A puzzle that seemed easier than average with just the one troublesome clue (21A), which fortunately fell on the right side of a coin toss an educated guess. The standouts, at least for this solver, were the two pieces of music that were both composed in my lifetime AND are in my iTunes collection – an occurrence only infrequently seen in the Times crossword. Granted, I’m not the biggest fan of either of the artists concerned but, in a Crosswordland where classical music predominates, it’s nice to be thrown a bone every so often, even if not the absolute tastiest. Thanks, setter!
Definitions are underlined, * = anagram, {} = omission, dd = double definition
| Across | |
| 1 | Couple of daughters turn back, following black Irish setter? (4,3) |
| BIRD DOG – B (black) + IR (Irish) + DD (Couple of daughters) + reversal of GO (turn), to give (Collins): “a dog used or trained to retrieve game birds after they are shot” | |
| 5 | Dish, one on board streetcar, is heading for university (8) |
| TIRAMISU – I (one) in TRAM (streetcar) + IS + U{niversity} (heading for university) | |
| 9 | A Carmelite, possibly, not fully crossing cold land mass (6) |
| AFRICA – A + FRIA{r} (Carmelite, possibly, not fully) around C (cold), where a Carmelite is (Chambers): “A White Friar, or friar of the order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in Palestine (now Israel), which was founded there c.1156, becoming a mendicant order in 1247” | |
| 13 | Game in wind, with runs by opener for Surrey (6,3,7) |
| SNAKES AND LADDERS – SNAKE (wind) + S{urrey} (opener for Surrey) + AND (with) + LADDERS (runs) | |
| 14 | Progressive comedian knocked (4,2) |
| WITH IT – WIT (comedian) + HIT (knocked) | |
| 16 | Closeness of main city redevelopment (8) |
| INTIMACY – (MAIN CITY)* | |
| 17 | Ruler in eastern border heading west (4) |
| EMIR – E (eastern) + reversal of RIM (border) | |
| 18 | Tunes, each differently arranged for nightclub singer (9) |
| CHANTEUSE – (TUNES, EACH)* | |
| 20 | Sad act in decline (8) |
| DOWNTURN – DOWN (Sad) + TURN (act) | |
| 21 | Having captured a prisoner, the German left hurriedly, according to Americans? (4,1,6) |
| TOOK A POWDER – TOOK (captured) + A + POW (prisoner) + DER (the German). Not an expression I knew and the wordplay unhelpfully also admitted TOOK A CONDER, which sounded marginally less likely. | |
| 24 | Voting to recall comic following end of performance (9) |
| ELECTORAL – {performanc}E (end of performance) + (TO RECALL)* | |
| 25 | Rock ’em, interrupting G&S air (8) |
| GEMSTONE – ‘EM in G&S, + TONE (air) | |
| 26 | State of confusion in canteen (4) |
| MESS – dd | |
| 29 | Not regarded with approval, tasteless, litres thrown out (3,2,6) |
| OUT OF FAVOUR – OUT OF F{l}AVOUR (tasteless, litres thrown out) | |
| 31 | Chose top set, fancy listening device (11) |
| STETHOSCOPE – (CHOSE TOP SET)* | |
| 33 | English writer’s book of French rival (6,5) |
| DANIEL DEFOE – DANIEL (book – from the Old Testament) + DE (of French) + FOE (rival) | |
| 36 | Head of unit tucked into mutton chop, sadly of poor quality (3,2,2,4) |
| NOT UP TO MUCH – (MUTTON CHOP)* around U{nit} (Head of unit) | |
| 38 | What sounds like quite a ceremony (4) |
| RITE – homophone of RIGHT (quite) | |
| 39 | Famous Belgian showing determination in match (8) |
| MAGRITTE – GRIT (determination) in MATE (match) | |
| 41 | Book a sail (9) |
| MOONRAKER – dd, the first a reference to James Bond’s third outing in print | |
| 44 | Realise mistake maybe in clue’s answer, having “boil” at first (3,3,5) |
| SEE THE LIGHT – SEETHE (boil) + LIGHT (clue’s answer) | |
| 45 | Learner driver with insolent manner, first time out, must show licence (8) |
| LATITUDE – L (Learner driver) + A{t}TITUDE (insolent manner, first time out) | |
| 48 | University town, not western? Charming, perhaps, earlier (9) |
| PRINCETON – PRINCE (Charming, perhaps) + TO{w}N (town, not western) | |
| 49 | Poetic river and mountain, second in chain (4) |
| ALPH – ALP (mountain) + {c}H{ain} (second in chain), to give the river mentioned in Coleridge’s Kubla Khan | |
| 50 | Retired agent ringing about a church minister (8) |
| PREACHER – reversal of REP (agent), around RE (about) + A + CH (church) | |
| 52 | First-born, European duke, taken inside just in case (6) |
| ELDEST – E (European), + D (duke) in LEST (just in case) | |
| 53 | A number in unconventional spa-hydro abroad (8,8) |
| BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY – BOHEMIAN (unconventional) + SPA–HYDRO*, to give the Queen track that topped the UK charts in 1975 and 1991 | |
| 54 | Understudy‘s responsibility to maintain record (6) |
| DEPUTY – DUTY (responsibility) around EP (record) | |
| 55 | First chess player attending match in formal dress (5,3) |
| WHITE TIE – WHITE (First chess player, i.e. the player who moves first in a game of chess) + TIE (match) | |
| 56 | Glib talk by northern model (7) |
| PATTERN – PATTER (Glib talk) + N (northern) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Part of terrain so bare, rising in Balkan region (6) |
| BOSNIA – hidden reversed in terrAIN SO Bare | |
| 2 | Bespoke tailor in part of Venice (6) |
| RIALTO – TAILOR* | |
| 3 | Very attractive person met aboard at sea? (9) |
| DREAMBOAT – (MET ABOARD)* | |
| 4 | Relative is able to, on song in island resort (4,7) |
| GRAN CANARIA – GRAN (Relative) + CAN (is able to) + ARIA (song) | |
| 5 | Large receptacle for odds and ends (4) |
| TIDY – dd, the first as seen in expressions such as “a tidy sum” | |
| 6 | Name of male engaging publicity specialist, a member of band’s crew (4,7) |
| ROAD MANAGER – ROGER (Name of male), around AD MAN (publicity specialist) + A | |
| 7 | Film made by present-day newspaper (6,5) |
| MODERN TIMES – MODERN (present-day) + TIMES (newspaper), to give the 1936 Charlie Chaplin film | |
| 8 | Removed small vehicle in error (6,3) |
| STRUCK OUT – S (small) + TRUCK (vehicle) + OUT (in error) | |
| 10 | Lie about Republican conflict (8) |
| FRICTION – FICTION (Lie) about R (Republican) | |
| 11 | A chart-topping single, “If Only“? (1,6,2,2,5) |
| I SHOULD BE SO LUCKY – dd, the first referring to the Pachelbel’s Canon-inspired hit by Kylie Minogue that was number 1 in the UK charts in the late ’80s | |
| 12 | A group of conservationists tolerate a nocturnal creature (7) |
| ANTBEAR – A + NT (group of conservationists, i.e. National Trust) + BEAR (tolerate) | |
| 15 | A vehicle nicked by German guy turned up in a port in Georgia (8) |
| SAVANNAH – A + VAN (vehicle), in reversal of HANS (German guy) | |
| 19 | Very good, below par — begin play again (5,3) |
| BULLY OFF – BULLY (Very good – a slang term) + OFF (below par), to give the (now obsolete?) term for starting or restarting a game of (field) hockey | |
| 22 | Judge playing field booking (8) |
| RECORDER – REC (playing field) + ORDER (booking). I partially biffed this but I can’t say the equivalence of order and booking was (or, even now, is) blindingly obvious. | |
| 23 | Becoming nervous burping baby? (7,3,4,2) |
| GETTING THE WIND UP – literal interpretation | |
| 27 | Tender and soft on that woman in shelter (8) |
| SHEPHERD – P (soft) + HER (that woman), in SHED (shelter) | |
| 28 | Starts to observe swinging London, our capital city (4) |
| OSLO – initial letters of O{bserve} S{winging} L{ondon}, O{ur} | |
| 30 | Left in charge, head for the hills (4) |
| FLEE – L (Left) in FEE (charge) | |
| 32 | I’m dividing possessions for valuation (8) |
| ESTIMATE – ESTATE (possessions) around I‘M | |
| 34 | Fortune to be had in matches ending level? Pick randomly (4,4) |
| DRAW LOTS – LOT (Fortune) in DRAWS (matches ending level) | |
| 35 | English country squire after a property dealer (6,5) |
| ESTATE AGENT – E (English) + STATE (country) + A + GENT (squire) | |
| 36 | Embroidery evident in novel Eliot penned (11) |
| NEEDLEPOINT – (ELIOT PENNED)* | |
| 37 | University office in favour of place on board, no longer urgent (11) |
| PROCTORSHIP – PRO (in favour of) + {dire}CTORSHIP (place on board, no longer urgent), where a proctor is (Chambers): “An official in some English universities whose functions include enforcement of university regulations” | |
| 40 | Otherwise has to come up with good joke about an Indian dish (5,4) |
| ROGAN JOSH – reversal of OR (Otherwise), + G (good) + JOSH (joke) around AN, to give a curry featuring a tomato-based sauce | |
| 42 | Racecourse, favoured one, gets special treatment (3,6) |
| RED CARPET – REDCAR (Racecourse, in the same town as my old secondary school) + PET (favoured one) | |
| 43 | Very friendly group in squat (8) |
| THICKSET – THICK (Very friendly) + SET (group) | |
| 44 | Baldy dropping line, exposing fool (7) |
| SAPHEAD – S{l}APHEAD (Baldy dropping line) | |
| 46 | Reportedly dislodged ceremonial seat (6) |
| THRONE – homophone of THROWN (dislodged) | |
| 47 | Original piece of cotton fabric in drawer (6) |
| CRAYON – C{otton} (Original piece of cotton) + RAYON (fabric) | |
| 51 | Formerly working with church (4) |
| ONCE – ON (working) + CE (church) | |
Slaphead was a common playground term (usually for describing balding teachers) but I don’t hear it much now, and Wikipedia reckons bully offs were eliminated from the game in 1981.
I’m sure in the (distant?) past it was a major no-no for puzzles on the same day, or even within a day or two of each other, to contain similar answers and/or clues. Feels a bit of a swizz when this situation occurs but I can imagine it’s a pretty tedious job to check for it. Still, it gives a bit of extra time to investigate Kylie Minogue’s back catalogue, right? Though stay away if you don’t like pop/hi-NRG and/or nasal singing voices.
I’m intrigued by the claim that Kylie’s monster hit was “inspired by Pachelbel’s Canon”, though Pete Waterman says it was. I’ll try playing through my (rather fabulous) album of Pachelbel’s greatest hit (sic) and see if any of the versions have me singing along. I should be…
I don’t think I parsed ROGAN JOSH apart from the joke bit, so thanks especially for that.