Some very loose clueing in this puzzle and a few obscure answers & wordplays, 1ac probably being the hardest clue.
* = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’.
| Across |
| 1 |
PAN + SOPHY – luckily I knew this word, because I’d never have got it from the wordplay. Apparently ‘pan’ is another word for betel leaf, while ‘Sophy’ is an old term for the Shah of Persia. |
| 6 |
PRAXIS – this was the opposite to 1ac, a word I didn’t know but worked out from the wordplay. |
| 9 |
LIEU – as in the phrase ‘in lieu of…’. |
| 10 |
PAR(DON)ABLE – ‘fable’ instead of ‘parable’ held me up here. |
| 14 |
PORT + A + MEN + TO – a musical term meaning ‘a continuous glide’. |
| 21 |
T[he] + RIGGERS |
| 23 |
UPBEAT; (PUB)* + EAT |
| 25 |
COMMAND + ANT – here the wordplay is based on the root word of the answer, which is rather unsatisfactory. |
| 28 |
B(ANY)AN – another guess; this is an Indian fig tree. |
| 29 |
LARBOARD (cryptic definition) |
| Down |
| 2 |
ACIDULOUS (cryptic definition) – my last entry, which I was surprised to find was correct. |
| 3 |
SKUNK – the answer is clear from the crossing letters, but the clue makes little sense. |
| 4 |
PAPIER MACHE; (M A RIPE PEACH)* |
| 7 |
APARTMENT; “A PART MEANT” |
| 13 |
BLOCKBUSTER; (ROCK STUBBLE)* |
| 15 |
THIN + GUMMY |
| 17 |
ALABASTER; (ALTAR BASE)* |
| 20 |
INST + ALL |
| 22 |
RHODA; rev. of DOH in RA (= ‘Royal Artillery’) – I can’t name any famous (or non-famous) people called Rhoda, but the name apparently exists. |
| 24 |
BEAN + O |
2dn (SKUNK): this clue looks as though it should have read “As a means of defence, this animal assaults the nose”. Perhaps “this” was omitted by accident, or perhaps it’s just another example of sloppy clueing.
22dn (RHODA): In the old days of the Times crossword, clues relating to the works of George Meredith used to crop up every few months. I don’t think anyone reads Meredith nowadays, so I wouldn’t be too surprised if you hadn’t heard of him, but one of his characters (also the title of the novel she appears in) was Rhoda Fleming. And there was a TV series Rhoda back in the 1970s.
Two handfuls of “easies” in this blog:
11a Fastening that might cave in under pressure? (6)
BUCKLE
12a Cap for women rests uneasily on crooks (8)
MOB STERS. MOB cap with anag of RESTS.
16a One test out of a million (4)
EX A M
18a Drink from a plASTIc bottle (4)
ASTI
19a Two winged creatures in this willow (7,3)
CRICKET BAT
27a Stake taken from elephANT Enclosure (4)
ANTE. The bet prior to viewing of cards in Poker?
5d Farm worker with three feet on British Isle (7)
YARD MAN. So that’s where the 3 legged symbol for IoM comes from?!
6d Favouring the expert (3)
PRO. DD
8d One does little to get butcher (riled)* (5)
IDLER. Imaginative surface to use the anagrind “butcher”.
26d This is not French, whichever way you view it (3)
NON. Famously said by Charles de Gaulle when the UK first wanted to join the Common Market. Remember that?