I (obviously) don’t know anything about the UK version of Monopoly, but was confident enough of what was going on in 1A that I only now (Friday night) got around to checking it. On the other hand, I needed to look up the Briticism in 20 to make sure it worked as an &lit.
The Beetle was instantly recognizable (FOI). The two adjacent CDs were resolved fairly quickly, for a change. This was chewy in places, fairly tasty throughout, and went down easy.
I indicate (Rama sang)* like this, and italicize anagrinds in the clues.
ACROSS | |
1 | Perhaps where you might find Park Lane property? (2,6) |
BY CHANCE — In the US version of the game, Park Lane is Park Place. A player can also land on Chance in two other places on the board, and, of course, it is between two squares in each case. | |
5 | Small vehicle: a black Beetle (6) |
SCARAB — S(mall) + CAR, “vehicle” + A + B(lack) A very similar clue appeared in Thursday’s QC, but this one was better. | |
9 | Cabinet committee backing Conservative leader in revolt (8) |
CUPBOARD — C[-onservative] + UP, “in revolt” + BOARD, “committee” | |
10 | Double helping of red fish (6) |
MAOMAO — The Great Helmsman twice. Not sure I’d ever heard of this species, so checked what I got from the wordplay. | |
12 | One piercing awfully long tongue (5) |
LINGO — (long + I or 1, “One”)* | |
13 | News chief’s admission was moving (9) |
IMPRESSED — I’M PRESS ED! | |
14 | A drop of water some tourists take in visiting America? (7,5) |
NIAGARA FALLS — CD | |
18 | What could give troubled pilot a much-needed boost? (8,4) |
EJECTION SEAT — CD | |
21 | Winger unlocked dog sheds close to club (4,5) |
BALD EAGLE — BALD, “unlocked” + [-b]EAGLE That this soaring predator (the American national bird, despite Ben Franklin’s arguments for the pacific turkey) is not extinct nor even endangered today is largely because of the dedicated work of 24s. | |
23 | This year it’ll be 245 years in employment (5) |
USAGE — As y’all know, my native country was founded in July 1776. Do the math! | |
24 | An intense green? (6) |
ECONUT — CD… I was somewhat surprised (and disappointed) to find this word in the dictionary. Consider me a proud tree-hugger. See 21. | |
25 | Wobbly set a danger for star (8) |
ASTERISK — (set a)* + RISK, “danger” | |
26 | German youngsters can be more compassionate than others (6) |
KINDER — DD | |
27 | Laurel near church on Islington’s outskirts for example (8) |
INSTANCE — I[-slingto]N + STAN, “Laurel” + CE, “church” (Church of England) |
DOWN | |
1 | Resist the French or give in? (6) |
BUCKLE — Pas de choix, je trouve ton français irrésistible, chérie… BUCK, ”Resist” + LE, “the[,] French” | |
2 | Beat a gangster (6) |
CAPONE — CAP, “beat” + ONE, “a” | |
3 | Argumentative defender I grabbed by attacked goalpost (9) |
APOLOGIST — (goalpost + I)*… Creative Anagrind Award! | |
4 | Sport many clothes good for hairdresser’s helpers (7,5) |
CURLING TONGS — CURLING, “sport” + TON(G)S | |
6 | Stop drug being injected into patient (5) |
CEASE — C(E)ASE | |
7 | Bank broken by woman without thinking (8) |
REMISSLY — RE(MISS)LY | |
8 | Quite like American lady being fairly vulgar (8) |
BROADISH — (“Quite like a mid-20th-century American lady, to a rude person,” maybe.) | |
11 | As a sample, pitcher displays a conjugal product (12) |
SPORTSPERSON — SPORTS, “displays” + PER, “a” + SON, “conjugal product” My LOI, as the long-winded DBE is quite misleading! | |
15 | Apartment unit loaned out with gas problems (9) |
FLATULENT — FLAT, “Apartment” + U(nit) + LENT, “loaned out” | |
16 | On vacation, member has ball (3,5) |
LEG BREAK — LEG, “member” + BREAK, “vacation” This is a cricket term, to which I can only say “Meh.” | |
17 | King visiting really good French noble (4-4) |
WELL-BORN — WELL, “really” + BO(R)N: bon, “good” holding R, “King” | |
19 | Bad side dominated by Millwall initially (6) |
MALIGN — M[-illwall] over ALIGN, “side”… as a particular country might ALIGN/side with another in an international dispute | |
20 | Disruptive cheek hampering foremost of luvvies? (6) |
HECKLE — (cheek + L)*, &lit. Collins defines the last word as a “facetious” British term for “a person who is involved in the acting profession or the theatre, esp one with a tendency to affectation.” “Foremost” here means center-stage. Perfect, bravo! COD! | |
22 | Treble’s final duet ruined piece (5) |
ETUDE — [-trebl]E + (duet)* |
Edited at 2021-03-14 03:31 am (UTC)
Edited at 2021-03-14 03:35 am (UTC)
Thank you, Guy.
I tagged HECKLE as “very good” but my COD was BALD EAGLE because of “unlocked”.
A B747 captain in a cargo airline I used to work for once told me of an occasion when he was checking in at a downtown 5-star hotel in Sydney with his two colleagues when Telly Savalas approached him and asked “Where are the broads?” The captain had to explain they were a cargo crew….
Edited at 2021-03-14 06:33 am (UTC)
Nho maomao but it went in easily enough, once cheche would no longer fit.
I had guessed ECONUT and presumed that EJECTION was for this purpose the ejector part of SEAT. The Sportsperson failed to appear. I remembered Broads from Frank Sinatra films but never managed to get Broadish from whatever the definition was. I had RELY but not the missing woman. Did not got IMPRESSED and the definition is a stretch for me. Lastly the fish; I was fishing in Russia and other places, but not China.
So quite a big DNF for me. I too liked BALD EAGLE.
David
I’m not sure why I took ages to spot LINGO.
FOI SCARAB (nice easy starter)
LOI ECONUT (even the spellchecker on here doesn’t recognize it !)
COD BY CHANCE (absolutely brilliant)
TIME 15:32 (with aids)
Took longer than usual to do this, but with distractions along the way. The normal good quality clues throughout and a a couple of new terms in MAOMAO and ECONUT. Was another who thought that BY CHANCE was very good and also liked BALD EAGLE. Had to use a word finder to get SPORTSPERSON and didn’t really sort out the PERSON part of it until coming here.
Finished in the NE corner, after not helping myself by initially writing in GARNET in at 10a (was chuffed to see the unusual cluing for a word meaning ‘red’ with two meanings of ‘fish’ in GAR (noun) and NET (verb)). Finally saw the light with BROADISH and REMISSLY which allowed me to check that MAOMAO was in fact the name of a fish.