Time taken: 11:41. Ground to a halt for a while and had to bring out some paper to work on some longer answers and anagrams.
After a few obvious write-ins, there were a lot of clues that required closer scrutiny – the early solving times are a bit of a mix, maybe some will be right on the wavelength and zoom right through this. I liked the clues that required some teasing.
How did you get along?
| Across | |
| 1 | Way to enter pool bar after drink (7,4) |
| SWALLOW DIVE – a DIVE bar after SWALLOW(drink) | |
| 7 | Ace academic fellow departs (3) |
| PRO – PROF(academic) minus F(fellow) | |
| 9 | Surprise case for detective after detective sergeant found wrapped in pancake! (9) |
| BLINDSIDE – the external letters of DetectivE after DS(detective sergeant) inside BLINI(pancake) | |
| 10 | Fold petition, last letter in post (5) |
| PLEAT – PLEA(petition) and the last letter in posT | |
| 11 | Skedaddle, one having left by means of quadruped (7) |
| VAMOOSE – remove I(one) form VIA(by means of), then MOOSE(quadruped) | |
| 12 | Empty contents of water-heater plugged into plug (4,3) |
| TURN OUT – URN(water-heater) inside TOUT(plug) | |
| 13 | Stick point on rolled gold (5) |
| LODGE – E(point of the compass) after an anagram of GOLD | |
| 15 | Gauge, equally positive? (9) |
| ASCERTAIN – AS(equally), CERTAIN(positive) | |
| 17 | Commonwealth country accepts almost everyone (9) |
| AUSTRALIA – AUSTRIA(country) containing ALL(everyone) minus the last letter | |
| 19 | Bodies twisting, on being dumped (5) |
| TORSI – TORSION(twisting) minus ON | |
| 20 | Hip-dislocating joke? (3-4) |
| LEG-PULL – cryptic double definition | |
| 22 | Effective description (7) |
| TELLING -regular double definition | |
| 24 | I’m off to accept current crown (5) |
| TIARA – TA-RA(I’m off) containing I(current) | |
| 25 | Religious celebration isn’t specified after content removed in report (6,3) |
| SAINTS DAY – AIN’T(isn’t) then the external letters of SpecifieD inside SAY(report) | |
| 27 | Before becoming Mrs, Miss wants date (3) |
| NEE – NEED(miss) minus D(date) | |
| 28 | Crime set somewhere in Manhattan, once (7,4) |
| BATTERY PARK – BATTERY(crime) and PARK(set oneself down). The official name of the park at the southern tip of Manhattan was changed to The Battery in 2015. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Cover transport up (3) |
| SUB – BUS(transport) reversed | |
| 2 | A team order in fact that’s generally accepted (5) |
| AXIOM – A, XI(team), OM(order) | |
| 3 | Criminal trial’s conclusion: a possible spy? (7) |
| LADRONE – the last letter of triaL, A, then DRONE(possible spy) | |
| 4 | Civil service in scrap, I don’t understand the lot of them! (9) |
| WHITEHALL – WHIT(scrap), EH(I don’t understand), ALL(the lot of them). Although this is pretty straightforward, it was my last in. | |
| 5 | Still I run into trap (5) |
| INERT – I, then R(run) inside NET(trap) | |
| 6 | Mood after abdication of leader or king (7) |
| EMPEROR – TEMPER(mood) minus the first letter, then OR | |
| 7 | Use raptor to regenerate its predecessor? (9) |
| PTEROSAUR – anagram of USE,RAPTOR | |
| 8 | Very fine, though unsettled (11) |
| OUTSTANDING – double definition | |
| 11 | Very coarse lingual art? (6,5) |
| VULGAR LATIN – V(very) and an anagram of LINGUAL ART for an all-in-one | |
| 14 | Appoint court to arrest online firm’s board? (9) |
| DESIGNATE – DATE(court) containing an E-SIGN, which may be a board for an online firm | |
| 16 | Ocean silt scattered — along this? (9) |
| COASTLINE – anagram of OCEAN,SILT | |
| 18 | Cake brought into focus iced with topping of really sour food (7) |
| RHUBARB – BAR(cake of soap) inside HUB(focus), all under the first letter of Really | |
| 19 | Author recounted tale where delta and river drained (7) |
| TOLSTOY – TOLD STORY(recounted tale) minus D(delta) and R(river) | |
| 21 | Virtuoso’s vocal register (5) |
| LISZT – homophone of LIST(register) | |
| 23 | Individuals fleeing country — for another? (5) |
| INDIA – remove ONES(individuals) from INDONESIA(country) | |
| 26 | Animal jaw (3) |
| YAK – double definition | |
Like many others I’d never heard of LADRONE but it was the only thing I could think of once I’d given up trying to end with MOLE. I’ve been to BATTERY PARK so no problem there. A bit of travel advice if you are in that area. Take the Staten Island Ferry to get great views of the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty. The most surprising thing is the price: the Staten Island Ferry is free, even the Star Ferry across Hong Kong harbor is a few HK$ (I think it was about US 50¢ last time I was there). I too was tempted by ROULADE, only because it fitted since I don’t associate it with sourness and I couldn’t make the wordplay work.
Well I did complete it but only after an unconscionable time and some dubious tactics so a DNF. Expect further disgrace tomorrow.
LADRONE was another of those words I seemed to know but with no idea from whence it came. Really liked VAMOOSE and AXIOM.
Thanks to setter and glh.
An unusually early in the day solve for us and a quick one, by our standards, relative to the Snitch. 37:26. Bit of a wing and a prayer with some of the parsing (e. g. SAINTS DAY, NEE and OUTSTANDING, where we didn’t see the unsettled bit). We knew BATTERY PARK but not that its name had changed. Might not have known what a SWALLOW DIVE was without having seen young men doing them off Mostar bridge some years ago. Certainly wouldn’t have recognised LOI LADRONE if we we were not learning Spanish (ladrón has the same pronunciation and meaning). But them’s the breaks: the rest were all relatively straightforward. Thanks, George, for clearing up our missing parsing and thank you, setter.
17 across reminds me of a Jim Carrey scene in Dumb and Dumber (I know, I know – but I like it!). If you’ve seen it, you’ll know it. Thanks for the comment above re. origin of HELICOPTER. Makes sense. Can’t wait to annoy my friends now by pretentiously insisting on a wholly new pronunciation: HELICO-PTER, with emphases on the the first and fourth syllables. More like the French, of course. 36’11”.
20.35
On the wavelength here ending with a tightly fingers’ crossed LADRONE. Unusual words i like but this one looked like it slipped through the editor’s net. Lots to like elsewhere though.
Thanks George/setter
DNF after about an hour, though I started to figure things out at the end, with 85% done, blanks in the south and northwest. I definitely encountered some new techniques here so it was an excellent learning experience. I loved BLINDSIDE and VAMOOSE. I “solved” AUSTRALIA without being able to understand how the clue worked; something seems to be missing! Off to read the blog.
Thanks to the setter and glh.
This was a bit too tough for me, so I resorted to aids to get started. Had SUB in my head, but didn’t credit it, likewise PRO. But put them in eventually. Don’t know why I didn’t get LODGE ( thought LADLE might be a stick!) and couldn’t dredge up the term LEG-PULL, getting only the leg. FOI TORSI ( bothered to work it out ), but many excellent (if a bit darned obscure!) clues. COD ASCERTAIN for the smile it gave me. (Oh yes, I too was a SHALLOW SIDE).
loved vamoose
biffed shallow dive instead of swallow, should have given it more thought.
I had only heard of swan dive, search reveals they’re the same thing.
thanks for a good workout and for the blog