I found a few parts of this very tricky indeed, with a bit of delving into sub-headings in Chambers, though in the end I don’t think I have any questions and I believe I have all the wordplay sorted out, which is a good idea for when it’s blogging time.
I’m typing this up on the 4th of July, so happy birthday ‘Merica!
Away we go…
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | AG,GR,1 |
| 5 | S(ucceeded) before WASHER(small change, based on resemblance to a washer in plumbing) |
| 10 | REBECCAITE: (BEATRICE)* containing EC – referencing the toll-gate riots, found under REBECCA in Chambers |
| 11 | NAGMAAL: NAG(hack) then LAM reversed surrounding A |
| 13 | A,DR,AD |
| 14 | S,TONNE |
| 15 | GHERAO: GHOST(soul) missing ST(stone) with ERA inside |
| 16 | DENIAL: DEAL(act) containing NI |
| 18 | WASABIS: SAW(got) reversed followed by A(before),BIS(twice) |
| 21 | S,NOW,IN G |
| 25 | AD,DEN,D |
| 27 | REPOSE: SOP(concession) reversed in REE(yard for keeping cattle in the winter) |
| 28 | SEARCH: hidden in japaneSE ARCHipelago |
| 29 | TEMPE: remove L from TEMPLE(rollers on a loom) |
| 30 | OFF-PEAK: F inside OF PEAK – this meaning of PEAK is found under PEAG in Chambers |
| 31 | A SHORT FUSE: anagram of USAF and OTHERS |
| 32 | MUST-SEE: S(section) after MUST(new wine) then E |
| 33 | LYSED: (YES)* in LD |
| Down | |
| 1 | ALNAGES: (LASAGNE)* – inspection of cloth |
| 2 | GLAD-HANDER: GLADDER surrounding HAN |
| 3 | REMARK: KRAMERIA without the last two letters |
| 4 | ABADAH: anagram of (ABU,DHABI) less BU |
| 5 | SEA GOWN: SEWN containing AGO |
| 6 | ACUTES: angram of (CAUSE,T) |
| 7 | SAY,ON: wordplay clear, definition not so easy to find – it’s under SAY(3) in Chambers |
| 8 | HIS NIBS: or HI SNIBS |
| 9 | REVEL: LEVER reversed |
| 12 | SNAIL’S PACE: or S NAIL SPACE |
| 17 | BODACHS: OD(arbitrary force, and the nickname of one of my predecessors on the Mephisto blog) in BACHS (bachelors) |
| 19 | AGRAFFE: R in GAFFE after A |
| 20 | SLEE(wily),KED(fly) |
| 22 | INCURS: CUR in INS |
| 23 | NETFUL: (FLUENT)* |
| 24 | APEPSY: PEP(go) for R (last letter in Alka-Seltzer) in ARSY(irritable) |
| 25 | ASSAM: tea – MASSA reversed |
| 26 | ERGO,T |
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