ST 4300 (Sat 26 Oct) – Ayr rage

Author   talbinhoPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Solving time: 4:19

I found this a straightforward puzzle with some good clues and one answer word I didn’t know (MOSHAV).

* = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’.

Across
1 ESCARPMENT; (A RECENT PM’S)* – the pre-anagramming abbreviation of Prime Minister to PM is unusual here, but it’s such a common abbreviation that it’s probably fair, which makes this a pretty good clue.
7 UNDO (hidden) – also good, somehow I looked for a hidden word here thanks to ‘partly’ and still missed the answer on first look.
9 CARRI(AG)E
10 R + ASHES
11 FLAG ON
13 AIRBORNE; (AIR + ROBIN)*
14 WONDERSTRUCK; (SOT + DRUNK CREW)* – surely mêlée deserves some accents?
17 HEATED DEBATE; (THE DEADBEAT + E[nglish]) – again some abbreviating required before anagramming, but this one was more obvious. I believe Mrs Merton popularised this phrase, which appears in none of my dictionaries.
20 COLLARED – a collared dove has a black stripe around its neck.
21 DYEING; “DYING”
22 CHAR + O + N – ‘seen to’ doesn’t really work here. Charon is one of Pluto’s moons.
23 REVISION; [ci]V[ic] in rev. of NOISIER – very good.
25 EVEN (hidden)
26 ELECT + ORATE – ‘the chosen’ as in ‘the elect’.
Down
2 STALL + I + ON (= ‘willing’) – rather awkward wording with ‘From’ and ‘lead’.
3 AYR (hidden) – ‘where’ in the ST can define anywhere from Ayr to Zanzibar.
4 PLAIN (double defn)
5 ELEGANT; (A GENTLE)*
6 TURN (= ‘stage act’) + ROUND (= ‘volume of applause’)
7 UNSHOCKABLE – a pun on ‘currently’ (as in electric current).
8 DUENNA; DUE + rev. of ANN
12 GO[o]D + CHILDREN – a bit weak to use ‘children’ in the wordplay here.
15 REARRANGE; RANGE with REAR (= ‘back’) at the front
16 STAND OUT (double defn)
18 ENDORSE; (RED ONES)*
19 MOS + HAV[e] – a Hebrew word meaning ‘dwelling’, defined by Chambers as ‘an agricultural settlementin Israel’. A new word to me, but fortunately the wordplay was helpful.
21 DIVOT (cryptic definition) – referring to a golf course.
24 SIR; rev. of IS, + R

3 comments on “ST 4300 (Sat 26 Oct) – Ayr rage”

  2. Thanks for the blog Talbinho. I agree that sometimes the lack of accents in foreign words in the Times crosswords seems a bit naff but how do you type them in this blog?

    I found this one quite enjoyable with only one DNK at 19d MOSHAV which – following the clue – I was able to enter correctly.

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