Solving time: 34 minutes offline
I printed this one off and solved while cooking dinner. In truth, all that really involved was inserting the odd dish into the oven at various intervals, so I don’t suppose it cost me much time. I found it quite easy, but enjoyable. The simplicity of 11a was good so I’ll give that my COD.
cd = cryptic def., dd = double def., rev = reversal, homophones are written in quotes, anagrams as (–)*, and removals like this
Across | |
---|---|
1 | STEWARD = (SET)* + WARD |
5 | C(RIMS)ON |
9 | MEDALLION = (LAID LEMON)* – I quite liked the way the adjective ’round’ masquerades as a preposition in the surface. |
10 | F(L |
11 | TH(RON)E |
12 | P + RO(L + O)GUE |
14 | ARCHITRAVE = (ART)* in ARCHIVE |
16 | TIDY – dd |
18 |
|
19 | FANNY ADAMS – cd – ‘Sweet Fanny Adams’ or more usually ‘Sweet F.A.’ is an expression in English meaning nothing at all. |
22 | DIATRIBE = (A + BRIDE + IT)* |
23 | STOKER – dd – Bram Stoker write Dracula</> |
26 | ALIBI – cd |
27 | ALPENHORN = AL + HORN about PEN |
28 | L(ANY)ARD |
29 | MET(HAN)E |
Down | |
1 | SUM + |
2 | EIDER – cd |
3 | ATLA(NT + I)S |
4 | D(R)IP |
5 | CONT(RAVEN)E |
6 | IN FULL – I don’t understand this one, so perhaps someone else can explain it for me. |
7 | S(H |
8 | NURSERY = |
13 | BREAD + BOARD |
15 | CAR |
17 | MART + I + NET |
18 | ODD + BALL |
20 | ST + RANGE |
21 |
|
24 | KRONA = NOAH losing A + H (losing a bit of hard) in ARK, all rev |
25 | S |
I can’t explain 6dn either. I thought of NULL as suggested by Ulaca but taking F (half of IF) from IN FULL would leave I NULL and I don’t see how that equals useless. Somebody in the Forum suggests that including only half of IN FULL leaves ILL = useless, but I’m not sure those two words are synonymous in any sense. Tony Sever says he has a better explanation, so let’s hope he turns up later either here or there to confirm what it is.
Edited at 2013-05-05 07:09 am (UTC)
Edited at 2013-05-05 08:48 am (UTC)
The best I could come up with for 6dn was that half of IN FULL is NFU, which is an acronym meaning “useless”. Seems a bit too rude for the Sunday Times though!
And the ‘F’ can always be replaced by something milder such as ‘flipping’, after all we have had SNAFU previously where sensitive souls are free to substitute ‘fouled’ if they wish.
Edited at 2013-05-05 12:45 pm (UTC)
I agree with ulaca’s reading of 6dn, which seems entirely satisfactory to me.
My only cavil would be with “pompous” in 22ac since, as Kevin G. says, DIATRIBEs aren’t necessarily, or even frequently, pompous.
I wasn’t too worried by “pompous” – I’d say a diatribe was more likely to be pompous than the opposite.
Peter Biddlecombe, Sunday Times Crossword Editor