Parkrun + Solve = 34:40
A tough one from Pedro with quite a few clues that wouldn’t be out of place in the 15 x 15. Well done if you negotiated it without incident.
I see some cutely-paired answers in the grid (HIGH + TIME, STAR + TREK, LAME + DUCK) but if there’s a greater unifying theme I’ve missed it. Someone will let us know if that’s the case.
Here’s how I parsed it. Would be delighted to hear your thoughts / complaints / corrections:
(In the clues, definitions are underlined and anagram indicators are in italics.
In the explanations (ABC)* indicates an anagram of abc. Deletions and other devices are indicated accordingly, I hope).
| Across | |
| 1 | Famous actor, perhaps, one disembarking from flight (4) |
| STAR – STA |
|
| 7 | I note chin twitching in delicate situation (2,4,3) |
| ON THIN ICE – (I NOTE CHIN)* | |
| 9 | Part of ship’s company avoiding lucky charm (4) |
| MAST – CO (company) “avoiding” MAS |
|
| 10 | Man with skill beat object of infatuation (5-5) |
| HEART-THROB – HE (man) + ART (skill) + THROB (beat) | |
| 11 | Unexciting, but not entirely blameable (4) |
| LAME – Hidden (not entirely) in bLAMEable | |
| 12 | First-class area on ship: ascend, look all over the place (6,4) |
| SALOON DECK – (ASCEND LOOK)*
It’s the deck that’s on the same level as a ship’s saloon. Does that make it the first-class area? Not having done much (any) cruising, I’m not qualified to comment. |
|
| 16 | Some say she barely managed to change her husband’s mind (4,6) |
| LADY GODIVA – Cryptic def
I don’t think I ever knew whether Lady G was a figure from history, fiction or mythology. Seems to be a bit of each. But of course we’re all familiar with the story of the woman riding naked through the town as a form of protest against her hubby’s tax regime. One chap named Tom disobeyed the order to stay inside and draw the blinds, and that’s where we get the term Peeping Tom. Hard to blame Tom, I reckon we’d all have been a bit curious. Just glad we were spared the term Peeping Galspray. |
|
| 19 | Love: a term of endearment (4) |
| DUCK – Double definition
A duck in cricket is synonymous with love in tennis. |
|
| 21 | Rehearse attack with sword? (3,7) |
| RUN THROUGH – Double definition | |
| 23 | Merit retained by nuclear nations (4) |
| EARN – Hidden (retained by) in nuclEAR Nations
Need the verb form of merit here. |
|
| 24 | Bloke going round city returned with US lawyer to make notes (9) |
| MEMORANDA – MAN (bloke) going round EMOR [Rome (city) returned] + DA (US lawyer) | |
| 25 | Long journey ends in disappointment for the monk (4) |
| TREK – Last letters (ends) of disappointmenT foR thE monK | |
| Down | |
| 2 | Bowled over a scoundrel snatching one item of jewellery (5) |
| TIARA – A + RAT (scoundrel) “snatching” I (one) all reversed (bowled over) | |
| 3 | A story he made up for Scottish island town (8) |
| ROTHESAY – (A STORY HE)* | |
| 4 | US city last up for rebuilding (2,4) |
| ST PAUL – (LAST UP)*
Crossworders will be surprised to learn that LA and NY aren’t the only cities in the US. |
|
| 5 | Writer going round street to find restaurant (6) |
| BISTRO – BIRO (writer) going round ST (street) | |
| 6 | Excited, I start to gambol between rugby posts (4) |
| HIGH – I + G (start to gambol) between two H’s (rugby posts)
Rugby posts are H-shaped. You need to get the ball over the crossbar and between the uprights to count as a goal. (If anyone mentions Johnny Wilkinson in 2003 they will be banned from this website). |
|
| 8 | Beethoven symphony lifted heart around island area (6) |
| EROICA – EROC [CORE (heart) lifted] around I (island) + A (area)
That would be Ludwig’s number three I believe (or Google believes). |
|
| 13 | Former award for winning? Not the first (3) |
| OLD – |
|
| 14 | Very still warm weather? It’s not a clear outcome (4,4) |
| DEAD HEAT – DEAD (very still) + HEAT (warm weather) | |
| 15 | Nothing in this to assist in cleaner operation (6) |
| VACUUM – Double definition
Slightly clunky second definition. Thanks Tina for prompting me to change my original parsing. |
|
| 17 | Unexpected error over variable astronomical model (6) |
| ORRERY – (ERROR)* + Y (variable)
“a mechanical model of the Solar System that illustrates or predicts the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons, usually according to the heliocentric model”. Did they have to rebuild them all after Pluto was given its marching orders? |
|
| 18 | Start of month: turned up North American lizard (6) |
| IGUANA – IGUA [AUG I (August 1, start of month) turned up] + NA (North American)
We did some work with a software house in New Jersey that kept iguanas as office pets. They were a very cool conversation piece but on reflection I’m not sure it was such a great gig for them. |
|
| 20 | What doctor seeks, buttonholing one famous scientist (5) |
| CURIE – CURE (what doctor seeks) “buttonholing” I (one) | |
| 22 | What’s signified by tense in sentence? (4) |
| TIME – Double definition
Past, present and future are all signifiers of time. But what is time? Answers below please in twenty-five words or less. |
|
My life is incredibly beautiful and I owe my deepest appreciation to Lord Meduza, as his efforts are the epitome of excellence in making me a lottery winner of a €116 million. I strongly encourage everyone here to reach out to him for help via his email: lordmeduzatemple @ hotmail. com