9:23. Another delightful puzzle from Robert, with a bit of a literary theme in the top and bottom rows, plus a couple of poets in the clues.
Definitions are underlined, anagrams indicated like (TIHS)*, deletions like this, anagram indicators are in italics.
| Across | |
| 1 | Villain in novel underwear, liver coloured |
| LONG JOHN SILVER – LONG JOHNS, (LIVER)*. | |
| 10 | Arriviste jerk going on to Oxford |
| UPSTART – UP (to Oxford), START (jerk). Other universities are available. | |
| 11 | Traveller’s bundle, mostly depressing |
| PILGRIM – PIL |
|
| 12 | Policy expert backed by one lofty US wise guy |
| KNOW IT ALL – reversal of WONK, I, TALL. ‘Wise guy’ is the American expression here, the answer is very much British. | |
| 13 | Lines from Pindar performing classical theatre |
| ODEON – ODE, ON (performing). If you didn’t know that Pindar wrote odes before solving this clue, you did afterwards. | |
| 14 | When out at midday, lassies take sandwiches |
| SIESTA – contained in ‘lassies take’. Not really an accurate definition: a SIESTA is taken after lunch, which if you’re Spanish begins no earlier than 2pm. | |
| 15 | Note put on 100 formerly rare compositions |
| CONCERTI – C (100), ONCE (formerly), R (rare), TI (note). | |
| 18 | Act without role being set out |
| DEPARTED – DE(PART)ED. | |
| 20 | Magazine covers start off short of space |
| COSMIC – CO(S |
|
| 23 | Crazy place to go on vacation, Paraguay |
| LOOPY – LOO (place to go), P |
|
| 25 | Position berth facing west in posh cabin |
| STATEROOM – STATE (position), reversal of MOOR. | |
| 26 | End of détente after island drops a bomb |
| GRENADE – GRANAD |
|
| 27 | Drunk badly beaten leaving hotel |
| TRASHED – T |
|
| 28 | Book prize vacuous idiots win |
| TREASURE ISLAND – TREASURE (prize), I |
|
| Down | |
| 2 | Maybe riding with son moving up from the sea |
| ONSHORE – ON HORSE with the S moved up three places. | |
| 3 | Fighter pleased a riot spread |
| GLADIATOR – GLAD, (A RIOT)*. | |
| 4 | Bar in France where Whitman retired |
| OUTLAW – OU (in France where), reversal of WALT. Familiar to people of my generation from Dead Poets Society. | |
| 5 | New staff about to hold a card game |
| NAPOLEON – N(A), POLE, ON. | |
| 6 | Cool home some cool girls set up |
| IGLOO – contained reversed in ‘cool girls’. | |
| 7 | An artist’s shift I’m hesitant to interrupt |
| VERMEER – V(ERM)EER. | |
| 8 | Film city commander raving about nothing |
| ROMANTIC COMEDY – (CITY COMMANDER)* containing O. | |
| 9 | Sweet kid hurt his leg running back from cricket |
| TURKISH DELIGHT – (KID HURT HIS LEG)*, |
|
| 16 | Friendly visit narrowly avoided disaster |
| CLOSE CALL – CLOSE, CALL. | |
| 17 | Sort of clothing workers curse |
| MENSWEAR – MEN, SWEAR. | |
| 19 | Ward training nurses got ER prepared |
| PROTEGE – PE containing (GOT ER)*. | |
| 21 | Bird’s bare bottom (one lacking tail parts) |
| MOORHEN – MOO(RHE |
|
| 22 | We hear this setter’s game for a cocktail |
| MAI TAI – sounds like ‘my tie’. | |
| 24 | A poet still penning a start to something |
| YEATS – YE(A)T, S |
|
33:24
I biffed several; never did parse MOORHEN. It’s ironic that Whitman should be introduced by a conventional and atypical poem of his. KNOW-IT-ALL is very much American, too; in fact, I thought you folks used ‘know-all’ (definitely not US). (ODE marks ‘know-all’ as (Brit.), and cross-references from ‘know-it-all’ as a variant.)
44 minutes. I missed the parsing of VERMEER as I was too busy thinking ER for ‘I’m hesitant’ and not noticing ERM as a possibility which I’m not sure we’ve had before.