Another fairly straightforward Saturday puzzle for New Year’s Eve, for which I stopped the clock at 15:01. I almost misspelt 19D, but saw the cryptic and knew the alternative spelling. Reading through the forum posts, I reckon that one cost quite a few people who went with a middle Y.
Across |
1 |
DEDUCE – D(iamonds) + (r)EDUCE. |
4 |
SPECIMEN – CEPS (mushrooms) reversed + (mine)*. |
10 |
COSTA RICA – COST (knocked back?) + ARIA (song) around C(old). I can’t think of any context where cost could mean “knocked back”, and the dictionary doesn’t help either. |
11 |
RULER – double definition. |
12 |
MORONIC – M.O. (doctor) + (i)RONIC. |
13 |
EDIFICE – ED (journalist) + IF (providing) + ICE (chill). |
14 |
THETA – ATE (consumed) + T(ime) around H(usband), all reversed. |
15 |
UNERRING – E(nergy) inside (run)* + RING (group). |
18 |
FLAGRANT – FLAG (draw attention to) + RANT (speech that’s angry). |
20 |
CARGO – CAR (motor) + GO (work). |
23 |
PANACHE – PAN (vessel) + ACHE (hurt). |
25 |
NAIVETY – NET (ultimate) + Y(en) around VIA reversed (revolutionary through). |
26 |
OSAGE – O(ver) + SAGE (authority). |
27 |
EXCLUSIVE – ELUSIVE (difficult to remember) around X (vote), C (about). |
28 |
BADMOUTH – H(ard) after BOUT (match) around AD (commercial) + M(uch). |
29 |
DEEMED – DEE (river) + MED (sea). |
Down |
1 |
DECIMATE – MICE (a lot of rodents) reversed inside DATE (meeting). |
2 |
DESERVE – (see red)* around V (versus = against). |
3 |
CHAIN GANG – CHA(s)ING (heartlessly going after) + A N(ew) G(overnor). |
5 |
PLATE TECTONICS – LATE TEC (delayed investigator) + TON (big amount), all inside PICS (films). |
6 |
CORGI – COR (crumbs) + G.I. (soldier). |
7 |
MULLION – MULL + ION(a). |
8 |
NARKED – R(iver) inside NAKED (plain). |
9 |
DISCOURAGEMENT – DISCOUNT (deduction) around RAGE (storm) + M(iddle) E(ast). |
16 |
RECTITUDE – RUDE (short) around E(uropean) + C(our)T + IT (appeal). |
17 |
HOLYHEAD – HO (house) + (lady)* around HE (man). A port and the largest town in Anglesey, North Wales. |
19 |
LANIARD – LAD (boy) around RAIN (bucket) reversed. I almost went for the more common spelling before seeing the wordplay. |
21 |
RHENIUM – RUM (curious) around [IN (at home) + EH (sorry) reversed]. |
22 |
APLOMB – (pal, mob)* |
24 |
CREDO – RED (revolutionary) inside CO (business). |
17D is missing from the blog Linxit, HO=house + (lady)* surrounding “he” to give HOLYHEAD
I didn’t have a ? against 25ac but when I came to review it this morning I couldn’t see the wordplay nor remember it having read the blog so perhaps that one slipped through unexplained at the time.
I found an error at 26 where I misremembered the name of the tribe and wrote OSAKE thinking ‘sake’ for ‘authority’ was a bit dodgy.
Edited at 2012-01-08 08:18 am (UTC)
Holyhead was the port where Swift landed when he traveled back to England to visit Pope.
Like others I started with LANYARD for 19dn, but changed it as soon as I twigged the wordplay.
I found this a bit of a dull slog at the time, but I suspect that was my fault rather than the setter’s.