Solving time 20 minutes
A straightforward enough puzzle with some good wordplays but lacking any clever or really misleading definitions. The old sailing ship may not be so well known but other than that it’s common vocabulary.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | PETER,PAN – safe=PETER; hammer=criticize strongly=PAN (Torres first performance at The Bridge?); |
| 9 | AIREDALE – (p)AIRED-sounds like “ail”; |
| 10 | GULP – cake (of tobacco)=PLUG then reverse it; reaction to Torres transfer perhaps; |
| 11 | ROLLING,STOCK – loaded=drunk=ROLLING; animals=STOCK; |
| 13 | PASSED – (spades)*; bridge terminology; |
| 14 | INDIAMAN – IN-DIAMAN(te); a merchant ship used on the East Indian trade routes; |
| 15 | SECTION – SEC(re)TION; |
| 16 | JOINTER – (in jet or)*; a type of woodworking plane; |
| 20 | ALHAMBRA – A-L(H)AM-BRA; supporter=BRA; end of match=H; strike=LAM; amazing palace at Granada, Spain; |
| 22 | THEBAN – (conten)T-HE-BAN; high explosive=HE; |
| 23 | STINKING,RICH – STINKING-RI-CH; high=rotting=STINKING; church=CH; religious instruction=RI; overpaid footballers? |
| 25 | IONA – A-NO-I all reversed; number=NO; island=I; |
| 26 | OVERSEER – O-(severe)*-R; |
| 27 | SET,ASIDE – SET-A-SIDE; ready=SET; 1st XI=A-SIDE; |
| Down | |
| 2 | EQUIPAGE – E(QU)I-PAGE; that’s=IE; a carriage; |
| 3 | EXPRESS,TRAIN – EX(PRESS)TRA-IN; crowd=PRESS; more=EXTRA; popular=IN; |
| 4 | PALLADIO – P(ALL)AD-I-O; place to live=PAD; Andrea Palladio 1508-1580 very famous Venecian architect; |
| 5 | NAMIBIA – I-MAN reversed-BIA(s); |
| 6 | BRIGID – B(RIG)ID; Celtic name; |
| 7 | TACO – TA-CO(ok); (territorial) army=TA; Mexican pancake with a meat filling; |
| 8 | RECKONER – two meanings; used to add up striker’s wages; |
| 12 | TRAINEESHIPS – (in Paris these)*; |
| 15 | SNAPSHOT – or SNAP-SHOT; striker=over paid, over valued, footballer employed to score goals and sulk (mentioning no names); |
| 17 | OUTRIGHT – sounds like “out write” (you are allowed to groan); |
| 18 | EXAMINED – EX-A(MINE)D; old=EX; bill=advertisement=AD; |
| 19 | BANGERS – (old) crate=old car=BANGER; |
| 21 | BLIMEY – B-LIMEY; book=B; the definition is “my”; corruption of old oath “God blind me”; reaction to Torres transfer down the Old Kent Road; |
| 24 | IDEA – hidden (m)-I-(d)-D-(l)-E-(m)-A-(n); |
Other than the SE, the puzzle was not that hard. I had heard of ‘Alhambra’ from the Spanish record label, and ‘indiaman’ from 18th century history.