This was a proper workout which I enjoyed very much – a bit of general knowledge, some clever definitions and lateral thinking required throughout. Came in well over par at 9 minutes.
| Across | |
| 1 | Obstinacy with which irregular shape designed (13) |
| PIGHEADEDNESS – anagram (‘irregular’) of SHAPE DESIGNED | |
| 8 | Lady in pink? (7) |
| MILDRED – This took a while to spot. Pink could be described as a MILD sort of RED. | |
| 9 | A defector returns holding one piece of jewellery (5) |
| TIARA -A RAT backwards holding I | |
| 10 | Soft cheeses, we are told, number three on the scale (6,6) |
| GENTLE BREEZE – GENTLE (soft) BREEZE (sounds like ‘bries’). Third point on the Beaufort scale of wind speed | |
| 12 | Not a professional poet? (6) |
| LAYMAN – Lay is a type of poem, so a poet might be called a lay man. | |
| 14 | United Nations party cut short? That’s odd (6) |
| UNEVEN – UN + EVEN[ |
|
| 17 | US sportsman in jug (7) |
| PITCHER – Double definition. The guy who throws the ball in baseball, and a big jug | |
| 19 | Island’s whiskey ace (5) |
| MALTA -MALT + A | |
| 20 | Group of wives here are married with husband (5) |
| HAREM – ARE + M with H in the front | |
| 21 | Something tossed annually landing badly? (7) |
| PANCAKE -Double definition, the second being the crash-landing of an aircraft | |
| 22 | Sound as a bell, for such a battle? (4-4) |
| DING-DONG – self-explanatory | |
| 23 | What Flanders and Swann have sung about (4) |
| GNUS – OK, no idea what to call this clue, which might be some sort of &lit or something, but… F & S wrote a famous song about GNUS, which is also an anagram (‘about’) of SUNG. Did you know, for I did not, that before they wrote that song, gnu was pronounced ‘noo’, and now we all pronounce it g-noo? | |
| Down | |
| 1 | I have got out of bed, rising for the cat (4) |
| PUMA – AM UP backwards | |
| 2 | Art display where one may see a lot of rogues? (7) |
| GALLERY – self explanatory | |
| 3 | Bird, say, right to conserve energy (5) |
| EGRET – EG (say) + RT (right) with E (energy) inside | |
| 4 | One avoiding artful pickpocket? (6) |
| DODGER -double definition, the second being a character in Oliver Twist | |
| 5 | Entered month sadly for a major removal (12) |
| DETHRONEMENT – anagram (‘sadly’) of ENTERED MONTH | |
| 6 | Delete article written in Irish (5) |
| ERASE – ERSE is Irish (from the Scots dialect I think), stick an A inside. | |
| 7 | People standing too close to one in game? (5,8) |
| SPACE INVADERS – double definition | |
| 11 | Slovenly old ships to be replaced (8) |
| SLIPSHOD – anagram (‘replaced’) of OLD SHIPS | |
| 13 | Humiliated, made to dance under tree (7) |
| ASHAMED – anagram (‘to dance’) of MADE under ASH | |
| 15 | Wickedly punching preening criminal (7) |
| VILLAIN – ILL (wickedly) inside VAIN (preening). The word ‘criminial set me off an anagram wild goose chase. | |
| 16 | Call doctor at home about operation (4,2) |
| DROP IN – DR (doctor) + IN with OP inside | |
| 18 | Venturing to take in place in Piedmont (5) |
| TURIN – hidden word: venTURINg | |
Well I enjoyed it and except for LOI and COD MILDRED didn’t think it was that hard. 09:30.
Thanks Teazel and Curarist.
Templar
Agreed 😊 Although my LOI and COD was SPACE INVADERS. Not sure of time – I did it hours ago, but squinting, as I’ve just had second cataract op and can’t see properly! Hope your ankle is on the mend.
Ouch! Heal well. I’m on the mend, thank you.