Solving time 15 minutes
An pleasant if rather easy puzzle that shouldn’t cause too many problems
Across | |
---|---|
1 | AFFRIGHT – A-F(FR)IGHT; |
5 | BANYAN – BAN(Y)AN(a); Y from (cherr)Y; national tree of India; |
8 | RUT – two meanings; I’m told that the annual rut also involves the does; |
9 | BRAINSTORM – BRA-IN-STORM; the appearance of BRA=supporter has become tedious; |
10 | PROTRACT – PRO-TRACT; |
11 | ONIONS – a reference to the phrase “know one’s onions” to mean clued-up or familiar with Chicago; |
12 | LASS – hidden (vio)LAS-S(peech); |
14 | DUNDERHEAD – D-UNDER-HEAD; |
17 | SHROVETIDE – (he drives to)*; Christian ritual involving pancakes; |
20 | CRAM – C(R)AM; |
23 | SAWYER – sounds like “saw you”; |
24 | RECEIVER – RE(CE)IVER; CE from C(ops)E; reivers made the English-Scottish border a dangerous place 13th to 17th centuries; |
25 | SPILLIKINS – SPILL-I(KIN)S; mind-numbing children’s game also known as “pick-up-sticks”; |
26 | OVA – sounds like “over”; see 8A; |
27 | ASLEEP – A(t)-S(even)-(PEEL reversed); reference Robert Peel 1788-1850 best known as Home Secretary who created the police force; |
28 | AYRSHIRE – A-YRS-HIRE; breed of cattle originally from – you guessed it – Ayrshire; |
Down | |
1 | ACROPOLIS – A-CROP-(soil)*; landmark in Athens; |
2 | FATUOUS – FAT(U-O-U)S; reference Fats Waller 1904-1943 who wrote letters to himself; |
3 | INBORN – IN-BO(R)N(n); resistance=R (physics); |
4 | HEAD,COUNT – nobleman=COUNT; |
5 | BESPOKE – BE(er)-SPOKE; from Savile Row no doubt; |
6 | NEOLITHIC – NEO(n)-LIT-HIC (hec, hoc etc); the New Stoneage 10,000 to 2,000 BC approx; |
7 | AMMONIA – (o man aim)*; what ladies hair dye no longer contains (because they are worth it); |
13 | STORYLINE – S(uch)-TORY-LINE; |
15 | DODGE,CITY – DODG(EC-IT)Y; financial area=EC; appeal=IT; named after Fort Dodge, where Earp and Masterson ran the show; |
16 | DEMARCATE – D(E-MARC)ATE; |
18 | HEARSES – stiff cryptic definition; |
19 | EARFLAP – EAR-F-(PAL reversed); useful part of a Deerstalker; |
21 | RAVIOLI – (olivia)* supports R=Rex=King; |
22 | CENSUS – C-ENS-US; the four players at bridge are N,E,S and W; |
Minor quibble. 21 down, (olivia)* supports R rather than surrounds it.
Hesitation over the unchecked C in DEMARCATE, wondering whether it should be a K, the sort of brainstorm that grows in intensity. Eventually persuaded myself that the brandy version of mark is spelt funny.
CoD to AYRSHIRE, last in and containing a penny ripe for dropping.
Footnote: in the printed version, the announcement of the TNCC now reads “…with full details of how to enter, will tomorrow Wednesday, April 17th.” Didn’t know it was already dead.
I found this very easy today (after my DNF yesterday), and finished in about half an hour. No unknowns except for REIVER, wordplay for the most very straightforward. Not much else to say.
I didn’t know SHROVETIDE was a time for confession. I suppose “pancakes at this time” wouldn’t have made much sense.
Couldn’t make head nor tail of the latter part of the SAWYER clue either, as I pronounce the character in the Twain book ‘Soy-er’, and have never knowingly pronounced the axeman character.
Jim, I think the cow should come from Ayrshire – maybe she got a bit excited thinking about all the locking of horns this autumn…
Edited at 2013-04-16 08:02 am (UTC)
Edited at 2013-04-16 11:05 am (UTC)
Ayrshire noun. M19.
[ORIGIN A former county in SW Scotland.]
In full Ayrshire bull, Ayrshire cow, Ayrshire cattle,etc
ONIONS, DUNDERHEAD and AYRSHIRE all brought a smile. SPILLIKINS was unknown but the wordplay crystal clear once the checkers were in.