See the posting for puzzle 1 if the format puzzles you.
Anax
Italics = words quoted from clues, < = reversal, * = anagram, (X) = container component, (x) = dropped letter/s
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | NIGHT-SHIFT NIGH=close, TSHI=this works (anagram), F.T.=daily as in Financial Times. |
| 3 | APES being the second letters if you split LAMPREYS into groups of 2 letters. |
| 10 | SHEBEEN Queen perhaps suggests a SHE BEE. |
| 11 | LULLABY – cryptic def – send-off = send off = send to sleep, air = song |
| 12 | SETS ABOUT SEA BOUT for naval attack? Oh, go on then. This is placed around first and letters (shell) from torpedoes. |
| 13 | HOMER Double def, the latter of which is a referee whose decisions (usually unfairly) give advantage to the home team. |
| 14 | P(RE)EN RE=on, whereas in the past setters were pretty much restricted to “about”. |
| 15 | PIP + ING(H)OT. |
| 18 | PARANOIAC One of very few uncommon words but easy enough to get if you see the reversed sequence CA=about + I ON A RAP (one on a charge). |
| 20 | SUM+ER Woman succeeding in fifties for E.R. is brilliant. |
| 21 | QUI(L)P – from “The Old Curiosity Shop” |
| 23 | POLONAISE – LOAN* in POISE. |
| 25 | EXOTICA Made up of < AC(IT+OX)E. |
| 26 | SLEIGHT = THISGEL*. |
| 27 | KISS The X of SEX represents a kiss, of course, and, as I type this, I suddenly realise it’s one of those Q&A questions – why does X mean kiss? |
| 28 | SHRINK-WRAP P=quietly after SHRINK+W(ith)+RA. W=with – you know what I was about to say … |
| Down | |
| 1 | NO(i)SES |
| 2 | GUEST BEER Cryptic def |
| 3 | THE RAIN IN SPAIN falls mainly on the plain |
| 4 | H(EN CO*)OP I spent longer than I should have wanting the anagram fodder to lead to — CELL. ION CELL? Nah. |
| 5 | FELT TIP – I was thrown momentarily by the instruction to place TIP by FELT in a down clue. That has never felt quite right to me. |
| 7 | P(S)ALM |
| 8 | SKYWRITER The setter hopes blue pencil will have you thinking of censorship. Thankfully I wasn’t fooled. |
| 9 | ALL HANDS ON DECK = SNACKOLDLENHAD* |
| 14 | PIPSQUEAK – PIP=just defeat + SQUEAK. |
| 16 | HUM + DINGER |
| 17 | IMPEACH Reading I as ONE the suggestion is that an amazingly well represented electorate would get ONE MP EACH |
| 19 | COLOSSI LO=look in COSSI(e) |
| 22 | IRONS Links here is the golfing variety |
| 24 | ESTOP We finish with a really good clue. The answer is hidden in changES TO Plastic, with bottles the indicator. |
Peter
27 X and Kiss: one website claims that: “In the Middle Ages, a lot of people couldn’t read or write. When they had to sign a document, they would make an X in place of their name. In front of witnesses the signer would kiss the X to show themselves trustworthy. The kiss has since come to be represented by an X.” Plausible but I wouldn’t bet my shirt on it.
I struggled a bit with this at first, as the list of ‘first look’ hits may suggest. Not getting 3D on first look was a very poor show, and this might have gained a minute or two with checking-letter assistance. I think 20/8 were the last two I wrote in. 14D’s ‘just defeat’ could have been very ironic if the finish had been as close as last year’s final. If I understood Neil Talbott correctly, his head banged on the desk for his last clue was 22D where he’d read links as the web-site / user interface variety and thought of ICONS. As he couldn’t see the link to “chains”, he looked further – a good move even if a few other hands went up during the process. I’m not at all sure that I’d have taken this bit of care if I’d thought of ICONS.
Based on memory … The clues I solved on first look were 6, 25, 26, 27, 28, 1D, 2, 4, 7, 9, 19, 24. The ones I wrote in without understanding wordplay were 1A, 12, 15, 17, 20 (all=SUM was enough), 18. Partial ideas noted were 14 SWAIN? = groom and a long-necked bird though not a female one, 20 LL? – wrong version of ‘fifties’, 23 loan* in {something}
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