Solving time: 4:52
Firstly, many thanks to Peter for standing in for me last week when my computer temporarily died. I probably ought to replace it but decided to carry out one last resurrective repair, mainly because I feel it really ought to outlast my jalopy. (Unfortunately the reverse is also true.)
Other than the enumeration at 14ac there were no actual mistakes in this puzzle, but there were a few duff clues. One or two things suggest to me that this was probably written by the editor. There’s a tennis reference at 21ac (come on Tim Andy!), a rugby one at 10ac and a nod to American football at 26ac but nothing World Cup-related, which is perhaps just as well given the likely outcome of today’s match; and yet, I know that by kick-off I’ll be as excited as I was in Italia ’90. Will I never learn?
* = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | CAST AWAY |
| 5 | CARPAL; A + L after CARP (= ‘fish’) |
| 9 | NOT HAPPY – referring to the Seven Dwarves. |
| 10 | TRY OUT; TRY (= ‘rugby score’) + OUT (= ‘not in’) |
| 12 | PERIL; P.E. (= ‘Exercise’) + R,L (= right,left = ‘two ways’) with I (= ‘one’) inside |
| 13 | ADORNMENT; ADO (= ‘fuss’), + “MEANT” after R.N. (= Royal Navy = ‘sailors’) |
| 14 | ABSENT-MINDED; ABSENT (= ‘Missing’) + MINDED (= ‘inclined’) – this should have been (6-6), not (6,6). |
| 18 | BUTTERSCOTCH; BUTTER (= ‘spread’) + SCOTCH (= ‘spirit’) |
| 21 | CLAY COURT; (LUC[k]Y ACTOR)* – this doesn’t work because ‘Rex’ can’t sensibly indicate the letter K; R is an abbreviation for ‘Rex’ (Latin for ‘King’) and K is an abbreviation for ‘King’ but in different, and specific, contexts (chess and cards). This is really no different from allowing ‘sailor’ = J (via ‘Jack’) which is clearly absurd. |
| 23 | HEDGE (2 defs) – as in ‘hedge one’s bets’/’duck the question’, I think, although they don’t seem quite equivalent. I can’t see anything else that fits, though. |
| 24 | RAPIER; R.A. (= Royal Artillery = ‘fighters’) + PIER |
| 25 | SWOONING; S,W (= ‘points’) + O + ON + (GIN)* (= ‘gin cocktail’) |
| 26 | DODGES; (ODD)* + G + rev. of SE – ‘quarter-back’ = ‘reverse of S[outh]e[ast]’ and ‘force’ = G (via ‘G-force’, which is a curious omission from Chambers) are both dubious. |
| 27 | CRESCENT; C.E. around R, + SCENT – a partial definition referring to the moon. |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | CANOPY; CAN + OP + Y – ‘able to’ = CAN is wrong (it needs to be ‘am/is/are able to’); ‘your first’ = Y is a well-trodden debate. |
| 2 | SAT + IRE |
| 3 | AVAILABLE; AVA + (LIABLE)* |
| 4 | ALPHABET SOUP (cryptic definition) – very droll. |
| 6 | A.P.R. + ON |
| 7 | PROCEEDS (2 defs) |
| 8 | LATITUDE – just a vague cryptic definition, I think, with a pun on ‘degree’. |
| 11 | CONTROL + TOWER (= ‘tug’) |
| 15 | IN CAHOOTS; INCA + (SHOT)* + O |
| 16 | OBSCURED; OBs (= old boys) + CURED |
| 17 | STRAPPED (2 defs) |
| 19 | ADMIRE; I in (ARMED)* |
| 20 | W(E)IGHT – a surprisingly scientific definition. |
| 22 | CREPE; CR + E.P. + E[lton] |
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