Solving time 16:33. A very mixed bag consisting of a lot of very easy clues interspersed with some very hard ones with tortuous wordplay or obscure vocabulary. Still, there was a bit of science in there – an astronomer and a mathematical term.
Across |
1 |
RIDICULE – RILE around DI (female) + CU (copper). |
5 |
COPTIC – COMIC with the M from Monsieur replaced by PT (point). An old Egyptian language that used the Greek alphabet. |
9 |
PEA – PEA(t). |
10 |
ATMOSPHERIC – cryptic definition. |
12 |
CHEW THE FAT – double definition, the second from the old nursery rhyme:
Jack Sprat could eat no fat His wife could eat no lean And so, between them both, you see They licked the platter clean.
|
13 |
BOOR – BOO + R. |
15 |
DEARTH – D(iamonds) + EARTH (what the most demanding person wants, e.g. in the phrase “to cost the earth”). |
16 |
DRUMLIN – DIN(ner) around RUM + L(eft). A small hill or mound formed by a glacier. |
18 |
TOMBOLA – A LOT (many) reversed around OMB (large sum – BOMB (as in “to cost a”) – see 15ac), without the first B). |
20 |
NATIVE – NAIVE around T |
2 |
AIRY – double definition. The astronomer is George Airy (1801-92), whose main claim to fame was setting up Greenwich as the prime meridian. |
24 |
SALAMANDER – RED, ALAS reversed around MAN. In ancient myth it’s a lizard-like spirit whic lives in fire. |
26 |
PROFITEROLE – (poor trifle)* + E (last thing onE needs). |
27 |
NAG – hidden in aNAGram. |
28 |
DWELLS – (roa)D + WELLS (a cathedral city in Somerset). |
29 |
HEADCASE – double definition, the first from the 1985 book by Oliver Sacks. I’m sure someone will manage to find themselves offended by such a description, but what the hell… |
Down |
1 |
REPACK – E.P. inside RACK. |
2 |
DEADEYE – double definition, one of which might be totally inaccurate, as you can’t be an expert marksman without being able to see! The sailing equipment is “a round, flattish wooden block with a rope or iron band passing around it, and pierced with three holes for a lanyard.” |
3 |
CHATTERBOX – HATTER (mad person) in CB (Citizens’ Band radio) + OX (beast). |
4 |
LAMBETH PALACE – (capable at helm)*. The official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. |
6 |
OCHE – O CHE! (appeal made to guerrilla). This is the line behind which a darts player stands when throwing. |
7 |
TURMOIL – T.U. (union) + R.M. (Royal Marines – body of jolly types) + OIL (means to reduce grinding). |
8 |
CICERONE – IRON (club), inside C.E. (church), around C.E (church). A museum guide. Very tricky wordplay for a fairly obscure word. |
11 |
STANDING ALONE – STAND-IN + GAL + ONE. |
14 |
SUBTRAHEND – (shade burnt)* . Not a word I was familiar with, but there weren’t too many alternatives once the crossing letters were in. |
17 |
STRAPPED – double definition. |
19 |
MARLOWE – LOW inside (night)MARE. I expect the setter was thinking of Elizabethan dramatist Christopher Marlowe, although there are other more recent possibilities. |
21 |
VEDANTA – V(ery) + ED(ition) + A + N.T. + A. |
22 |
BROGUE – double definition, an old chestnut. |
25 |
VIAL – VI(t)AL |
There were many brilliant clues, and some of the vocabulary and knowledge was a bit obscure. I probably had the wrong associations, thinking of Deadeye Dick in Pinafore and Marlowe from the Conrad novels. But what goes through your mind doesn’t matter if the right answers come out.
The only thing I really had no clue on is ‘oche’, but what else could it be?