It should be safe to put this up now – entries are due today and I suspect the winner has already been selected. If you didn’t do this one, I’d recommend fetching it from the Crossword Club service and solving it before reading further – it’s not difficult but has plenty of good stuff in it.
Solving time: 19:48
We seem to be in a patch of easy jumbos at present – I’ve finished at least three in a row in around 20 minutes, which seems to equate to 6-7 for a daily puzzle. Although this puzzle was easy for me, it contains plenty of novelty and the surface readings are top notch throughout – this is one of the times I’m glad to have spent the time it takes to pick a selection of these clues and write them up – I saw things I must have missed while speed-solving.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 14 | UNRULED – 2 defs – as “carte blanche” is literally blank paper, but also freedom from rules, you can interpret the def “like carte blanche” in two ways. |
| 15 | I’M(M=maiden),ORAL |
| 16 | ALTER = shift, NATIVE = loccal, MEDICI = Italian family, NE = North-East – a very nicely done charade. |
| 20 | S(TRIC(k))T |
| 21 | GYMNASIUM, abbreviated as gym = “Jim”. A gymnasium is a school in Germany, Scandinavia or Central Europe, preparing pupils for university. |
| 23 | LONG = “for a considerable time”, FELLOW = “member of society” |
| 34 | BAR = a block,N,DOOR = rev. of rood = cross |
| 36 | TH(I)E,VERY – crafty clue which seems to define ‘burglar’ or similar |
| 43 | DEGRE(AS)ES |
| 45 | O = ring; L,D,V,I,C = “different numbers in Rome”. |
| 49 | URN = “earn” = net (vb.) |
| 50 | PRIVATE = Tommy, INVEST = lay out, I = one, GATOR = reptile. |
| 54 | TRIMMER – 2 defs, one describing a political version of the Vicar of Bray |
| 55 | N.(ODD)Y. |
| 56 | DO = party, H in Tory* |
| 57 | ENERGISED = (in degreees)* |
| Down | |
| 1 | THESAURI = (auth(o)rise)* |
| 3 | PAPER = publication, WEIGHT = “wait”. “It heavily controls author’s output” is the rather epic def. |
| 4 | LEE = general (Robert E.), WAY = road |
| 5 | TOURIST CLASS = “that provides economic progress” – (trusts social)* |
| 7 | COLLECTORS ITEMS – CD with “not singularly attractive” implying the desire for whole rafts of them, like the dozens of moustache cups someone had on Antiques Roadshow a week or two ago. |
| 9 | EL(IT IS)M – “Always wanting the flower” is another imaginative def., and unusually, we have a shortening in the clue (“it’s”) indicating a longer version in the answer – usually it’s(!) the other way round. |
| 10 | FEM(M,EFAT = fate*)ALE – a lovely clue especially if it’s new – “Male having terrible fate in clutch of a woman like this”. |
| 11 | DIRE = desperate, C. = about, TIN = money, G = good |
| 12 | PI = religious, (trave)L, GRIM = resolute – another lovely clue and an all-in-one |
| 22 | WEREWOLF = rev. of (FLOWER = best, EW = “bridge pair”) |
| 24 | WEATHER FORECAST = (a shower etc after)* – another gem |
| 26 | (w)E(VERY = jolly, ON = happening)E(k) |
| 27 | SA(NIT)Y |
| 32 | PORK PIE = Cockney rhyming slang for lie, and hence a “Meat product you shouldn’t swallow” |
| 33 | SEMIL = smile*,ITERATE = “keep doing the same thing” |
| 35 | D(INNER PART = inside)Y – the INNER PART replaces the A = “middle of day” |
| 38 | NON-STARTER – def and cryptic def |
| 42 | INFRA-RED = (rare find)* |
| 43 | D(RUN,K)EN |
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