Club Monthly 20196 January 2017

Solving Time: Under 40mins, which may actually be a pb, though I no don’t care much about such things .. at my age, simple completion is miracle enough :-), and speed is overrated anyway. Enjoyment, immersion in the offered experience, these count for so much more.

Um, only four more crosswords until the auspicious no. 21000 .. what delights will await us on that day, I wonder?! I am still in awe of the amazing triple-and-very-nearly-quadruple-pangram last May. A Nina would be nice, though I am usually rubbish at spotting them..

Please note entries for this crossword close at midnight on the last Thursday of each month..

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

Dictionaries: The Club Monthly uses several dictionaries as sources, and why not? The main ones are the Concise Oxford Dictionary (COD), Collins, and Chambers.

Across
1. Star of Brexit all washed up (9)
Bellatrix – *(BREXIT ALL) .. I won’t read anything too political into this clue ..
6. Eager, finding way back in no matter what (5)
antsy – ST rev. in ANY
9. Old trees, not English, African ones (7)
obeches – O BE(E)CHES
10. Sister, with a brief snatch, getting the point of rock (7)
nunatak – NUN (sister) + A TAK(E)
11. Scot who predicts cuts will return (5)
spaer – REAPS (cuts) rev.
13. Crustacean from Australia turned over in fragment in turf (9)
schizopod – OZ rev. in CHIP (fragment), in SOD (turf)
14. Lignite extract needs day to go brown and develop (6,3)
montan wax – MON(day) + TAN (go brown) + WAX (develop, ie not wane)
16. Tart of fifty being hugged by lover (4)
flan – L (fifty) in FAN (lover)
18. Baby orca, at intervals, repelled old gull (4)
cobb – hidden, rev., in BaBy OrCa. Collins: “An archaic or dialect name for the greater black-backed gull”
19. Could corrupt suggestive, servile government? (9)
dulocracy – *(COULD) + RACY (suggestive). It means government by slaves, once more common than one might imagine, as readers of “I Claudius” will recall
22. Technically speaking one shock finished off US casualty (9)
jargoneer – JAR (shock) + GONE (finished off) + ER (what A&E is called in the US)
24. Two sad men off out — their hearts grieving for Scotland (5)
waefu – hidden in tWo sAd mEn oFf oUt
25. Hump around pile of grass to make a buck (7)
pricket –  RICK (pile of grass) in PET (hump, as in to get the hump)
26. My new Daimler’s first journey back? Stick with banger! (4,3)
corn dog – COR (my!) + N(ew) + D(aimler) + GO rev. They look pretty revolting..
28. Grand: and so entertaining that king’s companion (5)
thegn – G(rand) in THEN (and so). Alternative spelling of thane, engagingly described by the OED as “a term of rank, below the eorl and above the ceorl.”
29. Being plump, turn to DIY for exercising (9)
rotundity – *(TURN TO DIY)

Down
1. Mature crowd after reverse accepting defeat (7)
blossom – LOSS (defeat) in MOB (crowd) rev.
2. Solution something impossible for Washington to announce? (3)
lye – = LIE, what Geo. Washington allegedly could not tell, which surely rendered him unique among world leaders
3. Wise men cautious when pursuing answer (8)
acharyas – A(nswer) + CHARY (cautious) + AS (when). A Sanskrit word
4. Laugh cousin’s thus got from Corin? (5)
risus – “Corin” becomes “cousin,” if the R is US ..! Risus is a Latin word
5. Tree by lane on the inside, however large, needs cutting with axes (9)
xanthoxyl – X (by) + ( l )AN(e) + XY (axes) in THO’ ( however) + L(arge)
6. No longer admit part in freezing allowances, upset (6)
agnize – hidden, rev., in freEZING Allowances. It means to admit or recognize, the “no longer” means it is considered obsolete
7. Infant, one with friends describing some birds’ feet (11)
totipalmate – TOT (infant) + I + PAL, MATE (friends). Means “webbed”
8. To go on horse, fancy fellow produces icebox (7)
yakhdan – YAK (to go on, ie talk a lot) + H(orse) + DAN, as in “Fancy Dan” (US slang for a dandy or beau)
12. Banner unfurled over holiday home after a nickel is found in it (11)
annabergite – A + *(BANNER) + GITE (holiday home)
15. Highlander offering loans with more liquidity to cover bills? (9)
wadsetter – ADS (bills) in WETTER (with more liquidity)
17. Wish CERN could move to German city (8)
schwerin – *(WISH CERN). As of course we know, Schwerin is “second-largest city of the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern”
18. Oil producer, not exactly happy in project (7)
cajuput – CA (circa, ie not exactly) + UP (happy) in JUT (project)
20. Attention seeker, revolting about regulation ultimately as teenager? (7)
youngly – YO (attempt to attract attention) + (regulatio)N in UGLY (revolting)
21. Old country cousin of Meg, Beth, Amy & co? (6)
joskin – = JO’S KIN, a reference to Little Women, a book I have somehow never got round to reading. The “cousin” would seem to be doing double duty, not that I mind at all
23. Loaded truck’s heading just north of the border (5)
richt – RICH (loaded) + T(ruck)
27. Welshman losing pounds from Irishman’s diet (3)
Dai – DAIL, the Irish parliament/diet, with the L removed