Solving time a dismal 26:11, when I finally got around to it on Thursday night. I’ll blame tiredness, as going through the clues again now I don’t see the difficulty. Not much else to say, so on with the puzzle…
Across | |
1 | What’s represented by mus or xis not a current issue (4,6) |
BACK NUMBER – cryptic indication in the answer, probably easier than intended as I doubt if many people failed to spot the reversal of the Greek letters in the clue. | |
6 | Speaker’s full agreement (4) |
PACT – sounds like “packed” (full). | |
10 | Allow no time at all for worker to rise (7) |
EMPOWER – TEMP (worker) + TOWER (rise), both without the T. | |
11 | One animal clipped before another on farm – it occurs twice a year (7) |
EQUINOX – EQUIN(e) (one farm animal clipped) + OX (another). | |
12 | Man shooting on street bags one more stiff (9) |
STARCHIER – ARCHER (man shooting) next to ST(reet), around I (one). | |
13 | Lacking in interest nowadays, and spirit (5) |
DRYAD – DRY (lacking in interest) + AD (nowadays). | |
14 | Country home beyond mountain (5) |
BENIN – IN (home) after BEN (mountain). | |
15 | Secondary fencing involved man coming round with cutting equipment (9) |
LAWNMOWER – LOWER (secondary) around [(man)* around W(ith)]. | |
17 | Embarrassed, left abandoning colonist’s best friend? (3,6) |
RED SETTER – RED (embarrassed) + SETTLER (colonist), minus the L for left. | |
20 | Last five of nine-month term in French city? (5) |
NANCY – take the last 5 letters of PREGNANCY (nine-month term). | |
21 | Veteran squaddie not taking sides (5) |
OLDIE – remove the first and last letters (the sides) of SOLDIER. I’m sure an identical clue appeared elsewhere last week. | |
22 | Electrical devices consumer introduced to theatres (9) |
REPEATERS – EATER (consumer) inside REPS (theatres). | |
25 | Choir travelling round North on British Airways (7) |
BRONCHI – (choir)* around N(orth), next to B(ritish). | |
26 | Metal I’d identified primarily pinched by one suspect (7) |
IRIDIUM – I’D + I(dentified), inside I (one), RUM (suspect). | |
27 | Walk back without beginning to cry (4) |
YELL – ALLEY (walk), minus the first letter and reversed. | |
28 | One enterprise going west with wicked witch around? (5,5) |
WHITE MAGIC – I (one) + GAME (enterprise), all reversed inside (witch)*. &lit, as the definition is the whole clue. |
1 | Bishop withdrawing praise (5) |
BLESS – B(ishop) + LESS (withdrawing). | |
2 | Led like Batman catching train – Robin’s first to go (9) |
CAPTAINED – CAPED (like Batman) around TRAIN, minus the R. | |
3 | Identity removed for Queen in secret after latest PR event (4,10) |
NEWS CONFERENCE – CONFIDENCE (secret) with ER (queen) replacing ID, all after NEWS (latest). | |
4 | Bellicose poet of ancient times (7) |
MARTIAL – double definition, the second a Roman poet famous for his satirical epigrams. We were a given a few of the less lewd ones to translate in O-Level Latin. | |
5 | Strange bore in river rising – it does so at surprising times (7) |
EYEBROW – (bore)* inside WYE (river) reversed. | |
7 | Simple refusal stops a bit of bother (5) |
ANNOY – NO (simple refusal) inside ANY (a bit of). | |
8 | Team in trade adapted my way of stuffing goose etc (9) |
TAXIDERMY – XI (team) inside (trade)* + MY. | |
9 | To support ace intellectual I’m adopting singular orthodoxy (14) |
FUNDAMENTALISM – FUND (support) + A(ce) + MENTAL (intellectual) + I’M around S(ingular). | |
14 | Itinerant trader‘s youngster in Cumbria? (6,3) |
BARROW BOY – double definition. Barrow (or Barrow-in-Furness to give its full name) is a Cumbrian seaport. | |
16 | On the way down, holding up angry looking vagrant (9) |
WANDERING – WANING (on the way down) around RED (angry looking) reversed. | |
18 | Stain bottom of post with gloss, not top (7) |
TARNISH – (pos)T + VARNISH (gloss), minus the first letter. | |
19 | To provide fresh cover for agent isn’t common (7) |
REPAINT – REP (agent) + AIN’T (isn’t common). | |
22 | After reflection ruler imprisons old slaver (5) |
DROOL – LORD (ruler) reversed, around O(ld). | |
24 | Shrub from south porter originally removed from college grounds (5) |
SUMAC – CAMPUS (college grounds) minus the P for porter and reversed (from south). |
Did not know SUMAC, but managed to work out it had to be that from the checkers and wordplay – LOI.
COD for me was BARROW BOY – raised a chuckle. It also triggered memory of an Australian mate who was struggling to recollect the name of (what turned out to be) Barrow-In-Furness, and came up with “something like wheelbarrow on fire…”
Edited at 2014-05-10 10:57 pm (UTC)
SUMAC crops up every few months or so (in the Times and other daily cryptics) so is worth remembering.
You’d make a splendid “life coach”: with unerring aim you have gone straight to the heart of the matter!
I have tucked SUMAC away for future use. I suspect it could also be invoked with some kind of “reverse Albert” type of clue…
Edited at 2014-05-11 03:47 am (UTC)
Rob