[ SAT 15th ] Slightly caught out by the sneaky bank holiday jumbo – was away when 996 came out, did it on the tuesday, but didnt make any notes, now I cant find it! So give me a while to print out the grid, re-do it and then blog it. ETA sometime tomorrow !!
[ SUN 16th circa 13:30 ] Rattled this one off on a train on the Tuesday in about 45 mins. There was no obscure vocab that wasnt easily guessable. AGAMA, RAMA and TAGALOG were examples, but didnt pose much of a problem. There were not many well hidden definitions either, which often add difficulty, although there were a few good surfaces and nicely worked wordplays.
What is interesting is how bad my memory is over two weeks. I would have expected almost to write in all the answers on a blank grid, but there were many a clue that required a bit of re-thought. I suppose that if you do enough grids, the likelihood of remembering run of the mill clues is minimal.
| Across | |
| 1 | SECOND RATE – def=poor, time=second, scold=rate |
| 6 | CLOCK WATCHER – def=slacker, slightly tongue in cheek with CLOCK and WATCH being timers, and I guess the question mark gives the liberty with the -ER. |
| 14 | OBVERTING – (veto bring)* |
| 15 | HELLO – HELL=nightmare, O=duck, slightly cryptic def of opener in the conversational sense. This works well for the cricket surface. |
| 16 | ACRONYM – A(lien) M(onster) around CRONY=friend. TARDIS is an example of an acronym although I couldnt tell you it off the top of my head – something about Time and Relative Dimensions In Space at a guess ?? |
| 17 | GET THE BALL ROLLING – double def, where the kick off in football would involve getting the ball rolling. It may not do so in a rugby game though! |
| 18 | IDLER – somewhat inverted word play with (win)E (cella)R, after L(ooking), after (“at”) ID=papers. Def=lounger |
| 19 | SPARROW – SPAR=fight, ROW=fight |
| 21 | GROOVE – double def where routine=groove, in a slightly negative way “stuck in a groove” |
| 22 | SEAHORSE – (fish roe)* after S(om)E, and an &lit definition. |
| 24 | ONE EYED – O=old, NEED=requirement, around YE=you. Polypheus was the cyclops in the Odyssey. |
| 26 | SENORITA – ONES reversed, then RITA (educated from the film/play) whole=young lady. |
| 27 | POUFFE – PUFF=smoke around O=round, then (sette)E |
| 30 | DOUBLE BOGEY – (blue goodbye)* |
| 32 | DENTAL FLOSS – (and left a)* then LOSS=gaping hole. The word play works especially well with the surface in continuing the theme of the definition. |
| 33 | OIL PAINTING – IL=one line in OP=work, AIN’T IN G, suggests (as a piece of music) it must be in one of the other keys. Whole is the work of art! |
| 35 | STRIP SEARCH – STRIPE=mark of authority, ARCH=required, around (drug)S. |
| 37 | SAYING – YIN=something negative (as in YIN/YANG) in SAG=sink. def=saw. |
| 38 | PSALTERY – SALTER=one that preserves, inside P(rior)Y |
| 39 | EPSILON – (plies)* then ON |
| 42 | LAVENDER – REAL=genuine, reversed, around VEND=sell. |
| 44 | SETTER – In that jelly sets. Good to see this clued without saying “me” or “I”, or “yours truly”. |
| 46 | PFENNIG – F=strong, in PEN=pound, GIN=mothers ruin, reversed, for the former german currency. |
| 48 | SONIC – SO NIC(e) |
| 49 | ON THE CREST OF A WAVE – double def “surfer so” and “successful” |
| 51 | ENLARGE – (green al)* where al is b(AL)l. |
| 52 | PAGAN – GA=georgia=state, inside PAN=god. |
| 53 | DOCUDRAMA – DO=produce, CUD=something to chew on, RAMA=avatar, for the TV programme. I did not know RAMA, but apparantly it is the seventh avatar of the god Vishnu. I hope it is not necessary to know all of these to complete future grids!! |
| 54 | TRAJECTORIES – (lates)T then EC=european community inside RAJ=government, TORIES=politicians. Whole is “courses” |
| 55 | DECELERATE – (machin)E, CELER(y)=sticks, but not entirely, in DATE=time. Whole is “Slow” |
| Down | |
| 1 | SMORGASBORD – S=second, MOR(e)=extra short, GAS=talk, BOD=man, around R(otter), for the Scandi food. |
| 2 | COVET – CO-VET=fellow doctor ! |
| 3 | NORTHERLY – THE R=right inside N=new, ORLY=airport. |
| 4 | RAINBOW – RA=artist, IN BOW=part of east london. |
| 5 | TAGALOG – TAG A LOG=ensure wood is labelled, for one of those words I only ever come across in xwords. |
| 7 | LILY LIVERED – LILY=blooming thing, LIVE=to be, RED=shade |
| 8 | CHOPIN – CHOP=hack, IN=popular. |
| 9 | WRANGLES – R=resistance, in WANGLES=engineers (as in the verb) |
| 10 | TURKISH COFFEE – (risk chu)* inside TOFFEE, for the drink. |
| 11 | HANDLER – AND L=accompanying learner, inside HER, for the trainer. |
| 12 | REMORSELESS – MORSEL=bite, inside REES=Welshman, S(tomach) for “savage” |
| 13 | CHARDONNAY – DONNA=italian woman, CHARY=hesitant around it. Whole is just “white” for the french white wine, so dont get confused by the italian part. |
| 20 | ASEXUALLY – AS=like, EX=old, U=university, ALLY=friend. |
| 23 | STINGRAY – STINGY=mean, outside (b)R(e)A(m) |
| 25 | DEBUNK – DEB=society girl, (p)UNK = topless delinquent. A clue that may have been topical had it been a few weeks later! |
| 26 | SOGGIEST – SO=well, (egg is)*, T=time. |
| 28 | FLOORPLAN – FLOOR=puzzle, L=left, in PAN=toilet. |
| 29 | MAGPIE – MAG=issue, PIE=food |
| 31 | LEARNING CURVE – cryptic def |
| 33 | OBSOLESCENT – (coblestones)* [only one B] |
| 34 | GOLDEN EAGLE – (gone alleged)* |
| 35 | SWELTERING – SING=pipe, around WELTER=roll around |
| 36 | HAND GRENADE – HAND=worker, GRENADINE=cordial, less IN. |
| 40 | SKEDADDLE – (a)SKED, requested after scalping, ADDLE=turn, whole is “to run off” |
| 41 | REDOLENT – took a while to get this but it is RE-DO LENT. quite amusing when you see it! |
| 43 | VANILLA – VAN=vehicle, ILL, A, for “plain” |
| 45 | RESIDUE – U=uranium, inside RESIDE=live. |
| 46 | POOL CUE – sounds like POOLE, Q. Whole is “potter”. I had no-idea about POOLE pots and had to look it up. Still not entirely confident! |
| 47 | STUPOR – UP=awake, inside STOR(m) |
| 50 | AGAMA – hidden word – didnt know it, had to use checkers. |
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