This seemed to be a good puzzle, mostly due to some cleverly hidden definitions and well constructed word plays. There were also very few soundalikes, which can be controversial, and no difficult vocabulary that wasnt gettable from the wordplay. All in all a thumbs up from me.
| Across |
| 1 |
OVER THE MOON – (event,ho,room)* – excited is the anagrind, happy the definition. |
| 7 |
SHOWBOATING – HOW=the way, BOA=snake, inside STING=smart. Def is “flashy behaviour” |
| 13 |
FIERY – IE=that is, inside FRY=saute |
| 14 |
PITFALL – (fit)* inside PALL=cloak |
| 15 |
FULL-TIMER – Def = “one works for many hours”. The idea here is that when you turn over an hourglass, all the sand is at the top and hence it is “full” however I am in two minds on this. Clearly the hourglass never empties, it merely moves from one part to another, so technically it is always full. Nevertheless the idea was obvious! |
| 16 |
CATHEDRAL – CAT = pet, LARD EH = fat, do you think, all reversed. Def = It could hold a large mass (as in religious service) |
| 17 |
ADVERTISER – IT = the thing, reversed, inside ADVERSE=unlucky, R=runs, for the “plugger” |
| 20 |
ODOROUS – hidden in (pom)ODOROUS(ually) |
| 22 |
START UP – STAR=celebrated, TUP=ram |
| 24 |
ROOMFUL – ( moul for)* . wall to wall assembly is a nicely cryptic definition. |
| 25 |
SUMATRAN – US = my crew (reversed), MAT = coaster, RAN=fled |
| 26 |
MAGNETIC STRIPE – cryptic definition. |
| 28 |
MECCA – M=minute, (b)E(a)C(h)C(r)A(b) = regularly spotted |
| 29 |
EERILY – LIRE = old italian money, inside YE = the old, reversed. |
| 30 |
IMPERATIVE – I M = one maiden, PER = for every, NATIVE=local, losing N=knight. Def = command |
| 33 |
SHOCKPROOF – ROOF = cover, behind P=pawn, all behind S=second, HOCK=pawn. |
| 35 |
GENIUS – E = defence, ultimately, inside SUING = prosecuting, reversed. |
| 37 |
CELLO – O = ring, after CELL=american mobile. |
| 39 |
UNCONTAMINATED – M = mass, A T = a ton, seperately inside UNCONTAINED = loose, whole is “Pure” |
| 41 |
HEAVIEST – VIES = rivals, in HEAT = contest’s early round |
o
| 44 |
TOPONYM – TOM = thomas, outside/worn by PONY = horse |
| 45 |
SCRATCH – SCH = school, outside CRAT(e) = short case |
| 46 |
OBSERVE – (verbose)* |
| 47 |
EMASCULATE – SAME = identical, reversed, then CULT = home around A, E=european |
| 49 |
PRAGMATIC – (tamp cigar)* |
| 53 |
STOCKPILE – STOCK=cattle, PILE=mansion |
| 54 |
ROE DEER – ROVED EVER = wandered constantly, never seeing V=very small, whole is “animal” |
| 55 |
IMAGE – I’M = the speaker’s, AGE = mature. |
| 56 |
DISGRUNTLED – D=duke, IS LED = receives guidance, around GRUNT = inarticulate utterance. Whole is “angry” |
| 57 |
TRANSIENTLY – T = time, RAN = passed, SILENTLY = without noise, leaving out L=lake. |
| Down |
| 1 |
OFFICIOUS – OFF = turned, (V)ICIOUS = cruel, losing its head |
| 2 |
ELECTRON MICROSCOPE – cryptic definition |
| 3 |
THYME – hidden in (heal)THYME(als) |
| 4 |
EMPIRE STATE – Nice lift and separate here, further misled by the use of italics (in the paper copy at least). TEMPI = times for musician, with T = time missing, then RESTATE = rehash. Def is just “New York” |
| 5 |
OUTCLASS – O = old, CUTLASS = curved sword, with C=cape lowered. A clue type that only works for a Down, not an Across. |
| 6 |
NIAGARA FALLS – AFAR = distantly, AGAIN = once more, all reversed (or northbound in a DOWN clue only!!) then LL = lines, S = suceeded. The clue seemed to contain a lot of ideas in a short space, although not sure quite how to scan the surface, even if it feels it makes sense. |
| 7 |
SALIVATING – SA = south african, LIVING = surviving, around AT. |
| 8 |
OFFER – this is a tongue in cheek crossword concept whereby OFFER = more OFF = less on, licensed by the use of the word “Perhaps”. Definition is “bid”. Whilst in normal circles OFFER and BID are interchangeable, for anyone who worked in the city where they are the polar opposites, this is a cause of great mirth. If I had a pound for every time I heard the comment “The fool says he has made an offer on a house, surely he means he has bid on a house, snort snort, guffaw”, I would be a rich man! |
| 9 |
BILLIARD CUE – (laid rucible)* where the C=clubs has been removed. |
| 10 |
AT THE MOST – THEM = those things, inside (toast)* |
| 11 |
ISMS – I SMS = I send by text |
| 12 |
GORY – GO = travel, on RY=railway |
| 18 |
OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT – (to self sacrifice)* then ACT=deed |
| 19 |
ALTER EGO – AGO =in the past, around LT=lieutenant, ERE=before. Didnt help that I had bunged in MAGNETIC STRIPS by accident, but that didnt cost too much time. |
| 21 |
OSTMARK – O=nothing, on ST MARK = biblical writer. I had no idea what this was, but it had OST=east and MARK=currency in it, so it must have been right! Turns out it was the currency of East Germany before unification. |
| 23 |
POTEMKIN – POEM =verse, about T = head of the, KIN = family, for “Catherine the Great’s favourite”. Unfortunately for me, seeing P-T- as checkers I was adamant that favourite was cluing PET, and we were looking for a nickname for CtG, and this held me up no end! |
| 27 |
CRYONICS – CRY = clamour, ON = over, I = one, CS = sort of gas. Def is “that freezes people” |
| 28 |
MOSQUITO – MOS =doctors, QUIT = resign, O = over. One of those words that seems to crop up in crosswords more often than it ought to ! |
| 31 |
ALCOVES – AL(l) = nearly everyone, COVES = dated chaps. |
| 32 |
RESETTLEMENT – (ten trees)* around MELT = soften , reversed |
| 34 |
READMISSION – READ = study, MISSION = campaign. |
| 36 |
STEGOSAURUS – EGOS = identities, in S=small, TAURUS = house. |
| 38 |
FAIR HAIRED – FAIR = just, HAI(l) = acknowledge trimmed, RED = ginger. Def is just “blonde” |
| 40 |
NON SMOKER – cryptic definition |
| 42 |
TREACHERY – TEACHERY = “of pedagogues, dare one say” – another crossword word. around R = resistance. |
| 43 |
CHIPPEWA – WA = washington, under CHIPPE(r) = most of cheerful, for the native americans. |
| 48 |
UVEAL – (value)* |
| 50 |
MAIZE – sounds like “mays” = hawthorns |
| 51 |
USED – US = american, ED = media controller |
| 52 |
MOSS – MOSES = lawman, expelling E = leader of eco-warriors. The definition is fairly loose, purely to facilitate the surface, and given moss is more common on rocks, it is probably a little unfair. |
Potemkin went straight in as at the time I happened to be reading Simon Sebag Montefiore’s magnificent & surprisingly readable biography of Prince Potemkin, an extraordinary man by any standard.