7:57. I thought this was going to be a tricky one when my first entry was 17ac. But after that things got a lot easier. A typically excellent offering from Dean with lots of smooth surfaces, a nice variety of clue types and a generous sprinkling of wit. How did you get on?
Definitions are underlined, anagrams indicated like (TIHS)*, deletions like this, anagram indicators are in italics.
| Across | |
| 1 | New volunteers retreating in combat |
| AT WAR – reversal of RAW, TA. Although the TA aren’t called that any more. | |
| 4 | Hard work and drink as a minor diversion |
| HOPSCOTCH – H, OP, SCOTCH. The ‘minor’ here being a child. | |
| 9 | Without capital, I invented anaesthetic |
| IMAGINARY NUMBER – IMAGINARY (invented), NUMBER (anaesthetic). Lower-case i being one of these, the square root of -1. We spent quite a lot of time on these at school, and I remember finding it very interesting but I’ve forgotten all of the specifics. | |
| 10 | Prize ram swapped for cow? |
| BUTTERCUP – CUP (prize), BUTTER (ram) but the other way round. I think the definition here is just a reference to the fact that BUTTERCUP is a typical name for a cow. | |
| 11 | Play it again, Sam? Initially, say no |
| SEGNO – S |
|
| 12 | Studies English very well |
| EYES – E, YES. | |
| 13 | Stay in South American B&B? |
| SUSPENSION – S, US, PENSION. You have to lift & separate ‘South American’. PENSION here is a French term. | |
| 16 | She is a sort to go flying |
| AIR HOSTESS – (SHE IS A SORT)*. &Lit. Lovely! | |
| 17 | Matured as a good journalist |
| AGED – A, G, ED. | |
| 20 | Possibly irons suit |
| CLUBS – DD, the first a reference to golf, the second a reference to cards. | |
| 21 | Houses or new digs rebuilt around lakes |
| DWELLINGS – (NEW DIGS)* containing LL. | |
| 22 | Obsolete engine to come alive most surprisingly |
| STEAM LOCOMOTIVE – (TO COME ALIVE MOST)*. | |
| 23 | I had back injury ending in all-out seizure |
| DISTRAINT – reversal of I’D, STRAIN, |
|
| 24 | A little like those guiding beliefs |
| ETHOS – contained in ‘like those’. Say what you want about the tenets of National Socialism… | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Can I like a friend? |
| AMIABLE – AM I ABLE? | |
| 2 | Lead in bags? |
| WEAR THE TROUSERS – CD. ‘Bags’ is a term for trousers. | |
| 3 | Built or demolished, say |
| RAISED – sounds like ‘razed’. | |
| 4 | Number of staff supplied by chief nobleman |
| HEADCOUNT – HEAD (chief), COUNT (nobleman). | |
| 5 | Do a balancing act with increased salary |
| PAY UP – a slightly odd cryptic definition, related to ‘settling a balance’ in a way that I can’t quite see. And then a cryptic hint. | |
| 6 | Heard sailors chant on QE2? |
| CRUISING – homophone of ‘crew’, SING. | |
| 7 | Temporary, as travel documents are? |
| TO BE GOING ON WITH – a definition and a cryptic hint based (I think) on the idea that you have to show your passport to get on a plane. | |
| 8 | Keep complaining about one’s first dart |
| HARPOON – HARP O(O |
|
| 14 | Distributed spades? |
| PASSED OUT – a reverse cryptic in which the answer is a wordplay indication for the word (spades) in the clue. | |
| 15 | One eating ice-cream right to swallow whole |
| CONSUMER – CON(SUM)E, R. | |
| 16 | Defendant’s account gone through |
| ACCUSED – ACC, USED. | |
| 18 | Drives away or is parking in reversing snow vehicle |
| DISPELS – a reversal of SLED containing IS, P. | |
| 19 | Bay — a large bay |
| ALCOVE – A, L, COVE. | |
| 21 | Detective seizes hot pants in India |
| DHOTI – D(HOT)I. | |
*
Re 11ac, in a former existence I studied, played and taught music for years but have never seen ‘segno’ as a musical direction. It was always ‘Dal segno’ or D.S. for short (repeat from the sign). Similarly ‘Da capo’ or D.C. (repeat from the beginning).
A very enjoyable puzzle. NHO IMAGINARY NUMBER but the answer was clear. Whilst it’s true that BUTTERCUP has become a go-to name for a cow there are few if any instances of famous cows of that name in fiction or real life. Apparently it’s become the custom for the cow in the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk to be named Buttercup, although not in the story on which it’s based. And there’s another in Bob the Builder.