Solving Time: 55 minutes
Not much to say for myself except I was waylaid by a 32 page tome and a 500lb canary loose in Slough. Apart from that, the appearance of some old favourites should make for some fast times amongst the cognescenti. Others, like me, will just have to plough their way through.
Across |
1 |
TINSMITH = TIN for “can” + Model inside THIS* |
6 |
BAROQUE for “highly ornate” with the O for “ring” removed = BARQUE |
9 |
FLAXEN = LAX for “loose” in FEN for “slough”. My last in. I thought it could be Slemon loosely clued. |
10 |
VELOCITY = VehiclE + LOCALITY for “district” minus it’s AL (Capone) for “gangster”. AL is a perennial favourite of The Times for any newcomer. |
11 |
Deliberately omitted. I’m expecting an orgy of complaint. |
12 |
PAR for “equality” + Sought inside COWLEY = COW-PARSLEY, Anthriscus sylvestris, not to be confused with cow daisies, although I did for a time. |
14 |
TRI ENNI (“try any”) for “check out whatever” + A for area = TRIENNIA |
16 |
TOYEd for “flirted endlessly” reversed = EYOT, not an Island, but any island, particularly in a river. More assumed knowledge for crossword solvers. |
18 |
I FUSs for “I bother (with) no end” reversed = SUFI. |
19 |
I’M OLDER for “this writer is senior” containing P for power = IMPOLDER, literally, to make into a polder, being a tract of low land, esp. in the Netherlands, reclaimed from the sea or other body of water and protected by dikes. So now you know. |
21 |
(TART + CHOICE)* = THEOCRATIC |
22 |
CARP = CARPark
|
24 |
D for daughter + AY for always + BREAK for “time off” = DAYBREAK |
26 |
BRIDGE, a double definition, the first a reference to the famous piece of military engineering. |
27 |
ATTEST = SETT for “badger’s burrow” inside T.A.(Territorial Army) for “volunteers” all reversed. I’ve been eagerly awaiting the reappearance of sett since 1995. Once bitten… |
28 |
STRAY for “wander” containing GG for “good(plural)” and L for left = STRAGGLY |
Down |
2 |
IN for “popular” + LAY for “song” = INLAY |
3 |
XTO for “unknown to” appearing in COMEDIES* = SEXTODECIMO, the book size I always struggle to remember, and today was no exception, not helped by thinking it must be semi-something. It’s sixteen leaves (32 pages) in Latin. |
4 |
INNOCENT = CONNIe reversed + ENT for Otolaryngology Department. |
5 |
HAVE WHAT IT TAKES, a double definition, the second a variant on the “Where does a 500lb canary sit” joke. |
6 |
ALL for “a couple of lines” inside BAD for “naughty” = BALLAD |
7 |
ROC = ROCk
|
8 |
UP THE POLE sounds like “Up the poll!”. I haven’t heard this expression for mad since my youth. |
13 |
SHE for “novel” (as in Rider Haggard) + stooL + LACKING for “needing” = SHELLACKING |
15 |
ROUGH for “thuggish” + CAST for “players” = ROUGHCAST. An external plastering technique frequently employed on timber framed houses (according to Wiki), which would explain the supporters. |
17 |
SPACE-BAR, a cryptic definition |
20 |
Deliberately omitted. Er… pungent criticism expected. |
23 |
ELGAR* = REGAL, a small portable reed organ of the 16th & 17th centuries. |
25 |
BEE, a d.d., a nurse bee being one of the positions workers aspire to and a buzzer being a generic bee. Wednesday is wax production, Friday is drone feeding… |
This was my worst disaster for some time, even if I include Saturday puzzles, as virtually everything except the 6s, 7dn and 10ac was a struggle. Even BEE at 25dn which I thought of immediately couldn’t go in until I had the checking letters as I’ve never heard of ‘nurse bee’ so couldn’t justify the answer.
Koro, it’s ‘cognOscenti’. I must get something right today.
nice puzzle and well blogged
i have a problem on one of my three computers that i use to print out the puzzle. Today on my lap lop the puzzle wouldnt print as the pop up was blocked even though the pop up blocker was disabled!? any clues as to what to do next?
Worked OK on my 2nd computer at work!
CaroleH.Fermo(Italy)
I had milennia for a while, even though it did’t fit the clue and wasn’t spelt right, so ROUGHCAST and SUFI were my last in. IMPOLDER looked made up.
CoD to URGENT, possibly the oldest and most venerated of cryptic clues, for antique value alone.
It turns out I had almost all the answers but it took me that long to decide that I wasn’t going to find anything better than IMPOLDER and SHELLACKING, so they’d better go in even if they patently weren’t proper words.
Somehow finding out that they were just made me grumpier. I’ve never heard of the bee or the organ either, so all in all there was a bit too much obscurity in here for my liking. And to cap it all my guess of SEXTODEMICO at 3dn makes this a DNF.
Oh, and I’ve never heard anyone use the phrase “up the pole”.
Not a good start to the week.
There is an alternate cryptic for 1 across that I used: anagram of T[o] M[odel] IN THIS. I have never seen a clue with double cryptics before, perhaps this was not intended?
Nice idea though – it would make a good challenge to get a perfect double word play in one clue
There’s an EYOT (Chiswick) in the Thames and the boat race crews row by it every year!
UP THE POLE tests the memory (Jewell & Warris BBC c.1950 anyone??)and IMPOLDER seemed highly unlikely. COD to TRIENNIA.
As for UP THE POLE, I had some unexpected help with that, having read the entries for POLE in Collins and COED in preparation for devising a clue for the Clue Challenge competition. So it’s just luck that that was easy.
This one I failed in Rumi instead of Sufi. I thought the great bard should go close – he is a Sufi great, after all!
Best wishes to the other anon_in_oz!
Mr. Murdoch has my subscription to the newspaper already. I don’t wish to pay him more – I’d like to encourage rather than discourage an up-to-date crossword printed in the paper!
How many others do you think are in the same boat? Maybe we can start a petition?
All the best to all bloggers and solvers 😉