Oh dear, I appear to have been migrated to a new posting system, which removes the colours and the spacing of the automated blog poster that I have been using. I hope it is still readable!
Yet again I am treated to a rather nice grid with 90 degree symmetry and generous crossing against the central region. This was a rather fun puzzle where a lot of the difficulty was in the wordplay.
Speaking of wordplay, since definitions (the most obvious of which is underlined) can be confirmed in Chambers, this report will focus on wordplay.
Away we go!
(PS: less than a clue in to the write-up I’m finding how to force things to the previous editor)
| Across | |
| 1 | Plaice due to migrate — a whole family of fish (9) |
| CLUPEIDAE – anagram of PLAICE,DUE | |
| 11 | District ruled by Brits, mostly badly, in South Africa (4) |
| ZILA – ILL(badly) missing the last letter inside ZA(South Africa) | |
| 12 | Duck s-somewhere in Ireland (6) |
| SMEATH – S-MEATH(somewhere in Ireland) | |
| 13 | Silk cloth known to Scots and English (5) |
| KENTE – KENT(known in Scots) and E(English). I laughed a lot at this clue, because one of my favorite shows recently did a kente skit | |
| 14 | On return materialised as one who would set up an idol? (7) |
| DEIFIER – REIFIED(materialised) reversed | |
| 16 | Study hill, not one that is a feature of Italian map? (8) |
| CONTORNO – CON(study), TOR(hill), NO(not one) | |
| 17 | Quiet drink? Not quiet drink! (5) |
| PERRY – P(quiet) then SHERRY(drink) missing SH(quiet) | |
| 19 | Defence of island group half destroyed (4) |
| BERM – BERMUDAN(of island group) missing the second half | |
| 20 | Musical instruction in educational institution inadequate? Certainly not! (8, two words) |
| COL LEGNO – COLLEGE(educational institution) missing the last letter, then NO(Certainly not) | |
| 22 | A god gets older, making provisions for youngsters (8) |
| APANAGES – A, PAN(god), AGES(gets older) | |
| 24 | Not one to put up or put down (4) |
| RASE – remove I(one) from RAISE(put up) | |
| 27 | Macbeth an example? His status can be seen (5) |
| THANE – hidden inside macbeTH AN Example | |
| 28 | Sage set out in one type of soil (8) |
| SOLONETS – SOLON(sage) and an anagram of SET | |
| 31 | Use Socratic method of discussion — what could be noisier? (7) |
| IRONISE – anagram of NOISIER | |
| 32 | Dad won a piece of fruit (5) |
| PAPAW – PAPA(dad) W(won, Korean currency) | |
| 33 | Isn’t well — goes to doctor and bows (6) |
| DRAILS – AILS (isn’t well) with DR(doctor) | |
| 34 | European communication ignoring one head of state (4) |
| LETT – LETTER(communication) minus ER(one head of state) | |
| 35 | Trader in drink as one who looks to get a nap? (9) |
| TEASELLER – a trader in drink could be a TEA SELLER | |
| Down | |
| 2 | Jock’s more beloved one to be found in bar (6) |
| LIEVER – I(one) in LEVER(bar) | |
| 3 | Ail badly with a run — it’s the bones (7) |
| ULNARIA – anagram of AIL and A RUN | |
| 4 | It’s ____ that could be anti a priest getting spliced (8) |
| PATARINE – an all-in-one – anagram of ANTI,A,PRIEST minus IT’S | |
| 5 | Bosses no longer linked to one part of the establishment (4) |
| EXEC – EX(no longer) and EC(established church) | |
| 6 | Racing to collect old record that reveals study of subcontinent (8) |
| INDOLOGY – INDY racing contaiing O(old), LOG(record) | |
| 7 | Goodwill shown by little woman embracing modern technology (5) |
| AMITY – AMY(little woman) containing IT(modern technology) | |
| 8 | No longer spoil office assistant, leading to anger (5) |
| PAIRE – PA(office assistant), IRE(anger) | |
| 9 | Gun carried by worst enemy (4) |
| STEN – hidden inside worST ENemy | |
| 10 | Child has gone mad about gypsy in colourful material (9) |
| CHROMOGEN – CH(child), then an anagram of GONE with ROM(gypsy) inside | |
| 15 | A record’s climbing and rides high — see it in the pop charts? (9) |
| SPEAR-SIDE – A, EP’S(record) reversed, then an anagram of RIDES. Pop charts referring to the paternal side of the family tree | |
| 18 | People creating ruffles with request that’s abrupt, short (8) |
| PLEATERS – PLEA(request) and TERSE(abrupt) missing the last letter | |
| 19 | No longer enslave little woman slowing down (8) |
| BETHRALL – BETH(little woman) and RALL(rallentando, slowing down) | |
| 21 | Breaking up, large icy pieces (7) |
| GRAUPEL – anagram of UP,LARGE | |
| 23 | Like a wave from a Parisian lover? (6) |
| UNDATE – UN(a in French), DATE(lover) | |
| 25 | Yesteryear’s well-off youngster said to get reproof from Mac (5) |
| SLOAN – sounds like SLOANE(well-off youngster) | |
| 26 | A love with little energy, feeble and silly? (5) |
| ANILE – A, NIL(love), E(energy) | |
| 29 | Odd Scottish soldiers, gunners (4) |
| ORRA – OR(soldiers) and RA(gunners) | |
| 30 | Look old-fashioned delivering glib speech endlessly (4) |
| SPIE – SPIEL(glib speech) missing the final letter | |
I was especially pleased to see GRAUPEL, a word which I have used when it applies to the local precipitation but which no-one else in my circle believes exists.
And rase is a bit loose too. Mr Grumpy