Solving time: 33:40 (recording seconds as well now!)
I found this pretty straightforward – lots of fun clues and interesting wordplay, but nothing too difficult.
New things: marge=margin, ‘Beau’ Nash; lift=paternoster
Favourite clue: 16D, the clue made me laugh – the answer itself is also a very funny word!
Across
1 | VIGESIMAL; anag of “I’m galvanised”-short: a word I was familiar with from past reading on the history of maths. Because a human has ten fingers and ten toes, this was a popular numeration system in many ancient cultures – probably why we still have the word score today. For example, the Aztecs used a vigesimal system with special characters e.g. a dot for 1, a hatchet for 20, a bird’s feather for 400, etc. |
6 | GNASH=”Nash” – I wasn’t familiar with Beau Nash, who I presume is being referenced here. But shouldn’t beau be capitalised in the clue? |
10 | CURT,A,IN |
12 | TIPPER,A,RY |
17 | PATERNOSTER; anag of ‘toes partner’ – I knew the other usual meaning of this – but had not come across the lift before. |
20 | DE(LIGHT)ED |
22 | BL1(rev of one pound),MP – I didn’t know that that provost=military policeman(MP). I saw The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp for the first time last year – superb film, definitely up there with my best cinema experiences. |
24 | E(PI)GRAM; PI(ous) in rev of MARGE – marge is apparently a poetic form of margin – I didn’t know that but I did know that a gnome is rarely a mythical little man in crosswords. |
26 | A,L(LT)IME |
28 | S(KYL[e])IGHTS |
Down
1 | VI,CAR |
3 | SMALL,BEER; anag of LIBERALS+ME-I |
5 | LAC – another numerical word – I am more familiar with the spelling LAKH, but reckoned it was the same thing. It is mainly used in English articles written for Indian audiences, such as this recent headline: Potter makes history; 1.7 lakh copies sell on day one. I didn’t know the other meaning of lac, though – but guessed it probably had something to do with lacquer. |
8 | HONEYTRAP; HONE+rev of PARTY. I thought of this straight away but left it a while – I didn’t make the link between do and party – it was well disguised for me. |
13 | PAINTED LADY: the butterfly – I came across a very similar clue somewhere else this weekend. |
14 | PIPED,REAM |
16 | G(A,RIBALD)I |
19 | BRITISH – I wasn’t sure about the wordplay here – I think I convinced myself it was just referring to BR being both British and brother. |
23 | PRESS – I wasn’t sure about this at first; I guess it is just a quadruple definition! |
Then rushed into writing VEGESIMAL for 1A – very sloppy. Then my first correction on a later look after stopping the clock was VEGI- rather than VIGE-. All very annoying when there are words like ‘vingt’ to give you the right hint if you think carefully. So 12:35, one mistake.
Was anyone else worried by 11A (Abrogration, not a revolt)? I assume the answer to this is REPEL (unless I’ve screwed up twice), but I’m not sure how to square that with “revolt”. Now if the answer had been REBEL …
(Probably missing something obvious. Feeling v. tired, as I said.)
PS: I don’t think “beau” in 6A needs to have a capital B, since Nash was a beau.
Nobody will ever see this comment cos I’m writing it so late. Oh well.
Valentine
A Rugby League side of “easies” in this one:
9a Refined , but not grand, weapon (7)
CUT (g) LASS
11a Abrogation, not a revolt (5)
REPE (a) L
14a Stop to refuel where orchestra plays (3)
PIT
15a (Given a stern)* struggle, one of 28? (7,4)
EVENING STAR. 28a is SKYLIGHTS.
19a Roll Baked And Prepared foor starters (3)
BAP
27a Chap’s energy goes into building (5)
MAN’S E
2d If you want a cup of tea – run down (2,2,3)
GO TO POT
4d Young lady, given gravy jug, can’t grab it quick enough (4,3,4)
MISS THE BOAT
6d Eat too much, and drink up last of wine (5)
GORG E. Grog backwards followed by (win)E.
7d Firm’s advertisement attracting a male worker (7)
AD A M ANT
18d (Not like)* fanciful writer (7)
TOLKIEN. Nice choice of anagrind there.
21d Blood all round scratch initially produced by this prickly shrub (5)
GOR S E. A dense prickly shrub with attractive yellow flowers that occurs on sandy soils and that likes to eat golf balls.
25d Count up characters here (3)
MUS. As in the Greek double M.