Solving time 11:37, which I was fairly disappointed with at the time, as I flew through the top half in about 3 minutes. However, comments I’ve read since suggest others found this pretty hard going, so maybe I ought to be feeling quite chuffed. Sorry for the very brief entry this week, but I’ve run out of time.
Across |
1 |
FATHOMING – FAT + HOMING. |
6 |
BIRCH – H + CRIB, all reversed. |
9 |
ERATO – hidden in “Lover at Oxford”. The commonest Muse in crosswords by a mile. |
10 |
PETTICOAT – (OTT cape – it)* |
11 |
DISSATISFACTION – SATI (Hindu practice) inside DISS (East Anglian town) + FACTION. |
13 |
SMOOTHIE – SHIE(d) around MOOT. |
14 |
TEMPER – double definition, one of those words that can mean its own opposite. Isn’t English crazy! |
16 |
LIMPID – 1 MP inside LID. |
18 |
ELECTRON – ELECT RON! is the slogan, otherwise a negatively charged subatomic particle. |
21 |
STRAIT OF MESSINA – (to assist fireman)*. That between Italy and Sicily. |
23 |
UNWRITTEN – (New turn – it)* |
25 |
LEERY – YR EEL reversed. |
26 |
YOKEL – YOKE (burden) + L(eft) |
27 |
CHORDATES – (hot, scared)*. Pretty much anything with a spinal column would do as an example I suppose. |
Down |
1 |
FREUD – FEUD around R(ight) for the father of psychiatry. |
2 |
TRANSFORMER – TRA(i)NS + FORMER. |
3 |
ODORANT – ODO (old bishop) + RANT. One Odo was William the Conqueror’s half-brother and bishop of Bayeux, but there have been others. |
4 |
IMPLICIT – IMP + LICIT. |
5 |
GET OFF – G(rand) + E(nglish) + TOFF. |
6 |
BRIOCHE – OCH inside BRIE. |
7 |
ROO – ROO(m). |
8 |
HIT-AND-RUN – double definition – in the cricket reference, get off strike and let the other batsman have a crack. |
12 |
IMPERTINENT – I’M PERTINENT |
13 |
SALISBURY – double definition – an ecclesiastical see, as Salisbury is a cathedral city, and Robert Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, who was Prime Minister three times (1885-86, 1886-92 and 1895-1902). |
15 |
FLAMINGO – FLAMING + O |
17 |
INITIAL – double definition. |
19 |
CASTLED – CAST LED |
20 |
POETIC – CITE OP, all reversed. |
22 |
ABYSS – ASS around BY |
24 |
WOK – WO(r)K |
So it should have been straightfoward enough, but it wasn’t, although as usual I struggled with a few of the simple ones.
You may see a hit-and-run in baseball when there are no or one outs, a runner on first, and the count is favorable to the batter.
correctly enumerated.
Carole H