Solving time : 24:51 – I was utterly stuck on the bottom left hand side and needed to take a break, answer some text messages and see if things came together. They did, but this is not a puzzle for the faint-hearted, with there being five completions so far on the Crossword Club and none of them under 20 minutes. Every trick in the book here!
There’s a fair bit of general knowledge here and an unusual word clued by an anagram which adds to the trickiness.
Doubt it was intentional by the setter, but I put in an appearance on the bottom right, so thanks!
Here we go…
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | GUINEA(old coin),PIG(lump of iron) |
| 6 | VATIC |
| 9 | TETRA: T |
| 10 | LONELIEST: ONE,LIES in LT(Lieutenant) |
| 11 | PURE MATHEMATICS: (A,PATHETIC,SUMMER)* |
| 13 | CLASS ACT: take 1,ON away from CLASS ACTION |
| 14 | GODIVA: or GO DIVA! |
| 16 | R,WANDA: referencing “A Fish Called Wanda” |
| 18 | BONHOMIE: NOB(head) reversed, then 1 in HOME |
| 21 | THE MERRY MONARCH: THEME(subject), MONARCH(butterfly) surrounding R(right),RY – reference Charles II |
| 23 | KETTLEFUL: sounds like KETTLE FULL. KETTLE can mean a police cordon, a meaning that is in Collins but not in Chambers |
| 25 | VIOLA: ALIV |
| 26 | RIGID: RID(shot, as in if something is shot it’s been gotten rid of) around GI(recruit) |
| 27 | BEE ORCHID: (HEROIC)* in BED |
| Down | |
| 1 | GET UP: triple definition |
| 2 | INTERCALATE: (NEAT,ARTICLE)* |
| 3 | ERASMUS: SUMS,ARE all reversed |
| 4 | POLITICO: I,TIC |
| 5 | GANGES: E in GANGS |
| 6 | VOLCANO: cryptic definition |
| 7 | TOE: since TIPTOE would be walk quietly |
| 8 | CITY STATE: take R from TRYST, then put it in CIA,TE(note) |
| 12 | IRIS MURDOCH: (HORRID,MUSIC)* |
| 13 | CARETAKER: A,RETAKE in CAR |
| 15 | FORMULAE: A,LUM(chimney) reversed in FORE(front) |
| 17 | DUELLED: sounds like DUALED, as in make a road a dual carriageway |
| 19 | HANOVER: HAND OVER withoutthe D |
| 20 | PREFAB: or PRE FAB |
| 22 | HEARD: A |
| 24 | TUG: GUT reversed |
Comments are closed.