Time: 07:33
No ParkSolve time to report today as I was on volunteering duty at Parkrun. But this is more than 50% over my median solving time so I’m thinking we have a challenging one on our hands.
And sure enough a quick bit of research confirms that City’s puzzles typically sit at the tougher end of the spectrum. That’s exactly what we want on a leisurely Saturday morning, right? RIGHT?
Let us know how you went, and in particular how much you enjoyed and appreciated the setter’s craft.
(In the clues, definitions are underlined and anagram indicators are in bold italics. In the explanations (ABC)* indicates an anagram of abc. Deletions and other devices are indicated accordingly, I hope).
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Stars destroyed eg theatre bar (3,5,4) |
| THE GREAT BEAR – (EG THEATRE BAR)*
As in the constellation Ursa Major |
|
| 8 | Get rid of backward content in Eminem review (7) |
| EXAMINE – EXA [AXE (get rid of) backward] + MINE (content in eMINEm)
My LOI by some distance. Hung up on “get rid of” being the definition. |
|
| 9 | Composer left after party (5) |
| RAVEL – L (left) after RAVE (party) | |
| 10 | Artificial river in south-west and south-east (5) |
| FALSE – FAL (river in south-west) + SE (south-east) | |
| 11 | Hot American has turned and fled (7) |
| SAHARAN – SAHA {[A (American) + HAS] reversed (turned)} + RAN (fled)
I guess Saharan for hot works in the same way that Baltic does for cold, the latter being far more common though. |
|
| 12 | Hard fabulist almost recalled prophet (5) |
| HOSEA – H (hard) + OSEA [AESOp (fabulist almost) reversed (recalled)]
Aesop’s Fables was a bit of a standard when I was a kid. |
|
| 14 | Some fancy an ideal poison (7) |
| CYANIDE – Hidden in (some) fanCY AN IDEal | |
| 15 | A nun cries out for protection (9) |
| INSURANCE – (A NUN CRIES)* | |
| 17 | Vital organ not needing exterior organ (3) |
| EAR – hEARt (vital organ) without the first and last letters (not needing exterior) | |
| 19 | She & he dare love madly, being so? (4,4,5) |
| HEAD OVER HEELS – (SHE + HE DARE LOVE)* | |
| 21 | Act like a bird and make tracks (4,2) |
| BEAT IT – BE A TIT (act like a bird)
A bit of a chestnut, but a fun one. |
|
| 22 | Thick end and middle of rye sandwich (5) |
| BUTTY – BUTT (thick end) + Y (middle of rYe) | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Play first reserve in chivalrous football team, we hear? (7,5) |
| TWELFTH NIGHT – Homophone (we hear) of TWELFTH KNIGHT (first reserve in chivalrous football team)
Of course The Knights might not actually be a chivalrous team but you get the point. |
|
| 2 | Lab seen changing permits (7) |
| ENABLES – (LAB SEEN)* | |
| 3 | Artist is beginning to enjoy Boost (5) |
| RAISE – RA (artist) + IS + E (beginning to Enjoy) | |
| 4 | Fancier rose regularly spurned for trees (5) |
| ACERS – Alternate letters (regularly spurned) of fAnCiEr RoSe | |
| 5 | Flipping the bird at arrival time? (9) |
| BIRTHDATE – (THE BIRD AT)* | |
| 6 | Plug from TV set remained broken (13) |
| ADVERTISEMENT – (TV SET REMAINED)*
Good clue. |
|
| 7 | Look good ahead of Armstrong? (6) |
| GLANCE – G (good) ahead of LANCE (Armstrong?)
Ah, that Armstrong. Hmmmm. |
|
| 13 | Carriage left transport hub (7) |
| AIRPORT – AIR (carriage) + PORT (left) | |
| 14 | Conservative posted approval (7) |
| CONSENT – CON (Conservative) + SENT (posted) | |
| 16 | How much one gets from second career (5) |
| SHARE – S (second) + HARE (career)
Hare and career as in move rapidly. |
|
| 18 | Sport where Tamworth might be out of practice (5) |
| RUSTY – RU (sport) + STY (where Tamworth might be)
Rugby Union is the sport and a Tamworth is a pig. The fact that the forward pack in rugby is commonly referred to as “the pigs” is irrelevant here. |
|
| 20 | Elf hasn’t observed Boromir at first (3) |
| HOB – Initial letters (at first) of Hasn’t Observed Boromir
A mischievous household spirit from Northern English mythology. Not to be confused with a hobgoblin, in the unlikely event that you encounter one or the other. |
|
Since I am in hurry to go to bed on a Friday night, I biffed my way through. Head over heels, yeah, that must be it. Twelfth Night, that’s a play that fits, good enough. We’ve already see Be A Tit and the RU sty, so those were write-ins. Then a little mopping up – birth date, then Saharan, and there you go.
Time: 8:45.