Solving time: 24:13
Well, that’s how long it took to put a letter in every square, plus as many attempts at parsing as I could manage along the way. Still not sure of a couple, so will try to understand as I write the blog. Which … now … I do!
Across
1. NEPALESE. PALE (stake) in NE & SE (parts of East). So not an anagram of “east” after all.
5. MURPHY. As in his Law; also a potato (King Edward).
8. GIN. Included in “{ori}GIN{al}”; as in “cotton gin” and similar machines. I guess others will, like me, have been tempted by “piece” = GUN?
9. SHOT-PUTTER. SHOT (photographed), PUTTER (golfing stick).
10. TICK OVER. “Idle” as in engines. TICK (short time); OVER (part of test match cricket, of which we seem to be getting fewer per day).
11. THIRTY. Anagram: hit & try. Score=20; score-and-a-half=30.
12. LEAP. Two defs; one to do with 366-day years. 1984 has been cropping up a fair bit over the last few days; including a $19.84 grocery bill yesterday. It wasn’t my favourite year and I prefer not to be reminded.
14. TEA SERVICE. Cf. TEASER | VICE.
17. BANANA SKIN. Cf. BANANAS | KIN. In a recently replayed episode of Jonathan Creek, our hero tested the slapstick trope empirically only to realise that you have to be unaware of the banana skin for it to work.
20. RUMP. “Are you MP?” (The answer to which is “MPs R US”.)
23. OYSTER. Two defs. “The world is your oyster” (Shakespeare); “The world is my ashtray” (Someone Else).
24. UNSUITED. Two defs.
25. STRIP POKER. A cryptic def that I didn’t mind too much.
26. GUT. From “everythinG yoU wanT”.
On edit: Jim et al might have preferred some kind of ref to a Grand Unified Theory, a theory of everythinG yoU projecT?
27. ASIDES. A side’s = a team’s.
28. PREDATOR. Anagram: dart & rope.
Down
1. NIGHTCLUB. NIGH (near), {wes}T, CLUB (hit).
2. PANACEA. AN ACE in PA (personal assistant).
3. LESS,ON. Ho ho.
4. SCORELESS. Two defs, one slightly humorous (as in musicians being sans score). Of course, all the decent ones can play without them.
5. MO,UNTIE. Most solvers will have seen something along these lines before.
6. RETRIEVER. Anagram: terrier & ve{t}.
7. HERE,TIC. See 5dn.
13. PLASTERED. Anagram of “plates” + RED.
15. SPINNAKER. AK (A King) inside SPINNER (bowler; more cricket).
16. EXPEDITOR. EX (one-time) EDITOR, inc P (pressure).
18. ABYSSES. ASSES inc BY (beyond, as in “the ball went by the keeper”).
19. APROPOS. A propos{al}.
21. UPTIGHT. From” {c}UP, {i}T, {m}IGHT.
22. PUTRID. PUT (position, verb), RID (clear, verb).
The ‘Murphy’ clue is getting old and should be retired.
20a is a heck of a convoluted way to get to a very short word, but then, as many of us discovered around Christmas, concision can often be the hardest part of setting a clue.
COD .. BANANA SKIN .. I think I’ve seen it similarly clued before but, like the pratfall itself, it never really gets old.
With the enormous repertoire professional musicians have (and their aversity to practice – giving private lessons pays more), decent or not, most need their scores.
Edited at 2014-01-15 02:51 am (UTC)
Edited at 2014-01-15 06:58 am (UTC)
MURPHY (d’oh) and the revised GIN my last two in.
Do you think the setter was tempted by another link to STRIP POKER at 24? I think I might have been, so maybe it’s just as well I’m not a setter.
Not much of a solver either – I didn’t get “parts of East” in 1ac, nor “part of test” in 10. Thanks to Mct for both.
Edited at 2014-01-15 08:12 am (UTC)
Yep, I’m another GUNner too…
All others in about thirty minutes except for last three, EXPEDITOR, UNSUITED (thought it started in-) and PUTRID, which took a while longer. Didn’t parse NEPALESE, but all others ok.
Hmm…solving on the laptop can lead to unexpected errors… after I had SHOT PUTTER, I carelessly typed in ‘pointless’ at 4dn, only realising some moments later the scatological mistake. That wouldn’t have happened had I been solving the old-fashioned way…
I agree with McT that the setter missed a great opportunity with GUT to push a little bit of particle physics our way – one day they will be as aware of the world around them as they are of their old poets.
But, alas, I too went for GUN at 8A – all the more inexplicably as I’d at first entered GIN, but was then lured into error by the “piece”=”gun” possibility. Doh!
My only QM was at 1a where I wasn’t totally sure that NE & SE qualified as parts of East.
One error though (Gun not Gin) which at least puts me in distinquished company!
//Reminded of a book I liked as a child, ‘Susannah of the Mounties’.// I’m sure that title will reappear in a less salubrious form, probably on the internet.
//One error though (Gun not Gin) which at least puts me in distinquished company!// Daniel, I think you mean “vanguished”.
Didn’t think of “gun” for 8ac, mainly because I didn’t really notice the “piece” in the clue, but also perhaps because I like the word “gin” in any context. In fact, I may start applying the term to various pieces of medical equipment just to liven things up. “We’ll just see if the scanning gin shows anything…” – yes, I quite like the sound of that.
Got slightly delayed by having “take five” in 10ac for a while. Childishly enjoyed BANANA SKIN. All in all, I thought it was a pleasant though not overtaxing puzzle.
Heard on a radio interview this afternoon that A&E staff are demoralized and discouraged by the number of time-wasters and the futility of most of what we do. That’s an hackneyed opinion that belongs in the 1990’s – things are much worse now.
Edited at 2014-01-15 07:33 pm (UTC)
Like others I was tempted by GUN (but managed to resist 🙂 and took ages to twig “parts of the east”.
Having said all that, I thought this was rather a good puzzle.
Edited at 2014-01-16 12:39 am (UTC)