I needed 37 minutes to solve all but one clue (8dn) which I eventually gave up on and resorted to aids. I’m afraid when most of a puzzle falls quite easily and I am left with just one answer outstanding I sometimes lack the perseverance to see it through. The problem here turned out to be a cryptic definition with little to suggest the area of knoweldge in which the answer lay. I might have stared at it for hours and still not cracked it. There are a lot of clues referring to religion or bibical matters and I counted at least seven of them.
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]
| Across | |
| 1 | Nonsense about backward-looking priest being submissive (6) |
| DOCILE – COD (nonsense) reversed [about], ELI (priest) reversed [backward-looking]. I’m familiar with COD meaning ‘joke, hoax, parody, mock, sham’, but not ‘nonsense’. I found this eventually in the ODO: cod, British dated, informal – nonsense. | |
| 4 | Forced out, dumped, having lost it (7) |
| DEPOSED – DEPOS{it}ED (dumped) [having lost it] | |
| 9 | Partners at table stifling expression of surprise and disdain (5) |
| SCORN – S N (partners at table – bridge) containing [stifling] COR (expression of surprise) | |
| 10 | The first person to turn against thing in protest (9) |
| OBJECTION – OBJECT (thing), NO 1 (the first person) reversed [to turn] | |
| 11 | Procedure that’s a possibility when time is limited (9) |
| OPERATION – OPTION (possibility) with ERA (time) contained [limited] | |
| 12 | Moral shortcoming that comes with drinks we hear (5) |
| LAPSE – Sounds like [we hear] “laps” (drinks) | |
| 13 | Hour of prayer held by canon everyday (4) |
| NONE – Hidden in [held by] {ca}NON E{veryday} | |
| 14 | Like Samson before his distressing experience (4-6) |
| LONG-HAIRED – Cryptic definition | |
| 18 | Drink with newspaper folk, their leader being inhibited (10) |
| SUPPRESSED – SUP (drink), PRESS (newspaper folk), ED (their leader – editor) | |
| 20 | Language restriction for listener (4) |
| THAI – Sounds like [for listener] “tie” (restriction) | |
| 23 | That fellow entertaining artist is depicting a king of Tyre (5) |
| HIRAM – HIM (that fellow) containing [entertaining] RA (artist) | |
| 24 | Sweet member of comic duo is reckless (9) |
| FOOLHARDY – FOOL (sweet – pudding), HARDY (member of comic duo – along with Laurel) | |
| 25 | Unruly clan, first to demonstrate in French region (9) |
| PROVENCAL – PROVE (demonstrate), anagram [unruly] of CLAN | |
| 26 | Small opening allows last couple to escape bear (5) |
| STOMA – STOMA{ch} (bear) [last couple to escape] | |
| 27 | Criminal activity around American city’s horse-racing (3,4) |
| THE FLAT – THEFT (criminal activity) contains [around] LA (American city). ‘On the flat’ and ‘over the sticks’ are just about the limit of my knowledge of horse racing. | |
| 28 | Withered, needing water, looking very hot (6) |
| SEARED – SEA (water), RED (looking very hot) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Ignores number occupying East Anglian town (9) |
| DISCOUNTS – COUNT (number) contained by [occupying] DISS (East Anglian town). It’s in Norfolk. | |
| 2 | Near where you may find bishop at home (5,2) |
| CLOSE IN – CLOSE (where you may find bishop), IN (at home). A close can be the precinct of a cathedral, hence the bishop reference. | |
| 3 | Fish on a minute religious symbol (6) |
| LINGAM – LING (fish), A, M (minute). I didn’t know this and I’m not sure I really needed to! SOED: A Hindu sacred object constituting a symbol of the god Siva, spec. (the representation of) a phallus. | |
| 4 | Little woman involved in row in French city (5) |
| DIJON – JO (little woman – as featured in Louisa May Alcott’s novel), contained by [involved in] DIN (row) | |
| 5 | Particular metallic elements in fruit (8) |
| PECULIAR – CU+LI (metallic elements – copper and lithium) contained by [in] PEAR (fruit) | |
| 6 | Mule as one coming a cropper in mud? (7) |
| SLIPPER – A definition and a cryptic hint | |
| 7 | Party in church led by tribe (5) |
| DANCE – DAN (tribe), CE (church) | |
| 8 | They may be spotted in a series of downward movements (8) |
| DOMINOES – A cryptic definition which I failed to solve as the checkers were not helpful and there’s little or nothing in the clue to suggest the field to which the answer might relate. This must be with reference to ‘domino effect’ by which one event triggers a succession of other, often similar, events, like a falling domino at the beginning of a line of upended dominoes (SOED). The curious thing is that as far as I’m aware there’s no game of dominoes that involves them being upended in a line so it’s odd that they should have acquired this particular meaning. | |
| 15 | Headless monster descending on magnificent city (8) |
| GRENOBLE – {o}GRE (monster) [headless], NOBLE (magnificent). ‘Descending’ is a placement indicator not required other to improve the surface reading. | |
| 16 | Farm worker cheated having taken in nonchalant old woman (9) |
| DAIRYMAID – DID (cheated) containing AIRY (nonchalant) + MA (old woman) | |
| 17 | English monarch with order, appropriately, for his enemy (8) |
| CROMWELL – CR (English monarch – Charles), OM (order), WELL (appropriately). The definition refers back to ‘English monarch’, in this case Charles I whose armies were defeated by Oliver Cromwell’s in the English Civil War. | |
| 19 | Resolve of top people with “proper accent” evident in attitude (7) |
| PURPOSE – U (top people) + RP (“proper accent” – received pronunciation) contained by [evident in] POSE (attitude) | |
| 21 | Nurse in shady part of garden south of hospital (7) |
| HARBOUR – H (hospital), ARBOUR (shady part of garden). One can nurse or harbour a grudge, for instance. | |
| 22 | Pure speed, fastest possible speed to begin with (6) |
| CHASTE – C (fastest possible speed), HASTE (speed). I understand that C in physics denotes the velocity of light in a vacuum. | |
| 23 | Go away from house with depression (3,2) |
| HOP IT – HO (house), PIT (depression) | |
| 24 | Feature of gem, diamond maybe, wrapped in paper (5) |
| FACET – ACE (diamond maybe) contained by [wrapped in] FT (paper) | |
Forty minutes on the nose for this one, with DOMINOES my LoI. It’s one of those words that’s ungettable from the checkers, and my brain got stuck on “solitons”, which would have been a brilliant answer to a different clue.
What on earth is ‘odo’ in the explanation of the answer?
Like many others DOMINOES was my last in. The last time such an unpromising set of checkers came up I failed to get DERRIERE, so I panicked a bit, but fortunately the answer just popped into my head.