Solving time: 58:24
Typical Anax fare. Lots of excellent wordplay, well disguised definitions and the odd obscure word.
This was good fun to solve, and I was quite pleased to solve in under the hour. Especially since I read all the way through the across clues until I got to 24 before I could write one in. Getting 3d next helped a lot though.
cd = cryptic def., dd = double def., rev = reversal, homophones are written in quotes, anagrams as (–)*, and removals like this
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 |
|
| 3 | PACKED LUNCH – a spoonerism of LACKED PUNCH |
| 9 | ODD MEN OUT = DO (read) rev + (MOUNTED)* – I’m not 100% convinced about ‘read’ for DO, but then ‘do’ can mean pretty much anything. |
| 10 | BUCKS – dd |
| 11 | DOWN TO THE GROUND – dd – ‘the responsibility of those crushed’ is quite a good one. |
| 12 | RESIDE – hidden |
| 14 | JETLINER = JEER about (L in TIN) |
| 17 | OVERGLAD = (REV in GO) rev + LAD |
| 18 | BELLOC = BELL + CO rev – I was only vaguely familiar with the Anglo-French writer, Hilaire Belloc. Actually, he seems much more familiar now I look at his full name. |
| 20 | SOMETHING + ROTTEN |
| 22 | KNOUT = “NOWT” – I didn’t know the whip, so this was a guess. Luckily, living as I do in the North of England, ‘nowt’ is a very familiar word for nothing. Indeed I often use it myself. |
| 23 | CHAPRASSI = CHAP (fellow) + R + ASS (behind) + I – My LOI and a pretty obscure word. My Chambers lists it, but the online dictionary collection OneLook has never heard of it. |
| 24 | SELF-RELIANT = (ISN’T ALL FREE)* |
| 25 | A + XE – Xe is the chemical symbol for Xenon, one of the noble gases |
| Down | |
| 1 | IN ORDER TO = (DO IT + R + NERO)* |
| 2 | END + OW |
| 3 | PRESTIDIGITATOR = (SPIRITED)* + ROTATI |
| 4 | CROFTS – rev hidden – very neatly done |
| 5 | EXTREMES = EX-TREES (chopped wood – geddit?) about M – made me chuckle so my COD |
| 6 | LIBERAL DEMOCRAT = (MORTAL A CREDIBLE)* |
| 7 | NOCTURNAL = NO + (TURN in CAL)* |
| 8 | HAS ID – dd |
| 13 | STEAMROLL = (TO SMALLER)* – another very neat anagram |
| 15 | RECONDITE = “RECKON” + (TIED)* |
| 16 | MANIACAL = (A + CAIN) in LAM all rev – to ‘take it on the lam’ is to flee, an expression I first remember coming across in the excellent movie ‘The Sting’ |
| 19 | IGUANA = I + (U in (G + ANA)) – Ana for ‘stories’ crops up from time to time, and should be well-known to most experienced solvers |
| 20 | SYKES = KES after S |
| 21 | T |
I didn’t know LAM meaning escape at 16dn but fortunately ANA meaning stories/gossip came up here twice only a few weeks ago so it didn’t cause me the bother experienced by some in the Club forum.
Kevin, ref 11ac, something being down to somebody means it’s their responsibility and “ground” = “crushed” as in “ground pepper”. “Men fancy her something rotten” would be an example of the usage needed at 20ac. As for croft being an old farm I assume the idea is that its an ancient type of farming rather than it’s no longer practised. There’s no support for “old” in any of the usual sources.
My favourite in SYKES was always Richard Wattis as their tetchy neighbour Charles Fulbright-Brown and I never enjoyed it as much after he died.
Edited at 2012-08-12 07:32 am (UTC)
A note on CHAPRASSI. Indeed, a moderately obscure one (I’d heard of it but needed a dictionary to confirm the meaning) but forced in by a grid which is far friendlier to solver than setter. The job for me was to keep the wordplay as straightforward as possible, in this case using the charade components only with no link words.
I agree about the use of ASS and, in truth, would normally avoid it, but it was a no-brainer in terms of giving the wordplay an &Lit reading.
CHAPRASSI is straight out of Mephisto land, so no problem here but more than moderately obscure, surely? There was a word in Mephisto 2710 (blog above) that Anax would enjoy setting a clue for – MATELASSE
I agree 20D is not just parochial but also favours the distinctly aged like me. I cant imagine our younger solvers having a notion what it was all about!