Solving time 14:05, so I found it much easier than the previous week’s one, although a lot of people commented on how tricky this one was (and the leaderboard tends to back them up). Good puzzle.
Across | |
1 | UNCLE – UNCLEAN (spotted), minus A + N(ote). Def: relative. |
4 | ALBACORE – (A cable)* around OR (yellow). Def: tuna. |
8 | BLOW HOT AND COLD – BLOW (a powerful stroke) + HOT AND COLD (taps). Def: be inconsistent. |
10 | EASTBOUND – (to a sunbed)*. Def: not chasing the sun (as the sun goes from east to west). |
11 | OZONE – sound like “owes own”. Def: something refreshing. |
12 | LAPUTA – LA (city) + PUT (to place) + A (last letter of “sea”). Def: Island king could move – the flying island in Gulliver’s Travels. |
14 | CRABMEAT – CREAT(e) (fuss endlessly) around ABM (antiballistic missile). Def: hermit’s flesh? |
17 | PORTRAIT – I (one) inside RAT (desert), east of PORT (harbour). Def: oil perhaps. |
18 | CRUSOE – C (high speed – symbol for the speed of light) + RUSE (device) around O (nothing). Def: lonely islander. |
20 | NAAFI – cryptic definition. The acronym stands for Navy, Army and Air Force Institute. |
22 | SOAP OPERA – SO (it follows) + A POP (each) + ERA (time). Def: a TV programme. |
24 | COUNTERSIGNING – COUNTER (bar) + SIGNING (new recruit). |
25 | SNOWED IN – hidden inside “blizzards – now Edinburgh’s”. Def: this? |
26 | SCARF – FRACAS (scrap) reversed but with only one A. Def: stole. |
Down | |
1 | UMBRELLA PINE – (MP, unreliable)*. Def: supplier of timber. Another name for the stone pine according to Chambers. I’d never heard of it. |
2 | CHOPS – HOPS (proceeds with one leg) below C(aught). Def: trap, i.e. mouth. Last one in for me, and it took me a minute to see it at the end. |
3 | EXHIBITOR – EXIT (leaving) around H I B (first letters of Hanging In Bathroom) + O.R. (other ranks = men). Def: shower. |
4 | ARTHUR – EARTH (world) minus the first letter (leader’s departed), + R.U. (Rugby Union = game) reversed. Def: king. |
5 | BENIDORM – BEN (high rise for the Scots) + I (one) + DORM (room for the rest). Def: resort. |
6 | CACAO – CA (circa = not exactly) twice + O(utsiders). Def: seeds. |
7 | ROLLOVERS – ROLL OVER (readily surrender) + S(mall). Def: extensions to prize fund. |
9 | GET THE HANG OF – GET (receive) + [HE (man), H(usband) inside TANGO (dance)] + F(ollowing). Def: master. |
13 | PORTADOWN – PORT (pilot’s left) + [W, N (directions) after ADO (trouble)]. Def: Irish town. |
15 | BURROUGHS – RUB (polish) reversed + ROUGHS (preliminary sketches). Def: American writer. Edgar Rice or William, take your pick. |
16 | AIRSPEED – (praise)* + ED (one who might manage Times). Def: Jumbo with such rapidity? |
19 | KANSAN – KAN(e) (Citizen famously filmed, briefly) + SAN (hospital). Def: American statesman. |
21 | I KNOW – sounds like “aye”, “no” (referendum options). Def: Here’s an idea. |
23 | EVITA – ETA (estimated time of arrival = predicted showing time) around VI (six). Def: film. |
Edited at 2014-04-26 10:23 am (UTC)
I’m not sure what happened with this puzzle, but I seem to have found it much easier than everyone else: my time was 11:48. I’m sure this must be a PB if measured in Magoos.
Good crossword to play with.
I had CIONS from C (caught), I (one), ON (leg), S (trap, as in S-bend in a waste pipe). As for the definition, CIONs is an alternative spelling of SCIONs = descendants, and if descendants can be termed ‘issue’ (as they so often are in crossword-land) it doesn’t seem too much of a stretch that they may also be described as the ‘proceeds’ of a union.
Edited at 2014-04-26 11:09 pm (UTC)