Solving time 16:05, although I thought I was on for a really quick time when the top half went in with almost no hesitation. HAMPSTEAD HEATH jumped out at me at first glance, followed by most of the downs crossing it and all the acrosses. The bottom half went much slower though, as it normally does when I think I’m on for a really quick time. My brain freezes and what should be easy clues suddenly look difficult. As soon as the chance has gone, normal service is resumed and the puzzle looks easy again. Not fair. The same happened with today’s puzzle too, this time with only three clues left to solve. More about that next week though.
| Across |
| 1 |
BLATANCY – (by canal + T)* |
| 5 |
POPLAR – (Lap)P inside POLAR. Makes a change from the usual treatment of taking the U out of POPULAR! |
| 8 |
ROSE GARDEN – cryptic definition, standard being a type of rose. Well, I think it just means free-standing as opposed to a climbing rose. There’s no entry for it in Chambers as such. |
| 9 |
INCH – IN + CH |
| 10 |
HAMPSTEAD HEATH – (Has made the path)*. A large area of parkland in London. |
| 11 |
RELEASE – R(ar)E + LEASE |
| 13 |
FIREFLY – FIRE + FLY. I’m not sure whether the definition is just a bit cryptic or referring to seeing them as points of light on film when using flash photography. |
| 15 |
VERISMO – hidden in “NeVER IS MOnteverdi”. |
| 18 |
UMPTEEN – U MEN around PTE (the usual military abbreviation for Private). |
| 21 |
REVEREND MOTHER – R + EVER + END + M(ass) + OTHER. Simple charade, but brain-freeze had set in and I just couldn’t see it until I had quite a few crossing letters. |
| 22 |
THAI – TH(e) A1. At 409 miles, it’s the longest road in the UK. |
| 23 |
THIRTEENTH – this being the 12th across clue. |
| 24 |
PYTHON – first and last letters of P(re)Y, T(hickis)H and O(bsidia)N |
| 25 |
DOCTORAL – “docked” ORAL |
| Down |
| 1 |
BURGHER – R in BUG HER |
| 2 |
ASSEMBLER – MESS rev. in ABLER |
| 3 |
AUGUSTA – A U(niversity) + GUS + T.A. (Territorial Army = volunteers). |
| 4 |
CORTEGE – GET rev. in CORE |
| 5 |
PANTHEISM – (pains the)* + M(onastery) |
| 6 |
PRIMATE – PRIM + ATE |
| 7 |
ALCOHOL – ALL around COHO. A coho is a pacific salmon, commonly found in cryptic crosswords. |
| 12 |
SAMARITAN – SATAN around MAR + 1 |
| 14 |
FRESHENER – FREER around SHE + N |
| 16 |
EARTHLY – ELY (see) around ART + H |
| 17 |
INVEIGH – IN (arrived at the platform, “the train is in”) + EIGH(t) after V. Definition is just “Rail”, surface doesn’t make much sense though. |
| 18 |
UNDERGO – UN + DER (European articles) + GO (the Japanese board game) |
| 19 |
PROTEST – PEST around ROT |
| 20 |
NARWHAL – first letters of North Atlantic Region With Horny Appendage Long, the whole clue being the definition. |
A standard rose as distinct from a climber or a hybrid-t is one that has a long straight stem with flowers growing from the top.
HAMPSTEAD HEATH brought back memories as it’s close to where my first wife lived when we were courting so I’ve seen parts of it one might otherwise miss.
I didn’t think much of THIRTEENTH. All else apart thirteen is not unlucky, that’s a silly myth which should be signalled by more than a question mark.
INVEIGH is a strange clue. One rarely sees clues with surface readings which are just gobbledygook but this one certainly is.
Overall an enjoyable if relatively easy solve.
I thought the clues to ‘firefly’ and ‘python’ were quite witty, although I had think back to Greek to recall what an ‘ophidian’ is.
I don’t think the clue to ‘inveigh’ is entirely nonsense, but it didn’t quite come off, and needs a little more work.
My last in was ‘Thai’, didn’t see the cryptic but that had to be it.