Times 24692 – kNICKers in a twist

Quite a challenging puzzle with many new words for me which required references to my trusty Chambers. But I was stuck inordinately long at the north-east corner when I hastily inked in NICK as a double definition … it took me RADON to see the error of my ways.

ACROSS
1 SHROPSHIRE Ins of R (river) in SHOPS (boutiques) & HIRE (rent)
6 CRIB dd My Achilles’ heel today when I got my kNICKers in a twist
10 TICKLER Ins of L (left) in TICKER (heart)
11 SOLIDUS Cha of SOL (sun) I DUSK (twilight) minus K for the punctuation mark, stroke, oblique or slash (/), a sign used for various purposes, as in writing fractions and to separate alternatives, ratios, etc (eg 3/4, and/or);
12 SOUBRETTE *(beer stout) for a pert or flirtatious young girl
13 TANGA Tang (strong smell) + A for a brief string-like bikini; (women’s or men’s) briefs consisting of a waistband and a triangle of fabric at front and back, so that the hips are left exposed at either side.
14 PRIAM Ins of I (one) in PRAM (perambultor) Priam was the king of Troy during the Trojan War
15 CUT-THROAT CUT (ignored) THRO’ (by) A T (last letter of courT)
17 INELASTIC IN ELA (rev of ALE, beer) STICK (staff) minus S
20 TIBER TIBERIUS (Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD) minus I (one) US (American) and of course Tiber flows through Rome, his capital
21 CLASH C (Conservative) LASH (whip)
23 AIR STRIKE Cha of AIRS (parades) TRIKE (vehicle)
25 ha deliberately omitted
26 TRACTOR TRACT (sounds like TRACKED, followed) OR (other ranks or men) and of course the tractor is often used on the farm to pull or tow heavy things, hence TOWER
27 NANA dd took me a long time to cotton on to the dog in Peter Pan
28 BRIDESHEAD *(hard beside)

DOWN
1 SITES Rev of SET (team) + IS
2 RECLUSIVE R (run) + Ins of C (clubs) in ELUSIVE (difficult to find)
3 PILGRIM FATHERS Ins of Grim Father (unsmiling priest) in PILS (lager beer)
4 HERETIC HER (woman’s) ETIC (rev of CITE, name)
5 ROSIEST ROSIE’S (very pink girl’s) T (temperature)
7 RADON RA (Royal Academician) DON (teacher) radioactive gaseous element
8 BESPATTER Ins of SPA (resort) in BETTER (more salubrious)
9 CLUTCH AT STRAWS Cha of CLUTCH AT (try to grab) STRAWS (drinking aids)
14 PRINCETON Cha of PRINCE (royal) TO N (new) Ivy League university in New Jersey
16 OUBLIETTE *(be let out I) dungeon with no opening except in the roof
18 TRAINER dd sports shoes do come in pairs
19 CAROTID Ins of eROTIc (endlessly erotic) in CAD (bounder)
22 AMMAN I AM a MAN, having grown up in the capital and largest city of Jordan
24 EARED EA (each) RED (sign of danger) the handles of certain vessels like an amphora are also called ears

Key to abbreviations
dd = double definition
dud = duplicate definition
tichy = tongue-in-cheek type
cd = cryptic definition
rev = reversed or reversal
ins = insertion
cha = charade
ha = hidden answer
*(fodder) = anagram

50 comments on “Times 24692 – kNICKers in a twist”

13:49 for me. I found it hard to get going, and my failure to solve the first two across clues until fairly late in the day made for a slow time. Nice puzzle, though.

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