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.
I agree with your comments on Segno, which means sign and can be used in phrases such as al segno – nothin to do with repetition but simply a direction to continue from the sign.
This took me ages. I had a ? at BUTTERCUP, not knowing any bovine associations with the word. DNK SEGNO. I see now that I misparsed ETHOS as (those)* despite the lack of any anagrind, not noticing–as is my wont–the hidden. I especially liked SEGNO & WEAR THE TROUSERS.
Re 5d – you would ask someone to “pay up” when he owed you a debt. Especially if there was a hint of reluctance on the part of the debtor. Does that improve things?
Took a while to unravel TO BE GOING ON WITH and SEGNO looked most unlikely but otherwise all good.
I must say Sunday’s puzzles ( and to a lesser extent Saturday’s) are such a pleasant relief after the usual Friday fare. Keep up the good work.
Rather a good puzzle. I always felt that imaginary was an unfortunate term for the square root of -1. It’s part of the fabric of the mathematics of life and is no more imaginary than -1 itself.
Great fun. A Sunday PB and 2nd quickest ever at 14:31. However, having recommended it to Mrs rv and then later spending a fruitless few mins trying to explain i, maybe it was wavelength.
NHO SEGNO or DISTRAINT but enjoyed this immensely.
Thanks Dean and K.
Done on a tablet on holiday, so no notes, but I remember having quite a bit of trouble with TO BE GOING ON WITH and IMAGINARY NUMBER, though had the second word quickly. Not a term I’m familiar with. BUTTERCUP also took some time, although I liked it once I got the answer. Deceptively difficult-looking, but actually quite straightforward. SEGNO was also problematic. I knew DS or AS, but as Jackkt says, SEGNO simply means ‘sign’, not repeat, unless accompanied by further direction. I’m surprised that PB, as a trombonist, didn’t pull him up on that one! I had a bit of a MER at AIR HOSTESS – a term that is no longer in use, as it’s considered somewhat derogatory and doesn’t reflect modern air transport conditions. However, I have to say, travelling home on Aegean airlines was something of a blast from the past, as the stewards were exclusively youngish females, attractive, high-heeled and caked in make-up (the pilots, needless to say, were male).