A bright and witty offering from Mara today, with one topical clue to bring us back to earth from the realm of crossword land. Seven double defs and six anagrams or partial anagrams should have made for a speedy solve but I found a few difficult to see straight away and was reasonably satisfied with my time of 10:17.
Thanks to Mara
Definitions underlined in bold.
| Across | |
| 1 | Mammal after insect, one of two on the field? (7,3) |
| CRICKET BAT – BAT (‘Mammal’) following CRICKET (‘insect’) | |
| 8 | Carbon in wrought iron is for cutter (7) |
| INCISOR – C (chemical symbol for ‘Carbon’) contained in (‘in’) anagram (‘wrought’) of IRON IS | |
| 9 | Measure monarch, for example (5) |
| RULER – Double definition
A ‘measure’ as in something used for measuring. |
|
| 10 | Flier, bit of a laugh (4) |
| LARK – Another double definition
There will be better examples but think cheerful chappie sort of humour: That’s a lark / a bit of a laugh. |
|
| 11 | Extraordinary dormice: tail on one is ordinary (8) |
| MEDIOCRE – Anagram (‘Extraordinary’) of DORMICE then E (‘tail on one’ = last letter of ‘onE’) | |
| 13 | Lifeless piece of theatre nicely turned around (5) |
| INERT – Reverse hidden (‘piece… turned around’) in ‘theaTRE NIcely’ | |
| 14 | Mean line for painter of matchstick men (5) |
| LOWRY – LOW (‘Mean’) RY (‘line’) – RY for “railway”
L. S. Lowry’s most famous works depict ‘matchstick men’ in the industrial areas of Manchester and surrounds. A fairly modest looking sketch of his was brought into an Antiques Roadshow repeat I was watching last night and was valued at GBP 10,000-15,000 – probably regarded as a steal. I knew a bit about him, but it was interesting to read more on Wikipedia and in other places. I was unaware of The Lowry gallery in Salford, containing many of his works. |
|
| 16 | Metal tin, a lump processed (8) |
| PLATINUM – Anagram (‘processed’) of TIN A LUMP | |
| 17 | Wind up, containers knocked over (4) |
| STOP – Reversal (‘knocked over’) of POTS (‘containers’)
This should have been a gimme but I was stuck on the “provoke” sense of ‘Wind up’. |
|
| 20 | Shabby hat worn by that man (5) |
| CHEAP – CAP (‘hat’) containing (‘worn by’) HE (‘that man’) | |
| 21 | Room where Barbie’s boyfriend entertains desire (7) |
| KITCHEN – KEN (‘Barbie’s boyfriend’) contains (‘entertains’) ITCH (‘desire’)
Nice surface and maybe not exactly the ‘Room’ we were first meant to think of. My COD. |
|
| 22 | Source of bait that’s a big issue? (3,2,5) |
| CAN OF WORMS – Double definition, the first literal, the second idiomatic
A big, big issue would be a Pandora’s Can of Worms. |
|
| Down | |
| 1 | Cold, cold incline (5) |
| CHILL – C (‘cold) HILL (‘incline’)
Works best with ‘Cold’ as a noun for CHILL, as in being told many times by my Mum: “You’ll get a cold / chill if you don’t put your jumper on when you go outside”. |
|
| 2 | Certain cadre, unfortunately, locked up (12) |
| INCARCERATED – Anagram (‘unfortunately’) of CERTAIN CADRE
Good surface; probably the fate of many a ‘cadre’ or its members. |
|
| 3 | Smooch: a little peck is similar (4) |
| KISS – Hidden (‘a little’) in ‘pecK IS Similar’
The whole clue can also be read as an extended, non-cryptic definition. |
|
| 4 | Failure, something for Christmas dinner (6) |
| TURKEY – Double definition, the first a colloquialism | |
| 5 | A rifle I’d misused where planes observed (8) |
| AIRFIELD – Anagram (‘misused’) of A RIFLE ID | |
| 6 | Evidently unhappy employee, one observing hands on face? (5-7) |
| CLOCK-WATCHER – Double definition, one idiomatic, one literal
Is a CLOCK-WATCHER necessarily an ‘unhappy employee’? I would have thought more of a lazy one, or one with commitments outside work which meant that the employee had to leave work at the scheduled time. |
|
| 7 | Long fish eaten by small fish without effort (6) |
| FREELY – EEL (‘Long fish’) contained in (‘eaten by’) FRY (‘small fish’) | |
| 12 | English work in Haiti destroyed country (8) |
| ETHIOPIA – E (‘English’) then OP (‘work’) contained in (‘in’) anagram (‘destroyed’) of HAITI
Sadly, it seems Haiti has recently become a ‘destroyed country’. I was going to make this my COD but found it a bit too close to the bone. |
|
| 13 | Rogue operation in effect (6) |
| IMPACT – IMP (‘Rogue’) ACT (‘operation’) | |
| 15 | Daft bird (6) |
| CUCKOO – Double definition
In this part of the world probably the most common six-letter avian description of a ‘Daft’ person is a DRONGO, but it doesn’t have an adjectival sense. |
|
| 18 | Rubbish garment (5) |
| PANTS – Another double definition
As far as I’m aware, PANTS as a word for ‘rubbish’ (or “inferior” as an adjective) isn’t used hereabouts, but it comes up often in this sense in UK crosswords, sometimes as an anagram indicator. |
|
| 19 | Hotpot not dry’s served up (4) |
| STEW – Reversal of (‘served up’) WETS (‘not dry’s)
WETS as a reversal of ‘not dry’s’? I suppose so. The only ‘Hotpot’ I’ve knowingly eaten is of the Lancashire variety, one of the delicacies ‘served up’ to us at boarding school. Do counties like Surrey or Berkshire have their own version I wonder. |
|
12:35 here, with nothing new to add to the observations above.
Thanks to Mara and BR.
18.26 on the digital timer! Liked this one thought it was going to be easy but slowed down on Ethiopia. Thanks all