Another great crossword to tickle the cruciverbal taste buds. It took me an average 1hr 15minutes finishing in the NW corner where I took a while to spot that 1D was a cryptic definition. Some great words and clever wordplay as usual with an extraordinary number of deletions. WOM to SKRINK and COM to the neat &lit clue for ESCAPER. Thank-you clever setter!
Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, {deletions} and [] other indicators.
| Across | |
| 1 | Hits, back when making Charlie Parker’s last dissonant music (6) |
| SKRONK – KNOCKS (hits) [back] -> SKCONK, and then change the C (Charlie in the phonetic alphabet) an R (last letter of Parker) -> SKRONK. | |
| 4 | “X” in audio caught by PAL data verifier (8) |
| CHECKSUM – ECKS sounds like [in audio caught] X, in CHUM (pal). | |
| 10 | Second right taken by flashy car thief to meet male caretaker? (5-4) |
| SHORT TERM – S (second) + R (right) in HOTTER (flashy car thief) + M (male). Caretaker the adjective. | |
| 11 | Diffuse disease resistance doubled (5) |
| FLURR – FLU (disease) + R R (resistance) [doubled]. | |
| 12 | Lottery down under Pence, otherwise called number two? (7) |
| PAKAPOO – P (pence) + AKA (Also Known As; otherwise called) + POO (number two). I hesitated – is it OK to include POO in a crossword clue? Apparently it is! | |
| 13 | Term for one with hasty departure, having run away? (7) |
| ESCAPER – An &lit. Last letter [term for] onE + SCA{r}PER (hasty departure) without the R (run) [away]. Nice one. I checked – yes “scarper” can be a noun as well as a verb according to Collins. | |
| 14 | What precedes locum’s final training with surgery in mind? (2,3) |
| UP TOP – Second last letter [what precedes…. final] of locUm + PT (Physical Training; training) + OP (operation; surgery). Lovely. | |
| 15 | Excessive wine overruns a small flute (8) |
| OTTAVINO – OTT (over the top; excessive) + VINO (wine) including, [overruns] A. | |
| 18 | Return of tartare sauce with meat left Australian wild (8) |
| WARRAGUL – [return of] RAW (tartare) -> WAR + RAGU (sauce with meat) + L (left). | |
| 20 | Part of Philippines portrayed by Shirley Temple (5) |
| LEYTE – Hidden in, [portrayed by], ShirLEY TEmple. | |
| 23 | Bossing about old seals (7) |
| OBSIGNS – (Bossing)* [about]. | |
| 25 | Reform hustings mostly not observed previously (7) |
| UNSIGHT – [Reform] (husting{s})* [mostly]. | |
| 26 | Black tea — that’s disappointing for core of tasters? (5) |
| BOHEA – An &lit, I presume. B (black) + {t}EA replacing the middle letter [core] of tasTers with OH (that’s disappointing). | |
| 27 | Surveyor’s tool needs right hand to displace the stone (9) |
| RHODOLITE – {the}ODOLITE (surveyor’s tool) replacing the “the” with RH (right hand). | |
| 28 | Colourful songbird swallowing very advanced insect’s egg-tube (8) |
| OVARIOLE – V (very) + A (advanced) in ORIOLE (colourful songbird). | |
| 29 | Older evening primroses covering famous mausoleum site (6) |
| ONAGRA – ON (covering) AGRA (famous museum site; site of the Taj Mahal). | |
| Down | |
| 1 | King stuck with rock and roller eternally (8) |
| SISYPHUS – Cryptic definition. | |
| 2 | Old barbarian spearing desert lynx (7) |
| ROOIKAT – O (old) OIK (barbarian) in [spearing] RAT (desert). | |
| 3 | Correspondent’s stock repetition to copy style in review (9) |
| NOTEPAPER – REP (repetition) + APE (copy) + TON (fashion; style) all reversed, [in review]. | |
| 5 | Nothing animated bartender in tavern and London station abandoned by sons having similar ends (14) |
| HOMOEOTELEUTON – O (round letter; 0; nothing) + MOE (bartender in The Simpsons) in HO{s}TEL (tavern) and EU{s}TON (London station) both losing the S [abandoned by sons]. | |
| 6 | Copper, French one with line cut in early script (5) |
| CUFIC – CU (chemical symbol for copper) + F{l}IC (French policemen; French one) without the L (line) [cut]. | |
| 7 | N American slacker, to shirk duties of gay people, ignoring conclusions (7) |
| SKULPIN – SKUL{k} (shirk duties) PIN{k} (gay people) both without their last letter. | |
| 8 | Successive months devoid of chief soft and large fish in New Zealand (6) |
| MARARI – MAR{ch} + A{p}RI{l} (successive months) without the CH (chief), P (piano; soft) and L (large). | |
| 9 | Discovered corgi decapitated falcon following rejection of new contraceptive hormone (14) |
| LEVONORGESTREL – {c}ORG{i} [discovered] + {k}ESTREL (falcon) [decapitated] after NOVEL (new) reversed -> LEVON. | |
| 16 | Mormons fell in even after adapting a bit of footwear from Durban (9) |
| VELDSKOEN – LDS (Latter Day Saints; Mormons) + KO (knock out; fell) in (even)* [after adapting]. | |
| 17 | Payout for basset from exotic pet tax being reduced in South Australia (8) |
| SEPTLEVA – [exotic] (pet)* + LEV{y} (tax) [being reduced] in SA (South Australia. | |
| 19 | Waves over companion missing island’s large dragonflies (7) |
| AESCHNA – SEA (waves) [over] -> AES + CH{i}NA (CRS for mate; companion) without the I (island). | |
| 21 | Yachtsman primarily catching fish clear of a keelboat (7) |
| YNGLING – First letter, [primarily], of Yachtsman + {a}NGLING (catching fish) without [clear of] the A. | |
| 22 | Lady’s fingers lifting ball and cat (6) |
| GOMBRO – ORB (ball) + MOG (cat) all lifted. | |
| 24 | Religious warrior’s bullying in a cycle, obliterating an unspecified number (5) |
| GHAZI – HAZING (bullying) [cycling] -> GHAZI{n} and then obliterate the N (unspecified number). | |
Instead of SKULPIN you could have SCULPIN.
(SCUL{K} + PIN{K})
Both work as Chambers shows that SCULK is an alternative spelling of SKULK and SCULPIN is an alternative spelling of SKULKPIN.
I agonised over this for some time.
Yes I remember similarly struggling with this. Fortunately I plumped for the right option, primarily because SCULK is an obsolete spelling of SKULK and I thought our setter and editor might not have spotted that ambiguity, or there might have been some indication in the clue if the more obscure version was the intention.
There were one or two where alternative spellings were available, and the wordplay had to be carefully observed. Potential bear traps, though I didn’t see SCULK.