Lots to like here from Trelawney. I found it a mixed bag: most of it went in quickly, with only three outstanding, but then those three took me as long as the rest combined. I finally finished in 17:20, outside my target by a bit, but I enjoyed it anyway. Now I look at it again, I can’t really explain what took so long. I suspect there will be some fast times posted today.
Definitions underlined, synonyms in round brackets, wordplay in square brackets and deletions in strikethrough.
| Across | |
| 1 | Unconscious king once known as fool (4-4) |
| KNEE-JERK – K (king) + NEE (once known as) + JERK (fool).
This was my last one in. I was looking at K-E-J-R- for ages before something whispered “could be ‘JERK'” into my inner ear. Ah well. |
|
| 5 | Grand, in the manner of festival (4) |
| GALA – G for Grand, A LA (in the manner of).
I tried and discarded both MALA and KALA. Thought I’d have to brush up on my Festivals Of All Religions knowledge, until the idea of just using G for grand dawned on me. Put yourself in the novels of Raymond Chandler with people who spit out of the side of their mouths: “He owed me a hundred Gs, he had it comin’.” You’re welcome. |
|
| 8 | Assemble a church service (5) |
| AMASS – A + MASS (church service). | |
| 9 | Touch European pond creature (7) |
| TADPOLE – TAD (touch, as in “little bit”) + POLE (European). | |
| 11 | Game with tiny, subtle signals (11) |
| TIDDLYWINKS – TIDDLY (tiny) + WINKS (subtle signals).
What a good surface. This one got a smiley face on my paper. |
|
| 13 | Confront a head of compliance with price (6) |
| ACCOST – A + C |
|
| 14 | His pre-match ritual? (4,2) |
| STAG DO – A cryptic definition, the match in question being a wedding, of course. | |
| 17 | A sailor, a philosopher, and a dog (4,7) |
| JACK RUSSELL – JACK (sailor) + (Bertrand) RUSSELL, a philosopher. | |
| 20 | Monkey and donkey close to bridge creating gridlock (7) |
| IMPASSE – IMP (monkey) + ASS (donkey) + |
|
| 21 | Make it to car he wrecked (5) |
| REACH – Anagram [wrecked] of CAR HE | |
| 22 | Draw river? Piece of cake! (4) |
| TIER – TIE (draw, as in sport) + R for river.
Wedding cakes and the like have multiple tiers. |
|
| 23 | Forceful chimp ate bananas (8) |
| EMPHATIC – Anagram [bananas] of CHIMP ATE. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Asian ruler smuggled in by deck hand (4) |
| KHAN – Hidden in [smuggled in by] “ |
|
| 2 | Stretchy lace, it’s weird (7) |
| ELASTIC – Anagram [weird] of LACE ITS. | |
| 3 | Dismissive description of eg Libya’s fair punishment? (4,7) |
| JUST DESERTS – “Libya? It’s just desert.” + the S from “‘s”.
I think adding the ‘S’ like this is fair enough. It’s no different than the ‘A’ in 8a or 13a. |
|
| 4 | Unnerve queen and prime minister briefly (6) |
| RATTLE – R for queen (as in ER) + ATTLE Clement Attlee, a frequent visitor to these parts. |
|
| 6 | Nut on car shattered (5) |
| ACORN – Anagram [shattered] of ON CAR. | |
| 7 | Strong dislike of Verona is crazy (8) |
| AVERSION – Anagram [crazy] of VERONA IS.
The surface is also true. I spent Christmas in Verona a couple of years ago and enjoyed it immensely. |
|
| 10 | Unpretentious TV abbey mostly covers dirt (4-2-5) |
| DOWN-TO-EARTH – DOWNTO |
|
| 12 | Musician to prohibit supporter? (8) |
| BANJOIST – BAN (prohibit) + JOIST (supporter).
I’m not sure I’ve ever come across this word before, but it makes complete sense. |
|
| 15 | Lass with large insect is brave (7) |
| GALLANT – GAL (lass) + L (large) + ANT (insect). | |
| 16 | She finally joins up to get respect (6) |
| ESTEEM – |
|
| 18 | Police beginning to explore thicket (5) |
| COPSE – COPS (police) + E |
|
| 19 | Young bird without tail is fashionable (4) |
| CHIC – CHIC |
|
17 minutes.
A poor performance for a Trelawney QC. Was doing ok until held up by KNEE JERK and RATTLE. Should have had a good time.
I escaped the SCC, but cannot derive any enjoyment from the QC as I am so stressed about my time. It’s become like work, a lot of pressure and no fun.
Just glad now to get it out of the way, without – hopefully- making a fool of myself. I don’t know how I ended up feeling like this, but I will persevere and maybe get some pleasure back.
Thanks for the blog.
PS Usual failure on Quintagram -3/5
Shot through in 10, which is a record for me( I’m normally a bit ashamed comparing my time with others)BANJOIST excellent clue. Would have been quicker if didn’t become fixated with King John at KNEE JERK
Well done on your PB! But don’t worry about comparisons – just enjoy the challenge / fun. If you have a good day, then celebrate, but don’t feel bad if you don’t 😊