Much of this was easy but I had problem finishing off some stragglers that remained lurking in the centre of the grid.
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]. “Aural wordplay” is in quotation marks. I usually omit all reference to juxtaposition indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.
 Across |
|
| 1 | One struck by particular moment late in game (5,5) |
| MATCH POINT | |
| MATCH (one struck), POINT (particular moment). The definition might be more convincing as ‘moment late in the game’, but that would have ‘moment’ doing double duty, which is not permitted. | |
| 6 | Most of group is featured in performances — they’re musicians! (12) |
| ACCOMPANISTS | |
| COMPAN{y} (group) [most of…] + IS, contained by [featured in] ACTS (performances) | |
| 14 | Monster crab dish prepared with thyme in the middle (9) |
| CHARYBDIS | |
| Anagram [prepared] of CRAB DISH {th}Y{me} [in the middle]. Collins: a ship-devouring monster in classical mythology, identified with a whirlpool off the north coast of Sicily. | |
| 15 | Round element making up Bridget Riley work? (2,3) |
| OP ART | |
| O (round), PART (element). Apologies to this 93 year old artist, but I’ve never heard of her. | |
| 16 | In two minds, primarily after delaying one’s transport to Oz? (7) |
| TORNADO | |
| TORN (in two minds), A{fter} + D{elaying} + O{one’s} [primarily]. I’ve never seen the film but I’m aware that a cyclone carries Dorothy, Toto and their house to the Land of Oz. | |
| 17 | An elegant interior refurbished over several time periods (17) |
| INTERGENERATIONAL | |
| Anagram [refurbished] of AN ELEGANT INTERIOR | |
| 18 | I’m surprised about operation of a restaurant (5) |
| HOUSE | |
| OH (I’m surprised) reversed [about], USE (operation). As in steak house. | |
| 19 | Elects to do wrong following various other terrible examples at first (5,2) |
| VOTES IN | |
| V{arious} + O{ther} + T{errible} + E{xamples} [at first], SIN (do wrong) | |
| 21 | Dance in loose-fitting dress (6) |
| SHIMMY | |
| Two meanings. As a garment ‘shimmy’ is an alternative word for ‘chemise’. As a dance it dates from the ragtime era. | |
| 22 | Artist appeared before the crowd, being filmed (2,6) |
| ON CAMERA | |
| ON CAME RA (artist appeared). I’m not sure of the purpose of ‘before the crowd’ here. | |
| 24 | Rest of song has to be abridged (3,4) |
| LIE DOWN | |
| LIED (German song), OWN{s} (has) [abridged] | |
| 26 | Hot air from mouth on hand (8) |
| CLAPTRAP | |
| CLAP (hand), TRAP (mouth) | |
| 27 | Soup and a portion of lamb or schnitzel (6) |
| BORSCH | |
| Hidden in [a portion of] {lam}B OR SCH{nitzel} | |
| 30 | Chance of promotion almost restricted by design (11) |
| INADVERTENT | |
| ADVER{t} (promotion) [almost] contained [restricted] by INTENT (design) | |
| 32 | Cooked fish badly in good wine (11) |
| CHARGRILLED | |
| CHAR (fish), then ILL (badly) contained by [in] G (good) + RED (wine) | |
| 33 | Lists of clubs taken on by awful politicians (11) |
| DIRECTORIES | |
| C (clubs) contained [taken on] by DIRE (awful) + TORIES (politicians) | |
| 35 | Avatar wearing pink (11) |
| INCARNATION | |
| IN (wearing), CARNATION (pink – alternative names for the flower). SOED: avatar – an incarnation or embodiment of another person, an idea, etc. | |
| 37 | Community organisation’s informal change brought about enlightenment (6) |
| WISDOM | |
| WI‘S (community organisation’s – Women’s Institute’s), MOD (informal change) reversed [brought about]. ‘Mod’ here is an abbreviation of modification or modify. | |
| 38 | Position on committee with my boss worked out (8) |
| COMPUTED | |
| COM (committee), PUT (position), ED (my – the setter’s – boss) | |
| 39 | It’s only a snippet, but grabs hold of readers at the start (7) |
| EXCERPT | |
| EXCEPT (but) contains [grabs hold of] R{eaders} [at the start] | |
| 42 | Container of flowers well-kept around public transport station (4-4) |
| TRAM-STOP | |
| POT (container of flowers) + SMART (well-kept) reversed [around] | |
| 44 | Basic formal attire, lacy at the front (6) |
| PRIMAL | |
| PRIM (formal), A{ttire} + L{acy} [at the front] | |
| 46 | City in Oregon, Louisiana, North Dakota, and Ohio (7) |
| ORLANDO | |
| OR (Oregon), LA (Louisiana), ND (North Dakota), O (Ohio). I understand the official postal service abbreviation for Ohio is OH, but ‘O’ is a valid alternative. | |
| 48 | Ingredient in ramen somewhat often … OK, infrequently! (5) |
| ENOKI | |
| Hidden in [somewhat] {oft}EN OK I{nfrequently}. Japanese mushrooms in a Japanese noodle dish. | |
| 49 | Surgeon screened odd parts of body randomly for skin damage (6,6,5) |
| SECOND DEGREE BURNS | |
| Anagram [randomly] of SURGEON SCREENED B[o}D{y} [odd parts of…] | |
| 51 | Parks possibly filled with fantastic type of redness (7) |
| ROSACEA | |
| ROSA (Parks possibly) containing [filled with] ACE (fantastic). A condition in which facial blood vessels enlarge, giving the cheeks and nose a flushed appearance. | |
| 52 | River close to port split (5) |
| TRENT | |
| {por}T [close to…], RENT (split) | |
| 53 | Brief opportunity to catch horse and carriage (9) |
| CHARABANC | |
| CHANC{e} (opportunity) [brief] containing [to catch] ARAB (horse) | |
| 54 | Secret plan characteristic of Volkswagen and Daimler merger? (6,6) |
| HIDDEN AGENDA | |
| HIDDEN in [characteristic of …merger of ) {Volksw}AGEN |
|
| 55 | A little red buggy, not handled correctly (3-7) |
| ILL-TREATED | |
| Anagram [buggy,] of A LITTLE RED | |
| Down |
|
| 1 | Endlessly call him a vile, terribly conniving person (11) |
| MACHIAVELLI | |
| Anagram [terribly] of CAL{l} [endlessly] HIM A VILE | |
| 2 | Channel without lead feature (5) |
| TRAIT | |
| {s}TRAIT (shipping channel) [without lead] | |
| 3 | How a magician may reveal ropes they rearranged (3,6) |
| HEY PRESTO | |
| Anagram [rearranged] of ROPES THEY | |
| 4 | My friend is former head? (3,4) |
| OLD BEAN | |
| OLD (old), BEAN (head) | |
| 5 | Lack of cutting implements must put out the last of cafeteria diners (7) |
| NOSHERS | |
| NO SHE{a}RS (lack of cutting implements} [put out the last of cafeteria] | |
| 7 | I’m a chic star, frightfully alluring (11) |
| CHARISMATIC | |
| Anagram [frightfully] of I’M A CHIC STAR | |
| 8 | Looking sulky, having been denied power trip (6) |
| OUTING | |
| {p}OUTING (looking sulky) [denied power] | |
| 9 | Bad-tempered piano worker maybe holding another instrument up (8) |
| PETULANT | |
| P (piano) + ANT (worker maybe] containing [holding] LUTE (another instrument) reversed [up] | |
| 10 | State expanded once stripped of its borders? (5,8) |
| NORTH CAROLINA | |
| {o}NC{e} [stripped of its borders] when expanded becomes NORTH CAROLINA | |
| 11 | Height of king embodied in sculpture (7) |
| STATURE | |
| R (king) contained by [embodied in] STATUE (sculpture) | |
| 12 | Wanted shoes muddied and made to seem worn (11) |
| STONEWASHED | |
| Anagram [muddied] of WANTED SHOES | |
| 13 | Flatmate is unable to accept house being upended slightly (2-8) |
| CO-HABITANT | |
| CAN‘T (is unable) containing [to accept] HO (house) reversed [being upended] + A BIT (slightly) | |
| 20 | Meaningful reference book? (9) |
| THESAURUS | |
| Cryptic | |
| 23 | Fair cut introduced by travel operator (8) |
| BALANCED | |
| BA (travel operator – British Airways), LANCED (cut) | |
| 25 | Precise name given by director? (6) |
| NARROW | |
| N (name), ARROW (director? – pointer) | |
| 26 | Trust men to whom money is owed (8) |
| CREDITOR | |
| CREDIT (trust), OR (men) | |
| 28 | Continue in private, perhaps, certainly not upset (7,2) |
| SOLDIER ON | |
| SOLDIER (private, perhaps), then NO (certainly not) reversed [upset] | |
| 29 | In the past, arcades regularly overlooked marketplaces (6) |
| AGORAE | |
| AGO (in the past), {a}R{c}A{d}E{s} [regularly overlooked] | |
| 31 | Civic council’s penultimate closure could produce problem that only gets worse (7,6) |
| VICIOUS CIRCLE | |
| Anagram [could produce] CIVIC {counc}I{l} [’s penultimate] CLOSURE | |
| 33 | Sensible way to go to gain re-entry? (4-2-5) |
| DOWN-TO-EARTH | |
| A main meaning and a hint referring to the conclusion of a space mission | |
| 34 | Oversee excellent plan (11) |
| SUPERINTEND | |
| SUPER (excellent), INTEND (plan) | |
| 35 | Birds periodically surrounded by friendly cow (10) |
| INTIMIDATE | |
| {b}I{r}D{s} [periodically] contained [surrounded] by INTIMATE (friendly) | |
| 36 | Faulty indicators containing uranium and corrosive fluid (7,4) |
| NITROUS ACID | |
| Anagram [faulty] INDICATORS containing U (uranium) | |
| 40 | Make adjustments to old car outside a library (9) |
| CALIBRATE | |
| CRATE (old car) containing [outside] A + LIB (library) | |
| 41 | Dish ultimately from America found in part of Japan (8) |
| MOUSSAKA | |
| {fro}M [ultimately], then US (from America) contained by [found in] OSAKA (part of Japan) | |
| 43 | Woke up and, in the absence of Charlie, drank freely (7) |
| AROUSED | |
| {c}AROUSED (drank freely) [in the absence of Charlie] | |
| 45 | Record I mostly describe as sound (7) |
| LOGICAL | |
| LOG (record), I, CAL{l} (describe) [mostly] | |
| 46 | Ham surplus somewhere in Australia (7) |
| OVERACT | |
| OVER (surplus), ACT (somewhere in Australia). The Australian Capital Territory is where the capital city of Canberra is seated. | |
| 47 | Get out ahead of helium blast (6) |
| SCATHE | |
| SCAT (get out!), HE (helium) | |
| 50 | Severely criticise item on a pub menu? (5) |
| ROAST | |
| Two meanings | |
I was puzzled by ‘before the crowd’. I never parsed WISDOM: forgot the WI, and would never have thought of ‘mod’.
DNF. I had IN CAMERA, which is clearly wrong, but I don’t much like the clue anyway.
Jack, I think you’re right that “moment late in game” is the better definition at 1ac. It works if we take point as a synonym for the noun form of particular, as in an item of information or a detail.
Yes that’s how I read it.
At 22 across I suppose the artist came on stage, before an audience (crowd).
Again, yes, that’s how I read it!
I found this quite straightforward. NHO Bridget Riley and I was unsure of either meaning of SHIMMY.
20dn is curious because the feature of a THESAURUS that distinguishes it from dictionaries is that is does not contain ‘meanings’. Just synonyms.
In my experience even a moderately good thesaurus groups synonyms according to meaning. That distinguishes it from, say, Chambers Crossword Dictionary that only lists synonyms .
Yes Chambers (the only one I have) does that, but it doesn’t give actual definitions. Anyway it wasn’t meant as a serious objection to the clue, just a casual observation!
There were several really neat clues here. I especially liked the Volkswagen-Daimler agenda, and oNCe for North Carolina.
Quibbles about 40d and 46d … calibrate does not mean “make adjustments” and “somewhere in Australia” is too vague (especially as I’d never heard of ACT).
But those are minor quibbles and overall it was interesting and fun.