Time taken to solve: 35 minutes. I thought we might be in for a stinker today but most of this went in without difficulty though I lost a little time on 6dn and 11ac. An easy end to the week and the year so, hangovers permitting, I imagine there will be some very fast solves today. There’s not really much to say about this so I’ll shut up and get on with it as soon as I have wished all bloggers and commenters a very Happy New Year.
Across |
1 |
MOUTH-WATERING – Anagram of ‘ham, wine rotgut’. |
8 |
FLAT – Double definition. |
9 |
RAMSHACKLE – Anagram of ‘real’ contains Motorway,SHACK . |
10 |
TIDE RACE – T(IDE)RACE – TIDE RACE is a fast moving tidal current. IDE is a type of carp. |
11 |
REMAIN – RE,MAIN |
13 |
UNESCORTED – Anagram of ‘our descent’. |
16 |
OMSK – The Russian city is concealed and reversed inside ‘black smoke’. |
17 |
FINN – Double definition. Huckleberry FINN was Tom Sawyer’s best pal in the Mark Twain stories. |
18 |
THREEPENCE – THENCE contains PEER reversed. |
20 |
REVIEW – RE,VIE,With
|
22 |
DOMESTIC – Anagram of ‘Times’ inside DO,C. |
24 |
EMANCIPATE – ET,Ace,PIC,NAME all reversed. |
26 |
I’ll leave this one out for starters. |
27 |
CLEMENT ATTLEE – C,LE(MEN,TATTLE)E. |
|
Down |
1 |
MILLIONAIRE – MILL,1,ON,AIRE |
2 |
UNTIE – U,NT,InexpensivE |
3 |
HEREABOUT – Sounds like “Hear a bout”. |
4 |
ARMREST – A(Refreshment)M,REST |
5 |
ESHER – EStHER |
6 |
INCOMMODE – INCOM(Ministry Of Defence)E |
7 |
My second omission. |
12 |
INSECTICIDE – IN,S(hECTIC)IDE |
14 |
SENTIENCE – SENT(1)ENCE |
15 |
DREAMIEST – Anagram of ‘read Times’. |
19 |
REDRAFT – RED,Republican,A,Financial Times. ‘Withholds’ in the sense of ‘restrains’ is the containment indicator. |
21 |
WRITE – W,RITE |
23 |
SEOUL – Sounds like “sole”. |
25 |
MAC – The River CAM reversed |
Happy New Year to all, especially the bloggers for their efforts. This is my first year as a regular participant, and I’m grateful for all the tips and advice I’ve picked up, and for the rich entertainment the site provides.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL4vWJbwmqM
I thought there were some good clues, jotting ticks against 8, 18, 6 and 12. 12 was particularly inventive with it’s deceptive definition and coherent surface.
A Happy New Year to All.
Lots to smile about, nothing too testing but nothing clunky either. Bigger challenges can wait: this is a time for party games.
Happy New Year, everyone.
Best wishes for the New Year to everybody.
Tom B.
Best wishes and Happy New Year to all! Janie
Today’s time 48 minutes with some use of aids.
John of Lancs is right about Mrs Attlee. However her driving represented a serious risk to all other road users.
Many thanks to all especially Peter B and a very Happy New Year.
A couple of the cryptics I didn’t get, like ‘domestic’ and the unblogged 26 across. Of course, now I see it, nothing like sleeping to get you the answers.
Happy New Year
Richard Mardo
New Year’s resolution is to aim to hit some sub 15 min times.
Happy New Year to all here.
A very very happy New Year to you all.
While you’re there at HQ, please pass along my observation that the growling and grumpiness often expressed over 404 errors, login problems etc., have all but disappeared since the new site format was adopted. It’s only fair to give credit when due, after we were quick to criticize earlier. A job evidently well done. Again, thanks and best regards, and best wishes to everyone.
A Happy New Year to all us bloggers & solvers, and best of luck to Peter in his new job.
This site gets better and better. I have learned so much here.
Happy New Year, and all the best to Pete with the new job
Andrew Kitching
This made for a slightly unusual solving experience, with the Enter key not behaving as expected and with runs of letters I’d typed being lost occasionally, but not enough to spoil things.
A pleasantly straightforward puzzle, making for an enjoyable end to the year.
Of the other clues I also liked INSECTICIDE quite well, and was amused to see the reference to Tom Lehrer in the blog — that’s how I know OMSK as well. Tom Lehrer is of course also a great help on chemistry clues: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ds4yiERTZj8 (perhaps the funniest song ever written).
Happy New Year to everyone who contributes to the blog and thank you for making my crossword experience very much more enjoyable.