Time: 19:49
Music: Bruckner, Symphony #4, Jochum/Dresden
Another easy Monday; I went quite fast for a while, and then got just a little stuck at the end. I got the two long ones quickly, but the bottom row gave trouble, and I biffed a wrong answer for the final across clue before seeing what the answer must be. Decent solvers correct errors quickly, but they still waste time; I have started to say that if it doesn’t parse, that’s because it’s the wrong answer.
The early solvers on the SNITCH are whipping through this one; how did you do?
| Across | |
| 1 | Sees term transformed into something similar (8) |
| SEMESTER – Anagram of SEES TERM, where a semester is similar to a term. | |
| 5 | Damage rascal with broadcast (6) |
| IMPAIR – IMP + AIR, a chestnut if there ever was one. | |
| 10 | Perhaps I’m mistakenly reaching conclusion, failing to understand (15) |
| MISAPPREHENDING – Anagram of PERHAPS I’M + ENDING. | |
| 11 | Plant people put back inside in top condition (7) |
| ANEMONE – A(MEN backwards)-ONE. | |
| 12 | Warm and cold air mixed (7) |
| CORDIAL – Anagram of COLD AIR. | |
| 13 | Frequently ring London newspapers (8) |
| OFTTIMES – O + F.T. + TIMES. | |
| 15 | Heroin to some extent creates addiction (5) |
| HABIT – H + A BIT. | |
| 18 | US, for example, wanting inn as reminder of the past (5) |
| RELIC – RE[pub]LIC, one we’ve seen before. | |
| 20 | I get up having rested first and take off (8) |
| SATIRISE – SAT + I RISE. | |
| 23 | Rubbish in front of elm and two other trees (7) |
| EYEWASH – E[lm] + YEW + ASH. | |
| 25 | Put in charge by clubs in game, player blows it (7) |
| PICCOLO – P(I.C. + C)OLO. | |
| 26 | It is parliament that’s reformed, including one opposed to colonies (4-11) |
| ANTI-IMPERIALIST – Anagram of IT IS PARLIAMENT + I. | |
| 27 | Closed pen containing area that’s warm and cosy (6) |
| TOASTY – TO (A) STY. | |
| 28 | Kind of sin or virtue — or expert on the difference? (8) |
| CARDINAL – Double definition. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | South American vessel or East Asian boat (6) |
| SAMPAN – S +AM + PAN. | |
| 2 | Expert wrongly faults me over one of the three R’s (9) |
| MASTERFUL – Anagram of FAULTS ME around R. | |
| 3 | Champion ahead in game (7) |
| SUPPORT – S(UP)PORT. | |
| 4 | Sinister English upset Ireland (5) |
| EERIE – E + EIRE upside-down. | |
| 6 | Butterfly about in part of spring (7) |
| MONARCH – M(ON)ARCH. | |
| 7 | Greatest boxer briefly penetrated defence (5) |
| ALIBI – ALI + BI[t]. | |
| 8 | State of ruler is good, in fact (8) |
| REGALITY – RE(G)ALITY. | |
| 9 | Sturdily built son hiding in copse (8) |
| THICKSET – THICK(S)ET. | |
| 14 | Inappropriately form altered emphasis (8) |
| MISSHAPE – Anagram of EMPHASIS. | |
| 16 | Balkan citizen welcoming to American citizen (9) |
| BOSTONIAN – BOS(TO)NIAN. | |
| 17 | Cultural object regularly written into key piece of information (8) |
| ARTEFACT – A ([w]R[i]T[t]E]n]) FACT, where A is a musical key. | |
| 19 | Vehicle used when battling a disturbance after church (7) |
| CHARIOT – CH + A RIOT. | |
| 21 | Man’s prosperous firm forming merger (7) |
| RICHARD – RIC (H) ARD, where the H is part of both components. | |
| 22 | Form of accommodation assimilating second to create another (6) |
| HOSTEL – HO(S)TEL. | |
| 24 | What is more, it can be taken out of context randomly (5) |
| EXTRA – Hidden in [cont]EXT RA[ndomly] | |
| 25 | Run into parents in ham and cheese place (5) |
| PARMA – PA (R) MA. Parma ham and Parmesan cheese. | |
New GK for me today – will try to commit SAMPAN to memory instead of the equally plausible SAMCAN, SAMJAR or SAMVAT, in case the checkers are similarly unkind in future! I opted for the JAR!
As I sped through this lovely (ie at my level) puzzle, I started to think that I was finally becoming worthy of a Times solver, only to find I had to look up CHARIOT (of all things) to keep up the pace. And I still didn’t get REGALITY! Had regulate, which of course I couldn’t parse 😫.
Nuff said: very much enjoyed the rest of the ride. CODs to OFTTIMES and EYEWASH, which I couldn’t recall as an expression for rubbish.