ST 4338 (Sun 18 Jul) – Simple interest

Author   talbinhoPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Solving time: 10 mins

I thought a couple of the cryptic definitions in this were as good as anything (27ac, 15dn). A couple of pairs gave me problems at the end, 29ac/23dn (INFERIOR and SERAI) and 14ac/4dn (OCTAVO and TARRAGONA).

* = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’.

Across
1 STRAIT; “STRAIGHT” – in the sense of ‘neat’, i.e. undiluted spirit.
5 TOLERANT; “RATTLE ON”
9 ROUND + R + O.B. + IN – apparently a paper with all the signatures in a circle, to avoid anyone appearing to be the ring-leader. I saw the answer here from the wordplay but only knew the answer phrase in the sporting sense, so was hesitant to put it in.
10 OAST (cryptic definition) – a kiln for drying hops.
11 A LAS[s]
12 ALPENSTOCK; (PANEL)* + STOCK
14 OCTAVO; OCT + A VO[id] – difficult wordplay. This means ‘having 8 leaves to the sheet’, or (paper) of that size.
16 MACARONI; (MAORI CAN)*
18 FUSELAGE; FUSE (= ‘solder’) + (A GEL)*
20 LOCUS + T[he]
22 STATISTICS; (SCIENTISTS)* – (E,N) + AT
24 EDGE (two defs, one cryptic)
26 TOFU; T[hink], + rev. of (U.F.O)
27 RETRIEVERS (cryptic definition) – ‘game’ in the sense of game birds. I liked this one.
29 INFER + I + OR – why ‘hold’?
30 LULLED; L,L in (DUEL)*

Down
2 TROLL (2 defs)
3 AMNESIA; (A NAME IS)* – not a bad semi-&lit.
4 TARRAGON + A – this was the best I could come up with here, but I didn’t understand it. After consulting a dictionary, a ‘simple’ can mean a medicinal plant, which I suppose tarragon must be.
5 TUB; rev. of BUT
6 LINEN; L + (NINE)* – a more dubious semi-&lit.
7 ROOSTER (2 defs) – the first definition in the sense of ‘someone roosting’.
8 NOSECONES; E[xpedition] in NO SCONES – one of those awful partial definitions (‘Installed on spacecraft’). Arguably a lack of scones doesn’t imply a lack of food, but that’s being overly picky.
13 POMP + E11 – E11 is apparently Leytonstone and Wanstead.
15 COUNTDOWN (cryptic definition) – because the seconds are checked off. Another clue I liked.
17 CELESTIAL; (TEA IS)* in CELL
19 ENTHUSE; (THEN)* + USE
21 CHERVIL (hidden)
23 SERAI; rev. of IS around ERA – in eastern countries, an old inn where caravans would stop.
25 GORSE; S[cratch] in GORE
28 TAR[paul in] – this just about works.

2 comments on “ST 4338 (Sun 18 Jul) – Simple interest”

  1. 8:37 for me, but I made heavy weather of several straightforward clues, particularly 17D (CELESTIAL) and 23D (SERAI).

    I actually quite liked 8D (NOSECONES), but then I generally have a fairly relaxed attitude to clues. I liked 15D (COUNTDOWN) as well, so I agree with you there.

    I see that the online solution has TARAGONAA for 4D, thus giving GLPENSTOCK and OCTAVN for 12A and 14A, which presumably means that there were no “correct” online submissions!

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