Solving time: 26:40 online, but 2 mistakes – one careless spelling mistake and one misremembered phrase.
Across | |
---|---|
4 | CHEW THE FAT – referring to the nursery rhyme – “Jack Sprat could eat no fat, his wife could eat no lean” |
14 | MINCE MEAT => team – wordplay in the answer |
15 | MAN,MAN,A GE(ME)NT |
16 | NOT ICED = the description of an unfinished cake |
17 | HANG-UPS – rev. of PUG = pugilist, in HANS (German equivalent of Jack – short fot Johannes) |
19 | CRIMEAN = war, D.,PUNISHMENT |
21 | CLEO = “woman carrying on” – LatE, in CO. |
24 | NO(r)TON – the clue makes a reference to Burnt Norton, first of T S Eliot’s Four Quartets – knowledge that was beyond me, but the surface was clear |
29 | FIRE = inspire, BRIG., ADE = “aid” |
30 | TALK IS CHEAP – double def. This is the one I got badly wrong, inventing the not very convincing “tell it cheap” |
32 | DISH,(r)EVELLED |
40 | (r)OSIER – osier = a willow shoot used in basketry, as well as the tree itself |
44 | MORE HASTE LESS SPEED – a good motto for any crossword competitor (homeless, S = son, desperate)* |
47 | CATHODE = “Cath ode” – a literary gag easy enough for me to laugh at |
50 | GA(P)Y,EAR – the playwright is John Gay, best known for the Beggar’s Opera, later adapted by Weill and Brecht |
51 | VICTOR, 1 ACROSS |
54 | GAY = not straight, GORDON‘S = general’s |
Down | |
2 | CONS = studies, TRICT = “tricked” = had, OR = golden |
3 | TRE(A CL)E |
5 | (t)HATCH |
6 | W(OMEN = token)IN, LOVE = nothing |
7 | HONOURS LIST – cryptic def based on the remote possibility of receiving a knighthood as opposed to the impossibility of getting a bishopric |
10 | BEETLE, triple def. – mallet, that village hall game again, and to hurry |
13 | DEAD AND ALIVE – I think I’d count this as a double cryptic def. (“deed” as the first word was my typing error) |
20 | PEN,TA(C)LE |
22 | O.E.D., 1P,A,L=pound |
29 | FI(D,D)LED |
31 | IN TRANSI(GEN.)T |
36 | CHINE, SEW ALL – here’s a def with “insurmountable barrier” |
41 | RIDE(R),LESS |
42 | KENT,(l)UCKY |
46 | COLON = :, Y = end of storY |
John in USA