This one took me 45 minutes which on reflection seems rather excessive but I reserve the right to take extra care and double-check the parsing when it’s my day for blogging. Nothing strikes me as particulatly difficult though 4dn will not be familar to some, I’m sure, and there are at least 53 possibilies to fit the checkers at 6ac if one doesn’t happen to spot the references that the setter had in mind.
As usual deletions are in curly brackets and indicators are in square ones.
Across |
|
---|---|
1 | UNHITCHING – {h}UNG (Cockney was hovering) encloses [about] HIT (strike) + CHIN (punch) |
6 | BAIL – Two definitions, firstly with reference to the wooden doings that sit on top of the wicket in cricket and secondly concerning law and court procedures where a sponsor “puts up” bail to release a prisoner from custody who then perhaps absconds and “jumps” it. This was my last one in as I was daunted by the number of possibilities until the penny finally dropped |
10 | AUTOCUE – Sounds like [picked up] “auto queue” (line of cars). Definition: TV signal, though that medium doesn’t have exclusive use of such devices so a question mark may have been in order. |
11 | TARDIER – TARDI{s} (time machine) and ER{a} both [stopping sooner]. Those who have never heard of Doctor Who and his time travelling machine may consider themselves most fortunate. |
12 | EGOTISTIC – Anagram [novel] of CITES that has GOT (understood) + I (one) inside it [in] |
13 | NOTCH – Two definitions. ‘Nick’ is straightforward but I wasn’t aware that NOTCH could mean ‘secure’, however COED has it as ‘secure or insert by means of notches’. |
14 | BAFTA – FAB (champion) reversed, TA (cheers). This is timely either by accident or design as the annual film awards ceremony hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts took place only last Sunday at the Royal Opera House. |
15 | PEDALBOAT – Anagram [junk] of ADOPTABLE. I tried to bif ‘paddleboat’ but ran out of spaces and letters. |
17 | GROOVIEST – G{roup} [head of], then VIES (struggles) inside ROOT (base) |
20 | KYOTO – Last letters [ultimately] of {ban}K {ma}Y {forg}O {profi}T {als}O |
21 | BIGHT – Hidden and reversed [to the west] inside {wi}TH GIB{raltar}. Famous ‘bights’ include the Great Australian and the German one that features in UK shipping forecasts. |
23 | BRIC-A-BRAC – BR (old trains – British Rail), I (one), CAB (taxi), RAC (drivers’ association – Royal Automobile Club) |
25 | NOVENAS – SANE (well in mind) + VON (of, German) all reversed [recalled]. Obscure religious stuff as far as I’m concerned but I’ve met it in crosswords somewhere, if not apparently in The Times. |
26 | LOITERS – 0 (nothing) inside LITERS (New Yorkers’ volumes) |
27 | YANK – YAK (rabbit – both slang for incessant talking) enclosing [straddling] N (pole) |
28 | HYPOTHESIS – HYPO (jabber – hypodermic needle), THE SIS (British spies – the Special Intelligence Service) |
Down |
|
1 | USAGE – US (States), AGE (time) |
2 | HATS OFF TO – HATS (capital coverage) OF FT (newspaper’s – Financial Times’s), 0 (nothing) |
3 | TACTICAL VOTING – Anagram [corrupt] of CCTV GOT ITALIAN |
4 | HEELTAP – Anagram [abandoned] of THE ALE, P (quietly). The definition is &lit. This is a dated word for the remains of an alcoholic drink left in a glass. I also remember ‘heeltapping’ as the rather antisocial practice of eeking out the dregs of one’s drink when in company in the hope that somebody else would pitch in and buy the next round, but I can’t find any support for this. Not that I’ve ever done it myself of course! |
5 | NOTICED – TON (high speed) reversed [after ascent], ICED (finished off – killed). Definition: clocked – slang |
7 | A-LIST – S{ilent} [at first] inside ALIT (settled – landed). This came up elsewhere within the past few days. |
8 | LARGHETTO – LAR{k} (bird) [tailless], then H{overing] [initially] inside GET TO (reach). Definition: rather slow – in music |
9 | DRINK LIKE A FISH – Anagram [bent] of KIND FRAIL SIKH E (English). Definition: down a lot |
14 | BUGS BUNNY – BUGS (insects), BUN-NY (like cake – ho-ho!). Definition: He loves carrots |
16 | ODOURLESS – O (old), DOUR (miserable) , LES’S (boy’s) |
18 | EMBASSY – EASY (with facility) containing MB (doctor) and later an extra S (small) for good measure |
19 | TWIGLOO – TWIG (cotton on), L (large) O+O (rings). I didn’t know this temporary shelter made of twigs but it didn’t take much working out as a possibility |
22 | GIVEN – GI (American in service), VEN (archdeacon). I’m not sure that ‘lent’ is quite the same thing but I suppose it’s close enough and the question mark covers any ambiguities |
24 | COSTS – COS (informally for – because) containing [crossing] ST (thoroughfare) |
Everything else in just over 30 minutes, with similar problems to Mctext in the NW.
DRINK LIKE A FISH was the best of a very good bunch. Thanks setter and Jack.
6ac BAIL shouldn’t the clue read ‘when another jumps’ (rather than then another jumps)?
But a gritty workout. 15ac FOI PEDALBOAT
COD 14dn BUGS BUNNY!
HEELTAP is a blast from the past. Remember Worthington’s White Shield?
horryd Shanghai
I do indeed remember Worthington White Shield!
Edited at 2016-02-16 05:59 am (UTC)
I solved this over several hours while watching the dog show on TV. I was way off there too; each group was won by a dog I didn’t fancy at all.
Thanks for blog and to setter.
Edited at 2016-02-16 07:09 am (UTC)
Nice puzzle, so thanks setter, and thanks to jackkt for getting the blog up so early on a morning when I had to get up at 5am!
Edited at 2016-02-16 07:07 am (UTC)
Same unknowns as others formed from wp: NOVENAS, HEELTAG, TWIGLOO. Quite a few biffed: NOTCH, HYPOTHESIS, NOTICED, so thanks for sorting those ones, Jack.
About 45mins or so.
Entertainment everywhere but BUGS BUNNY is a belter. Thank you, setter (and jackkt). I’m off to build a twigloo …
Edited at 2016-02-16 10:19 am (UTC)
Living near the forest means that my grandchildren and I have the opportunity to construct and maintain what we prefer to call twigwams, an epithet which we consider much better (and more accurate) than the TWIGLOO cited here. I suppose if you can manage the rounded shape (and the little tunnel entrance) it would do but I’d take some persuading. Research shows some pictures of mostly wicker based structures, but ours are more fun.
Several of these not fully parsed, so thanks to Jack for UNHITCHING, where I made do with (h)unching as adopting a boxer’s low stance (somewhat unconvincing) and BIGHT, where I was convinced that Gibraltar conventionally abbreviates to GIB and the remaining HT therefore emerged smiling vacantly from the ether.
TV signal for AUTOCUE? I suppose it’s a signal to the presenter as to what he should say.
Much good stuff, clever and challenging. Hats off to setter and Jack.
Edited at 2016-02-16 10:13 am (UTC)
Didn’t understand NOTCH, don’t think “TV signal” defines AUTOCUE, and last one in BAIL involved thinking “put up X”, “jump X” ah! Liked BUGS BUNNY
Great work Jack
I should’ve known better than to attempt a tough cryptic after my performance on the concise, where I had to go through the alphabet to think of a five-letter European country beginning with I. Don’t try to solve crosswords before sufficient caffeination, peopke…
I did know the word HEELTAP, if not the meaning. Until a few years ago there was a bar called the Heeltap and Bumper opposite St Paul’s Cathedral. I’d never been curious enough to find out the meaning of the name until now. A quick Google gave me this useful nugget which will now be quoted whenever I go for a drink: “Bumpers all round and no heel-taps was once a sort of drinking toast, or exhortation to drink to the bottom of the glass (a bumper was a glass filled to the brim).”
Remember what Mark Thakker used to say, back when he was around: “If it can’t be anything else, then that must be what it is!”
No unknowns today: I’ve a feeling I may have first come across the word HEELTAP in a Times crossword many years ago, and it must have appeared several times since then, though not so much in recent years (most recent sighting in 2006). On the other hand I think this must be a first for TWIGLOO, though the word is familiar enough. BAIL was my LOI: I thought of RAIL but wasn’t convinced. (Phew!)
All in all a delightful puzzle. 2dn the setter.
I also blew 24d, having “casts”. I won’t even begin to attempt to try to start to explain how I justified that one.
I got TWIGLOO, but it is a word that quite simply should not exist.
Edited at 2016-02-17 05:02 pm (UTC)