Many thanks to Linxit, who’s posting this puzzle for me because on the day the solution appears I’ll probably be without Internet access.
I found this one very straightforward, and solved it in under 17 minutes – what did other people think? Having spotted Salerno (1 ac) and Marengo (50 ac), I wondered if there was going to be a battle theme, but that wasn’t the case.
I liked the clues, and I thought that many of them had very nice surface readings.
Best wishes to all readers, Helen
| Across | |
| 1 | SALERNO – (Orleans)* |
| 5 | CRASH PAD – PAD meaning to tramp (walk), after CRASH = fall |
| 9 | COMBAT – COMB + A + T |
| 13 | PLAY TO THE GALLERY – double definition (gods here means the highest gallery in a theatre) |
| 14 | STARVE – STAVE = (musical) bar around R |
| 16 | RANGE – RAGE around N. “anger about” in the clue could also indicate RANGE, but doesn’t in this case. |
| 17 | EXITING – EXCITING (thrilling), leaving C (chapter) out |
| 18 | CONSCRIPT – CON = study, + SCRIPT |
| 19 | NIGHTSPOT – (thing)* + SPOT = notice |
| 21 | DRASTIC – DR + A, + STIC(k) meaning criticism (as in giving someone stick) |
| 22 | LITHE – (dril)L + IT + HE |
| 23 | EVICT – (unfortunat)E VICT(im) |
| 25 | ROYAL BLUE – (ball you’re)* |
| 27 | ESPARTO – E, + PART = region in SO = well. For a while I was expecting “well” to refer to the SPA part of the answer here |
| 29 | DESERT FOX – DESERT = ditch (as a verb), + FOX referring to the 17th century preacher George Fox. DESERT FOX was a nickname for Rommel |
| 31 | GHETTO BLASTER – (together)* around BLAST |
| 34 | TENDER-HEARTED – TENDER = bid, + HEART(s) + E +D |
| 35 | ANCESTRAL – (a N castle)* around R |
| 37 | MALCOLM – MM = Military Medal around (local)*. Scotland had several King Malcolms, including the one who appears as Duncan’s son in Macbeth |
| 39 | SAM BROWNE – BROWN in SAME |
| 42 | DINGO – GO after DIN |
| 43 | SWING – S(o)WING = broadcasting seed |
| 45 | MATINEE – A TINE in ME |
| 47 | MEGAPHONE – MEG (short for Margaret) + A PHONE |
| 49 | QUEEN ANNE – QUEEN = (chess) piece, + AN around N, + E |
| 50 | MARENGO – M + (a goner)* |
| 52 | NINJA – (Shotoka)N IN JA(pan) |
| 54 | ASTRIDE – ASTRID(e) = up on a horse |
| 55 | CLASS DISTINCTION – CLASS = form (at school) + DISTINCTION |
| 56 | ERRANT – E, + RR = Right Reverend, + ANT (a social and proverbially hard-working insect) |
| 57 | STODGIER – (dog tires)* |
| 58 | STAND-IN – STAND = treat as in stand someone a drink, + IN = popular |
| Down | |
| 1 | SUPERINTEND – INTEND = (to) mean, under (giving support to) SUPER |
| 2 | LEARN – LEAR, + N = knight in chess |
| 3 | RETREAT – RE, + TREAT = (to) handle, deal with |
| 4 | ON THE SPUR OF THE MOMENT – THE, + SP = odds (gambling term), + (fourth)*, all in ONE; + MOMENT |
| 5 | CHEMISTRY – C + HE (He is the atomic symbol for Helium) + M + IS + TRY |
| 6 | AMATI – A + MA* + IT reversed |
| 7 | HOLY GRAIL – (go Hillary)* |
| 8 | APRICOT – A + P + RICOT(ta). I very much liked the surface reading of this one |
| 10 | OPTICAL – C replacing M in OPTIMAL = best |
| 11 | BARRISTER – ST in BARRIER |
| 12 | THEATREGOER – (to greet her a)*. I believe the number of letters should have been given as (7-4), not (11) |
| 15 | KNICKERBOCKER GLORIES – KNICKERBOCKER, from the surname, was a term used to refer to a New Yorker, though not commonly these days. DELIGHTS = glories |
| 20 | GAINS ON – GAINS, + NO (reversed) |
| 21 | DELIGHT – DE, + LIGHT = match as in “Have you got a light”? |
| 24 | TORPEDO – TO-DO, around RP (received pronunciation) + E. A TORPEDO is a kind of ray (fish) |
| 26 | EXTRA – an EXTRA is a type of run in cricket. Or so I’m told… |
| 28 | PRAISED – P + RAISE + D |
| 30 | X-RAYS – X, + RAYS = broad flat fish |
| 32 | ENDORSE – END + (sore)* |
| 34 | TIMES SQUARE – TIMES = by (multiplication), + SQUARE = fair |
| 36 | LOOSE CANNON – LOOSE = unattached, + CANNON which sounds like (hence “reportedly”) canon |
| 38 | LEICESTER – (Crete lies)* |
| 40 | MINIMISED – MINIMS around I, + ED |
| 41 | WOMANISER – WISER around OMAN |
| 44 | GENTIAN – GEN, + alternate letters of trim, + AN |
| 46 | THE FLAT – THE = article, + FLAT |
| 48 | PANACEA – PAN, + ACE = (tennis) service, + A |
| 51 | RADII – DI in RAI(d) |
| 53 | NAIAD – the alternate (odd) letters of “No, a wizard” |
(Minor typo: the answer to 54ac is ASTRID rather than ASTRIDE. And 33dn (TORONTO) is missing, but perhaps that’s intentional.)