Sorry I’m late with this – I’m actually working today so I had to squeeze it in when I could around supporting some application developers, who needed a lot more support than I’d anticipated! Anyway, solved in 16:03 on the train on Monday morning. Nothing particularly difficult although there were some tortuous wordplays to unravel (I’m thinking of 24ac, 1dn and 9dn particularly).
Across |
1 |
CUBIT – CU (copper) + BIT (piece). Definition not strictly true, as it’s defined as the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger. |
4 |
SAGACITY – SAGA CITY, whimsical definition for where the characters from John Galsworthy’s Forsyte Saga may have lived. |
8 |
WEAK AT THE KNEES – i.e. suffering from prepatellar bursitis. |
10 |
RESISTANT – (train sets)* |
11 |
OSTIA – AIT (island) reversed, next to OS (Ordnance Survey, mapmakers). An old Roman town, now a suburb of Rome itself. |
12 |
LAWYER – hidden reversed inside “Surrey walkers” |
14 |
MISPRINT – I next to M(anuscript) + SPRINT (dash). |
17 |
NIGHTCAP – double definition. |
18 |
LOOSED – (poodle’s)* without the first letter. |
20 |
SENOR – SR (sister) around ONE (a certain) reversed. |
22 |
IN THE SWIM – double definition. |
24 |
STAGE DIRECTION – SECTION (part) around [ T(ime) + AGED (old) IR (Irish) ]. |
25 |
TENDENCY – TEN (small number) + C(raz)Y around END (purpose). |
26 |
LOTTO – LOO (ladies possibly) around TT (teetotal, dry). |
Down |
1 |
COWARDLINESS – before WAR (battle), C.O. (commander), then D.S. (drill sergeant presumably) around LINES (ranks). |
2 |
BEATS – B(ritish) + EATS (nosh). |
3 |
TEAR SHEET – TE (note) + (ash tree)* |
4 |
SATRAP – PART (role) + AS, all reversed. |
5 |
GREAT TIT – (I target)* + (shoo)T. |
6 |
CANTO – PANTO (Christmas entertainment) with a different first letter. |
7 |
THEATRICS – THE, A (articles) + TRICS (sounds like “tricks”, special effects). |
9 |
SANTO DOMINGO – (man’s)* + IN (during) + GO (journey), around TO-DO (trouble). |
13 |
WAGONETTE – WATT (engineer) around GONE (departed), + E (oriental). |
15 |
PROVENCAL – PROVE (test) + NC (National Curriculum) + AL(l) (almost everyone). |
16 |
BASILDON – BASIL, DON. A town in Essex. |
19 |
STORMY – M(eteorologist) inside STORY (report). |
21 |
RIGID – RIG (doctor) + ID (something which will identify). |
23 |
WRIST – S(on) inside WRIT (court order). |
If there was an Essex town called Gavindon you’d have a strong case.