And now time for sports – there’s an English cricketer and a soccer player in here, and reading the clues I thought there might have been another cricketer hiding in wordplay (not so but I think it’s another sporting reference).
This is not usually the case with Tim Moorey’s puzzles, but I am absolutely baffled by a few wordplays. It will take a while for me to get back to this tomorrow, so you might want to check comments to see if they’ve been explained yet.
Overall I found this one tricky and a little frustrating with all the references – a rare crossword where I used google more than a dictionary.
Away we go…
Across | |
---|---|
1 | APOMICT: MIC in A POT |
6 |
|
10 | SIKA: sounds like SEEKER |
11 | GARDYLOO: anagram of HARDLY GO without |
12 | PAT,ROLLER |
15 | SHEA |
16 | SAM,IT,1: SAM is Spenserian for “together” |
17 | ASSESS: take the M’s away from MASS,MESS |
18 | BANGLADESH: LAD in BANG, (HE’S)* |
20 | APOSTROPHE: anagram of (HOPE,PORT’S,A) the A coming from “one” |
24 | CON(against),CHA: PAVILLION being a part of the ear in this case |
25 | VORANT: ORAN in VT – I don’t recommend googling images of this one |
26 | AGIO: take AD from ADAGIO |
29 | GAL,RAVAGE |
30 | CAN’T,REDS? This is one of two that I am stuck on wordplay – Stoke FC wear red at home, but that doesn’t seem to fit the clue |
31 | NADA: (AND)*, A |
32 | ASSOT: take the R out of ASSORT |
33 | METALED: TALE in MED |
Down | |
1 | ASPASIA: PAS(pops – fathers) in A,S,I,A(acadey) |
2 | OKTA: AT(by),KO all reversed |
3 | MARCIA: A1,CRAM reversed – from what I see online this is a queen in the King Arthur lineage |
4 | IGOR: take the V from VIGOR |
5 | CALLIGRAM: (A,GIRL)* in CALM |
6 | ODESSA: anagram of SEA DOGS less G |
7 | ELCHEE: C(see),HE(ambassador) in MELEE missing M,E for another ambassador |
8 | NO MESSING: or NOMES,SIN,G |
9 | SORAS: at least I think from the definition (rails) – the troops could be SASor SS, but I can’t fit the rest of the clue |
13 | ZAMPOGNAS: SANG,OP,MAZ |
14 | PALOVERDE: definition works (flowering tree) and I see LOVE can be nothing, but I am really stuck on the rest of the wordplay |
19 | HOTHEAD: or HOT HEAD |
21 | ONIONS: reference the cricketer Graham Onions |
22 | THWART: T then W(weak) in Joe HART |
23 | HRYVNA: (NAVY,HR)* |
24 | CASCA: C in CASA |
27 | FAST: double def |
28 | DAAL: get rid of the middle of DAy hospitAL |
14D is PARADE (show) around LOVE with the second A (=annum) of PARADE removed (passed).
At 30A its CAN’T-RED-S where RED=tidy and S=Stokes (CGS unit of viscosity)
At 14D its PA(LOVE)R(a)DE where show=parade and remove the second a=year
Can’t remember 9D for the moment
Hardest Mephisto for some time with ONIONS and HART bordering on the unfair. Neither is well known enough to justify inclusion here.
Truely great medium-paced bowlers would be Barnes and Bedser and perhaps now Anderson. Truely great goalkeeprs would be Banks and Shilton. The current perception of the mythical “man and woman in the street” is in my mind irrelevant.
I can recall thinking about S-OB-AS with OB meaning Outside Broadcast=live and SOBAS meaning noodles but plumping for SORAS on the basis of “rails” but can’t now recall how I got OR or ORA to mean “live” – any ideas?