A straightforward puzzle of average difficulty but with some interesting people hidden away. I knew Al Capone of course but the skateboarder Alan “Ollie” Gelfand was new to me as was that great world champion of porridge making John Boa, wizard of the spurtle.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | SWEEP-SAW – S(WEE-PS)AW; a bowsaw or turning saw; |
| 7 | CHUB – C(amorra)-HUB; |
| 10 | MINARET – M-IN-ARET; old word for award=ARET; |
| 12 | AGOGE – A(GO)GE; tempo in ancient Greece – also a Spartan training regime; |
| 13 | CLOWDER – C-LOWDER; clubs=C; sounds like “louder”; collective noun for feral cats; |
| 15 | ADHERE – AD-HERE; |
| 16 | TEREEN – T(E-R)REEN; eccentricity=E; runs=R; wooden=TREEN; |
| 17 | SLOAN – SLOAN(e Ranger); to snub in Sutherland; |
| 19 | LINEAGE – (“genealogies” minus “goes”)*; |
| 20 | SPURTLE – (super)* surrounds LT reversed; Scots spoon used in the World Porridge Making Championships, current champion John Boa; |
| 23 | KLOOF – FO(O)LK reversed (from the east); a ravine; |
| 25 | AGISTER – (m)AGISTER; a Verderer of the New Forest; |
| 27 | BEEPER – BEE-PER; |
| 29 | DESPITE – scorn=despise then second “s” becomes “t” to give DESPITE; |
| 30 | OLLIE – (m)OLLIE; noon=M; mollie=a sailors jolly in an icebound ship; an OLLIE is a move on a skateboard devised by Alan “Ollie” Gelfand; |
| 31 | ARNAOUT – ARNA-OUT; water buffalo=ARNA; OUT=seawards; member of the Turkish Army; |
| 32 | WASE – WAS-E; noodle=head; a soft pad used to protect the top of the head as used, I think, by Billingsgate porters; |
| 33 | MAYOLOGY – MAY-O-LOGY; blossom=MAY; over=O; dull in Denver=LOGY; study of all things Mayan; |
| Down | |
| 1 | SMARTS – SM(ART)S; text messaging system=SMS; |
| 2 | ENOW – E-(WON reversed); ecstasy (drug)=E; a moment ago in Edinburgh; |
| 3 | EAGER – sounds like “eagre”; |
| 4 | PRESENTEEISM – PRESENT-(I seem)*; as demonstrated by over protective mother-in-law; |
| 5 | SECKEL – SEC-(LEK reversed); display ground=LEK; small, tasty, pear; |
| 6 | WOODEN,KIMONO – hard=WOODEN; outfit=KIMONO; US slang for a coffin; Al Capone 1899-1947 was put in a $2,000 bronze casket in Florida where he died. After lying in state he was driven to Chicago for burial in Mount Olivet; |
| 7 | COWHEEL – CO-WHEEL; ox foot stewed to make a jelly; |
| 8 | HEDERA – (ARE-D-EH all reversed); D=top of Dolomites; what!=EH!; Ivy; |
| 9 | BAREGE – BAR-EG-E; strip=BAR; English=E; silky cloth from Bareges in SW France; |
| 11 | HERE,GOES – HER(EG)OES; |
| 14 | HELPMEET – HE-(temple)*; |
| 18 | ARIPPLE – A(R-I)PPLE; R-I from R(ecycled) I(Pads); APPLE makes iPads; |
| 20 | SUBDEW – (WE’D-BUS all reversed); clear tables (in restaurant)=BUS; old word for subdue; |
| 21 | URESIS – URES-I-S; operations=URES; has=’S; urine (wee); |
| 22 | EGGERY – (gree=all but green)* surrounds g=good then y=a variable (algebra); bananas=mad=anagram indicator; |
| 24 | FREETY – FRE(t)-(yet)*; superstitious in Stirling; |
| 26 | SALAL – hidden (ca)SA LA L(aca); a shrub; |
| 28 | ALOO – A-LOO; can=toilet=LOO; spud=potato=ALOO; |
At 19ac I did vaguely wonder if “amok” should have been “AWOL” – amok doesn’t seem to indicate subtraction.
I think the clue is trying to say “If you take “ancestry” in the form of LINEAGE and mix it with “goes” then you get “genealogies””. It’s a tad convoluted but I saw it immediately when solving – so no complaints.
I liked the Apple clue, but it reminded me again that the club site doesn’t work on iPads. Someone should inform the Times that these things are becoming quite popular.
Edited at 2012-05-07 09:32 pm (UTC)