Sorry, late again.
Solving time: 19:05 without C, one mistake – 22D, where I didn’t understand the wordplay and the floor is open.
After really struggling with my last blogged Mephisto, this was much easier – most of the dusty corners of Chambers this time were ones that I’ve visited before.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | LASCA(r),L.A. |
| 6 | SP(R)AD – old version of “spread”. SPAD = ‘Signal passed at danger’. |
| 12 | HOMO=man,EO=game,S=son,IS=is – sounded vaguely familiar. Trickiest part is finding it in C – look under homeo-/homo-, not homo- |
| 13 | C(NID)A – nid = brood. It’s a stinging organ in jellyfish and the like – fairly familiar from other advanced cryptics. |
| 18 | T=the,ALLOW=let,DIP=pickpocket – a tallow dip is an old kind of candle |
| 20 | TREE,HOUSE – 2 meanings of “box” |
| 21 | I=1,N,TOLE=type of tin ware,RANCE=bar (Scots) |
| 25 | DEFINIENS – (seen I find)* – it’s a definition, as you probably guessed |
| 26 | OLFACT = (of cat l) – easy enough to find from ‘olfactory’ |
| 27 | CADE – initial letters |
| 28 | (John) WAYNE = “wane” |
| 29 | E,SSAYER = (Dorothy) Sayers with last S moved to the front |
| Down | |
| 1 | LANCE-TWIN,DOW – one of those very narrow ones that only seem any good for firing arrows through |
| 2 | AGONY,AUNT=gossip – an egeria is a female adviser |
| 4 | A,NOA(h) – a wild ox of Celebes, or rather Sulawesi |
| 5 | LEMON = yellow,WEED = garment as in “widow’s weeds” |
| 7 | PROS,OP,ON – the outer appearance of one of the three persons of the Trinity. New word for me, which I must try on the vicar to see if he knows it. |
| 9 | DIS=fail to respect,ASSEMBLER = former. A dissassembler does the opposite of an assembler in computing. |
| 14 | (r)UDDERLESS |
| 15 | F,RU,SEMIDE=demise – knew this stuff was a drug |
| 17 | ULT(imate),ON,IAN = someone from Ulster |
| 22 | UNCE = Scots for ounce. I don’t get the ‘non-conformist suggestion’ bit, though. Any offers? |
Bill