Solving Time: Quite a quick one this, a tad over 40 minutes in two sessions. Clearly easier than some, with no less than 84 correct submissions-with-leaderboard on the crossword website at the time of writing. An interesting, enjoyable and eclectic mix of words. No obvious theme, but lots of useful Scrabble material..
| Across |
| 1 |
Rub up – Roi and Pere containing the French antihero Ubu. One of the world’s stranger plays, by all accounts |
| 4 |
Krummholz – all rev: Z + L + OHM + MURK. I have always spelt it mirk, but according to Chambers this is the more common variant. Krummholz is a word to cherish I think, German in origin. It is common in my beloved Pyrenees. |
| 9 |
Tishah Bab – Bishop = B + A BIT = somewhat, containing Eastern Ruler = SHAH. Tisha Bab is the ninth day of the (Jewish) month of Ab… |
| 10 |
Ngaio – sequOIA GNarly, rev. A familiar word partly because of the author Dame Ngaio Marsh
|
| 11 |
Revamp – run out of gear = REV + AMP, something a rock band needs dozens of, these days… |
| 12 |
Ad hocery – (yard)* containing (echo)* |
| 14 |
Salicylamide – OK, sausage = SALAMI containing bitter liberal = ICY L, + DauphinoisE, to make a relative of aspirin |
| 17 |
Skutterudite – brainbox = SKULL, with the Ls converted to Ts, + ERUDITE = learned. You no doubt guessed that this mineral was first discovered in the Skuterud Mines, Buskerud, Norway. |
| 20 |
Dogs-nose – a simple double definition |
| 21 |
Affret – an anxiety = A FRET containing F = folio. The laureate in question is Spenser, who seems to have gifted an extraordinary number of archaic words with which to delight crossword setters, if not solvers.. |
| 23 |
Noint – in no way = NOT, containing batting = IN. Noint being a contraction of anoint, a form of aphesis (which will be in next month, no doubt 🙂 |
| 24 |
Bizcachas – trade = BIZ + CA = roughly, + CHASe. More commonly called vizcachas, they are just rabbits to you and me |
| 25 |
Arracacha – arranged = ARR., a musical term, + ACACIA, with with the I replaced by H = height. Wattle is a word with a surprising number of meanings, acacia being one |
| 26 |
El Cid – gamble = DICE, rev. and with left = L inserted. Ah, El Cid, Charlton Heston, Sophia Loren, and Hollywood tosh at its grandest! It was on here over Xmas, and I hope you all watched it. They really don’t make ’em like that any more. |
| Down |
| 1 |
Rotgrass – registers = ROTAS + S = small, containing GR = grain. |
| 2 |
Bushveld – BUS + HELD containing V = five. |
| 3 |
Pharmacokinetic – ache = PINE, + TIC = spasm, containing HARM + AC + OK. Beautiful clue, made like a Swiss watch, isn’t it? |
| 4 |
Kobo – (book)* – a kobo is 1/100 of a Naira, and as such you would need about 250 of them to make 1p. |
| 5 |
Unbedimmed – campus = UNI containing foundation = BED, + M + MED |
| 6 |
Manhood suffrage – (four Afghans’ demo)* – my first one in and a great help to get started, “half of population” being a little bit of a giveaway |
| 7 |
Onager – riding = ON + AGER = maturer, something that matures… |
| 8 |
Zlotys – SYZygy rev. containing fortune = LOT. Both Zloty and syzygy are favourite barred-grid words. Only five zloty to the £, but that is because they keep revaluing it.. |
| 13 |
Flutes-a-bec – complaint = FLU + TEC = detective, containing reprobate = BASE, rev. Another beautiful clue |
| 15 |
Diarchic – invasion = RAD rev., + with it = CHIC. Scotland and Wales would appear to be diarchic |
| 16 |
Pertused – impudent = PERT + USED = “prepossessed” in the waggish sense of second-hand, which the ? renders legitimate |
| 18 |
Adonia – it turns out that an AI is a three-toed sloth, who’d have thought it? So, AI containing fellow = DON, + A. Adonia is a festival mourning the death of Adonis, the lover, lucky fellow, of both Aphrodite and Persephone. |
| 19 |
Eggier – say = EG + GI(V)ER |
| 22 |
Ezra – a reference to the Book of Ezra, hidden, in ge’EZ RAbbi’s |
Small typo Jerry. You have two 5D and no 6D