I found this one of about average difficulty, though the leaderboard seems to suggest a consensus of a bit harder than that. Some interesting constructions, e.g. in 8A, 14A, and 11D, a number of four-part charades (which for some reason always tickle me), and a couple of unknowns, one of which (40D) was my LOI.
Definitions are underlined, * = anagram, {} = omission, dd = double definition, cd = cryptic definition
| Across | |
| 1 | Garments made initially out of loose dresses (5) |
| SOCKS – S{m}OCKS (SMOCKS (loose dresses) without the M (made initially)) | |
| 4 | What comes next when learner enters game (7) |
| CURLING – CURING (What comes next, i.e. the answer to the next clue, i.e. remedying) around L (learner). Linked clues – especially when the link isn’t even explicit – aren’t necessarily everyone’s cup of tea, but I’d already solved 8A and had most of the checkers to 4A when I got here, so I guessed the answer and then saw the parsing. | |
| 8 | Applying treatment, concerned with evidence of my own mortality (9) |
| REMEDYING – RE (concerned with) + ME DYING (evidence of my own mortality) | |
| 13 | Really bad actor messed up what Shylock required? (9) |
| ATROCIOUS – ACTOR* + IOUS (what Shylock required – a reference to the moneylender Shylock in The Merchant of Venice) | |
| 14 | In due course, how one might clue galleon, perhaps? (3,2,4,4) |
| ALL IN GOOD TIME – you can construct the word galleon from ALL in G (good) + EON (time) | |
| 15 | No child wants dress finished with runs in (5-2) |
| GROWN-UP – GOWN (dress) + UP (finished) around R (runs) | |
| 16 | Unprincipled behaviour of fellow with years around university (7) |
| ROGUERY – ROGER (fellow) + Y (years) around U (university) | |
| 17 | Group of agents around the City (7) |
| SPECIES – SPIES (agents) around EC (the City) | |
| 18 | Long-term soldier developed rather toned figure (7,11) |
| REGULAR TETRAHEDRON – REGULAR (Long-term soldier) + (RATHER TONED)* Nice surface. | |
| 21 | Returning friends’ buffet (4) |
| SLAP – reversal of PALS (friends) | |
| 23 | Now‘s a time to give (2,7) |
| AT PRESENT – A + T (time) + PRESENT (to give) | |
| 25 | Never to turn back on meeting an islander (6) |
| TONGAN – reversal of NOT (Never), + {meetin}G (back on meeting) + AN | |
| 26 | Old papers are of benefit with school subject, including piano (6) |
| PAPYRI – PAY (are of benefit) + RI (school subject, i.e. Religious Instruction) around P (piano) | |
| 28 | Smooth superhero, I reduced area for energy barrier (5,7) |
| EVENT HORIZON – EVEN (Smooth) + THOR (superhero) + I + ZON{e} (reduced area) | |
| 30 | Mix with kind soldiers in a street (10) |
| ASSORTMENT – SORT (kind) + MEN (soldiers), in A + ST (street) | |
| 33 | Sent crying when suffering tough treatment (10) |
| STRINGENCY – (SENT CRYING)* | |
| 34 | Food wrapper that’s smelling bad around rubbish (6,6) |
| JACKET POTATO – JACKET (wrapper) + POO (that’s smelling bad, as an interjection) around TAT (rubbish) | |
| 37 | Bright and breezy, only initially showery (6) |
| BRAINY – B{reezy} (breezy, only initially) + RAINY (showery) | |
| 39 | Relating to capital of Salafis’ caliphate (6) |
| FISCAL – hidden in SalaFIS’ CALiphate. Though it’s irrelevant to solving the clue, Salafis are adherents of Salafism, which is (Chambers): “A movement within Islam whose aim is to restore the purity of the faith in its early generations”. | |
| 40 | Keeping daughter out of school punishment after resistance (9) |
| RETENTION – R (resistance) + {d}ETENTION (daughter out of school punishment) | |
| 42 | Big laugh from Bard uncovered (4) |
| ROAR – {f}RO{m} {B}AR{d} (from Bard uncovered) | |
| 43 | Engaging war perhaps is a threat to neutrality (8,2,8) |
| CONFLICT OF INTEREST – if something is engaging then it is of interest, so an engaging war could be a CONFLICT OF INTEREST | |
| 46 | Elder sometimes seen in front of monument (7) |
| ANCIENT – dd, the second one slightly cryptic in that an ANCIENT monument is (Chambers): “An old and historic building, etc scheduled for preservation, esp if in the care of the government” | |
| 47 | Endlessly fearful about slate percussion instrument (7) |
| TIMPANI – TIMI{d} (Endlessly fearful) about PAN (slate) | |
| 48 | Region of note air pilot regularly visited (7) |
| ONTARIO – alternate letters of O{f} N{o}T{e} A{i}R {p}I{l}O{t} | |
| 50 | Peculiar arrangement of dictionary is by chapter (13) |
| IDIOSYNCRATIC – (DICTIONARY IS)* + C (chapter) | |
| 51 | Noted piece in article chap can ring (9) |
| ANDANTINO – AN (article) + DAN (chap) + TIN (can) + O (ring) | |
| 52 | Irregular worker finding gold in river unplanned (9) |
| EXTEMPORE – TEMP (Irregular worker) + OR (gold), in EXE (river) | |
| 53 | Carriage, see, with English railway buffet (7) |
| CARVERY – CAR (Carriage) + V (see) + E (English) + RY (railway). The best of the four-part charades. | |
| 54 | Set down near place driver can stop (3-2) |
| LAY-BY – LAY BY (Set down near) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Stick with military gangs we care about (7,4) |
| SWAGGER CANE – (GANGS WE CARE)* I’m more used to seeing this called a swagger stick. | |
| 2 | Canton invested in company to produce strange item (5) |
| CURIO – URI (Canton, i.e. one of the cantons of Switzerland and supposedly the home of William Tell) in CO (company). I didn’t know this canton or in fact any Uri other than Mr Geller, who would have fitted nicely into the surface reading. | |
| 3 | Temporarily transfer place that renter’s after for soldier (6,10) |
| SECOND LIEUTENANT – SECOND (Temporarily transfer) + LIEU (place) + TENANT (renter) | |
| 4 | Failure of policeman protecting queen (7) |
| CROPPER – COPPER (policeman) around R (queen) | |
| 5 | Rising again after short break, demanding attention (9) |
| RESURGENT – RES{t} (short break) + URGENT (demanding attention) | |
| 6 | Opening in a month: upper-class allotment (12) |
| INAUGURATION – IN + AUG (a month, i.e. August) + U (upper-class) + RATION (allotment) | |
| 7 | Elizabethan ship long hidden is broken up (6,4) |
| GOLDEN HIND – (LONG HIDDEN)*, to give Sir Francis Drake’s ship which circumnavigated the world in Elizabethan times | |
| 8 | Manage money regularly after losing capital like water (5) |
| RUNNY – RUN (Manage) + {m}{o}N{e}Y (money regularly after losing capital} | |
| 9 | Apollo mission perhaps uncovers seat, radioactive (8) |
| MOONSHOT – MOONS (uncovers seat – ha!) + HOT (radioactive) | |
| 10 | Chap failing to work on field (6) |
| DUDLEY – DUD (failing to work) + LEY (field) | |
| 11 | For beginners, how to read Faust, usually not for fun? (9) |
| INITIALLY – if you read F{aust} U{sually} N{ot} INITIALLY then you get FUN | |
| 12 | What actors put on gains repeat in a new version (11) |
| GREASEPAINT – (GAINS REPEAT)* | |
| 19 | Rent time is when student’s not around? (3,4) |
| GAP YEAR – GAP (Rent) + YEAR (time) | |
| 20 | Lentil dish? Answer’s found in Bangladeshi capital mostly (7) |
| DHANSAK – ANS (Answer) in DHAK{a} (Bangladeshi capital mostly), to give (Chambers): “Denoting a dish of meat or vegetables cooked with lentils” | |
| 22 | Altering stations with redesign of some insides (16) |
| GASTROINTESTINAL – (ALTERING STATIONS)* | |
| 24 | Energy went up before days gradually grew shorter? (6) |
| ERODED – E (Energy) + RODE (went up) + D (days) | |
| 27 | Bird breast taken by cat (6) |
| TOMTIT – TOM (cat) + TIT (breast), to give (Chambers): “The blue tit or other species of tit” | |
| 29 | Most important to move slowly — and that is fine (2,5) |
| IN CHIEF – INCH (to move slowly) + IE (that is) + F (fine) | |
| 31 | Look at former area to excavate (7) |
| EXAMINE – EX (former) + A (area) + MINE (to excavate) | |
| 32 | Wager about every one of Santa’s reindeer being Prancer? (6,6) |
| BALLET DANCER – BET (Wager) around ALL (every), + DANCER (one of Santa’s reindeer) | |
| 33 | Man about town? (11) |
| SUBURBANITE – cd. I did wonder if there was an argument for SUBURBANISE/SUBURBANIZE, if you consider “man” as a verb, but I decided that was perhaps a bit too tangential. | |
| 35 | What might show hooting lory in a particular order? (11) |
| ORNITHOLOGY – (HOOTING LORY)* and an extended definition | |
| 36 | Metamorphic mica schist is tending to break up (10) |
| SCHISMATIC – (MICA SCHIST)* | |
| 38 | One seeking to destroy a bridge support is beginning on TNT (9) |
| ANARCHIST – AN ARCH (a bridge support) + IS + T{NT} (beginning on TNT) | |
| 40 | Remaining liquid fuel consumed when father’s not present (9) |
| RAFFINATE – {pa}RAFFIN (fuel … when father’s not present) + ATE (consumed), to give (Chambers): “Liquid left after a desired solute has been extracted”, from the French raffiner, to refine. Didn’t know this word and had to take the wordplay on trust as it didn’t seem to produce a very likely looking answer. | |
| 41 | Instrumental line running on without us (8) |
| CONTINUO – CONTINUO{us} (running on without us), to give (Chambers): “The bass part as written for a keyboard instrument, with or without an accompaniment” | |
| 44 | Twelve in number working diamonds, certainly (7) |
| NOONDAY – NO (number) + ON (working) + D (diamonds) + AY (certainly) | |
| 45 | Things thrown out from planes over America (6) |
| JETSAM – JETS (planes) + AM (America) | |
| 47 | Rich cake — raced to eat tons (5) |
| TORTE – TORE (raced) around T (tons) | |
| 49 | Make more concrete to repair when court is not used (5) |
| REIFY – RE{ct}IFY (to repair when court is not used), to give (Chambers): “To convert into a material thing, to materialize” | |
Edited at 2018-07-07 12:26 am (UTC)
Didn’t get the next clue bit for CURLING: went in on trust and hope. URI should have been Geller, or perhaps a beheaded Gagarin. Canton? Really? Who (apart from William Tell) knew?
GALLEON a superb clue, for which I might forgive DODGER.
Ong’ara,
Nairobi.