I thought this a reasonably difficult puzzle. I needed Chambers a lot to hunt down obscure meanings and find answers. There are the usual crop of ten starter clues but only three in the top half and only 1D strategic. In the bottom they are more helpful with 22D strategic and four of them assisting with the long anagram at 35A. So I solved this bottom to top with the SE corner the toughest nut to crack and last to be completed. There are a run of excellent across clues from 16A to 26A inclusive. All in all a very enjoyable solve.
I have two unresolved queries. At 29A I think a removal indicator is missing. At 2D a phrase appears to be doing double duty.
For new solvers (C) = Chambers used to verify part of a clue (S) = starter clue (see tips and tricks on this site)
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | NAMBY-PAMBIES – N-(my babies p(r)am)*; this plural was unfamiliar to me and means childish writing or speech (from a poem by Henry Carey); |
| 10 | AFORE – A-FORE; FORE=golfer’s warning shout of a misdirected shot (shortened from “forecaddy” a shout to instruct the strategically placed servant to retrieve the ball and flick it into a better lie); “previously” is the definition; (S); |
| 11 | PEINCT – PE(INC)T; chou=PET; incorporated=INC; an old spelling of paint; (C); |
| 12 | LAURASIA – LAUR(AS-I)A; LAURA=monastic cells; AS=Arsenic; I=in; the top half of the Pangaean Super Continent (Gondwana was the bottom) that gave rise to the continents of the northern hemisphere; |
| 13 | TARO – hidden word (agen)T-A-RO(gue); Polynesian plant; (C) (S); |
| 15 | TUTENAG – TUT-(GANE reversed); TUT-2=piece work; GANE=gone in the Highlands; an inexact name for zinc; (C); |
| 16 | ALIUNDE – A-L(acquer)-I-UNDE; UNDE=heraldic term for wavy; legalise for “from another source”; nice clue; (C); |
| 17 | TOGUE – TO(n)GUE; n=beginning to naff; char=TOGUE=large North American fish; nice clue; (C); |
| 18 | HOT,SPOT – HOT-(TOPS reversed); HOT-2=old word for “called”; Hackney’s Miniscule of Sound perhaps; nice clue; |
| 24 | CHASMIC – CH-AS-MIC; CH=choir; like=AS; MIC=microphone; see “chasm” in (C); nice clue; |
| 26 | AKELA – A-K(ids)-E(ncourage)-L(eisure)-A(ctiviti |
| 27 | SEDUCER – SED-(m)UC(k)-ER; wet filth=muck; “rake” is the definition; the reeds and the wet filth suggest Cleopatra in the Nile with Anthony; |
| 29 | MORE,SUO – (“manor houses” with “nash” removed)*; in his own way is the definition (see more-3 in (C)); I can’t see the indicator that says “remove nash” and reverse engineered this wordplay after finding a fit to M?RES?O in Chambers; with an indicator a nice clue; (C); |
| 31 | MALI – (I-LAM reversed); a member of the Hindu flower or vegetable gardener class in India; (C) (S); |
| 32 | HARD,COPY – HARD-CO(P)Y; HARD-2=old word for “heard”=tried in a court; (S); |
| 33 | APICES – A-PICES; A=advanced; PICES=old coins, four of which made one anna; see “apex” in (C); |
| 34 | AERIE – A(IRE reversed)E; AE=aged; brood=to envelop; visionary (see aery-1 in (C)) as distinct from the commoner meaning, an eagle’s nest; |
| 35 | RIGHT-TO-LIFER – (girl to hit ref)*; wet=tipsy=anagrind; an ardent believer in Article 2 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights |
| Down | |
| 1 | NALLAH – N(ALL)AH; NALLAH=nulla=an Indian stream; (C) (S); |
| 2 | A,FAT,LOT – (“stagflation” with “sign” removed)*; “not this much” appears to be doing double duty both as the definition and the removal indicator; |
| 3 | MOUP – MO(U)P; MOP=a hiring fair; to mumble in Glasgow; (C); |
| 4 | YEARN – (whe)Y-(“near” with “n” moved to the end); near=old word for parsimoniously; YEARN-3=earn-2=to curdle; (C); |
| 5 | POSTDOC – POS(i)T-DOC(k); posit=set in place; |
| 6 | MEAT-TEA – ME-(l)ATTE-A(n); MEAN=poor; “latte”=espresso and “what’s essential to”=take most of it; high tea taken between 4pm and 6pm with the local vicar, cold meat and cucumber sandwiches; |
| 7 | BITE,OR,SUP – B(other)-I-(spouter)*; see “bite” in (C); |
| 8 | INANGA – IN-(t)ANG-A; tang-3=coarse seaweed; A=ante=before; whitebait; (C); |
| 9 | STOGEY – YE(GO)T-S all reversed; even=YET; a spell=a GO; S=son; long-nine=STOGEY=a dog rocket more than a Fuente Arturo; (C); |
| 14 | AUSGLEICH – A-US-GLEI-CH; A=one; US=ut supra=as above; GLEI=gley-2=clay; CH=clubhouse; the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 that gave equality to Hungarian and Austrian Governments under one monarch; satisfying clue to solve; (C); |
| 19 | PLASHET – PLA(SHE)T; PLAT-2=old word for scheme; DUB-3=a puddle=PLASHET; (C); |
| 20 | THEORBO – THE-ORB-O; a large lute; (C) (S); |
| 21 | RIEMPIE – RI(E)M-PIE; RIM=apron; E=dependant (marketing device used in population class classification – see E in (C)); PIE=a welcome prize; a long thong used in weaving or possibly by 27A; (C); |
| 22 | DAMMAR – DAM-MAR; the resin obtained from conifers; (C) (S); |
| 23 | VERLIG – VER(y)LIG; LIG=idle; liberal in Cape Town; (C); |
| 25 | CRAYER – CR-AYE-R; CRAYER=crare=trading vessel; (C) (S); |
| 28 | DEDAL – reversal of “laded”; DEDAL=daedal=inventive; (C); |
| 30 | CORF – COR-F; COR=corner; a cage for fish or lobsters; (C) (S); |
(Today’s by contrast I have already finished.)
2D works the same way – A FAT LOT + SIGN = (stagflation)*.