Solving time: 21:11. This is a difficult puzzle, but I was under a few adverse circumstances here, I am jet-lagged and at the family home in Melbourne for my father’s funeral this afternoon. This means that there are multiple relatives, particularly the more childsome of them wanting to know what I am doing on the laptop, whether I can play video games with them or if I want a refill on my coffee. Of course I’m lying about the last one.
The puzzle – tricky! I was relieved when it came in as all correct, as there are several that went in from wordplay alone.
Definitions are underlined, and away we go…
| Across | |
| 1 | What actor performs in isolation? (5) |
| APART – an actor performs A PART | |
| 4 | Doctor joined in group round hospital with many others (3-6) |
| MOB-HANDED – MO(doctor) then BANDED(joined in group) surrounding H(hospital) | |
| 9 | Got up, dressed, and made to leave (6,3) |
| TURNED OUT – double definition of a sort, the underlined one is the one I am more familiar with | |
| 10 | Long walk needing transport and parking (5) |
| TRAMP – TRAM(transport), P(parking) | |
| 11 | Page suppressed by very severe correspondent (3,3) |
| PEN PAL – P(page) inside PENAL(very severe) | |
| 12 | Contracted military base to cover most of coast (3,5) |
|
FOR SHORT – FORT(military base) containing SHOR |
|
| 14 | Move acrobatically, hearing of a certain attack (10) |
| SOMERSAULT – sounds like SOME AUSSAULT | |
| 16 | Start of March cold and damp from the east? On the contrary (4) |
|
WARM – M |
|
| 19 | Woman’s address in fine city (4) |
| OMSK – MS(address for a woman) inside OK(fine) | |
| 20 | Legendary German woman, briefly, that employer’s taken in (10) |
|
TANNHAUSER – ANN(woman) inside THA |
|
| 22 | Sort of order that’s typically American (5,3) |
| APPLE PIE – double definition | |
| 23 | College port finally — following this perhaps? (6) |
|
CLARET – CLARE college then |
|
| 26 | Informally, about to get large lizard away from an area (5) |
| GONNA – GOANNA(Australian lizard) missing an A(area) | |
| 27 | Unfairly claimed school has no boundaries — kept in (9) |
| ARROGATED – the school is HARROW, remove the outside letters, then GATED(kept in) | |
| 28 | Worth mentioning: crossing south summit take base from the rear (2,5,2) |
| TO SPEAK OF – S(south), PEAK(summit) inside FOOT(base) reversed | |
| 29 | Not a serious piece, a shocker (5) |
| TASER – hidden inside noT A SERious | |
| Down | |
| 1 | For the present perhaps nothing as starter (9) |
| ANTIPASTO – if you are for the present you may be ANTI PAST, then O(nothing) | |
| 2 | Protector’s army at first liable to shrink (5) |
|
APRON – A |
|
| 3 | Reference books are thus improperly used by one (8) |
| THESAURI – anagram of ARE,THUS, then I(one) | |
| 4 | Debatable witticism about love (4) |
| MOOT – MOT(witticism) surrounding O(love) | |
| 5 | Essential question: “What is Pyramus? A lover, or a tyrant?” (6,4) |
| BOTTOM LINE – the quote is said by Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, so it is a BOTTOM LINE | |
| 6 | A nuisance, accepting time needed to get very fit (6) |
| APTEST – A PEST(nuisance) containing T(time) | |
| 7 | Round sultanate, unwillingly takes guides (9) |
| DRAGOMANS – the sultinate is OMAN, it is inside DRAGS(unwittingly takes) | |
| 8 | From container, remove base (5) |
| DEPOT – if you remove something from a container, you DE-POT | |
| 13 | In a flash, from a distance one shows where the game is (6,4) |
| SAFARI PARK – SPARK(a flash) containing AFAR(from a distance), I(one) | |
| 15 | Girl is waiting for blues (9) |
| MISSPENDS – MISS(girl), PENDS(is waiting) – blues as in to waste or fritter away | |
| 17 | Dead at last in mortuary, horribly bloody woman (4,5) |
| MARY TUDOR – D(dead) inside an anagram of MORTUARY | |
| 18 | Steps round an elevated aperture (8) |
| FANLIGHT – FLIGHT(steps) surrounding AN | |
| 21 | Ply with beer, knocked back with tablet? (6) |
| REGALE – LAGER(beer) reversed, then E(tablet) | |
| 22 | Particular language to investigate Monet’s work, as it were? (5) |
| ARGOT – if you investigate Monet’s work you GO INTO ART, so put GO in ART to get ARGOT | |
| 24 | Spicy sandwiches — spit half out (5) |
| ROTIS – ROTISSERIE(spit) with the second half missing | |
| 25 | Tart female? That’s academic (4) |
| PROF – PRO(tart, prostitute) then F(female) | |
I found this quite beastly and only tamed it through aids. I got about 50% done at the 30 min mark with brain alone, then resorted to the dictionary.
I think ARGOT is a touch of genius, and my LOI and COD. It was BIFD.
Nice material for the notes like rotisserie=spit, base=foot and tablet=e.
Thanks for blog and puzzle.
WS
This pushed well into the 2nd hour across numerous sittings … with additional electronic help required for a couple of them. There were a number of new terms for me and some just plain tricky clueing.
Started off well enough with MOOT and eventually ground my way up to the NE corner with DRAGOMANS (one of the new terms), MOB-HANDED (and another). with BOTTOM LINE (only gettable with all of the crossers and then having to do a Google search to see whether there was such a quote in AMSND.
Always satisfying to get the grid filled, even if it takes up way more than a reasonable amount of time to do it.