Greetings, barred-grid fans.
This was the puzzle from the week before Christmas and the deadline was extended to this week. I did it when it came out on Christmas eve, so I don’t remember much of the solving process, but I don’t recall having any great difficulty with the puzzle
Happy (almost) New Year, and away we go…
| Across | |
| 3 | Substance in natural diet mistakenly? Indeed should be removed (10) |
| ADULTERANT – anagram of NATURAL,DIET minus I(indeed) | |
| 10 | Villain coming from South American capital, eastern half (4) |
| IAGO – SANTIAGO(South American capital) minus the first half | |
| 11 | Bone china: take one variety of tea in it (8) |
| PARIETAL – PAL(china) containing R(recipe, take), I(one) and an anagram of TEA | |
| 12 | Wood bowled short in English side (4) |
| EBON – B(bowled) inside E(English), ON(side in cricket) | |
| 13 | Release seal badly stuck in a French harbour’s opening (7) |
| UNLEASH – anagram of SEAL inside UN(a, in French) and the first letter of Harbour | |
| 15 | Leader eating chump of mutton is a chump! (5) |
| DUNCE – DUCE(leader) containing the last letter of muttoN | |
| 17 | Revolving index of a surveyor Muhammad, an old man (6) |
| ALIDAD – Muhammad ALI and DAD(old man) | |
| 18 | Active old woman returned Spanish broom (6) |
| RETAMA – A(active) and MATER(old woman) reversed | |
| 20 | Back new cultural stuff from the east in Scottish town (9) |
| STRANRAER – REAR(back), N, ARTS(cultural stuff) all reversed | |
| 22 | Iron tubing’s first into vehicle for a courier (9) |
| ESTAFETTE – FE(iron) and the first letter of Tubing inside ESTATE(vehicle) | |
| 25 | Odd pages perhaps escort oddly! (6) |
| RECTOS – anagram of ESCORT | |
| 27 | Note foremost of great rivers is this one? (6) |
| TIGRIS – TI(musical note), first letter of Great, R(rivers), IS | |
| 30 | Hospital nursing finally suffering reverse with hard grind (5) |
| GNASH – SAN(hospital), and the last letter of nursinG all reversed, then H(hard) | |
| 31 | Nagger wife at last relaxed — has she taken on a husband? (7) |
| ENGAGER – anagram of NAGGER and the last letter of wifE | |
| 32 | Index starts to fall and traders seem excited! (4) |
| FTSE – first letters of Fall and Traders Seem Excited | |
| 33 | Fashion dated promptly — no need to apologise (8, two words) |
| FORGET IT – FORGE(fashion) and TIT(promptly, found in Chambers under TITE) | |
| 34 | Shunning Britain, agitator is a big noise in Scotland (4) |
| REEL – remove B(Britain) from REBEL(agitator) | |
| 35 | Harry cast aside after tackling King, speculated in property (10) |
| STAIRCASED – anagram of CAST,ASIDE containing R(king) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Where Frenchman embraces partner for a night? (10, three words) |
| PIED A TERRE – PIERRE(Frenchman) containing DATE(partner for a night) | |
| 2 | Such as boules ground? (8) |
| SABULOSE – anagram of AS,BOULES | |
| 3 | One main point keeping close to a game contestant (7) |
| AGONIST – A GIST(main point) containing ON(close to) | |
| 4 | Positive lead in posh food? Not entirely (6) |
| UPBEAT – PB(lead) inside U(posh), EATS(food) minus the last letter | |
| 5 | Washerwoman in City strip (9) |
| LAUNDRESS – LA(city), UNDRESS(strip) | |
| 6 | Girl I bend over so to speak (6) |
| EILEEN – Sounds like I, LEAN(bend over) | |
| 7 | Temperature dropping, try again for cure (5) |
| REEST – remove T(temperature) from RETEST(try again) | |
| 8 | If absolutely necessary, drop an inch of thatcher’s material (4) |
| ATAP – AT A PINCH(if absolutely necessary) minus INCH | |
| 9 | Beau, 30 it’s said (4) |
| NASH – sounds like GNASH(the answer at 30 across). Reference to the 18th-century dandy Beau Nash | |
| 14 | Mollusc from centre’s dire (10, two words) |
| HEART SHELL – HEART’S(centre’s), HELL(dire) | |
| 16 | First-class rhubarb flan served up here? (9) |
| TRATTORIA – A1(first class), ROT(rhubarb), TART(flan) all reversed | |
| 19 | Fails to catch a little alien mixed race types (8) |
| METISSES – MISSES(fails to catch), containing ET(a little alien) | |
| 21 | Angry one in Scotland rebuked (7) |
| AERATED – AE(one in Scotland), RATED(rebuked) | |
| 23 | Signalman’s data recorder fine for a short line (6) |
| FOGGER – LOGGER(data recorder) with F(fine) replacing L(line) | |
| 24 | Mean to put on special legwear (6) |
| TIGHTS – TIGHT(mean, miserly), S(special) | |
| 26 | Tense Glaswegian hack first to interrupt violent behaviour (5) |
| THAGI – T(tense), HAG(hack) and the first letter of Interrupt | |
| 28 | Dog’s nose not for all to see (4) |
| SNOT – SNOUT(nose) minus U(for all to see) | |
| 29 | Area supporting agriculture in old capital city (4) |
| AGRA – A(area) under AGR(agriculture) | |
As I am dilatory in acquiring Chambers, I couldn’t find a source for SNOT = “Dog” or the sense here of THAGI (along with a few other things… “chump” means “end piece”?), but those are (all) the answers I eventually filled in.
My copy, which I kept, shows that I finished in 80 minutes. All I can remember is kicking myself when I saw FTSE, having taken all the first letters much earlier and discarded the result as not a word.
Snot = dog in the sense of a contemptible person. Thagi is a variant spelling of thuggee, and chump does indeed mean the end bit of a piece of wood or leg of mutton.
That was what I assumed regarding “dog,” but it remained just a guess. I did see thuggee = THAGI, but somehow it eluded me that “thuggee” means the “violent behavior” (thuggery) and not its perpetrator (a thug).
I knew sati=suttee, never connected thagi with thuggee. I hate it when variation in transliteration raises its ugly head. I think thagi/thuggee is specific to the practice of the Thugs, as opposed to thuggery, the practice of thugs.
You’re right, and “violent behaviour” is a Chambers definition for “thuggery” rather than “thagi”, but as the original Thugs used a specific form of violent behaviour, it’s OK as a cryptic clue def for both versions.
Absolutely; and I didn’t mean to suggest otherwise.