I found this one far more difficult than the last few weeks, and there is one entry that I am not 100% sure I have parsed correctly. Tim Moorey tends to give us a number of figures from arts and culture and I was only familiar with about half of the ones used here.
On the other hand there is a very fun clue at 16 down and one of my favorite recent additions to the English language at 32 across.
Away we go…
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | FROGBIT: BIT(cut) |
| 7 | ARBA: the island of ARUBA missing the middle |
| 10 | MISAUNTER: MISER containing AUNT |
| 11 | NUTS: NUT(buff, fan), and S(square) – second definition of MAST in Chambers |
| 12 | SPIDERY: anagram of DIRE inside SPY(mole) |
| 13 | ATLANTA: The runner is ATALANTA, remove an A and the Georgia is two states south of me |
| 15 | NOAH: double definition for the ark guy and the dictionary guy – sidebar, much like Chambers is the standard reference for UK variety cryptics, it is the current Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary (the 11th edition) in the US |
| 18 |
DOLMAN: DOL |
| 19 | CONSCIENT: CONS(Conservative), then CLIENT(patron) with L removed |
| 21 | BARRACOON: BAR(saving), RACOON(fur) |
| 24 | SPENCE: double definition for a larder and the architect Basil Spence |
| 25 | ESTH: HEST(command) with the H moved to the end |
| 27 | CORACLE: CO(county), then an anagram of CLARE |
| 28 | RET,RATE |
| 30 | MAYA: MANY(a great number),A(accepted) with the N removed |
| 31 | FRESCOIST: anagram of SCOTS,RIFE |
| 32 | SEXT: SEXTON(church officer) missing ON. If you have trouble keeping track of your sexts maybe you need a sextretary |
| 33 | RESIANT: remove ST from RESISTANT(opposed) |
| Down | |
| 1 | FINANCE: FIANCE(engaged guy) holding N |
| 2 | ROUT: I think this is two definitions surrounding wordplay for R,OUT? |
| 3 | OUTLANDER: OUT(not in), LANDER(spacecraft) |
| 4 | BIONIC: BIC(a make of pen) containing ION(something charged) |
| 5 | TAPADERO: anagram of TORE surrowunding A, PAD(home) |
| 6 |
GUIDON: anagram(cavalier) of the DOU |
| 7 | ANDY: remove the first letter from HANDY for what I presume is Andy Capp, a comic strip that is inexplicably still running |
| 8 |
BERGAMOT: BERGAMO(Italian city), over |
| 9 | ARYAN: A(acting) and then the actress Meg RYAN |
| 14 | EMBOSCATA: anagram of SEA,COMBAT |
| 16 | OOSPHERE: the three round things are two O’s and a SPHERE- – my favorite clue |
| 17 | DIRECT,OR |
| 20 | UNHEART: anagram of A,HUNTER – “cow” in this case meaning to subdue the spirit |
| 22 | ACK-ACK: two HACKs with the tops removed |
| 23 | ACROSS: A(one), CROSS(mad) |
| 24 | SERFS: ERF(garden plot) in two S’s(sections) |
| 26 | ERST: REST(all others) with the R moving down – “once” is the definition |
| 28 | LYON: L(line), with YON(that) underneath |
I also guessed Andy Capp at 7D