There’s a rather old fashioned feel to this puzzle with references to Frank Buchman, bits of Latin, women waiting for a given time to propose and a defunct TV detective series amongst other features. Nothing too difficult, however.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | ECCLUS – (clues)* surrounds C=chapter; the Sirach – book of Ecclesiasticus; |
| 6 | LATRON – LAT(e)R-ON; Spain=E; old word (forgotten) for robber; |
| 11 | PROCREATE – PRO-C-REATE; coloured=C; |
| 12 | UMRA – U-MRA; MRA=Moral Rearmament, a movement that succeeded The Oxford Group, followers of Frank Buchman; a form of hadj; |
| 13 | MODELER – (rome)*b surrounds LED reversed; US spelling of “modeller” – the plastic is a reference to model building kits; |
| 14 | LEAP,YEAR – LEAP-YEA-(ap)R(il); I don’t think modern women take much notice of this old fashioned custom; |
| 16 | GABLE – GA(B)LE; B from B(usted); |
| 19 | OBIT – (o)OBIT; anniversary of a death (space shuttle Columbia’s crew perhaps – died 1st February 2003); |
| 20 | PINOTAGE – PI(NO-TAG)E; a grape used for wine making – why “luxury”?; |
| 22 | CONWOMEN – CON-W-OMEN; |
| 24 | ANTI – hidden (dec)ANTI(ng); |
| 26 | FLOOD – F(L)OOD; |
| 28 | OUT-HEROD – OUT-(horde)*; |
| 30 | SEASLUG – (sounds like “cease”)-LUG; |
| 31 | BIDI – BID-I; poor quality gasper; |
| 32 | AEROBRAKE – A-(BORE reversed)-RAKE; a thin horse=RAKE; |
| 33 | ERINYS – SYN-IRE all reversed; a Fury; |
| 34 | SAKIEH – (a sheik)*; water wheel; |
| Down | |
| 1 | EMULGE – E(GLUM reversed)E; drain; |
| 2 | COME,ALONG – CO-MEAL-ON-G; |
| 3 | CARABIN – C(A-R)ABIN; R from R(ound); |
| 4 | URDY – (st)URDY; |
| 5 | SOMETIME – (tommies)*-E; |
| 7 | ARDRI – A(RD)R-I; augmented reality=AR; I=aye; Irish king; |
| 8 | TEETOTAL – TEE-TOTAL; support=TEE; put on ice=kill=TOTAL; dialect (some people’s) for complete; |
| 9 | RALE – RA(tt)LE; |
| 10 | NERITE – (entire)*; |
| 15 | RIGWOODIE – RIG-WOO-DIE; Taggart refers to fictional Scots detective, hence a Scots word; |
| 17 | LEWISSON – LEWIS-SO-N; reference Lennox Lewis; provided=SO; mason’s lifting device; |
| 18 | INERT,GAS – (tangiers)*; He=helium=inert gas; |
| 21 | AMORINI – IN-I-ROMA all reversed; |
| 22 | CAUSAE – CA-US(A)E; cases=CA; adjective=A; plural form of latin tag used in legal phrases such as “causa causans”; |
| 23 | ODDISH – DO reversed-DISH; |
| 25 | DOLBY – DO(L)BY; audio tecnology from Dolby Labs; |
| 27 | SARI – S(A)RI; |
| 29 | HAKA – HA-KA; spirit=KA; |
1 d. Is E an accepted abbreviation for early? I couldn’t find it in Chambers. Apologies if I missed it.
21 ac. Has the setter got this right? Amorino is cupid in Italian (as far as I know) and is next to amoretto (lover; cupid) in Chambers.
22 d. I also couldn’t find causa = advantage
Many thanks.
21D: Apologies for failing to identify and correct this.
22D: causa = cause, and “sake, advantage” is one of the listed meanings of “cause”. Whether causa equates to all the meanings of cause may well be debatable, but the rule used elsewhere is to go with Chambers, however perverse. I try to persuade setters to use something different if the clue seems obviously wrong.
Peter Biddlecombe, Sunday Times Crossword Editor
Edited at 2015-02-08 05:37 pm (UTC)