Once again I thought I was in for a tricky solve as I read through many a clue before finding an answer that leapt to mind at 5dn, but as I progressed it came together very nicely and I completed the grid in 40 minutes. I don’t seem to have a lot to say today so I won’t waste time saying it.
{deletions}, [indicators] and definitions – where indicated
Across |
|
---|---|
1 | SUBTERRANEAN – ERRAN{d} (mission) inside ET+BUS (alien + vehicle – reversed), then A, N (new) |
9 | POSER – Double definition |
10 | PLANT LICE – PLAN (system), T (tons), L (left), ICE (freeze). I didn’t know this species. |
11 | INDUSTRY – {b}IND (difficulty), US (American), TRY (endeavour) |
12 | APACHE – PA (old man) reversed, ACHE (long) |
13 | MUTE SWAN – SET+UM (group + hesitant utterance) reversed, WAN (looking sickly) |
15 | ASCEND – AS (when), C (clubs), END (close) |
17 | DREAMY – AM (before noon) inside DREY (nest – that of a squirrel) |
18 | INVOICES – CE (church) inside anagram [changed] of VISION, |
20 | TWO-WAY – WOW (success) inside TAY (river) |
21 | MICAWBER – MI (note), then W (wife) inside CABER (pole tossed). Definition: Hired clerk. Wilkins Micawber is employed by Uriah Heep in Dickens’ David Copperfield. |
24 | CANDIDATE – CA (about), anagram [nuts] of DIET AND |
25 | TINGE – TIN (element), GE (germanium) |
26 | CONCERT PITCH – CON (cheat), CERT (sure to win), P (power), ITCH (yearning). In addition to its literal meaning in music this can be used figuratively (as here) to mean a heightened state of readiness. |
Down |
|
1 | SOPHISM – OP (work) inside S{c}HISM (separation) |
2 | BESIDE THE POINT – SIDE (aspect) inside BET (opinion), anagram [demolished] of PITH ONE |
3 | EARNS – EAR (attention), N/S (non-smoking -as used in personal ads) |
4 | RIPARIAN – I{nvestigation} + PARI{s} (capital) inside RAN (hastened). Definition: of bank, with reference to rivers and streams. |
5 | NEAT – {i}N{t}E{r}A{c}T |
6 | ANTIPASTO – ANTI (opponent), PAST (finished), O (old) |
7 | KITCHEN CABINET – Anagram [crooked] of CHECK BAIT IN, then NET (trap) |
8 | BEHELD – HE+L (man + left) inside BED (layer) |
14 | SIMPATICO – IMP (spirit) inside anagram [funny] of CAST I, then 0 (love) |
16 | ENGINEER – GIN (spirit) inside {v}ENEER (pretence) |
17 | DETACH – C (cape) inside HATED (disliked) reversed |
19 | SCREECH – SCREE (rock), CH (companion – of honour) |
22 | ACT UP – A, CT (court), UP (in front of a judge) |
23 | TALC – A (area) inside TLC (sympathetic treatment – Tender Loving Care) |
So I ended up solving mostly from the cryptics, and hardly biffing at all.
40 minutes for me too.
I keep mine in much better condition. But then, I don’t do stadium gigs any longer.
Edited at 2015-05-26 06:38 am (UTC)
Would have failed a spelling test on SIMPATICO if it wasn’t so clearly clued.
Thanks setter and blogger.
On the other hand I’m not readily able to think of a character more annoying than Micawber, it must be admitted. But his wisdom on the vast difference between having just enough money and having not quite enough has definitely stuck with me through the years…
But at least I now like beetroot.
“I trust that the labour and hazard of an investigation -of which the smallest results have been slowly pieced together, in the pressure of arduous avocations, under grinding penurious apprehensions, at rise of morn, at dewy eve, in the shadows of night, under the watchful eye of one whom it were superfluous to call Demon, combined with the struggle of parental Poverty to turn it, when completed, to the right account, may be as the sprinkling of a few drops of sweet water on my funeral pyre.”
But then I’m not much of a fan of DC (an author is always an unreliable guide to his best book: CS Lewis thought Till We Have Faces his best work of fiction, and Stephen King refused to bow to the inevitable and acknowledge the supremacy of The Stand). Great Expectations is his tightest, and best, work as far as I am concerned.
Of course APACHE is racist. It’s French.
As usual the blog is more interesting with people admitting they liked some rather boring books when they were young. Give me Biggles any day.
Likewise as we get a bit older and some caddish Steerforth inevitably comes and makes off with the girl we’re infatuated with… yeah, DC is basically the story of my life!
There are 22 novels so far and a number of short stories that are worth tracking down because they fill in some of the gaps in the on-going narrative of Banks’s career. I also agree that to appreciate them fully you need to start with the first title (Gallow’s View – 1987) and work your way through them in order.
I enjoyed the Biggles books a lot when I was a boy. I have never enjoyed Dickens at any stage of my life.
Edited at 2015-05-26 01:12 pm (UTC)
I had problems at 8 where I was sure “layer” was going to be “hen” and I also fell into the “look for a rascal you’ve never heard of in a book or play you’ve never read or seen” ploy at 14.
There’s a teeny typo in the blog at 2d Jack where you have PATH for PITH.
Although not specifically sanctioned in any of the usual sources, I think ‘possibility’ works on the basis of this definition of ‘candidate’ in Collins, “A person or thing regarded as suitable or likely for a particular fate or position” and the example given, “This wine is a candidate for his cellars” where I’d suggest the old substitution test can be applied effectively.
Edited at 2015-05-26 02:47 pm (UTC)
I’m afraid I found this very dull, with too much convoluted wordplay – 1ac getting things off to a bad start. A rare disappointment for a Times crossword.