April 2015 Club Monthly 20175

Middle of the range, this one, under the hour but not by much. Lots of good stuff as usual, my favourite moment of the month. Unfortunately however I can’t parse 24ac properly, can you?

cd = cryptic definition, dd = double definition, rev = reversed, anagrams are *(–), homophones indicated in “”

ODO means the Oxford Dictionaries Online, OED = Oxford English Dictionary, etc.

If a parsing is unclear or too terse, please do ask & I will respond

Across

1. Agree with sister in trivial chat, about to erode limestone below? (8)
karstify – FIT (agree) + SR (sister) in YAK (trivial chat), all rev.
5. Wandering hiker’s drinking bag, primarily one made of skin (6)
kirbeh – B(AG) in *(HIKER)
9. Interrupting ramble, continue to stuff face (8)
garamond – RAM ON (continue to stuff) in GAD (ramble). Claude Garamond died in 1561, so it seems that if you want immortailty, having a typeface named after you works as well as anything, especially if it is as legible and as beautiful as his. It is one of the wonders of the world, that the 16th and 17th century produced some of the most beautiful european calligraphy and printing ever seen, before or in fact since.
10. Hard stuff requiring skill to take one’s place in knowledge test (6)
quartz – QUIZ (knowledge test) with the I replaced by ART (skill)
12. Dubious value of colourful part for viewers (5)
uveal – *(VALUE). The uvea is part of the eye, but I am far too squeamish to go into detail
13. Most of distant traffic wheels showing rubber-like substance (9)
elastomer – REMOT(E) (most of distant) + SALE, (traffic) both rev.
14. The writer is Marsh, to criticise the female poet (12)
iambographer – I AM BOG + RAP (criticise) + HER (female). A neat clue. I hadn’t heard of this word but being necessarily familiar (for crossword purposes) with iambs, feet, trophes etc it wasn’t much of a step.
18. Empty threat is routine in paperwork by usual unoccupied workers (6,6)
brutum fulmen – RUT (routine) in BUMF (paperwork, and a word whose origins are best not explored) + U(SUA)L + MEN (workers)
21. Somewhat disastrous sea upended old packet (9)
trousseau – beautifully hidden, in disasTROUS SEA Upended
23. Cape to raise for sharp drop (5)
clift – C (cape) + LIFT (raise)
24. Imitation gold rings are on either side of badger’s head (6)
oroide – hm, well, no problem with the word itself which means “an alloy that looks goldy coloured.” Brass or bronze would be examples. But I am struggling rather with the wordplay. An imaginative person could see an O (ring) either side of R, which might possibly be are as in “Toys R Us” for example.. but what about the IDE? And why the badger? Contributions welcomed! On edit: it is RIDE (badger), with Os either side of the R (“head”) – thanks Anon. It looks a fair enough clue, I just had a blind spot ..
25. Academic grasping unknown fringes of Greek almost possesses understanding of Himalayan language (8)
dzongkha – Z (unknown) in DON (academic) + G( REE )K + HA(S) (posseses)
26. Ionian ancestor ready for Vietnamese like this (6)
xuthus – XU (ready for Vietnamese, 1/100 of a dong) + THUS (like this). Google tells me you need 32,763.29 dong to buy £1, so that is also how many xu there are to the UK penny. Gosh.. what could you possible make them of, that is worth that little? Aluminium, apparently..
27. Lifeless year before depression stops in a habit? (4-4)
clay-cold – Y(ear) + COL (depression) in CLAD (in a habit)

Down
1. Where rising leak loses energy, try universal plugs, waterproof (6)
kagoul –  GO (try) + U(niversal) in L(E)AK, rev. Ha, the kagoul, downmarket waterproof of choice for many back in the 1960s and 70s. I thought it was spelt “caggle” for many formative years..
2. Victorian con man, a troublesome young person putting the other half first (6)
rorter – TERROR (troublesome young person) with the two halves reversed
3. Cap on India’s prime cultivated land united one of its states (5,4)
Tamil Nadu – TAM (cap, short for Tam o’ Shanter I presume) + I(ndia) + *(LAND) + U(nited). One of the centres of “renaming politics,” in that it used to be Madras State, capital Madras, but is now Tamil Nadu, capital Chennai. A fact which seems to have left Indian Restaurants the world over completely unmoved… they will also happily serve you a Bombay duck
4. Identify as suspect batter where food can be picked up (6,6)
finger buffet – FINGER (identify as suspect) + BUFFET (batter)
6. Coroner’s investigation misses parts surrounding the heart, previously branded? (5)
inust – IN(Q)U(E)ST, the U being the heart of the word and the Q and E surrounding it.. I like clues like this, sort of physical in nature. We shall be needing a Black & Decker soon at this rate 🙂
7. Powdery deposit from work unit, unexceptional in British Library (8)
bergmehl – ERG (work unit, though properly an old work unit, the cognoscenti moved on to joules years ago) + MEH, (unexceptional) in BL (British Library). Bergmehl defeats both Wikipedia and the OED, though Collins has it, as “a light powdery variety of calcite”
8. Arkansas doctor’s vague about Spenser’s rash behaviour (8)
hazardry – AR (Arkansas) + DR (doctor) in HAZY (vague). The reference to Spenser indicates the word is used in the Faerie Queene, (1590) and probably never since..
11. Millions desperately unwell graze cattle food (6-6)
mangel wurzel – *(M + UNWELL + GRAZE). Best known as the basis of the name of 1970s pop group The Wurzels. once seen, never forgotten. However much you try..
15. Outstanding special constable enclosed youth initially going bad (9)
acescency – ACE (outstanding) + SC (sp. constable) + ENC(losed) + Y(outh)
16. A television in a cabinet also containing one sounding board (4-4)
abat-voix – A TV + I in A BOX (a cabinet)
17. Objection about concessionary gesture working, having teeth, with knobs on! (8)
bunodont – NOD (concessionary gesture) + ON (working) in BUT (objection). A fine word, bunodont, though sadly not one you need every day
19. Good writer’s need to match tree (6)
ginkgo – G (good) + INK (writer’s need) + GO (to match). An extinct genus of plants bar only one species, the ginkgo biloba
20. Trail with half-turn to the north where giants supposedly live (6)
Utgard – DRAG (trail) + TU(RN), both rev. But what is with the “supposedly?” It is surely there, land of the giants, right next to Asgard. Ask Thor..
22. Holy man had us converted (5)
sadhu – *(HAD US)