A fun and fairly straightforward puzzle with a few odd words and constructions to spice things up. Though it’s not something that necessarily affects the solving experience, there did seem to be a larger proportion of clues than normal where the definition was at the beginning. FOI 1A, LOI 27A, COD 4D for the smile.
Definitions are underlined, anagram = *, omission = {}, double definition = dd, cryptic definition = cd
| Across | |
| 1 | Mutton stew from heated container served in churches (10) |
| HOTCHPOTCH – HOT (heated), + CH + CH (churches) around POT (container), to give (Chambers): “A kind of mutton-broth with vegetables of many kinds”. Can’t say I knew this meaning but it wasn’t an enormous leap from the perhaps more common “confused mass” definition. | |
| 6 | Failing in tense Irish leader meeting cricket side (12) |
| IMPERFECTION – IMPERFECT (tense – in grammar) + I{rish} (Irish leader) + ON (cricket side) | |
| 14 | Muscle that’s required on farm vehicle (9) |
| RETRACTOR – RE (on) + TRACTOR (farm vehicle) | |
| 15 | Very cold, as eels may be, roughly speaking (5) |
| GELID – approximate homophone of JELLIED, with jellied eels being a thing (a dish often associated with people from the East End of London) | |
| 16 | Vanity of one replacing conductor finally in Prom? (7) |
| CONCEIT – CONCErT (Prom?), with I (one) replacing the r (conductor finally) | |
| 17 | Situation regarding barrister’s least successful action? (5,4,8) |
| WORST CASE SCENARIO – kind of a cd | |
| 18 | Prepared to make money (5) |
| READY – dd | |
| 19 | Catastrophic game in old America (7) |
| RUINOUS – RU (game) + IN + O (old) + US (America) | |
| 21 | Incisive magazine once taken by youth leader (6) |
| PUNCHY – PUNCH (magazine once) + Y{outh} (youth leader) | |
| 22 | Nit-picker in Paris who the French resistance provided with books (8) |
| QUIBBLER – QUI (in Paris who) + BB (books) + LE (the French) + R (resistance). We see B for book quite often, but BB is also in Chambers as meaning books – though even if it wasn’t, we could interpret books as B + B. | |
| 24 | Madcap result of strike at end of match? (7) |
| HOTHEAD – if you struck a match then it would have a HOT HEAD, though the setter has tried to mislead us into thinking of a match in the sense of a game rather than an item for, say, lighting candles | |
| 26 | Time to abandon the human condition for ethical conduct (8) |
| MORALITY – MOR{t}ALITY (Time to abandon the human condition) | |
| 27 | French island you ultimately aren’t going to (6) |
| USHANT – {yo}U (you ultimately) + SHAN’T (aren’t going to). I hadn’t heard of this island but it’s off the north-west coast of Brittany. | |
| 30 | Itinerant agent returning, one sad to abandon husband (11) |
| PERIPATETIC – reversal of REP (agent), + I (one) + PAT{h}ETIC (sad to abandon husband) | |
| 32 | Study of wrongdoing, or logic, in my broadcast (11) |
| CRIMINOLOGY – (OR LOGIC IN MY)* | |
| 33 | Widespread longing to follow Republican in charge (3-8) |
| FAR-REACHING – R (Republican) in FARE (charge), + ACHING (longing) | |
| 35 | Edged forward with courage, like some dolphins (6-5) |
| BOTTLE-NOSED – BOTTLE (courage) + NOSED (Edged forward) | |
| 37 | Continue to have part-time soldiers in control (6) |
| RETAIN – TA (part-time soldiers, though they’re now called the Army Reserve) in REIN (control) | |
| 38 | In Irish county, loon regularly belted farm animal (8) |
| GALLOWAY – L{o}O{n} (loon regularly) in GALWAY (Irish county). Belted Galloways (black but with a white stripe around the back and belly) are a type of Galloway cattle. | |
| 39 | Diplomacy originally improving Civil Service procedures (7) |
| TACTICS – TACT (Diplomacy) + I{mproving} (originally improving) + CS (Civil Service) | |
| 42 | Ill-mannered urchin drunk in Dover from time to time (8) |
| IMPOLITE – IMP (urchin), + LIT (drunk) in {D}O{v}E{r} (Dover from time to time) | |
| 44 | Growth more than once of old college irrational (6) |
| POLYPI – POLY (old college, i.e. polytechnic) + PI (irrational, as in number), to give the plural of polypus, which Chambers defines as: “a pedunculated tumour growing from the mucous membrane” | |
| 46 | Blushing politician touring Borders? (7) |
| CRIMSON – CON (politician) around RIMS (Borders) | |
| 48 | Stabbing sword held by toughest occupant (5) |
| ESTOC – hidden in toughEST OCcupant. A Mephisto escapee but clued as gently as possible. | |
| 49 | Settle extortionate charge, using the beak as go-between? (3,7,3,4) |
| PAY THROUGH THE NOSE – kind of an extended definition, perhaps hoping to make you think of beak in the sense of magistrate rather than nose | |
| 51 | Immortal Oriental bird beside a lake (7) |
| ETERNAL – E (Oriental) + TERN (bird) + A + L (lake) | |
| 52 | Half a dozen mostly supreme sensations (5) |
| VIBES – VI (Half a dozen, i.e. in Roman numerals) + BES{t} (mostly supreme) | |
| 53 | Remove bird dipping into cream (9) |
| ELIMINATE – MINA (bird) in ELITE (cream) | |
| 54 | Nab treasure finally seen drifting beneath the waves (12) |
| SUBTERRANEAN – (NAB TREASURE + {see}N}* This is defined in all the usual sources as being underground rather than under the sea but, as ~70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, an arbitrary point under the ground is more likely than not to be underwater too. Or am I missing something more obvious? | |
| 55 | Harsh line adopted by a hospital department (10) |
| ASTRINGENT – A + STRING (line) + ENT (hospital department) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Idolise offender initially imprisoned by female judge? (4-7) |
| HERO-WORSHIP – HER WORSHIP (female judge? – a reference to the honorific accorded some judges) around O{ffender} (offender initially) | |
| 2 | Expression of impatience over heartless college teacher (5) |
| TUTOR – TUT (Expression of impatience) + O{ve}R (over heartless) | |
| 3 | Grieving Scottish football team — or English? (9) |
| HEARTSORE – HEARTS (Scottish football team) + OR + E (English) | |
| 4 | Fugitives? The opposite to the spouse’s family, we hope! (7) |
| OUTLAWS – if the spouse’s family are the in-laws then the opposite might be the OUT-LAWS | |
| 5 | Warning about right to increase distribution of booty (5-2) |
| CARVE-UP – CAVE (Warning) about R (right), + UP (increase) | |
| 7 | Habitually dejected, connecting fruit with abdominal pain, say? (11) |
| MELANCHOLIC – homophone of MELON (fruit) + COLIC (abdominal pain) | |
| 8 | Last to invest, holding fourth of shares (6) |
| ENDURE – ENDUE (to invest) around {sha}R{es} (fourth of shares) | |
| 9 | Dogsbody’s feat in setting up of corporation (8) |
| FACTOTUM – ACT (feat) in reversal of OF, + TUM (corporation) | |
| 10 | Instrument graduate introduced to old Nicaraguan guerrillas, before long (13) |
| CONTRABASSOON – CONTRAS (old Nicaraguan guerrillas) around BA (graduate), + SOON (before long), to give (Chambers): “A metal or wooden instrument, like a bassoon but sounding an octave lower, the double bassoon” | |
| 11 | Face slipping in hostile part of glacier (7) |
| ICEFALL – FACE* in ILL (hostile) | |
| 12 | Practical details in Kitty’s rhymes? (5-6) |
| NITTY-GRITTY – two words rhyming with Kitty | |
| 13 | Self-absorbed chap possessing energy and money (10) |
| EGOCENTRIC – ERIC (chap), around GO (energy) + CENT (money) | |
| 20 | Bury hamster, say, across river — and explain (9) |
| INTERPRET – INTER (Bury) + PET (hamster, say) around R (river) | |
| 23 | Popularly a TV series, to be completely accurate (8) |
| STRICTLY – dd, the first the common shortened name for the bafflingly popular British TV show Strictly Come Dancing | |
| 25 | Do what Morse did, failing to get time for female (6) |
| DETECT – DE{f}ECT (failing) with the f (female) replaced by a T (time), and the definition (and arguably the whole clue) a reference to Inspector Morse | |
| 26 | New laic term describing some psalm translations (8) |
| METRICAL – (LAIC TERM)*, with the definition referring to a metrical psalm, which is (Collins): “a translation of one of the psalms into rhyming strict-metre verse usually sung as a hymn” | |
| 28 | Characteristic of auditorium requiring sound judgement (9) |
| ACOUSTICS – cd, hoping to make you think of sound in the sense of well-founded rather than audio | |
| 29 | Little creature retired doctor allowed to go around island (6) |
| PIGLET – reversal of GP (doctor) around I (island), + LET (allowed) | |
| 31 | Relaxation of rules applying to linesmen? (6,7) |
| POETIC LICENCE – cd, hoping to make you think of, say, football linesmen rather than people writing verse | |
| 33 | Pardon woman brought up in smithy north of loch (11) |
| FORGIVENESS – reversal of VI (woman), in FORGE (smithy) + NESS (loch) | |
| 34 | Nice people, even, may suffer such national prejudice (11) |
| GALLOPHOBIA – a kind of extended cryptic definition, hoping to make you think of nice in the pleasant rather than city-on-the-Med sense | |
| 35 | Doctor who used bay’s place of ill repute (10) |
| BAWDYHOUSE – (WHO USED BAY)* | |
| 36 | Dig up French art treasures initially displaying impartiality (11) |
| DISINTEREST – DISINTER (Dig up) + ES (French art, i.e. one of the French words for the archaic version of the present tense second person singular of the verb “to be”) + T{reasures} (treasures initially). Corrected due to Paul G’s comment below. | |
| 40 | Standard review by key writer ultimately upset no one (9) |
| CRITERION – CRIT (review) + E (key) + {write}R (writer ultimately), + reversal of NO + I (one) | |
| 41 | Dotty drawer’s son, one who takes alcohol regularly (8) |
| STIPPLER – S (son) + TIPPLER (one who takes alcohol regularly) | |
| 43 | Paperback covering alternative source of flavouring, perhaps (7) |
| POTHERB – PB (Paperback) around OTHER (alternative). Don’t think we very often see PB for paperback – it’s in ODO but neither Chambers nor Collins. Other possibilities are, of course, the chemical symbol for lead, plus Pharmacopoeia Britannica, Prayer Book, personal best, petabyte(s), Punjab, and Plymouth Brethren. | |
| 45 | French painter’s entry (7) |
| INGRESS – INGRES’S (French painter’s) | |
| 46 | Start of terrible row after accountant becomes more spiteful (7) |
| CATTIER – CA (accountant) + T{errible} (start of terrible) + TIER (row) | |
| 47 | Living in woods, son left vehicle outside rear of bothy (6) |
| SYLVAN – S (son) + L (left) + VAN (vehicle) around {both}Y (rear of bothy), a bothy being (Chambers): “A humble cottage or hut” | |
| 50 | Decorated knight on board leaving to make a speech (5) |
| ORATE – OR{n}ATE (Decorated knight on board leaving) | |
Edited at 2019-03-23 10:56 am (UTC)
Edited at 2019-03-28 04:21 am (UTC)
Paul G
ONG’ARA,
KENYA.