This one took me 25 minutes so I expect some very fast times from the regular hares. Whilst solving I made a note that the bird at 8dn was unknown but I checked later and found I had claimed that on at least three previous occasions over the past four years. It’s funny how some words won’t stick in the brain! And some spellings too. One thing learnt today though is a new expression for “drunk” (at 23dn). And I thought I knew them all. Here’s my blog…
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]
| Across | |
| 1 | Stole money, carrying paintings back in coast-bound transport (4,5) |
| BOAT TRAIN – BOA (stole), TIN (money) containing [carrying] ART (paintings) reversed [back]. BOA came up as “neckwear” recently and caught me out, so it was fresh in my mind today. | |
| 6 | Broke cover, pursued by stoat finally (5) |
| SKINT – SKIN (cover), {stoa}T [finally]. The slang for having no money was derived from “skinned” apparenty. It also gave rise to the rhymning slang “boracic lint” which colloquially gets reduced simply to “brassic”. | |
| 9 | Tom can smell this — Tim can’t, unfortunately (7) |
| CATMINT – Anagram [unfortunately] of TIM CAN’T. Neither of the cats I had most recently reacted to catmint, but one I had years ago lost all reason when in contact with it. | |
| 10 | Conspirator Harry Lime originally arrested? (7) |
| PLOTTER – L{ime} [originally] contained [arrested] by POTTER (Harry) | |
| 11 | Seductive woman’s name associated with father (5) |
| SIREN – SIRE (father), N (name) | |
| 12 | Desolate character is magistrate, circling large loch (9) |
| BLEAKNESS – BEAK (magistrate) contains [circling] L (large), NESS (loch) | |
| 13 | Surreptitious way able-bodied husband’s abandoned (8) |
| STEALTHY – ST (way – street), {h}EALTHY (able-bodied) [husband’s abandoned] | |
| 14 | Stars missing opening of revue in Spanish port (4) |
| VIGO – VI{r}GO (stars) [missing opening of revue) | |
| 17 | Nervous director general stopping the old retiring (4) |
| EDGY – DG (Director General – e.g. head of the BBC) inside [stopping] YE (the, old) reversed [retiring] | |
| 18 | Brave Nordic hero keeping near the centre (8) |
| CHEROKEE – Hidden [near the centre] in {Nordi}C HERO KEE{ping} | |
| 21 | Married woman, one of five, becomes model (9) |
| MANNEQUIN – M (married), ANNE (woman), QUIN (one of five – quintuplet) | |
| 22 | Judge the aforementioned renovation? (5) |
| REFIT – REF (judge), IT (the aforementioned) | |
| 24 | Birds’ breeding-place identified by woman in train? (7) |
| HERONRY – HER (woman), ON RY (in train – on railway) | |
| 25 | Inclination Republican has to abandon education (7) |
| LEANING – LEA{r}NING (education) [Republican has to abandon] | |
| 26 | Fork out about two pounds, like a friend (5) |
| PALLY – PAY (fork out) contains [about] LL (two pounds – UK currency) | |
| 27 | Point we accepted in old PM’s time (5-4) |
| NORTH-WEST – WE contained by [accepted in ] NORTH’S (old PM’s), T (time). Frederick, Lord North was Prime Minister 1770-1782. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Supports strikebreaker over accepting sack at last (5) |
| BACKS – SCAB (strikebreaker) reversed [over] containing [accepting] {sac}K [at last] | |
| 2 | Working near Leyton, great government legal adviser (8,7) |
| ATTORNEY GENERAL – Anagram [working] of NEAR LEYTON GREAT | |
| 3 | Embroilment involving Rhode Island figure (8) |
| TRIANGLE – TANGLE (embroilment) containing [involving] RI (Rhode Island) | |
| 4 | Not a hub, a foreign motorway (8) |
| AUTOBAHN – Anagram [foreign] of NOT A HUB A | |
| 5 | Relative’s record upheld by ambassador in 27 (6) |
| NEPHEW – EP (record – Extended Play) + HE (ambassador – His Excellency) contained by [in] NW (27 – the Across answer abbreviated) | |
| 6 | Ghostly appearance of tailless bear in the heavens (6) |
| SPOOKY – POO{h} (bear) [tailless) contained by [in] SKY (heavens) | |
| 7 | Imprisoned by the enemy at the last possible moment? (2,3,4,2,4) |
| IN THE NICK OF TIME – IN THE NICK OF (imprisoned by), TIME (the enemy). There are various sayings about time being an enemy but I haven’t been able determine the original source. | |
| 8 | Wader sets about work on Tyneside (9) |
| TURNSTONE – TURNS TO (sets about work on), NE (Tyneside). Once seen never remembered! | |
| 13 | Powered vessel? Sons must accept crew with it (9) |
| STEAMSHIP – SS (sons) contain [accept] TEAM (crew), HIP (with it) | |
| 15 | Dealer’s name protected by creditor (8) |
| CHANDLER – HANDLE (name) contained [protected] by CR (creditor) | |
| 16 | Painter upset soup going round a Scottish port (8) |
| ARBROATH – RA (painter – Royal Academician) reversed [upset], BROTH (soup) containing [going round] A | |
| 19 | Like edible grain knight concealed in miserly way (6) |
| MEANLY – N (knight – chess) contained [concealed] by MEALY (like edible grain) | |
| 20 | Trouble afoot, do we hear, for a writer and preacher? (6) |
| BUNYAN – Sounds like [do we hear] “bunion” (trouble afoot) | |
| 23 | How we’re urged to sleep, being half seas over? (5) |
| TIGHT – Two definitions, the second meaning “drunk” was unknown to me – the term that is, not the condition. | |
My problems started when I assumed that the desolate character of 12ac had to be a fictional person. Given my profound, hard-won and far-ranging ignorance of literature in general, I was happy to assume that there was such a person, famed for being desolate. I was even happier to work out that his (or her) name could only be “Bleakmere”.
I was then left staring at 8d, and eventually realized that it could not possibly be an anagram of “wader sets”, except in Polish. I did not, however, get much further before giving in and asking the internet to tell me all the British waders. Only then did the proverbial coin do the proverbial thing.
I’m giving serious thought to just starting this week over, even though doing so would entail having another Monday.
I’d have been faster if I’d done a bit more biffing, particularly with TURNSTONE, which I thought of straight away but spent far too long trying and failing to justify (though I did get there in the end).