dance I didn’t know, but courant is French (and heraldic, I now discover) for ‘running’ so this was a confident guess. |
| 12 | “FILLY BUSTER” |
| 14 | BAL(LIST)A – my last answer. I spent quite a while trying to dredge a Welsh lake from my memory, without success – I don’t think I knew Bala Lake – and in the end guessed correctly but unconfidently based on the link to ‘ballistic’. A ballista was ‘a Roman weapon in the form of a crossbow for projecting heavy missiles’. |
| 18 | refers to the ‘seven year ITCH’ which allegedly surfaces after seven years of marriage. |
| 21 | STEP(HEN)S + ON – George, designer of the Rocket. |
| 22 | INST (hidden) – easy if you know the ‘word’, but are abbreviations normally allowed as answers? |
| 24 | EX(ER)CISE |
| 26 | rev. of AIL + I (= current) + SE (directions) |
| 27 | ANAN[i]AS – I didn’t know Ananias and Sapphira but the checking letters were kind. |
| 28 | SPARS (= boxes) + ELY (= see) |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 3 | COLONELSHIP – Colonel Bogey is possibly the most famous march ever written. If you don’t think you know it, surprise yourself by listening here or here. |
| 4 | (FLUSHING)* – a surprising anagram which I missed on first look… |
| 5 | SICILIAN VESPERS (anag. of PRINCES IS AS EVIL) – …whereas this was an obvious anagram but I didn’t know the phrase – see here for an explanation. I toyed with ‘viscera’ as the second word for a while, and I think I had 5 checking letters before getting this. |
| 6 | STUBB[s] + Y – another name I didn’t know; George Stubbs was an 18th Century artist famous for his paintings of horses. |
| 7 | General Robert E “LEE” of the American Civil War. |
| 13 | SHE + NAN + (rev. of NAG inside IS) |
| 15 | OX inside (A + (TIN)* + TIN (= can)) – I wasn’t quite confident enough to write this in without checking the wordplay. |
| 17 | PRUNE + rev. of ALL – a plant once thought to cure sore throats and other ailments. |
| 20 | RE + (IS inside MS (= manuscript)) |
| 23 | S + I[ndividual] S[avings] A[ccount] + L |
Harry Shipley
“Suite containing a new English dance”.
How does “Suite” = “COURT”?
Should the first word of the clue have been “Suit”?
Mike O, Skiathos
(I wish there were a way to edit comments…?)
6a Thus the Continental church brings comfort = SO LA CE – where Thus= SO, the Continental = LA and church = CE
11a Shock, not completing risky exploit = STUN (t)
16a Bring in a vessel when called = EARN – sounds like URN and means “bring in”
19a Fickle mathematician’s expression = VARIABLE – one might be nit picky and say that variables can be in an expression but do not constitute one themselves?
2d Up straight before court = ERE CT – where ERE is before and CT is court
8d Jazz fan, male doctor and gangster are in church = CAT HE DR AL – cat = jazz fan, male = he, doctor = dr and gangster = al (capone) here in x-word land.
25d Manage to follow a course = RUN – double definition