Not too difficult as these things go without great recourse to Chambers. I don’t understand 33A which I solved by looking at the checking letters,T?ARS reading the first three words of the clue “rush special drops” and then ignoring the rest of it – strange!
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | F-STOP – F(ST)OP; beau=FOP; stone=ST; the F-number on a camera being the ratio focal length/aperture diameter; |
| 5 | MEANEST – MEA-NEST; miserable=mea-sly then change “sly”=old expert into “nest”=retreat; |
| 11 | WHAT,CHEER – W-HATCH-EER; wide=W (cricket); still used today as “watch-ya”; |
| 12 | DEN,MOTHER – (he’d mentor)*; according to the Urban Dictionary the leader of a pack of cougars; |
| 13 | ULTO – (u=university + lot)*; |
| 14 | RIMU – R(I)M-U; room=RM; second to b-U-shiest=U; a NZ fir; |
| 15 | E-BUSINESS – (is seen)* surrounds BUS(t); Amazon as in book seller not den mother; |
| 16 | AERIE – (E-IRE-A all reversed); about=A; a visionary; |
| 17 | REAL,ALE – RE-A-LA(d)LE; on=RE; unfiltered, unpasturised, cask ale not containing carbon-dioxide. Those old enough will recall the foundation of Camra and the fight against the like of Watney’s truely awful keg beer – Red Barrel; |
| 21 | CRABBIT – C-RABBIT; |
| 23 | DONOR – DO-NOR; fare=DO; Norman=NOR; |
| 24 | HAVE,IN,TOW – HAVE-INTO-W; bear=HAVE; interested in=INTO; back to den mothers; |
| 28 | AHEM – A(HE)M; |
| 29 | MASU – M-AS-U(ch); clubhouse=CH; an eastern salmon; |
| 30 | MANICOTTI – MANIC-OTT-I; |
| 31 | ENTHRONED – (HR need not)*; |
| 32 | STAGING – S(tenciller)-TAG-IN-G; |
| 33 | TEARS – TEAR-S; rush=TEAR + special=S; drops=TEARS; don’t get the rest of it which appears superfluous; |
| Down | |
| 1 | FIDUS,ACHATES – (CIA shafted us)*; Aeneas’ china in the Aeneid; |
| 2 | SKELDER – S(ee)K-ELDER; to cheat; |
| 3 | TANTARA – T(ANT)ARA; bracken=TARA; pismire=ANT; musical term for a blast on the trumpets; |
| 4 | PHOEBE – PHO(bee)*; yuck=PHO; the flycatcher; |
| 5 | MATSURI – M-AT-SUR-I; mass=M; in=AT; Rheim’s on=SUR; Japanese festival (where they eat masu presumably); |
| 6 | ETHOS – ET-HOS; Egypt=ET; house=HOS; |
| 7 | ACEDIA – ACE-(AID reversed); technical term for torpor; |
| 8 | EERIE – E-ERIE; |
| 9 | SEAMS – SEA-MS; Mississippi=MS; great wave=SEA; |
| 10 | TROUSER,SUITS – TROUSER-S(U)ITS; nick=steal=TROUSER (slang); unionist=U; power dressing for cougars; |
| 18 | ETTLING – (n)ETT-LING; heather=LING; aiming north of the border; |
| 19 | ANNATTA – ANNA-T(ry)-T(iramisu)-A; ANNA is from Hannah, Hebrew for “God has favoured me”; |
| 20 | LOBSTER – three meanings 1=old slang for a soldier (Tommy) 2=one to loft (lob) 3=shellfish; |
| 22 | BIHARI – B-I-HAR(d)-I; bowled=B; an Indian from the state of Bihari; |
| 23 | DOUCET – perplexity=doubt then change b=bachelor to ce=chancellor; |
| 25 | AHINT – A(H)INT; is not commonly=AINT; |
| 26 | VESTA – VEST-A; robe=VEST; academy=A; the original smoker’s safety match sold in little covers with flip over lids – sold in the UK in boxes of Swan Vesta matches; |
| 27 | NINON – (gow)N-IN-ON; wearing=IN; happening now=ON; |
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