9:59. A really nice puzzle from Harry this week with a range of clueing devices, some really witty clues and lots of smooth surfaces. My only unknowns were the pottery and the ‘flag officer’ referred to in 14d: indeed I’m still not entirely sure who he is but it doesn’t really matter.
How did you get on?
Definitions are underlined, anagrams indicated like (TIHS)*, deletions like this, anagram indicators are in italics.
| Across | |
| 1 | Sick of being rained on? |
| UNDER THE WEATHER – definition and cryptic hint. | |
| 9 | Hobby a corporate exec picked up |
| PURSUIT – sounds like ‘per suit’. | |
| 10 | Key ingredient of jam? |
| TRAFFIC – CD. | |
| 11 | Loaded or high |
| RICH – DD. I’m not sure how ‘high’ equates to RICH. The high life perhaps? Or a reference to the flavour of game? Both words also mean intoxicated of course. | |
| 12 | Evil females sons seemed to revolt |
| DEMONESSES – (SONS SEEMED)*. | |
| 13 | Holy? Not so much if condemned to pit! |
| BLESSED – B(LESS)ED. Lovely clue. | |
| 15 | Labour fall behind, a victory snatched |
| TRAVAIL – TR(A, V)AIL. V is in Collins as a symbol for victory. | |
| 17 | Coverage provided by work for abuse |
| OPPRESS – OP, PRESS. | |
| 19 | Thrilled police department wins contract |
| PLEASED – P(LEASE)D. | |
| 20 | Unreasonable? Me? Mediator must be mad! |
| IMMODERATE – (ME MEDIATOR)*. | |
| 22 | Force beginning to hamper ICE |
| METH – MET, H |
|
| 25 | Repair shop bishop opened for cobblers |
| GARBAGE – GAR(B)AGE. | |
| 26 | City you mostly love in a state |
| ECUADOR – EC, U, ADOR |
|
| 27 | Old cat going cheap at a million |
| PALAEOLITHIC MAN – (CHEAP AT A MILLION)*. A somewhat purrplexing definition! | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Starterless meal in Oxford area? |
| UPPER – |
|
| 2 | End of third, a pitcher scuppered a steal |
| DIRT CHEAP – ( |
|
| 3 | Thrashing headless fish |
| ROUT – |
|
| 4 | Rash one with fever possibly gets on nut |
| HOTHEAD – HOT (with fever), HEAD (nut). | |
| 5 | Lacking husband, Wag dated around |
| WITHOUT – WIT(H), OUT. OUT in the sense ‘old hat’. | |
| 6 | A messy wet area around bit of glazed pottery |
| AGATEWARE – A, (WET AREA)* containing G |
|
| 7 | Paw warmers male removed for hot pets |
| HUFFS – MUFFS with M (male) replaced by H (hot). | |
| 8 | Firm or infirm; sick or old |
| ROCK SOLID – (SICK OR OLD)*. | |
| 13 | Left in debt, local’s up about inflation |
| BLOWING UP – PUB reversed around L, OWING. | |
| 14 | Projectile finally going off by flag officer … duck |
| SHELDRAKE – SHEL |
|
| 16 | Grad putting up a mum in capital abroad |
| AMSTERDAM – MASTER (grad) with the A ‘put up’ to the front to give AMSTER, then DAM (mum). | |
| 18 | Soldiers invading Urals worked like a dream |
| SURREAL – (URALS)* containing RE. | |
| 19 | Right-granting document one’s put in case |
| PATIENT – PAT(I)ENT. | |
| 21 | Exam head of maths goes over in lesson |
| MORAL – M |
|
| 23 | Man of the match perhaps seen by new winger |
| HERON – HERO, N. | |
| 24 | Ex-smoker initially found using joints intoxicating |
| FUJI – initial letters of ‘found using joints intoxicating’. FUJI is still active, so this definition isn’t strictly accurate, but it hasn’t erupted for over 300 years. | |
Couldn’t spell PALAEOLITHIC so had to look it up, but no problem with ‘man’. I seem to remember ‘high’ being used to describe something with a strong odour, and I think you’re right with the cheese/game connection, but I think it can also refer to some folk being a little ‘higher’ than others, think bathrooms! Also, not sure if it was something to do with ‘stinking rich’.
Everything else was fine except that I spelt Ecuador as Equador for some reason. Liked SHELDRAKE and PURSUIT.
After a quick google, I found this:
Rear Admiral Drake was a human female Federation Starfleet flag officer active in the mid-23rd century, appearing in Star Trek: Discovery. Maybe the clue refers to this?
Thanks K and setter..
28:52
I assumed that DRAKE was Sir Francis, and that he was a flag officer, especially since I knew no other Drake; Wikipedia says he was a vice admiral. PALAEOLITHIC MAN struck me as green paint. COD to AMSTERDAM.
MER at ‘high / RICH’ when solving, and still not entirely convinced.
Used aids for PALAEOLITHIC MAN as my LOI. Although realising it was an anagram and the anagrist was in plain sight, I bored of trying to fit it all together. I had been distracted by the cat reference and had already spent far too long thinking the answer might be an ancient feline that I’d simply didn’t know. Should have thought jazz!
The parsing of AMSTERDAM also beat me, but the answer was too obvious to waste time on. Ditto worrying about the Flag Officer rank when SHELDRAKE had jumped off the page at me.