Time taken: OK, I’ll admit, after everything else was in at 15:49, and probably four minutes earlier, I was left looking at 16 across. Nothing was coming to mind with regards the clue or the wordplay, and I was starting to get frustrated and did that thing you should not do when you are frustrated, bung in an answer that sounds likely, cross your fingers and hope.
Of course it was not correct… in starting to write the blog I have a much better suggestion I’ll toss in here.
For what is worth it appears I am not alone. As of right now there are 18 submitted crosswords and 10 of them have at least one error.
Away we go…
| Across | |
| 1 | Broadcast equipment is something that needs no feed? (3,5) |
| AIR PLANT – AIR(broadcast), PLANT(equipment) | |
| 9 | Equipment engaged in working one type of extruded tubes (8) |
| RIGATONI – RIG(equipment), AT(engaged in), ON(working), I(one) | |
| 10 | Exactly how things were dispatched for approval (6) |
| ASSENT – or AS SENT | |
| 11 | Work site creates resistance (10) |
| OPPOSITION – OP(work), POSITION(site) | |
| 12 | Soon cutting intro from French opera (4) |
| ANON – the opera is by Massenet: MANON. Remove the first letter | |
| 13 | Ask too much throughout career (10) |
| OVERCHARGE – OVER(throughout), CHARGE(career) | |
| 16 | Soldier dropped in to Vietnam returned as Minister of War (7) |
| MAGINOT – GI(soldier) inside TO, NAM(Vietnam) all reversed. I started thinking of people and went for MADISON, so this was my error | |
| 17 | At no particular moment very soon (7) |
| ANYTIME – double definition | |
| 20 | Artificial shiner with quality? (10) |
| RHINESTONE – an all-in-one. Anagram of SHINER, then TONE(quality) | |
| 22 | Well out of East African country (4) |
| MALI – remove SO(well) from SOMALI(East African) | |
| 23 | Sit angrily, disposed to make a complaint (10) |
| LARYNGITIS – anagram of SIT,ANGRILY | |
| 25 | Aim to complete after opening bid? (6) |
| INTEND – END(complete) after a bid of ONE NO TRUMPS or 1 NT | |
| 26 | When new function is introduced, employees keep away (5,3) |
| STAND OFF – N(new), DO(function) inside STAFF(employees) | |
| 27 | Anger about November period for a ceremony for the dead (8) |
| FUNERARY – FURY(anger) surrounding N(November), ERA(period) | |
| Down | |
| 2 | No simian suffers inability to doze (8) |
| INSOMNIA – anagram of NO,SIMIAN | |
| 3 | Pomposity of pensioner worked up about the ending of Brexit (10) |
| PRETENSION – anagram of PENSIONER surrounding the last letter in brexiT | |
| 4 | Self-guided car — no timid person’s wanting key (10) |
| AUTONOMOUS – AUTO(car), NO(no), MOUSE(timid person) with the E(key) removed | |
| 5 | Expedition allowed to make notes (7) |
| TRIPLET – TRIP(expedition), LET(allowed) | |
| 6 | Clutch engages only intermittently (4) |
| EGGS – alternating letters in EnGaGeS | |
| 7 | Company getting support for office equipment (6) |
| COPIER – CO(company), PIER(support) | |
| 8 | Like some waltzing couples starting vigorous energetic new sequence (8) |
| VIENNESE – OK, this was my favorite clue in the puzzle. First two lettters from VIgorous ENergetic NEe SEquence | |
| 14 | Communication’s lost at exchange (10) |
| CONVERSION – remove AT from CONVERSATION | |
| 15 | A talk about time, missing energy and strange particles (10) |
|
ANTIMATTER – A, NATTER(talk) surrounding TIM |
|
| 16 | Painter of river in haze (8) |
| MURALIST – URAL(river) inside MIST(haze) | |
| 18 | Designer using a lot of cutting to top off Queen? (8) |
| MILLINER – a lof of MILLING(curring) then ER(queen) | |
| 19 | Religious leader has power over words (7) |
| PONTIFF – P(power) ON(over), TIFF(words) | |
| 21 | What might be made on raid (6) |
| INROAD – anagram of ON RAID | |
| 24 | Develop good argument (4) |
| GROW – G(goo) then ROW | |
I’m reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s excellent Team of Rivals at the moment and I have just got to the part of the plot where Lincoln selects his first cabinet as civil war looms, so I’ve got US Secretaries of War on the mind, and I figured MADISON might have held the post. He didn’t, and they’re not ministers anyway, and there’s no way the wordplay makes any sense whatsoever, but other than that it’s a perfectly good answer.
I’ve never heard of an AIR PLANT but this word for equipment is never going to pose problems for an accountant.
Didn’t see the trick with MALI but what else could it be. Wasn’t sure that MILLINg really meant cutting – I was thinking of a flour mill but other mills (e.g. sawmill) are available.
MAGINOT went in easily.
Didn’t have a clue what extruded meant but the rest of the clue was enough.
NHO AIR PLANT but what else with all the checkers.
Midas
Alas, it – or more likely I – failed. I’m surprised SNITCH doesn’t have a message facility. Feedback is welcome, apparently…
Midas
A single-sitting solve, although a bit over the hour. No errors but didn’t see the SOMALI association with 22a – stuck down the Malawi rabbit hole too.
Don’t remember coming across FUNERARY before, definitely didn’t know AIR PLANT and ignorance of a MADISON, eliminated the chance of error with MAGINOT.
Liked constructing some of the charades to get answers in quite a few clues.
Finished with RHINESTONE (which wasn’t all that hard in retrospect), AUTONOMOUS and CONVERSION as the last few in.