This was a super puzzle with a number of very good anagrams, several cute definitions and some top class clues warranting a big tick. Thanks setter, you kept me entertained for 50 minutes.
First in was TURN THE OTHER CHEEK and last was WHALER
If any of my explanations don’t make sense then feel free to ask for further elucidation.
The technical stuff:
Clues are in blue with the definition underlined. Anagram indicators are in bold italics.
Notation:
DD: Double definition
CD: Cryptic definition
DDCDH: DD/CD hybrid where a straight definition is combined with a cryptic hint.
&Lit: “all in one” where the entire clue is both definition and wordplay.
(fodder)* denotes an anagram of the letters in the brackets.
Rounded brackets are also used to add further clarity
Squiggly brackets {} indicate parts of a word not used
Deletions are struck out
Square brackets [] expand a symbol, abbreviation or shortening like C[lubs]
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | One providing information about cycling tour, it’s not hard for sportsmen (5,5) |
| GRASS COURT – GRASS (informer), C[irca], TOUR cycled | |
| 6 | Hacking around sculpture etc, ultimately not very popular (5-7) |
| CHART-TOPPING – CHOPPING around ART {no}T | |
| 14 | What’s pulled out when playing hearts, perhaps leading (5,4) |
| ORGAN STOP – ORGANS, TOP | |
| 15 | Hazard of fairy lights observed at the outset (5) |
| PERIL – PERI, L{ights} | |
| 16 | Fail to stir bit of orange around, through error (5,2) |
| SLEEP IN -PEEL reversed in SIN | |
| 17 | Head-spinning biblical instruction? (4,3,5,5) |
| TURN THE OTHER CHEEK – CD | |
| 18 | Brief confusion surrounding operating system for early adopter of tablets? (5) |
| MOSES – MES{s} around O[perating] S[ystem] | |
| 19 | Back pain — after onset, probe back (7) |
| LUMBAGO – {p}LUMB, AGO | |
| 21 | Mostly dud Lloyd Webber musical making money (6) |
| DUCATS – DU{d}, CATS | |
| 22 | Duck previously called, ringing eg Donald Duck directly (3,2,3) |
| ONE TO ONE -O, NEE around TOON. An apparent surfeit of Os initially had me wondering where the third duck came from. | |
| 24 | What fox-hunters say is not entirely, totally honest (5-2) |
| TALLY-HO – hidden | |
| 26 | Unaccompanied area head rejected everyone (1,7) |
| A CAPELLA – A[rea]. CAPE, ALL reversed | |
| 27 | Increasingly sore about coming back yesterday to Paris (6) |
| ACHIER – C[irc]A reversed, HIER | |
| 30 | Keep going with Bee Gees song pun (4,2,5) |
| PLAY ON WORDS – PLAY ON, WORDS | |
| 32 | How unpleasant to wear tight pants, yet wayward younger generation take a stand on it (7,4) |
| NAUGHTY STEP – UGH in the double anagram (pants)* (yet)* | |
| 33 | Sheepish comment taking in parrots eating lentils, maybe a thousand, for dessert (5,6) |
| BAKED ALASKA – BAA around KEAS around DAL | |
| 35 | What is thematic in mathematical part of song? (6,5) |
| MIDDLE EIGHT – clever, The letter of THEMATIC make up the middle eight letter oh maTHEMATICal | |
| 37 | Child affected empty nappy (6) |
| TWEENY – TWEE, N{app}Y | |
| 38 | Social media user’s row about “back to back to back to back” (8) |
| TIKTOKER -TIER around {bac}K, TO, {bac}K. Very nice. | |
| 39 | Exchange travelling salesman with doctor (7) |
| REPLACE – REP, LACE | |
| 42 | Nissan electric car with permits for publicity material (8) |
| LEAFLETS – LEAF (one of the early EVs), LETS | |
| 44 | Ring with gold ends half lost (each half lost) (6) |
| ENHALO – EN |
|
| 46 | US taxmen returning to seize almost everything from foreign composer (7) |
| SALIERI – IRS reversed around ALIE{n} | |
| 48 | Gracious clubs backing rugby nation locally (5) |
| CYMRU – MY C[lubs] reversed, R[ugby] U[nion]. Wales, in case ye didnae ken. | |
| 49 | Don’t try to improve learners working with loose nuts (4,2,4,7) |
| REST ON ONES LAURELS – (learners loose nuts)* | |
| 51 | Peer after retired US soldier in base (7) |
| IGNOBLE – NOBLE after G.I. reversed | |
| 52 | Lists of shoes (5) |
| HEELS – DD | |
| 53 | Country where Samaritans are not quite adopting new number (3,6) |
| SAN MARINO – SAMARI{a} (where Samaritans are from) around N[ew], then NO for number. Does anyone know why it’s no. rather than nu.? Foreign? | |
| 54 | Turkey struggling with crisis threat (8,4) |
| SECURITY RISK – (Turkey crisis)* | |
| 55 | Marsh beginning to ruin inside of property with windows (10) |
| FENESTRATE – FEN, R{uin} in ESTATE | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Last plot got complicated: what could be in bottle? (7,4) |
| GLOTTAL STOP – (last plot got)* | |
| 2 | Name given to “rage”, put another way? (5) |
| ANGER – (N[ame] rage)*, &Lit | |
| 3 | Second insurance employee welcoming head of non-payment protection (9) |
| SANCTUARY – S[econd], ACTUARY around N{on-payment} | |
| 4 | Busy time of year putting paid to male self-esteem (2,3,2) |
| ON THE GO – MONTH with no M[ale], EGO | |
| 5 | Supposed rest limited by oboe? (7) |
| REPUTED -PUT in REED | |
| 7 | Hard fruit ignored by leader of People’s Party shortly for vegetable (7,4) |
| HARICOT BEAN -H[ard] APRICOT with no P[eople’s], BEAN{o} | |
| 8 | Match official embracing porky substitute (6) |
| RELIEF – REF[eree] around LIE (porkie = pork pie = CRS for lie) | |
| 9 | Capital city positioned around hot part of England (8) |
| TASHKENT – SAT reversed, H[ot], KENT. Capital of Uzbekistan | |
| 10 | Possibly spare change in teacup? Try me (9,4) |
| PNEUMATIC TYRE – (in teacup try me)* | |
| 11 | One’s gone over painting technique (7) |
| IMPASTO – I’m, PAST, O[ver] | |
| 12 | Ties binding northern land with piano music not heard on Classic FM (8,3) |
| GANGSTER RAP – GAGS around N[orthern], TERRA, P[iano] | |
| 13 | Posh courier carrying a jar that’s incomplete (5-5) |
| UPPER-CLASS – U.P.S. around PER (a), CLAS{h} | |
| 20 | City race to host event after somebody’s passed on accepting United (9) |
| MILWAUKEE – MILE around WAKE around U[nited]. I went to Milwaukee once for a business meeting. We were quite high in a beautiful modern building, in a room overlooking Lake Michigan. What a boring piece of water. It was absolutely featureless with nothing of interest. No distant shore, no boats, no birds, no waves, no rocks, no islets, nothing. | |
| 23 | Someone beginning to admit large struggle (8) |
| FLOUNDER -FOUNDER around L[arge] | |
| 25 | Spanish civil war combatant is otherwise healthy (6) |
| ORWELL – OR, WELL. | |
| 26 | A marker’s choices when neither finish verse? (8) |
| ACROSTIC – A, CROS |
|
| 28 | Do some maths where Ashes may be short of hours (9) |
| INTEGRATE – IN THE GRATE without H[ours] | |
| 29 | One killing bull perhaps keener when featuring in broadcast (6) |
| WHALER -sounds like WAILER | |
| 31 | Playing a blinder with no rum first? (7,6) |
| ORDINAL NUMBER – (a blinder no rum)* | |
| 33 | Oddly basic letter calls for engagement? (6,5) |
| BATTLE CRIES – (basic letter)* | |
| 34 | Nearly every Native American companion we run across ultimately rides together (5,6) |
| ALTON TOWERS – AL{l}, TONTO, WE, R[un], {acros}S. A famous theme park in England. I loved the use of Tonto. | |
| 35 | Eg Volkswagen Bugs heard to whine (4,1,5) |
| MAKE A NOISE – MAKE (a make of car), soundalike of annoys. | |
| 36 | London bikes met hog when travelling (3,3,5) |
| THE BIG SMOKE – (bikes hog met)* | |
| 40 | Source of corruption in voting upset trade union worker (9) |
| POLLUTANT – POLL, T[rade] U[nion] reversed, ANT | |
| 41 | Extremely harsh and unpleasant Ken Loach film screened by Twitch (8) |
| STARKEST – KES in START | |
| 43 | A passage taken the wrong way, covering mass publication each year (7) |
| ALMANAC – A, CANAL reversed around M[ass] | |
| 45 | Direct rhyme in Old English (7) |
| OVERSEE – VERSE in O[ld] E[nglish] | |
| 46 | Leader of Capitol lies about hosting Everdeen’s final Quarter Quell (7) |
| SILENCE – (C{apitol} lies)* around {everde}EN. I have no idea what the surface reading means and I’m not sure I want to. | |
| 47 | Escape the woman who was responsible for impossible flights (6) |
| ESCHER – ESC[ape] HER. Artist M.C. Escher. A very clever and talented chap. | |
| 50 | Nick stripped in time for Heather (5) |
| ERICA – |
|
DNF
Couldn’t get TIKTOKERS, DNK MAKE A NOISE, NHO ALTON TOWERS. DNK NAUGHTY STEP. I don’t know any Bee Gees songs, but I assumed ‘Words’ is one of them. I’ve never seen GANGSTER RAP, only ‘gangsta’. I have ‘feh’ in the margins by several clues with ugly surfaces, and 46d is one of the ugliest (32ac and 33ac are others).