45 minutes. The left side went in easily enough and many of the clues might have appeared in a QC without causing too many problems, but I struggled a little more with some on the right, especially 5dn with its unknown monkey.
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 | Great politician spoken of as an important person (6) |
| BIGWIG – BIG (great), WIG sounds like [spoken of as] “Whig” (politician). The Whigs were the forerunners of the Liberal party in the UK, 17th-19th century. | |
| 4 | Composer — mostly rich and very happy (8) |
| BLISSFUL – BLISS (composer – Sir Arthur), FUL{l} (rich) [mostly] | |
| 10 | Arrived carrying hotel sign with name, for colour changer (9) |
| CHAMELEON – CAME (arrived) containing [carrying] H (hotel), LEO (sign), N (name) | |
| 11 | Vehicle to move tanker’s fuel, say (5) |
| CARGO – CAR (vehicle), GO (move) | |
| 12 | Make a lot of church service for Mussolini? (4-7) |
| MASS-PRODUCE – MASS (church service), PRO (for), DUCE (Mussolini) | |
| 14 | What makes cuts — in A&E that’s wrong! (3) |
| AXE – X (that’s wrong, as opposed to ✔ that’s right) contained by [in] A{&}E | |
| 15 | Clear — chap’s back in love (7) |
| SMITTEN – NET (clear), TIM’S (chap’s) reversed [back] | |
| 17 | Book muckspreader with 50% reduction (6) |
| READER – {mucksp}READER [with 50% reduction]. Six of one and half-a-dozen of the other. | |
| 19 | Supplement cosmetics (4-2) |
| MAKE-UP – Two meanings, although I believe the first one is two words and wouldn’t take a hyphen | |
| 21 | React angrily where university abandons Old English (7) |
| BRISTLE – BRIST{o}L (university) [abandons old], E (English). Universities in clues are become more diverse and it’s not very helpful as just about all UK cities and most towns of any significance have one. I’m not sure if BRISTOL has come up before, but we have seen Reading quite often. | |
| 23 | Selfishly keep house key (3) |
| HOG – HO (house), G (key) | |
| 24 | Happy with debts recorded as controversial (11) |
| CONTENTIOUS – CONTENT (happy), IOUS (debts recorded) | |
| 26 | Play again on middle of March and middle of June (5) |
| RERUN – RE (on), {ma}R{ch} [middle], {j}UN{e} [middle] | |
| 27 | Holy recluse has to make fast shortly before mass? (9) |
| ANCHORITE – ANCHO{r}(make fast) [shortly], RITE (mass). One of the many words I have only met in crossword puzzles. | |
| 29 | Unusually pitched battle beside Cornish river (8) |
| FALSETTO – FAL (Cornish river), SET TO (battle) | |
| 30 | Final disclosure about farmed meat (6) |
| REVEAL – RE (about), VEAL (farmed meat) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Support nearly all right at the end (8) |
| BACKMOST – BACK (support), MOST (nearly all) | |
| 2 | Girl’s after good mirror (5) |
| GLASS – G (good), LASS (girl) | |
| 3 | Diamonds to decorate (3) |
| ICE – Two meanings, the second re cake-making for example | |
| 5 | Inactivity of monkey without oxygen (7) |
| LANGUOR – LANGUR (monkey) containing [without] O (oxygen). My LOI and a really hard clue if one doesn’t happen to know of the monkey. | |
| 6 | Office staff restricted air temperature (11) |
| SECRETARIAT – SECRET (restricted), ARIA (air), T (temperature) | |
| 7 | The last word in enduring time and space (9) |
| FIRMAMENT – AMEN (the last word) contained by [in] FIRM (enduring) + T (time). AMEN clued as ‘the last word’ also came up in the QC I blogged yesterday. | |
| 8 | Free toilets just north of East Newton (6) |
| LOOSEN – LOOS (toilets) on top of [just north of] E (East), N (Newton – unit of force) | |
| 9 | Lament of man about extinct bird (6) |
| BEMOAN – BEN (man) containing [about] MOA (extinct bird) | |
| 13 | Place religious education before science? Not I. Rot! (11) |
| PUTRESCENCE – PUT (place), RE (religious education), SC{i}ENCE [not I] | |
| 16 | Original popular painting’s lost millions after a month (9) |
| INAUGURAL – IN (popular), AUG (month), {m}URAL (painting) [lost millions] | |
| 18 | He sells a mobile home by the coast, perhaps (8) |
| SEASHELL – Anagram [mobile] of HE SELLS A. Home or former home of a marine mollusc. | |
| 20 | Queen perhaps supporting state founder’s flag (7) |
| PENNANT – PENN (state founder), ANT (queen, perhaps). It’s not often we have ‘queen’ as ‘ant’; it’s more usually a bee or female cat. | |
| 21 | American writer’s book cool about the Queen (6) |
| BIERCE – B (book), ICE (cool) containing [about] ER (the Queen). Ambrose Bierce 1842-1914, only just about known to me but I recognised the surname when I had constructed it from wordplay. | |
| 22 | Ruler constructed from fir and ash (6) |
| SHARIF – Anagram of [constructed from] FIR ASH, known to me as a ruler indirectly via Omar of that name | |
| 25 | Old brown wire is green (5) |
| OLIVE – O (old), LIVE (brown wire) | |
| 28 | Poem found in ciphers released by Civil Service? (3) |
| ODE – {c}ODE{s} (ciphers) [released by Civil Service] | |
Thx jackkt and setter.
I agree that much of Bierce’s Devil’s Dictionary is just as true today !
Edited at 2019-03-19 06:18 pm (UTC)
Off to a flying start with ICE that was quickly followed by MASS PRODUCE. Knew the monkey and LANGUOR was another early entry.
Had SECRETARIES originally at 6d and was only able to fix this up late when CONTENTIOUS finally fell.
Finished in the NW corner with SMITTEN (quite tricky), BACKMOST (unusual word) and BIGWIG (that became obvious with all of the crossers, but impossible before that).
This one was a gap in my ‘done pile’ record, so was able to find in my back issues of The Australian and managed to do it again without remembering any of it … and then stunned to see my comment above.
Obviously there was some subliminal memories as it only took 25 min this time and finished in the opposite corner with REVEAL and ODE.
(very red face !)