Time: 17 minutes
Music: George Lloyd, Symphony No 8
I did this puzzle a bit aggressively, as parts of it were rather loose, and in any case I was thoroughly frustrated by my struggles with this week’s Mephisto and was looking for something easy. This certain fit the bill, although several answers went in with a shrug. After last week, I’m sure everyone will be relieved to get a relatively simple one, and I’m certainly not complaining.
I’d like to thank everyone who volunteered to write a clue for the Times for the Times Christmas special. Even more, I’d like to thank the volunteers who made the whole thing possible, isla3 and johninterred. I hope all the regulars enjoyed tackling this puzzle. A special guest will be along shortly to blog it and comment on the quality of the clues. I thought most of them were pretty good, and I’m glad everyone had a good time.
| Across | |
| 1 | Influence behind admitting Further Education college’s principal (6) |
| AFFECT – AF(F[urther] E[ducation] C[ollege’s]T. | |
| 4 | Key of Galaxy? (5,3) |
| SPACE BAR – Definition with cryptic hint. | |
| 10 | Mark speed of star? (9) |
| CELEBRATE – CELEB RATE, yes, that kind of star, and mark as a verb, as in mark an anniversary. | |
| 11 | Number one seed’s cut in half racket (5) |
| NOISE – NO I SE[ed]. | |
| 12 | It goes on what’s left to pay for public services? (11,3) |
| INHERITANCE TAX – Cryptic definition. Here in the US we mostly have estate tax, not inheritance tax. | |
| 14 | Former lover with gentle touch who’s moved away (5) |
| EXPAT – EX + PAT. | |
| 16 | Radical devouring book without emotion (9) |
| ROBOTLIKE – RO(B)OT-LIKE, where radical must be an adjective. | |
| 18 | Confronted, this setter cried loudly (9) |
| EYEBALLED – Sounds like I BAWLED. | |
| 20 | Old lady after back massage in part of southeast Asia (5) |
| BURMA – RUB backwards + MA. Perhaps the setter should update his 1937 atlas? | |
| 21 | Areas of vegetation around Crosby getting cleaner (9,5) |
| SCRUBBING BRUSH – SCRUB (BING) BRUSH. | |
| 25 | Surly Republican cutting through nonsense (5) |
| GRUFF – G(R)UFF. | |
| 26 | Supporter is behind what MPs do (9) |
| LEGISLATE – LEG IS LATE. | |
| 27 | Lifetime opportunity for widespread enlightenment (8) |
| DAYBREAK – DAY + BREAK, and yes, one of the definitions for day in Chambers is lifetime. OK, whatever. | |
| 28 | Appear in court, perhaps, where proceedings can last up to five days (6) |
| ATTEST – AT TEST, where the cricket is played to its proper length. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Inventor agreed to obstruct Olympian (10) |
| ARCHIMEDES – AR(CHIMED)ES. | |
| 2 | Hotel niff picked up on odd occasions, result of lack of cleaning? (5) |
| FILTH – Reversed odd letters of H[o]T[e]L [n]I[f]F. | |
| 3 | Queen perhaps taking in naked entertainment (7) |
| CABARET – CA(BARE)T, where a queen is a female cat. | |
| 5 | Carefully put in order A to M? (5) |
| PREEN – PRE EN, where EN may be taken to be N spelled out. | |
| 6 | It’ll help you understand scam message (7) |
| CONTEXT – CON TEXT – don’t reply! | |
| 7 | Officer runs after a GI bride disgracefully (9) |
| BRIGADIER – Anagram of A GI BRIDE + R. | |
| 8 | Head away from watercourse’s foul odour (4) |
| REEK – [c]REEK. | |
| 9 | Looking after students having done exam (8) |
| PASTORAL – PAST + ORAL, another MER. | |
| 13 | Men chatted casually, not getting involved (10) |
| DETACHMENT – Anagram of MEN CHATTED. | |
| 15 | Concern to get in first? (9) |
| PREOCCUPY – PRE-OCCUPY. | |
| 17 | Banter assumed to be better when young? (8) |
| BADINAGE – BAD IN AGE. | |
| 19 | A judge brought up previously in Bordeaux who is underground drink supplier (7) |
| AQUIFER – A + QUI + REF upside-down. | |
| 20 | Youngest in family’s the one after the others to give parents a break (7) |
| BABYSIT – BABY’S IT. If you’re It in tag, then you are trying to chase down the other players. | |
| 22 | Bring up a plank of wood (5) |
| BALSA – A SLAB upside-down. | |
| 23 | We objectively mature in practice (5) |
| USAGE – US + AGE. | |
| 24 | Something few swear any more or say nowadays (4) |
| EGAD – E.G., A.D. | |
Why is the typesetting for this entry so poor? There is neither a line break nor a space between one answer and the next one. Is it because I’m reading this on an iPad? Maybe it only renders correctly on a PC or MacBook? Thanks