Solving time: about 80 minutes, with Chambers use for about the last two-thirds of the clues.
A good tough challenge with lots of new words for me.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 3 | SKATE,B.O.,(h)ARD – with “go on deck” as an elusive verbal def., a skateboard being a deck of sorts. |
| 10 | NU=Attic character – i.e. Gk letter,CULE(t) = hip/buttock armour. nucule = nutlet = the stone of a drupe |
| 11 | PA(YBE(t))D – “this’ll cost injured” is a neat def. ybet = beaten |
| 12 | A(MOR)CE – mor = mauther = an E Anglian ‘girl’. An amorce is a percussion cap for a toy pistol |
| 13 | PENN = “Milk actor” (Sean P) from current movies, and two wordplays – PEN,N and PE(N)N |
| 15 | HIGH,F,IVE |
| 16 | MAM,E,E – mam = a Guatemalan native American, and mamee = a West Indies fruit |
| 17 | HOO’S,GO,W – “can” is the def, a hoos(e)gow being a prison. “hoo” is a Shak. boisterous expression |
| 19 | UG,L,YMAN=many* – more Shak. here, an uglyman being an actual garrotter as opposed to one of his confederates |
| 24 | LEX=law,I,CAL(f)=”pretty much stupid person” |
| 26 | H(AIR,P)IN – a hin is a Hebrew liquid measure – 4 or 6 quarts |
| 28 | P,RATE |
| 29 | AR(BORE)T,A – bore is Aussie for an Artesian well, and a = about (abbrev.) |
| 31 | SAI,M – seam(e) or saim is Scots – lard make from pork fat. sai = a capuchin monkey |
| 32 | UNCL(e),O’,G |
| 33 | EMBACE = degrade – cab = hackney, rev., in eme = old ‘uncle’ |
| 34 | AS,LOP,(fir)E |
| 35 | JOE-PYE WEED = (we, deep joy, E)* – a major blocker of the bottom half of the grid, even though I could see what it was an anag. of from the off. |
| Down | |
| 1 | INASMU=animus*,CHAS. |
| 2 | BUM,B,A,G – bum = Scots to toss/hurl |
| 3 | S(C)OG – scog, scoog and scoug are Scots versions of scug or skug = shadow or shelter |
| 4 | KURVEYOR – voyeur* in K=Cambodia (IVR, by way of Kampuchea), R=runs. A kurveyor is a S Afr carrier. |
| 5 | ALCHEMY – HEM = (Hign Explosive, mass) in ALCY = “changing clay” – so N, the opposite” means “high explosive mass into changing clay”, rather than “changing clay into high explosive mass” |
| 6 | E,P.I.,GONE – epigon(e) = a member of a later generation |
| 7 | BASHO = a sumo tournament. I think base = abase is “biblically humble”, then we zoom forward in time to modern US slang for ho = prostitute |
| 8 | A,B,EIGH – def is “apart” = aloof |
| 9 | R,ENVOI or R,ENVOY – this is the clue Jimbo mentioned having an e-mail from Paul McK about a few days ago – both envoi/envoy and renvoi/renvoy match both the necessary defs., so both answers are equally valid. (Working from memory, I only saw RENVOI and I’ll guess that’s the “official” answer.) |
| 14 | NEW-FLEDGED – (legend, few, D=died)* – bice use of “downed” in the def. |
| 18 | SPIRACLE = passage. This is (LC = loc cit = ‘in the place cited’, A=a), all rev., in SPIRE = summit |
| 20 | A,LIEN,E=English,(inheritanc)E – the person to whom property is transferred |
| 21 | EX.,PAN(S)E – pane = a rectangular piece of land |
| 22 | PARAMO=S.Am. plain. WEordplay is lover = paramour, with UR = “in text message, you’re”, dumped. |
| 23 | RIB,I,BE – rib = old wife, and a ribibe is an old crone. |
| 25 | A,TROP(e),A=about – atropa is the deadly nightshade genus (from which we get atropine, of course) |
| 27 | PR,I,C.,Y |
Whether by accident or design Peter has omitted to blog 30D. This is the clue that was completely missing from the e-version that PM sent to me and I included in last week’s blog. The clue was “Shamus,say,left in school” and the answer is P(L)OD, “shamus” being slang for a cop.