22.20: I don’t think this was anywhere near as tricky as I made it, but I do have some excuses, such as tackling a brutal Broteas TLS crossword immediately before the midnight hour and a rather trying day with a bus that refused my custom and a train that didn’t go where it was supposed to.
Still there were a decent number of rather good anagrams, to make up for the artist at 21d which took me an age to pin down, and a couple of iffy definitions.
Definitions underlined in italics, everything else helped out with [] and elegant (sometimes) phrasing.
| Across | |
| 1 | Standard car coat (5) |
| PARKA – Standard is PAR (for the course) and the car, I assume is product placement for Ford’s sub-compact KA. | |
| 4 | Record numbers peer at back of tower (4,5) |
| KEEP COUNT – Verb style. The peer is a COUNT, coming in behind KEEP for tower. I lost time because KEEP is peek backwards, and then the clue doesn’t work. | |
| 9 | Hasty notes about using non-slip footwear (9) |
| ROUGHSHOD – Hasty gives ROUGH, and dohs, notes backwards, completes with SHOD | |
| 10 | Complete lunatic, off his head (5) |
| UTTER – A [N]UTTER decapitated. | |
| 11 | I give a hand, at the outset specifying highest standards (6) |
| IDEALS – I DEAL giving a hand at cards, plus S[pecifying] at the outset. | |
| 12 | Chief not involved in modern industry (8) |
| INFOTECH – An anagram (involved) of CHIEF NOT. | |
| 14 | What reduces exposure to UV round area better? (5,5) |
| OZONE LAYER – Round is O, area is ZONE, and then better as somone who lays a bet gives LAYER. Ozone chicken is not a thing. | |
| 16 | Above patronising theatre performance (4) |
| ATOP – Patronising is AT, and that sort of theatre performance is an OP. | |
| 19 | In the past year turned to a system of exercises (4) |
| YOGA – In the past is AGO, add y[ear] and reverse (turned). | |
| 20 | Diesel adds different way to experience horse-power (10) |
| SIDESADDLE – Another anagram (different) of DIESEL ADDS with a mildly whimsical definition. | |
| 22 | Bread agency delivered pancake mixture (8) |
| CIABATTA – The agency is the CIA, followed by what sounds like (as delivered) BATTER for pancake mixture. | |
| 23 | Woman’s appeal about to make an impact (6) |
| STELLA – SA short for (sex) appeal surrounding TELL for make an impact. | |
| 26 | Tough only child (5) |
| BUTCH – Only: BUT plus CH[ild] | |
| 27 | A piece of drapery cushioning husband’s heavy fall (9) |
| AVALANCHE – A piece of drapery is A VALANCE, which “cushions”, surrounds H[usband] | |
| 28 | Officer in scrap cut just above the chest (9) |
| DECOLLETE – A low cut neckline designed to both reveal and conceal. The officer is a COL[onel] contained in DELETE for scrap. | |
| 29 | Exhausted writer nursed by good man (5) |
| SPENT – Writer is PEN, enclose in ST for good man. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Clergyman bored by the author’s unknown meanness (9) |
| PARSIMONY – This time “the author’s” gives I’M, to be positioned within PARSON for clergyman, with Y for unknown added. | |
| 2 | French wine: dissolute type drinking gallons (5) |
| ROUGE – Dissolute type ROUÉ, insert G[allons] | |
| 3 | War hero in Far East regularly catching cold (8) |
| ACHILLES – The even letters of fAr EaSt with CHILL for cold inserted. | |
| 4 | Decisive punch, extremely harmful, is cause of black eye (4) |
| KOHL – Dark make-up, from a decisive punch KO and the extremes of H[armfu]L | |
| 5 | In hairy situation finally get in a rage (10) |
| ENDANGERED – I think this must work as finally: END and (get) in a rage ANGERED | |
| 6 | Revolution supported by what may offer entitlement (6) |
| COUPON – Revolution is COUP, and supported by simply gives ON. | |
| 7 | Tea turned out to be free of additives (9) |
| UNTREATED – An anagram (out) of TEA TURNED. | |
| 8 | Almost broken chain is light to carry (5) |
| TORCH – I think broken must be represented by TORN, from which you cut the end and add CH[ain] | |
| 13 | Official publication I run in government (10) |
| MAGISTRATE – Publication is MAG, add I then R[un] in STATE for government. | |
| 15 | Wildly revelling, so tragic I collapsed (9) |
| ORGIASTIC – Another anagram (collapsed) of SO TRAGIC I. | |
| 17 | Popular stop where almost everyone gets on (9) |
| PREVALENT – This is PREVENT for stop with AL[l] for almost everyone included. | |
| 18 | They fly in for summer having entered a race from far away (8) |
| MARTIANS – MARTINS, like swallows, are summer visitors. Enter the extra A. | |
| 21 | Painter perhaps turned into almost complete artist (6) |
| WARHOL – Our painter is the perennial RA, here reversed (turned) and inserted in an incomplete WHOL[e] | |
| 22 | Copper base raised somewhat (5) |
| CUBED – I.e. raised to the power of three. CU for copper (Cu for pedants!) and BED for base. | |
| 24 | Ill-gotten gains Hercules stores up (5) |
| LUCRE – Hidden and reversed in hERCULes | |
| 25 | Vegetable for example not used in keg beer (4) |
| KALE – knock of the e.g. from Keg and add ALE for beer. | |
I took just under an hour, having spent a good 15 minutes on my Loi MARTIANS, I was close to giving up. I think like the blogger I made this much harder than it was, but in 3x his time!
Thanks setter and blogger
Good fun this one, really liked it. Struggled to parse 21dn but got there.. he’s not “painter perhaps,” he’s an artist, though even that is a matter of opinion.
COD MARTIANS, partly because I like housemartins, swallows etc, and partly just to wind up Keriothe 🙂
The first few went in so quickly that I wondered if this would be a really quick time for me. But then I became bogged down and eventually had to use aids. Even they weren’t much help because I was very dim at post-parsing, and INFOTECH isn’t in the 2016 Chambers. At last I finished in a sort of way, because at 12ac, a very easy clue Chambers notwithstanding, I pressed reveal. 81 minutes, of which I was pretty ashamed.
Probably this has been said but I think END ANGERED is just synonymous with ‘finally get in a rage’. A case where lifting and separating doesn’t work.
Did not appreciate CH = ‘child’,’chain’. I’ve put in the years learning obscure abbreviations, and I would appreciate not needing to learn (too many) more.
42:43. This was quite a workout, but very enjoyable. FOI 1ac PARKA, then steady progress until almost grinding to a halt at the end for WARHOL, STELLA and LOI MARTIANS. I liked KEEP COUNT, MAGISTRATE, CIABATTA …
Tough and defeated by Martians in the end – naturally I’m with those who didn’t like the clue.
Interesting that the same abbreviation -ch- is used twice, one for child and once for chain. I find some of the abbreviations used are pushing it a bit and rarely used although no doubt I will be told off and given dictionary validation.
29:43 – I was on the wavelength for this one – got a bit stuck with DECOLLETE but once past that particular hurdle I was fine to the end. As someone said earlier, on the fun side of tricky!
Pleased to complete with just a couple of sneaky checks along the way (but no reveals today!). Have only just got why AT = patronising. Didn’t know CH for chain/child. Many biffed then parsed (ROUGHSHOD, DÉCOLLETÉ, PARSIMONY, SIDESADDLE). Very enjoyable. Thanks Z. Happy days.
32:01. Well I rather stuttered my way through this, but got there eventually. I blame walking 6 miles with a knee injury at the Suffolk Coast when I shouldn’t have and needing medication before I started. I thought I was finally finished after 28 mins, but spotted I hadn’t solved 6D COUPON, which took an alphabet trawl for 4 more minutes. Lots of great clues, but I thought a couple were a bit of a stretch, e.g. “raised somewhat” for CUBED. I liked ATOP and MARTIANS most. Thanks Z and setter.
Finished this. One day I had everything but the weird birds and distant race. In the morning I immediately saw MARTIANS. My POI DECOLLETE took some teasing out too.
I always assumed CIABATTA was some ancient loaf Italians have been making for centuries. But I found out recently it was invented in 1982.
Gah! I put in CHAPATTI with a shrug. Can’t believe I didn’t think of CIABATTA, when it’s everywhere these days. Otherwise 46 minutes for this enjoyable Friday snack.
All said in response to Grumpyoldnag above.
Just started doing the Times puzzles again after a long break and enjoyed this one a lot, but at 92 minutes across four sittings, it was about double the time that I take to do the FT ones. Also got caught with an unparsed CHAPATTI instead of CIABATTA – still get trapped with ‘if you can’t parse it, most likely it is wrong!’ Didn’t properly parse ROUGHSHOD, having the S after ROUGH rather than DOH.
Found that I was sprinkling answers around the grid and eventually connecting the gaps over time. DECOLLETE was the only new term and finished with STELLA, PREVALENT and what was my cod MARTIANS as the last one in.