Solving time 22:04, a bit slow for me but I solved it on the train after a long day at work and I was having trouble staying awake! Lots of good clues here; I particularly liked 9dn and 24dn, also the anagram at 25ac and the lift-and-separate in 11ac.
Across | |
1 | BOGEYMAN – (may be no G)* |
5 | HOT TUB – OT (books) + T(ime) inside HUB (activity centre). |
10 | THE CAT’S WHISKERS – cryptic definition, but why “at least four”? [ See paul_in_london‘s comment for the answer to that!] |
11 | BACKGAMMON – K (several hundred) + CAB (taxi) reversed (to West), + GAMMON (ham). |
13 | STYE – STYLE (class) without the L (learner = pupil). |
15 | NOTELET – TELETHON (extended charity programme) without H for hospital, reversed. |
17 | HAWORTH – HATH (has, old-fashioned) around W(ith), OR (gold). Haworth Parsonage was the home of the Brontë sisters, who originally used the pseudonyms Acton, Currer and Ellis Bell. |
18 | MASONIC – MA, SON (family members) + IC (in charge). |
19 | OVERDID – DR (Strangelove say) reversed in (video)* |
21 | LURE – RULE (custom) with the R & L swapping positions. |
22 | LOOK LIVELY – LOVELY (fair) around OK (green light) + L(arge) + I (one). |
25 | REPUBLICAN PARTY – (appreciably turn)* |
27 | NEEDLE – double definition. |
28 | HEREFORD – HERE (take this) + FORD (cross). I’ve been there to see the Mappa Mundi, a world map drawn in 1285. |
Down | |
1 | BATH BUN – BUN(g) (pared down plug) underneath BATH (where washer goes). |
2 | GEE – last letters of “losing the game“. |
3 | YLANG-YLANG – hidden reversed in “regnal years”, repeated. An Indonesian tree that produces a fragrant essential oil. |
4 | ASSAM – AS SAM, i.e. Samuel Beckett (1906-89), the Irish novelist and playwright. |
6 | OUST – JOUST (tournament) minus the first letter. |
7 | TRENT BRIDGE – RT reversed + (big tender)*. A test match cricket ground in Nottinghamshire. |
8 | BESEECH – BE (live) + SPEECH (address) minus the P for pressure. |
9 | CHOO-CHOO – CO (firm) around HOOCH (bootleg stuff) + O (disk). |
12 | CATASTROPHE – (phase, R, to act)*, the R as the last letter of Lear. An &lit, as there’s no other definition (and pretty much everybody dies at the end of King Lear). |
14 | SWEETIE-PIE – SWEET (pudding) + I.E. (that is) twice around P (piano, soft). |
16 | TECTONIC – TEC (investigator) + TONIC (shot in the arm). |
18 | MILK RUN – MILK (exploit) + RUN (ladder, in stockings). |
20 | DRY-EYED – RYE (grain) inside DYED (changed colour of). |
23 | KNAVE – cryptic definition. |
24 | ABEL – double definition: ABE L(incoln), victim of John W(ilkes) B(ooth); son of Adam. |
26 | ROO – M(arks) missing at the end of ROOM (space). |
ABEL doesn’t really work for me. Leaving aside the merits of Adamson as a definition, I would have thought the clue should reference Jack W B or some other diminutive of John.
As for 10A, my feeble attempt at parsing is that if you have CATS plural then you must have at least 2 of them, ditto WHISKERS, and since both are whipping implements (cat-o’-nine-tails and whisk for whipping cream, say, respectively) then you must have at least 4 of them. Wouldn’t put any money on this being right, though.
Edited at 2013-06-29 11:02 am (UTC)
Edited at 2013-06-29 11:43 am (UTC)
I found it irritating with 24D – drivel in my opinion – the most irritating of several irritants.
Compare this with yesterday’s puzzle – which one would you consider the best option for a leisurely weekend solve?
I agree with Jimbo that a puzzle like this would be rather better during the week, and one like yesterday’s (which I’ve only just finished) on a Saturday.