Solving time 8:20, which came as a bit of a surprise after a week of times over 15 minutes for the daily puzzle. But this was incredibly straightforward, with no tricky vocabulary, hardly any general knowledge required and for the most part simple wordplay. 27A was the only one that needed a bit of careful unpicking. Having said that, there were no howlers either, so this would be a good candidate for a beginner’s first unaided completion.
| Across |
| 1 |
CARRIER BAG – CARRIER + BAG |
| 6 |
SAND – N in SAD |
| 9 |
RELEVANTLY – (Rally event)* |
| 10 |
ZANY – Z + ANY |
| 12 |
DROP-IN CENTRE – R in DO + PIN + CENTRE |
| 15 |
ACADEMIST – A + DEMI in CAST |
| 17 |
TEARS – (budge)T + EARS |
| 18 |
TAMAR – hidden in “PlanT A MARigold”. A river which forms most of the border between Devon and Cornwall. |
| 19 |
CONTENDER – C(ontituency) + ON + TENDER |
| 20 |
BACK TO NATURE – BACK TO (One way to get Old Testament is to reverse TO) + NATURE (character). |
| 24 |
UNIT – UNIT(e) |
| 25 |
DITCHWATER – Spoonerism of “which daughter”. |
| 26 |
DUEL – DUE + L |
| 27 |
DEPENDENCE – END inside PEN, all inside DEC, + E. |
| Down |
| 1 |
CURL – CUR + (tai)L, &lit. |
| 2 |
ROLL – double definition, the second from “to be on a roll”. |
| 3 |
INVERTEBRATE – INVERT + (berate)* |
| 4 |
RUN-UP – double definition. |
| 5 |
ARLINGTON – (as long train)*. Arlington Military Cemetery in Virginia. |
| 7 |
AVANT-GARDE – A V(ery) + GARDE(n) around ANT. |
| 8 |
DRY MEASURE – (yard)* around ME + SURE |
| 11 |
BEETLE-BROWED – BEETLE ROWED around B(ook). |
| 13 |
EARTHBOUND – double definition, relying on the two different meanings of BOUND. |
| 14 |
FAX MACHINE – A X inside (chief man)* |
| 16 |
INCENTIVE – 1 + N + CENT + I’VE |
| 21 |
TACHE – T(ime) + ACHE |
| 22 |
STEN – STEN(ch) |
| 23 |
FREE – “Three” in a Cockney accent. |
Tom B.
Today’s is another story.