A pleasant Wednesday challenge. Only one unknown, 20a, which, faced with T*Y* and a hidden word of that ilk visible, wasn’t hard to guess. Oddly enough, thinking of the LAND part of 26a took me the longest even though I had bridge written in. The anagram of in Bedford gets my vote for CoD.
Definitions underlined in bold, (ABC)* indicating anagram of ABC, anagrinds in italics, DD = double definition, [deleted letters in square brackets].
| Across | |
| 1 | Salient point from Conservative leaving sales talk (4) |
| PITH – PITCH loses its C for Conservative. | |
| 4 | Peter hit cops extremely tentatively in protective gear (6,4) |
| SAFETY BELT – SAFE = peter (slang), BELT = hit, insert (“cops”) the ends of T[entativel]Y. | |
| 9 | Barman’s driven me to Barking (10) |
| MONTEVERDI – (DRIVEN ME TO)*. A barman being crosswordese for a composer of music. | |
| 10 | Vaunted team (4) |
| CREW – DD. | |
| 11 | Impressionist in US city starts to impersonate Romney (6) |
| RENOIR – RENO (in Nevada), initial letters of Impersonate Romney. | |
| 12 | Great time to enter base (8) |
| IMMORTAL – T inside IMMORAL = base. | |
| 14 | Tennis legend finishing early for nothing (4) |
| NADA – Rafael NADA[l], a legend indeed. | |
| 15 | Light source shone out, constraining very exposed part of Tyrolean ensemble? (10) |
| LEDERHOSEN – LED (light source), (SHONE)*, insert [v]ER[y]. | |
| 17 | Clergyman’s trifling argument against accepting article (5,5) |
| MINOR CANON – MINOR = trifling, CON (argument against) with AN inserted. I know about such clergymen from reading Barchester novels. | |
| 20 | In Kyoto, your hat might be made of this (4) |
| TOYO – hidden word, Japanese straw like material used for hats. Guessed by me. | |
| 21 | Elegant socialite broadcasting (8) |
| DEBONAIR – a DEB ON AIR would be a socialite broadcasting. Think I’ve seen this before. | |
| 23 | Arrive at nursing home, to begin with, in distinct part of town (6) |
| GHETTO – GET TO = arrive at, insert H[ome]. | |
| 24 | Some sleazy groper lying about in meeting of Congress (4) |
| ORGY – hidden reversed, a meeting of that sort of congress. | |
| 25 | Unknown number in Scotland know cycling in High Peak (5,5) |
| MOUNT KENYA – AMOUNT (number) “cycles” to give MOUNTA, insert KEN (Scottish for know) Y (unknown). | |
| 26 | Win card game in Panama? (4,6) |
| LAND BRIDGE – win = LAND, BRIDGE a card game, Panama being a “land bridge” between N and S America. | |
| 27 | After party, nearly obtains port in Qatar (4) |
| DOHA – DO = party, HA[s]. | |
| Down | |
| 2 | Musical agent dealing with Topsy-Turvy supports one not working (11) |
| INOPERATIVE -EVITA (a musical) REP (agent) ON (dealing with) I (one) all reversed (“topsy-turvy”). | |
| 3 | Fiery primate conceals archbishop’s first difficult issue (3,6) |
| HOT POTATO – HOT = fiery, a POTTO is a lemur type primate; insert A from archbishop. | |
| 4 | Some fail regularly following split (7) |
| SEVERAL – SEVER = split, [f]A[i]L. | |
| 5 | This topic should be avoided in Bedford (9,6) |
| FORBIDDEN GROUND – FORBIDDEN is an anagram of IN BEDFORD, so it’s “forbidden, ground”. | |
| 6 | More neat French gentlemen in German city (7) |
| TRIMMER – two French Monsieurs go into TRIER a German city. | |
| 7 | Bird, say, on top of tree (5) |
| EGRET – EG (say) RE (on) T[ree]. | |
| 8 | Dryer in tall building changing hands (5) |
| TOWEL – TOWER changes Right to Left. | |
| 13 | Why battery’s replaced in holiday resort (11) |
| ABERYSTWYTH – (WHY BATTERYS)*. An unlikely-looking anagram, but it works. I don’t think of Aberystwyth as a holiday venue, more a university town but it is on the coast. | |
| 16 | Getting better of those people interrupting continuously (2,3,4) |
| ON THE MEND – THEM = those people, inside ON END = continuously. | |
| 18 | Smooth-talker in good spirits losing heart to member (7) |
| CHARMER – CHEER (good spirits) loses its central letter replaced by ARM a member. | |
| 19 | Close match one’s seen in bed (7) |
| NIGHTIE – NIGH (close) TIE (match). | |
| 21 | Doctor can up quantity of saliva (5) |
| DROOL – DR (doctor) OOL = LOO (can, toilet) reversed (up). | |
| 22 | Start living, having raised grand (5) |
| BEGIN – BEING = living, move the G upwards. | |
Yeah, the “Bedford” clue wins COD. Been a little while since we’ve seen one of those.
NHO TOYO.
Never noticed that “amount” cycles, though I had the answer. I toyed with cycling “KEN” for a while!
35 minutes to have all but three answers completed but I was unable to progress and tired after a very hot day so I resorted to aids for two of them and the arrival of an extra checker helped the third fall into place. The ones I looked up were MINOR (to go with CANON) and LAND (to go with BRIDGE). I’d heard of the first answer but not the second as I’d been taught the proper word for it, ‘isthmus’.
The LOI was INOPERATIVE.
Not sure what ‘distinct’ is doing in the GHETTO clue.
TOYO, DOHA and MOUNT KENYA went in without full understanding every part of the clue. NHO the first, and the second only vaguely perhaps.
The original GHETTO in Venice, to which Jewish residents were confined by a law of 1516, was linked to the wider city by two bridges which were closed at night. Hence, I imagine, the notion of a physically distinct area, a degree of visible separation more obvious than eg the boundary between Hammersmith and Chiswick.
Surely the boundary between Chiswick and Hammersmith is the bit between the flyovers.
GHETTO is clued in the Times Crossword of 1/7/2015 (i.e. 10 years ago yesterday) as “Bug going round hospital in isolated area (6)” – GET TO (bug) containing H(ospital). I solved it from the cryptic but was surprised by the literal of “isolated area”. Your info about the original GHETTO fits exactly – thanks for that 🙂
You’re welcome!
Slightly different parsing for MOUNT KENYA. I had: Y (unknown) Amount (number) Ken (Scots Know) then cycle Y and A.
Thought this was a great crossword, thinking it was going to be beyond me at first, but started filling the spaces slowly. LEDERHOSEN for Tyrolean ensemble was very good. Liked SAFETY BELT but always forget Peter/safe and originally biffed vest. Didn’t know MINOR CANON but got it from ‘argument against’ and ‘article’. Loved the anagram in 5d FORBIDDEN GROUND, clever. Biffed HOT POTATO and had no idea about the Potto as a primate. Liked everything about this puzzle, right up my street. COD to INOPERATIVE.
Thanks P and setter.
I had SAFETY VEST too, but didn’t like it at all. I just never saw BELT. It was the one I reluctantly entered from the choice of VEST or SEAT on my shortlist.
On edit (8:15) Ah! You have amended your post as I was typing. Congratulations on having BELT
I also went VEST. I knew it didn’t work but couldn’t think of an appropriate synonym for hit and which I know simply as a seat BELT.
I wore a safety belt when I learnt to climb telegraph poles as an apprentice on PO Telecommunications in the mid 70’s.
Luckily never climbed one again as there weren’t any near Monument exchange.😃
Searchin’ in the sun for another overload? Never was quite sure if it was telephone or electricity.
Like you, I cycled the whole of Y Amount Ken
Yes I think that’s how you have to do it: construct the whole thing and then ‘cycle’ it by two letters so YAMOUNTKEN becomes MOUNTKENYA. I dislike this device at the best of times but I think this is truly awful.
Agreed.
54 minutes, held up a lot at LAND BRIDGE, MOUNT KENYA and the last word of FORBIDDEN GROUND.
I went on holiday to ABERYSTWYTH last year, thus personally letting the setter off the hook. Lovely seaside town, good fish & chips, cute funicular plus a steam railway, great sunsets, porpoises popping up quite frequently from the water, excellent bookshop, cafes and delis, and on top of all that the National Library of Wales in which to while away the occasional rainy morning. I went when the students mostly weren’t there, which may have helped 🙂
I’m sold!
NHO the Welsh place, obviously, so I can’t let the setter off the hook. Managed to guess the correct letter order with 5 to place in 6 crossers, but by gum I wasn’t happy that such an impossible to spell obscure foreign word in a language nobody knows was clued as an anagram.
I think they do it on purpose.
Not obscure or foreign here in the UK! 😊
My tongue was firmly in my cheek.
never forgetting the camera obscura, a real treat!
Sadly it was closed for repair! This is a danger of going off-season, I suppose. Luckily Bristol has one about a half hour’s walk from where I live, at the old Clifton Observatory, so I can always indulge locally!
15:20. I also struggled to finish with LAND BRIDGE. Curious that a few of us were in the same boat but that it seems obvious once you see it. It took me all the checkers to get ABERYSTWYTH although I’d looked at the clue and immediately thought it had to be somewhere in Wales with those letters! I biffed FORBIDDEN GROUND, the Bedford bit passing me by at time of solving. A fine clue indeed.
49:58, but with One Pink Square with a misspelt MONTIVERDI. But I was pleased to avoid the very tempting SAFETY VEST, seeing hit= belt right at the end.
Wasn’t able to parse MOUNT KENYA. Cycling clues give too many options, very hard to find a word like “Amount”, especially when as well disguised as this.
NHO TOYO TRIER POTTO
COD NIGHTIE
20:46
Semi-biffed MOUNT KENYA–got the KEN, Y, didn’t see how MOUNT A got there, but didn’t need to. Didn’t get CHARMER, just biffed it. I wasted time worrying about NHO Toyo; it was clearly the answer but I just couldn’t believe it was that simple. (I’m still not sure of the derivation; I’m assuming it’s from tooyoo 東洋 ‘Asia’.) My heart always sinks when I see a British town in a clue, but as here, needlessly. Terrific clue, definite COD.
Really enjoyed this cleverly crafted puzzle, finished in 28.43 with a fair amount of head scratching on the way.
FOI PITH
LOI CREW
COD FORGOTTEN GROUND
Thanks P and setter.
Post-solve I had to look in a couple places to find the straw version of Toyo (my go-to OED says it’s soy sauce), but only had to look in one place to learn the obvious Potto. I’d have thought that the animal’s obvious use to a setter going after Potatoes would have introduced me to it before now. thx, pip
41 minutes with LOI FORBIDDEN GROUND. I’d had the FORBIDDEN for a while but needed MOUNT KENYA to get the GROUND. I just hoped it was TOYO. COD to MONTEVERDI because he appeared out of the blue. MINOR CANON isn’t really the sort of job title you can boast about to your family. Surely the HR department can do better than that? A decent puzzle. Thank you Pip and setter.
Executive Vice Canon?
After finally biffing INOPERATIVE (thanks Pip) my 12:44 was rendered futile by my other biff “safety vest”. COD LEDERHOSEN.
Gave up after a while with the unsolvable (to me anyway) INOPERATIVE, which is a shame because I’d worked hard on some of the other trickier clues such as as MINOR CANNON, GHETTO, MOUNT KENYA &LAND BRIDGE.
COD to FORBIDDEN GROUND.
Thanks pip and setter.
12:25. DNK TOYO, of course, so relied on the wordplay and checkers. Failed to parse INOPERATIVE being seduced by the OPERA in the middle, and MOUNT KENYA. Thanks Pip and setter.
Really enjoyed this one, a plodding 21:35.
Don’t think I’ve ever seen ‘barman’ before, which definitely held me up. However, the Savall version of L’Orfeo is highly recommended, even if you don’t like opera! ‘Lasciate i monti’ is a banger.
LEDERHOSEN took far too long considering I’ve lived in both Innsbruck and Munich. My lame excuse is that I associate them much more with Munich, although that is unjustified.
Didn’t really like AMOUNT for ‘number’ as part of the cyclandum. Feels too much like an indirect anagram.
NHO POTTO, TOYO.
Cycland, I think. “That which is about to be cycled”, as in Integrand, Graduand.
Good point! I checked before making it an -are verb and found this, which I took as evidence enough:
https://gds.it/articoli/societa/2010/05/07/studenti-agrigentini-coniano-il-verbo-biciclare–109238-38932ce8-a7b8-4939-9c4e-1eb0f21ec249/
But failed to anglicise it. So can we add it to the glossary? Or should it be ‘cyclist’ by analogy with ‘anagrist’? Or (controversial) should we never have cause to discuss it again?
31:09
If you’re reading this in Coach B Seat 26 of the Glasgow train, you’ve been yakking into your ‘phone for more than an hour, now would you kindly desist?
Now that I’ve got that off my chest, felt a bit sluggish completing this puzzle. There were a few bits missed along the way:
MINOR CANON – NHO so needed most of the checkers before understanding what was going on here
TOYO – NHO but saw the hidden possibility early
MOUNT KENYA – saw the KEN Y and biffed the rest
LAND BRIDGE – didn’t know that Panama is considered to be one but it makes sense
INOPERATIVE – entered from five checkers then reverse engineered to mostly understand it
POTTO – think I’ve heard of it in these parts before
CHARMER – started with SMARMER but the correct answer makes more sense
FORBIDDEN GROUND – needed all but one checker to fill in and understand this
ABERYSTWYTH – didn’t know that this place is a resort, but it is a stinker of an anagram
Thanks P and setter
A good laugh at your preamble, combined with enjoyment of the *apostrophe (edit: single left quotation mark)
Your first sentence is much too polite. Gave me a good laugh though.
36:55
Nice puzzle. Aberystwyth reminded me of the Swinburne limerick that references the town.
Thanks, p.
I see why you haven’t quoted it 🙂
Quite!! 🙂
Oh come on everybody, what’s the joke here? We’re all grown ups…
look it up for yourself? It’s not hard.
But I might get offended 😝
18 mins but one typo. FORRIDDEN GROUND.
COD: ABERYSTWYTH
12:38 including nearly five minutes staring at the six vowel checkers in INOPERATIVE. A breeze block of the first order.
35m 15s but I fell into the 4ac SAFETY VEST bear trap.
I do like clues such as 5d FORBIDDEN GROUND but it usually takes me a while to spot them, as was the case today.
Thanks, Pip.
I also went wrong with ‘safety vest’ and I failed to get PITH – otherwise finished in about 23 mins. Unlike some others here, I got the ‘ground’ part before ‘forbidden’ for 5D.
Struggled for 20+ minutes and it was like wading through mud, came back an hour later and knocked it over quite quickly to finish in 34.24. Funny the way that sometimes happens. Was totally stymied by the Bedford clue, thinking there was some arcane knowledge required, until the light bulb went off. COD by quite some distance. Thank you piquet.
From Desolation Row:
Now at midnight all the agents
And the superhuman CREW
Come out and round up everyone
That knows more than they do
Perhaps it’s because while taking an hour time out, your brain was still subconsciously working on those clues that you couldn’t solve on first reading.
Which leads to the question should the t/o be included in your completion time? 🤔
Interesting point, but I’ll say…nope
17.53, with a tentative TOYO coming up with that dark pink square on the last letter which usually gives a brief spasm of doubt. Careful research after submission (I googled it) revealed that it was not related to the GI derogatory Tojo for the Japanese soldier, though I rather hoped it might be.
Otherwise, a lot to like about this one, the barman, the Tyrolean ensemble (an oompah band?) and of course the Bedford version of Beijing.
When I lived in one of the more magical towns in Devon, our local radio was Devon Air, from which Mrs Z won a many a beanie hat and t-shirt. Another variant on the chestnutty DEBONAIR clue.
Back to my usual speed of 35:12 after a speedy run yesterday. This one again started quickly but slowed down towards the end.
Can I echo others in saying what a great puzzle this was.
MINOR CANON – saw CANON straightaway but minor took some time.
Same with SAFETY BELT – SAFETY straight in but not seeing belt.
TOYO- nho and we had already had a hidden so I was a bit sceptical but couldn’t make anything better.
MOUNT KENYA – as with others I cycled the whole phrase.
FORBIDDEN GROUND- I got from the checking letters before seeing how it worked. I am used to seeing a ? at the end of these type of clues.
LAND BRIDGE- LOI never heard Panama refered to as that.
Cheers blogger and setter
Reversed hiddens don’t count, for statistical purposes 😉
And sometimes two are included anyway, just to be difficult..
We transited in DOHA last Monday – fortunately, some hours before the missiles were launched from Iran.
Never been to ABERYSTWYTH, but it is forever associated with my old cricket coach, Roger Westley, and his assistant Peter Ellis. As he gave his team talk one Friday afternoon before a match the following day, he regaled us with a story of Peter going to a clinic for coaches in the Welsh town. On his return, he would call it ‘Aberswishswish.’ Roger never tired of asking him about his trip and where exactly it was he was based!
12:29 finishing with RENOIR – a talented father and son duo if ever there was one.
They arrived in Doha two hours after my pilot son-in-law took off from there, heading for Washington. These are interesting times for a pilot based in the Middle East..
My favourite pilot joke is, ‘At a party, how do you know who the pilot is?’. ‘He’ll tell you.’
So nearly three in three days under 30mins. Undone by not spotting the hidden TOYO. Very enjoyable puzzle especially for my mum’s name shoo-in (albeit without an ‘e’) at 21ac
I really liked this crossword, excellent clues, top class surfaces .. chapeau, setter! And thank you Pip
17:08
A lovely crossword which was only fully appreciated post solve as FORBIDDEN GROUND and MOUNT KENYA went in from the checkers. TOYO took on trust as it was a total unknown.
Thanks to both.
6:52. On the wavelength today it seems, and I enjoyed it. My enjoyment was aided by not pausing to parse the abomination of a cycling clue.
I spotted the hidden hat material immediately but needed the checkers to pick TOYO over OTOY and OYOU.
And I took care to count the vowels in MONTEVERDI.
I should have counted those vowels better: responsible for my Pink Letter Day.
I echo the nods of approval for this puzzle. I also join the throng in hesitating over TOYO until ABERYSWYTH turned up, making it more likely. PITH was FOI. I’d forgotten the potto, so HOT POTATO was biffed. FORBIDDEN GROUND was excellent and POI. SAFETY BELT brought up the rear. 19:20. Thanks setter and Pip.
Only completed about half the puzzle on this one. There were very clever clues.
Also, thought 21ac DEBONAIR was cute. And 11ac RENOIR once the penny dropped for ‘impressionist’.
Actually got 2d INOPERATIVE despite somewhat arcane parsing.
Saw MONTEVERDI but was not convinced ‘barman’ was a reference to use of the treble and bass clef by musicians. Live and learn.
Remembered that Peter meant SAFE in this world but still did not get 4ac.
Would be grateful for explanation of 10ac CREW – is it supposed to double as the past tense of ‘crow’?
Also, is there something more about Bedford that makes it easier to see the anagram and draw the meaning of FORBIDDEN GROUND in 5d.
Not sure how anyone outside of UK is going to pick a Welsh town like in 13d.
There are a few more, but OK – end of whinge.
The short answer to your question about CREW is ‘yes’.
DNF. Certainly an off day, partly because the fire alarm went off at 4am two nights ago and I’ve been groggy and annoyed ever since, but I found this hard for a Wednesday.
Being from ABERYSTWYTH I’m annoyed not to have got it, but pleased to see it come up, and certainly pleased to see it described as a ‘holiday resort’. And having a degree in Japanese, I was also pleased to see TOYO, which I got from parsing, and will admit that I had actually never heard of it.
Massive fan of Rafa too.
Unfortunately, though, I have no personal connection to Tyrol, Monteverdi, nor Panama, and was unstuck by those, as well as some others I would have gotten on a normal day.
28 – perhaps a bit slow for the difficulty, but it is very hot here in the south of France. No complaints, but my heart sinks when I see the word cycling in a clue and more so when it is entangled with a Scottish word for something or other.
39 minutes on a nice crossword. TOYO as with almost everyone apparently was a problem: it isn’t in Chambers, but Collins has it. I did have two criticisms though: a LAND BRIDGE certainly seems like a canal, but if it was another word for a canal then the dictionary definitions would say so. Instead both Chambers and Collins talk about things on land. And DEBonair is wrong: where are we told that a deb is a socialite? Certainly not in Chollins, where the debutante meaning is given: debutante has a specific meaning, in one sense outdated, but not socialite.
I read it as nothing to do with the canal. Panama is a Land Bridge between the two continents of North and South America.
Yes fair enough, I missed that. But being very pedantic, that land bridge has a gap in it which arguably stops it from being a l. b.
The Panama Canal isn’t just a simple excavated trench dividing America between north and south. Rather as it’s a complex linking of trenches, lakes, and rivers the land bridge could be considered as having less of a definite gap.
DNF, as I was another who plumped, without any good reason, for SAFETY VEST at 4ac, not being familiar with SAFETY BELT. Despite that I enjoyed this and would have beaten my 30 minute average time. I missed some of the intricacies of the clueing, as in 25ac and 5dn, but there was always enough there to leave me with a chance.
FOI – MONTEVERDI
LOI – FORBIDDEN GROUND
COD – LEDERHOSEN
Thanks to piquet and other contributors.
Two goes needed, with all bar GHETTO and then NIGHTIE solved on the first attempt.
– NHO TOYO but it had to be
– Didn’t parse MOUNT KENYA but agree with Quadrophenia’s explanation
– Only dimly remembered potto as a primate to get HOT POTATO
Thanks piquet and setter
FOI Pith
LOI Nightie
COD Aberystwyth
39:05. found this slow going. I had a silent scream at the setter after working out the BARMAN, having needed an I at the end to set me on the right track. definitely not on the wavelength and haven’t been all week! maybe tomorrow will be better.
I loved the way INOPERATIVE contains both EVITA and PERON backwards (almost).
Add me to the Safety Vest biffers. Too much of a hurry, excellent clue.
Never thought I’d see an anagram for ABERYSTWYTH.
Great puzzle all round.
No problems for me today other than those already mentioned e.g. TOYO and an unparsed MOUNT KENYA. Very much enjoyed the puzzle and was on wavelength.
LOI and COD FORBIDDEN GROUND. Well, I’d had FORBIDDEN in for a while from the checkers, but penny dropped at the end for the second word and how the clue worked overall.
12:04
42 mins but would have been quicker were it not for Cameron Norrie. Also held up by PETTY CANON which when I looked it up was a thing. My visit to Aberystwyth last year didn’t give me the impression that it was a holiday resort….
26 minutes. A nice puzzle but I mis-parsed CHARMER, assuming that ARM replaced IPP in CHIPPER.
Similar problem with Toyo, but what else would you guess. Minor Canon stumped me totally, but really enjoyed Inoperative and Forbidden Ground, great fun, thanks Cx
Already commented enough today, but I’d just like to point out that in today’s MLB video featuring Shohei Ohtani hitting his 30th home run, there is a large advert for ‘TOYO TIRES’ visible at 2:00!
A rare early in the day (relatively speaking, we’re usually late at night) solve for us and it suited us to boot: 24:11 very much at our faster end. There was enough to get going and enable us to tackle the more difficult ones. It was another ‘on the train into London’ effort. I’m very confident I’ve never come across TOYO before but, as piquet says, very easy to get. Lots to like here and, with a bit of GK, the wordplay wasn’t really obscure. Thanks, piquet and setter.
Three days and three fails: goes like that sometimes. A good crosword today thank you.
I managed to finish this in two sessions, so can only estimate the time as being around the hour mark. I thought of MOUNT KENYA fairly early once a few checkers were in place, but it became my LOI as I couldn’t parse it. Even understanding the KEN part of it, I never got my head round the rest of it. ABERYSTWYTH came to me easily enough although my one and only visit never persuaded me that it would ever be described as a holiday resort. Pleasant enough place though.
Early morning here and just popped in for a look at comments by others.
My tone of comments yesterday (our time) perhaps not assisted by having minor surgery on an ankle.
So belated thanks to setter and Piquet.
I must be thick perhaps not understanding the Bedford clue.
If someone is out there would they pls assist.
Cheers all in this strange club.
FORBIDDEN GROUND is apparently an expression used to refer to a topic that’s off limits (not that I recall ever hearing it used in that way). The wordplay is a reverse anagram so FORBIDDEN when GROUND(anagram indicator) = in Bedford.
Edit: I just realised I’ve only said what was already in Pip’s blog so if you didn’t understand that I’ve probably not helped.
Actually that did help. Thank you.
So that’s why some including Guy like that clue. Of course one has to pick ‘ground’ as the anagram indicator and that the phrase applies to a topic. Hmmm.
OK, this is too late to post in UK.
21.35 fail
Another VEST. Otherwise nice puzzle with the BEDFORD clue the standout.
Just finished, taken me all day on and off, guessing 2.5 hours in total. Just found this site and I’m a beginner compared to most on here. I can sometimes complete early on in the week provided I have plenty of time ! I didn’t know TOYO or potto but guessed. I enjoyed DEBONAIR and DROOL. Took me ages to get TRIMMER because I expected French gentlemen to be ils.
A little-known fact: when you travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Panama canal, you are actually going west to east. Check the map. Thoroughly recommend the late historian David McCullough’s “The Path between the Seas.” Also recommend Jean Renoir’s The River, based on a Rumer Godden book. 15’15”.
20.21 LOI mount kenya.