A pleasing workout at 31:50, which is about average for me. Quite rarely for me, I have nothing to moan about – all the clues work well and the few “obscure” words have reasonable wordplay.
Kudos toTopicalTim (I think it was he edit: it wasn’t, it was kororareka so kudos to him instead) for inventing the strikeout method for letter removal
Kudos to
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | SHOP FRONT – (POSH FOR)* + N,T |
| 6 | RIPOSTE – Hidden in letteR I POSTEd |
| 10 | CASES – double def on as in “case the joint” |
| 13 | INTENSE – TENS in mINEs |
| 14 | C,HIPPER |
| 15 | RAN,S,TOME |
| 16 | JUST AROUND THE CORNER – two defs |
| 17 | YELP |
| 18 | CARUSO – US in CAROusel |
| 20 | SPAR,TA |
| 21 | RECEPTION – two defs. The reception class is what our 4 year olds join |
| 23 | UN(F)AMI,LIAR |
| 25 | TRADUCEMENT – (MAN UTTERED)* around C |
| 29 | ELOPE – E,POLE rev |
| 30 | CREE,PIER |
| 31 | DIREACTOR |
| 34 | CON,FINED |
| 36 | P(ER,O)RATE – one of this week unknown words |
| 37 | PILAU – 1st letters of “prepared in local auberge”. Nice, semi &lit |
| 39 | THRUST STAGE – (THUGS START)* + E. Another previously unknown one. It’s a bit of a stage that sticks out at the front and goes into the audience. |
| 41 | TRIO SONATA – (SINATRA TOO)* As PB will tell you, this is a piece for two solo melodic instruments and basso continuo. What this means I have no idea |
| 43 | A,SPA,RAGUS – RAGUS being SUGAR rev |
| 45 | TIP OFF – two defs, one raising a smile “snooker cue’s no good with this” |
| 47 | SEE YOU – “C U” |
| 49 | I,DA – I being Italian and DA being 2/3 of DAY (16 hours). Ida is a mountain in both Crete or Turkey |
| 50 | TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE – (WHITE COFFEE PORT OR)*. Excellent clue |
| 52 | TOTE BAG – ABET rev in TO , Groceries |
| 53 | A(COUCH)I – AI being LAIR |
| 54 | RETSINA – (NASTIER)* |
| 55 | BRIDGE |
| 56 | CR,EASED |
| 57 | G(OR)B,LIMEY – the kind of thing that Dick Van Dyke says in Mary Poppins to show he can speak like a native. It’s a corruption of “God blind me” |
|
|
|
| Down | |
| 1 | SKIP,JACK – I only know this as a kind of tuna, but it’s a boat as well |
| 2 | OATES – every other letter of POLAR TREKS. Well played setter! |
| 3 | FIN,GALS CAVE – FIN being “FINN” and CAVE being latin for beware |
| 4 | O R(EG)ON – O RON geing “appeal to Reagan” |
| 5 | TECH,NO,PHILES – “FILES” |
| 6 | RO(I)STER |
| 7 | PIPPED AT THE POST – two defs, one referring to the pips (stars) that officers get to wear on their sleeves |
| 8 | SERBO CROAT – (BORES ACTOR)* |
| 9 | EIRE,NI,C – I’ve only seen IRENIC before but this wasn’t much of a stretch |
| 10 | CENTREPIECE – C then PIE,Chef in ENTREE |
| 11 | S(TORY,L)INE |
| 12 | S(LEE)P IN – really clever definition here, “stay out late” |
| 19 | RUN,DOWN |
| 22 | PITCHE(R)S |
| 24 | RE,PRESENTATIONS |
| 26 | UNI,VERSE |
| 27 | TORQUE – hidden in inquisiTOR QUEstionably |
| 28 | HEPCAT – (THE CAP)* A cool dude jazz fan in the 1940s . I think we should revive this word and use it daily |
| 32 | TOLS,TOY – TOLS being SLOT rev |
| 33 | HABIT FORMING – two defs one slightly whimsical, “dressmaker’s work” |
| 35 | IN,S(CRU)TABLE |
| 37 | PENT,E(COS)T AL |
| 38 | PAS(S,IONA)TE |
| 40 | REPLANTED – PLAN in (TREE)* + D |
| 42 | TUT,ELARY – (EARLY)* |
| 43 | A,VIA,TOR |
| 44 | GEORGE I,C – rural poems written by Virgil, my favourite Thunderbird |
| 46 | PIERCE,D – ref Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the US |
| 48 | S,CARER |
| 51 | PODIUM |
As a singer and occasional trombonist, trio sonatas aren’t my strong suit, so I couldn’t have provided that explanation. You can hear an example here, though it takes about three minutes for all three instruments to be involved. J S Bach didn’t help to make it any clearer by writing trio sonatas for the organ. More logical than it seems – the musical structure is much the same, with the hands doing the job of the two solo instruments and the feet providing the continuo bass.
Oh, and that deletion method: Time used it for a replacement rather than a subtraction. I think I still prefer lower case in round brackets for subtractions, but this method used consistently in a posting is OK. Any other views welcome …
Edited at 2009-09-25 09:04 am (UTC)