Average to easy puzzle which posed no major problems.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | MUGWUMP – MUG-W-UMP; weak=w (particle physics); umpire=UMP; The jocular word MUGWUMP is from Algonquian (Natick) “mugquomp”,meaning “important person”; The Mugwumps were Republicans who defected to support Grover Cleveland in the presidential election of 1884. |
| 11 | ARANEIDAE – A-RANE(IDA)E; the orb-weaver spiders that build circular webs; |
| 12 | GALLON – GALL-ON; swelling=GALL-3; leg=ON (cricket); old measure of liquid equal to 8 pints; |
| 13 | ASKARI – hidden (m)ASK-A-RI(sk-averse); an African lawman serving a colonial power such as Germany, France or UK ; |
| 14 | AGLEE – bird=eagle then move first “e” to give AGLEE; |
| 15 | STALLS – S(TALL)S; remarkable=TALL (as in story); |
| 16 | CAVASS – CA(n)VASS; knight=n; bumped off=removed; armed Turkish servant but also Computer Aided Visualization and Analysis Software System; |
| 18 | ORPINE – OR(PIN)E; ground cover plant also known as live-forever; |
| 20 | JOCO – JO-CO; pleased (with oneself) in Jedburg; |
| 22 | BAST – BA(S)T; S from (flood)S; |
| 24 | STREWN – (news)* surrounds TR=Turkey; broadcast=scatter; |
| 26 | JINNS – sounds like “gins” – don’t mind if I do; |
| 28 | ARRIVE – sounds like “a rive”; |
| 30 | BOOMS – BOOM-S; |
| 31 | SOULED – sounds like “sold”; |
| 32 | MAWMET – MAW-MET; stomach=MAW; an idol; |
| 33 | TABELLION – rising=re-bellion then change re=Royal Engineers to TA=Territorial Army; Roman notary; |
| 34 | SEED-LAC – (descale)*; |
| Down | |
| 1 | MEGALOBLASTS – (lags must able)*; unusually large cells associated with Vitamin B12 deficiency; |
| 2 | USAGER – U(SAGE)R; a non-juror who refused to swear allegiance to William and Mary; |
| 3 | GALLOPS – GAL(LOP)S; |
| 4 | WALER – W(h)ALER; boat=whaler then remove h=heroin; a horse from NSW; |
| 5 | MANDAEAN – MAN-D(A)EAN; fellow=MAN; cleric=DEAN; Austria=A; followers of Mandaeism, a Gnostic religion; |
| 6 | GESTANT – GE(STA)NT; |
| 7 | DIKA – A-KID reversed; tree producing edible nuts; |
| 8 | UDALS – U-DAL(e)S; superior=U; property in the Shetlands; |
| 9 | GARLIC – GAR-sounds like “lick”; |
| 10 | SEISMONASTIC – SEIS-MONASTIC; the sudden closing of plant leaves under stimulus such as touch; |
| 17 | VISNOMIE – (in movies)*; judging character from facial attributes; ; |
| 19 | NAIVELY – (any evil)*; |
| 21 | OENOMEL – O(n)E-LEMON reversed; from the Greek words oinos (wine) and meli (honey) – a sweet drink to treat gout!; |
| 23 | ABROAD – A-BROAD; |
| 25 | WOMERA – (we roam)*; Aboriginal notched stick; |
| 26 | DRUBS – (bruised – ie)*; |
| 27 | LOWND – LO-W(i)ND; see lown-2 in C – sheltered in Scotland; |
| 29 | ILEX – I-L-EX; |
I knew WALER from a book I read recently but I’m struggling to remember which. I gather (D)JINN is actually a plural but gets used as a singular , maybe thanks to Kipling.