Solving time: 5:54
A very fast time for me, and so I won’t be surprised if some others get well under 5 minutes. A pretty straightforward puzzle, though with lots of fun clues. I particularly liked 6A (MAGOG) and for some reason 3D (LOOK DAGGERS). But my pick for clue of the day is the homophone at 16A (SEE YOU).
Nothing that struck me as very obscure, except that I didn’t know one of the meanings of “rose water” at 13D. Perhaps a mopoke is not the best known owl, nor rigadoon the best known dance, but they both pop up now and then, at least in crosswords. Perhaps Weston-super-Mare is not the best known English town for non-UK solvers?
Across
| 1 | DE(LIGHT)ED – this could be “in fact” indicating “in deed” (with or without a space, though I think the latter would be deprecated in the Times), or Chambers gives “deed” as an archaic meaning of “fact”. |
| 6 | M(aiden) + AGOG – “has” is a slightly odd link word, but probably worth it for the suggestive surface |
| 9 | MOOSE – initial letters |
| 10 | X, Y, LOP + HONE |
| 11 | BED-AND-BREAKFAST – (A DEFT BANKER’S BAD)* – it is, I think, an obsolete sort of share transaction in the UK, as the Revenue stopped it (sale and next day repurchase of the same shares) being an effective way of crystallising a capital gain or loss about 10 years ago. |
| 13 | RIGA + DO ON |
| 14 | (c)AS(h) + SIGN – that’s “detail” as a verb meaning “to set apart for a particular service”, which is close in meaning to “assign” |
| 16 | SEE YOU (=”C, u”) |
| 18 | TIBERIUS – (BRUISE IT)* |
| 21 | W + EST + ON SUPER MARE – EST is SET*, and the following three words can be seen as clued individually or as a phrase |
| 23 | TALL SHIPS – (SPILLS THAT)* |
| 25 | THO’ + N(o) G(ood) |
| 26 | REAL + M – I have just looked this up and discovered it is the current Brazilian currency. I am afraid I hadn’t noticed that they stopped using the cruziero 15 years ago |
| 27 | GOLD CREST – “or” being GOLD. Something feels odd about this clue. I think it is partly the fact that the breakdown of the bird’s name is merely into the description of the bird that led to its naming, if you see what I mean. |
Down
| 1 | DEMO + B |
| 2 | LOOK DAGGERS – (GODS GLARE OK)* |
| 3 | G + LEA + NED – normally I ignore clues with cross-references until I have the other answer, but this was so obviously GLEANED that I filled it in and then filled 24 in, scarcely reading the clue |
| 4 | T(EX)T + BOOK |
| 5 | (a)DUL(C(of)E)T |
| 6 | M.O. POKES |
| 8 | GREETING + S – with no indication that GREETING’s meaning of “weeping” is Scottish |
| 12 | A PI G.I. NAP OKE – I was momentarily at a loss to explain the E, but OKE works OK for “all right” |
| 13 | ROSE WATER – two meanings. I had no idea that it meant “superfine”, or what “superfine” meant. Chambers confirms the meaning of ROSE WATER, and gives two meanings for superfine – especially fine, or “excessively fastidious or proper”. I imagine that ROSE WATER corresponds to the latter |
| 15 | DISPOSAL, being (LA(SOPS + 1)D)(all rev) – DISPOSAL means “control” in the sense of “right of bestowal” |
| 17 | OP. + O.S. + SUM |
| 19 | ER(RAT)IC |
| 20 | A S. KING – odd definition – “to be had for this”. Unless the setter believes that honours are freely available. I understood some of them at least were rather expensive |
| 22 | EIGHT, being (TH(G(r)I(p))E)(all rev) |
Didn’t know MOPOKES or that BED AND BREAKFAST was a kind of share dealing.
If 7 dn is GOO is it GOOD that is supposed to be desirable? King in ASKING is odd.
Slight quibble with THONG. From close observation in Croydon shopping centre thongs are hardly confined to the beach. Is this what you people call definition by example?
COD to SEE YOU, no question.
I am ashamed to say I was not thinking about antipodean footwear but what some refer to as the Brazilian Bikini. What is closely observed by yours truly in the shopping centre is the female version of a style of dress variously known as the “Dagenham cleavage” or more elegantly as “buiders’ bum”. The distinction is that the nether garment retains its original position when wearers (usually female thank heaven) retrieve goods from bottom shelves. About as sexy as my plumber.
For example, if you have a function that takes a reference to a bird, you can use an owl. But if you have a function that requires an owl, and you only have a bird object, you would have to cast it as an owl.
COD sort of chooses itself this time .. 16a SEE YOU.
Goldcrest is quite an accurate description by ornithological standards (lemoncrest would be better still). Most birds seem to look nothing like what they are supposed to, viz. bluetit etc. etc. I am still recovering from watching a fish on television called a Sarcastic Fringehead…
Agree on CU as COD.
Didn’t know MOPOKES, RIGADOON, GREETING (as sorrow), SUPERFINE, DISPOSAL (as control) and BED & BREAKFAST (as share dealing).
Several others went in without full understanding, like 12, 20 & 27.
I never heard of ‘mopokes’ either, they sound like monkeys, not owls. Would you like mo’ pokes?
I thought for sure 11 would start with ‘bid’, something like ‘bid and asked’, but I found otherwise before I got around to working out the cryptic.
I am at an advantage with mopokes since they are reasonably common in Perth. One used to sit in a tree in our back yard and go “mo poke” (or “boo book” or “more pork” depending on regional dialect) late into the night.
I don’t think anyone else has explained it yet, so I will. The “odd definition” is just based on the phrase “(something) to be had for the asking”, meaning available if you want it.
Thoroughly enjoying these of late despite some pretty grinding ones.
COD 16a SEE YOU and the toughest for a while GOLDCREST making the south-east
corner somewhat of the challenge others found. About half an hour.