Some twisty turns here, and with the pun in the top and bottom lines and the marquee answer PETROCHEMICALS—not to mention GAStropub and AUTOcrat—it’s almost like we’ve got a theme. I found this more difficult than the last few by Robert, but then I was so sleepy I took an off-ramp to a rest area just short of the destination. Hallucinations like seeing a random ink mark as indicating that an answer was two words evaporated in the morning.
I indicate (Ars Magna)* like this, and words flagging such rearrangements are italicized in the clues.
| ACROSS | |
| 1 | County town with no stone supply (6) |
| AFFORD |
|
| 4 | Suckers importing small brown horses (8) |
| MUSTANGS MU(S)(TAN)GS |
|
| 10 | Firm, after tax returns bill, promises to pay (9) |
| TENACIOUS NET<=“returns” + AC, account, “bill” + IOUS, “promises to pay” |
|
| 11 | Maths exponent’s faculty (5) |
| POWER DD |
|
| 12 | Immaculate hosts greeting South American chap (7) |
| CHILEAN C(HI)LEAN |
|
| 14 | Four equal sides joined the French, including Australia and England (7) |
| LOZENGE L(OZ)(ENG)E …with two acute and two obtuse angles |
|
| 15 | Wannabe warlord running for PM (6,5,3) |
| ANDREW BONAR LAW (Wannabe warlord)* This fellow was UK prime minister for just seven months (23 October 1922–20 May 1923), but his Wikipedia page would take some time to read. …I suppose everybody else has heard of him! |
|
| 18 | Three COP claims about fossil fuels (14) |
| PETROCHEMICALS (Three COP claims)* |
|
| 22 | Visits doctor before having internal operations (5,2) |
| DROPS BY DR, “doctor” + OPS, “operations” + BY, “before” (as in “I’ll finish this puzzle by dawn”) |
|
| 24 | Old barrier’s secured following crime (7) |
| OFFENCE O(ld) + F(ollowing) + FENCE, “barrier” |
|
| 25 | Strange European lake (5) |
| EERIE E(uropean) + ERIE, the lake |
|
| 26 | Fancy bar with G&T — and soup (9) |
| GASTROPUB (bar, G&T, soup)* &lit! |
|
| 28 | Smashing lingerie worn by English monarch (8) |
| BREAKING BR(E)A + KING |
|
| 29 | Tout withh{eld dep}osits, not all returned (6) |
| PEDDLE Reverse hidden |
|
| DOWN | |
| 1 | Tyrant’s car, a Tesla, carrying the king (8) |
| AUTOCRAT AUTO, “car” + CR, Charles Rex, “the king” + A + T(esla) |
|
| 2 | Kindle addict (3) |
| FAN DD |
|
| 3 | Noise here voiced by a cockney crook (9) |
| RACKETEER RACKET, “noise” + “’ere” |
|
| 5 | Greek character leading lions around (7) |
| UPSILON UP, “leading” + (lions)* |
|
| 6 | Unknown vessel capsized smuggling a precious mineral (5) |
| TOPAZ Z, “unknown” + A + POT, “vessel” <=“capsized” |
|
| 7 | Zero benefit without country sacking leader occasionally (3,3,5) |
| NOW AND AGAIN NO GAIN with |
|
| 8 | String underwear ignored in bistros (6) |
| SERIES |
|
| 9 | Briefly tramp and toff rub shoulders (6) |
| HOBNOB HOB |
|
| 13 | Insecure duo split up eventually (2,3,6) |
| IN DUE COURSE (Insecure duo)* |
|
| 16 | Check railroad for stress (9) |
| REINFORCE REIN, “Check” + FORCE, “railroad” (verb) |
|
| 17 | Get together and walk around Sussex periodically (8) |
| ASSEMBLE A(S |
|
| 19 | Mixture for freezing blubber, gone wrong (7) |
| CRYOGEN CRY, “blubber” + (gone)* |
|
| 20 | One gets excited about oneself primarily (6) |
| EGOIST (I, “one” + gets)* with O |
|
| 21 | Bill mostly bowled quickly for example (6) |
| ADVERB ADVER |
|
| 23 | Southern mountain state (5) |
| SPEAK S(outhern) + PEAK, “mountain” |
|
| 27 | Sweet potatoes, peeled (3) |
| PUD |
|
43 minutes. Just finished after several delays caused by inexplicably putting in TOTNES for 1a and falling for the trap by entering DROPS IN for 22a. I parsed the first bit of 10a as TEN, a reversal of (‘returns’) of NET (‘after tax’). I’d barely heard of the PM at 15a but confess I didn’t take the trouble to read his Wikipedia article – maybe tomorrow (or maybe not).
I liked our now customary little extras in the top and bottom rows to complement the mini-theme as mentioned by Guy and the two &lits, especially GASTROPUB.
Thanks to Robert for the as ever enjoyable puzzle and to Guy
I mark reversal clues with the word cited indicating the reversal (here, “returns”) pointing back to the implied word that is reversed as part of the answer, with it left up to the reader to see what that refers to in the clue. If that ever seems possibly ambiguous to me, I’ll spell it out.
Thanks. My misunderstanding.
29:07
Like BR I had DROPS IN at first. I knew the PM and biffed BONAR LAW from the enumeration, but didn’t know his first name and took a while to see how the clue actually worked. My COD.
I found this very mild for a Robert Price. As an American, I had actually heard of Andrew Bonar Law, although I couldn’t tell you anything about him. Petrochemicals was actually more difficult.
Time: 26:39
34 minutes. Very enjoyable. This felt more like a traditional weekday puzzle than some that we’ve been experiencing there recently.
I knew of BONAR LAW, but only ‘Edward’, until I had to have a bit of a rethink.
31 minutes
Has Robert got a ‘bra’ fixation ? Twice in this puzzle.
Agree that this was trickier than usual- couldn’t see FAN for kindle nor POWER for maths exponent.