Time: 18 minutes
Music: Stan Getz, Another World
I think it is fair to say that easy Monday is back, although for how long, who knows? I am glad I caught it, as I had a very busy weekend and don’t have a lot of time to do the blog. This puzzle certainly led to a lot of biffing, and the only one I had to think about a little was ‘iciness’, my LOI.
Here at TfT, all the new bloggers have made their debut, and I am confident they will continue to produce excellent blogs on into the futue. It was a pity Nick had to quit, but he went and took one of those jobs where you’re expected to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I know what that is like, and I am certainly glad I am retired instead.
| Across | |
| 1 | Tries to get picked up by sailors. This could get joint wrecked (10) |
| THUMBSCREW – THUMBS CREW, hoping to hitch a ride. | |
| 6 | Key legislation’s defect (4) |
| FLAW – F +| LAW | |
| 10 | Heater pipe filled with gauze regularly losing fragments (7) |
| BRAZIER – BR([g]A[u]Z[e])IER, a BRIER pipe. | |
| 11 | Disconcert artilleryman? Not good and very unsafe, ultimately (7) |
| UNNERVE – [g]UNNER + V + [unsaf]E | |
| 12 | Investigator of complaints from mum bad son shot (9) |
| OMBUDSMAN – anagram of MUM SON SHOT, a rather awkward surface and an obvious anagram. | |
| 13 | Drop in current is in prospect with amps lost (5) |
| VISIT – VIS(I)T[a]. | |
| 14 | Acted as a substitute silk (5) |
| SATIN – SAT IN, a chestnut. | |
| 15 | Revel in true AI working after a measure of illumination (9) |
| LUXURIATE – LUX = anagram of TRUE AI. | |
| 17 | Dismiss Ibsen character as a radical (9) |
| FIREBRAND – FIRE + BRAND, “The word “Brand” means fire in Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and German”, so this is a doubly hot answer. | |
| 20 | Elite troops annoyed odd characters in army (1-4) |
| A-TEAM – ATE + A[r]M[y], another biff for me. | |
| 21 | Troublesome insect perhaps over sauce (5) |
| PESTO – PEST + O. | |
| 23 | Tape recorder, possibly for court official (4,5) |
| LINE JUDGE – LINE + JUDGE, in different senses; the court is a tennis court. | |
| 25 | More wasted days by athlete half-heartedly covering kilometres (7) |
| DRUNKER – D + RUN(-n,+K)ER | |
| 26 | Hostility as I film bodyguard (7) |
| ICINESS – I + CINE + SS, Hitler’s bodyguard. | |
| 27 | Where one sees bathing cap, old (4) |
| LIDO – LID + O. | |
| 28 | Began tango entering in position with dandy boy (10) |
| INSTITUTED – IN S(T)ITU + TED, no longer a delinquent, apparently.. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Banned volunteers voice displeasure (5) |
| TABOO – TA + BOO, a chestnut. | |
| 2 | Banal tour going around capital city (4,5) |
| ULAN BATOR – anagram of BANAL TOUR. | |
| 3 | Assembly obstructs constructive elements (8,6) |
| BUILDING BLOCKS – BUILDING + BLOCKS in different seses. | |
| 4 | Brown, or yellowish-brown with a red initially added in (7) |
| CARAMEL – C(A R)AMEL, where ‘camel’ is a coat colour. | |
| 5 | Topping sequin socks from America for a special date (7) |
| EQUINOX – [s]EQUIN + [s]OX, the obvious answer anyway. | |
| 7 | Forest primate getting energy from small parrots (5) |
| LORIS – LORI[e]S. | |
| 8 | What’s nutritious with the marge spread? (5,4) |
| WHEAT GERM – W + anagram of THE MARGE | |
| 9 | Free link somehow joins net via URL (9,5) |
| UNIVERSAL JOINT – anagram of JOINS NET VIA URL. | |
| 14 | Frequently trailing second note in set of bells is tone down (4-5) |
| SOFT-PEDAL – S + OFT, + PEDAL. | |
| 16 | Change the last word Democrat intended in speech (9) |
| AMENDMENT – AMEN + D + sounds like MEANT. | |
| 18 | Trouble herons uncovered in flight control (7) |
| AILERON – AIL + [h]ERON[s]. | |
| 19 | One filling small cavities over time? (7) |
| DENTIST – DENT(I)S + T, a rather clever &lit that most solvers will just biff. | |
| 22 | Seafood’s twenty-one shillings? (5) |
|
SQUID – S + QUID. |
|
| 24 | Happy if place does not appear relaxed (5) |
| EASED – [pl]EASED. | |
I still don’t understand 22 down from 27055.
Anni Rich
Anni Rich