Club Monthly 20169 – October 2014

Solving Time: Not sure, can’t get excited about the solving times any more. It took three sessions, so maybe 1 1/4 hours or thereabouts, because after another rapid start – 1ac, 1dn and 11ac all straight in –  I soon started to get bogged down and the SW corner took some time to finish. However I don’t think this crossword was really any harder than usual. As usual, I have no criticism to make, it continues to be just about the most reliable and enjoyable element of the Crossword Club, for me, and long may it remain so.

cd = cryptic definition, dd = double definition, rev = reversed, homophones are written in quotes, anagrams as *(–)

ODO = Oxford Dictionaries Online, OED = Oxford Dictionary, etc.

Across
1. Reversing disease, hospital stops work, what’s needed in charge concerned with hitting targets? (12)
toxophilitic – POX (disease) rev., + H(ospital) in TOIL (work), + IT (what’s needed) + IC (in charge). A straightforward construction except for the clever def. for IT, and I was pleased to be able to write it straight in
8. Gulag’s occupants meet brightening star ballerina from St Petersburg (7)
Ulanova – (G)ULA(G), + NOVA, a brightening star. I know perhaps three ballerinas, and fortunately this is one of them..
9. Point of verbal joke about corporation (7)
punctum – PUC + C + TUM.. I assume at this level we are all familiar with tum = stomach = corporation
11. Fractious critic’s circle, one among lowest class of celebs (7)
zoilist – O + I in Z LIST, the class of celebs that appear on reality shows, Pointless etc
12. Fleming who composed and rejected last letter, drinking half of strong coffee (3,4)
Des Prez – ESPR(ESSO) (strong coffee) in DEZ, ie zed reversed. Apparently Josquin Des Prez was regarded as the best composer in the world at one time, but that time was rather more than five hundred years ago..
13. Scotland’s vulgar traitor yielding lead to Queen (5)
rudas – JUDAS (traitor), with the J changed to R for regina
14. In South America, what part of tree without new ring provides wood there? (9)
quebracho – QUE (Spanish for “What,” as so famously exemplified by Manuel in Fawlty Towers) + BRA(N )CH + O (ring). I had trouble with this clue because I thought it must have something to do with quinine.. thus showing how limited my Spanish is
16. Aged reed tea the writer brought into Hawaiian feast (9)
chalumeau – CHA (tea) + ME in LUAU, a hawaiian feast (apparently)
19. Since mentioned previously, cropped purple fruit (5)
assai – AS + SAI(D ). Unusual to see a nonmusical definition for this word
21. Machines phased out for retiring Geiger, say (7)
orphans – PRO rev. (for, retiring) + HANS, as in Hans Geiger, physicist, inventer of the geiger counter, and member of the Uranium Club . Another clue I had difficulty with, because my brain kept coming up with Kurt Geiger instead.. (sigh)
23. Taking a risky journey? No good leaving Tube to regulate flow (7)
venturi – VENTURI(NG ) (taking a risky journey) .. a delightful, economical clue
24. Tanager’s wings pinned by unusually sleek bird of prey (7)
kestrel – T(ANAGE )R in *(SLEEK)
25. Very old French bother this country: it’s all over for loser at Borodino (7)
Kutuzov – all reversed: V(ery) O(ld) + ZUT + UK. Zut alors! Borodino is an interesting battle, the defining engagement of the Napoleonic invasion of Russis. Generally felt to be a Pyrrhic victory for the French, whose army was never the same afterwards, and a bungled opportunity for Napoleon.
26. The speaker’s phone operating system deal which may investigate audibility problems (12)
myringoscope – MY (the speaker’s) + RING (phone) + O(perating) S(ystem) + COPE (deal)

Down
1. Furthermore, housing that is sucked up (7)
toadied – TO ADD (furthermore) containing IE (that is). A rare (for me) write-in clue.
2. Diseased plants have these: box sadly perishes (1-6)
x-bodies – *(BOX) + DIES (perishes)
3. Graceful poses survive in slight reaction? (9)
plastique –  LAST (survive) in PIQUE, in the sense not so much of a slight reaction as a reaction to a slight
4. Hamper not fully repaired to improve flight for 24? (5)
imped – IMPED(E), the def. being all the rest of the clue
5. Turn two non-water-soluble plant products mostly into something to freshen air (7)
ioniser – I think this is RESIN + OI(L), rev. Just a little bit oddly worded, but it seems to work
6. Jaundiced core of views held by fractious critic (7)
icteric – (vi)E(ws) in *(CRITIC), the second fractious critic today
7. Large local beetle to fly low over Arkansas-Washington canal feature (7-5)
buzzard-clock – BUZZ (fly low over. Eg see: Top Gun) + AR(kansas) + DC (Washington) + LOCK
10. Not the most outstanding work, viz. one Zero Mostel, losing heart, developed (5-7)
mezzo-rilievo – *(VIZ I ZERO MO(ST)EL). Very clever anagrist, that..
15. Including short witticism, recalls double entendres (9)
equivokes – QUI(P) in EVOKES (recalls)
17. Sign for and transfer into little woman’s custody (7)
ampassy – PASS (transfer) in AMY, ie Amy March from the novel Little Women
18. Virus remedied with gold in infusion of leaves (3-4)
u va-ursi – AU (gold) in *(VIRUS). Had trouble with this thinking too much of OR and not enough of AU
19. Colouring from tropical fruit mustn’t save energy (7)
arnotto – AR(E) NOT TO. I had heard of annatto, being a compulsive reader of product ingredients, but not this variant spelling
20. Tin cap removed from snout to use it in the country? (7)
snuzzle – SN (the element tin, from its latin name, stannum) + (M)UZZLE
22. Website automatically generated hit with internal page (5)
splog – P(age) in SLOG (hit)