An enjoyable puzzle from Wurm with several long anagrams that weren’t immediately obvious. This was balanced by three double definitions that, unusually for me, went in without much trouble. It may not appeal to those who aren’t cricket enthusiasts, but the surface of 13a was my favourite, even if the memories are rather painful!
Finished in 9:12.
Thanks to Wurm.
Definitions underlined in bold, deletions indicated by strikethrough.
| Across | |
| 1 | On the move, choose minute to see affluent area (4,8) |
| HOME COUNTIES – Anagram (‘On the move’) of CHOOSE MINUTE
This took a while; I was looking for the name of a suburb. |
|
| 8 | Poet initially unappreciated in a study (5) |
| AUDEN – U (‘initially unappreciated’=first letter of ‘Unappreciated’) contained in (‘in’) A (‘a’) DEN (‘study’) | |
| 9 | City in Germany or China (7) |
| DRESDEN – Double definition
Dresden is a generic term for ‘china’ made around the area of Dresden in Germany, though may refer to specific porcelain manufacturers, including Meissen. |
|
| 10 | Sea dog in dark sticky liquid (3) |
| TAR – Double definition
‘Sea dog’ is an expression for an old sailor who may also be described as a TAR. |
|
| 11 | One cardinal crossing river shows some guts (9) |
| INTESTINE – I (‘One’) NINE (‘cardinal’) containing (‘crossing’) TEST (‘river’)
‘Cardinal’ here referring to a cardinal number, one of several different senses of cardinal, a word which frequently pops up in crosswords. |
|
| 13 | Some ball at Headingley that turns (5) |
| LATHE -Hidden (‘Some’) in ‘balL AT HEadingley’)
As in an object or instrument ‘that turns’. My COD. Loved the surface. Deadly Derek Underwood in 1972 comes to mind; the conspiracy theory is that it was a doctored pitch, but I’m sure that’s just me. While we’re at it, let’s not even mention 1981 at the same ground. |
|
| 14 | Breather needed, then energy and thrust (5) |
| LUNGE – LUNG (‘Breather’) E (‘energy’) | |
| 16 | After pubs Scotsman becomes wild fellow (9) |
| BARBARIAN – BAR BAR (‘pubs’) IAN (‘Scotsman’) | |
| 17 | Rag and bone (3) |
| RIB – Our third double definition of the day
‘Rag’ as a verb meaning to tease. |
|
| 19 | Detective Inspectors fail to notice fire (7) |
| DISMISS – DIS (‘Detective Inspectors’) MISS (‘fail’) | |
| 21 | Woman needs long time grasping point (5) |
| AGNES – AGES (‘long time’) containing (‘grasping’) N (‘point’)
N for north, a ‘point’ of the compass. A pity “Cardinal” had already been used as above, otherwise could have made for an amusing surface in place of ‘point’. |
|
| 22 | Book open, fantastically intense (12) |
| FRANKENSTEIN – FRANK (‘open’) then anagram (‘fantastically’) of INTENSE | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Run in preliminary contest, displaying courage (5) |
| HEART – R (‘run’) contained in (‘in’) HEAT (‘preliminary contest’) | |
| 2 | Church official using road and Metro for a change (9) |
| MODERATOR – Anagram (‘for a change’) of ROAD and METRO
A term used in the Presbyterian church (? specifically) for a minister who presides over an ecclesiastical body. |
|
| 3 | Fleece party over allowance payment (13) |
| CONSIDERATION – CON (‘Fleece’) SIDE (‘party’) RATION (‘allowance’)
An old-fashioned (to me anyway) word for ‘payment’ or recompense. |
|
| 4 | Latest news at university: daughter had some food (6) |
| UPDATE – UP (‘at university’) D (‘daughter’) ATE (‘had some food’) | |
| 5 | Holiness confused with Satan in two biblical books (13) |
| THESSALONIANS – Anagram (‘confused’) of HOLINESS and SATAN
We’re given a much more direct hint for ‘book(s)’ than we were in 22a. Paul the Apostle wrote two epistles to the church of Thessalonica (“1 Thessalonians” and “2 Thessalonians”) which are part of the New Testament. |
|
| 6 | Somewhat horrendous death (3) |
| END – Hidden (‘Somewhat’) in ‘horrENDous’ | |
| 7 | Rapid blast from hooter? (6) |
| SNEEZE – Cryptic definition
Luckily this came to me straight away; may have been a breezeblock on another day. |
|
| 12 | Playing organ in church: is it Bliss? (9) |
| IGNORANCE – Anagram (‘Playing’) of ORGAN IN then CE (‘church’)
From the saying “Ignorance is bliss”. I had my “ins” muddled up here, thinking that ‘Playing’ would give IN and that ‘in’ in the wordplay would be a containment indicator. The misleading capitalisation also had me toying with the composer Sir Arthur Bliss for a while. |
|
| 13 | Politician with one party displaying particular urge (6) |
| LIBIDO – LIB (‘Politician’=abbreviation for Liberal) I (‘one’) DO (‘party’) | |
| 15 | Absorbing material from Time Magazine (6) |
| TISSUE – T (‘Time’) ISSUE (‘Magazine’)
Good use of misleading capitalisation for ‘Time’. |
|
| 18 | Bowl as seen in rubbish container (5) |
| BASIN – AS (‘as’) contained in (‘seen in’) BIN (‘rubbish container’) | |
| 20 | Beginning to search Irish gentleman’s address? (3) |
| SIR – S (‘beginning to search’=first letter of ‘Search’) IR (‘Irish’) | |
DNF
Really struggled to fill in the bottom, SIR, TISSUE and FRANKENSTEIN all took an age. So was well over my 20 minute target. But having ground out the answers I was annoyed to find I has THESSOLONIANS spelt all wrong.
An about on par 13:08 for us. FOI Auden, THESSALONIANS and FRANKENSTEIN went in quite QUICKLY and CONSIDERATION was the one that hung on until the end in a generally enjoyable grid. Thanks to Wurm and BR.
A quick start with 1a and 1d going straight in, which was a great help with most of the top half of the grid. I did have to look up the NHO THESSALONIANS to check the word actually existed, while CONSIDERATION and FRANKENSTEIN took a while to come to me. A steady solve at around 25 minutes.
Great puzzle. Not that keen on 1a as affluent area – lots of places are def not! Several lovely surfaces.
FOI 8a Auden
LOI 22a Frankenstein
COD 5d Thessalonians – nice anagram!
14 minutes
Should have been better but experienced brain freeze on RIB and SIR. Idiot Gary!
Consideration is one of the four things you need for a valid contract. The others are: offer, acceptance and an intention to create legal relations. Ninja turtled 5dn through knowledge of Greek football.
Thanks for the blog.
Please somebody explain SNEEZE. I don’t understand. Is it a double definition? If so I really don’t understand. Thank you to who ever responds.
It helps if you know that hooter is a slang term for the nose. So the clue could read ‘rapid blast from the nose’, which is (or could be) a sneeze.
Hello, ‘Rapid blast from hooter?’ = sudden noise with accompanying rush of air (and some other yucky bits we won’t mention!) from the ‘hooter’ (slang for nose) = SNEEZE, so it’s a cryptic definition. Hope that helps.