I needed an hour for this, but even then one of my answers had been bunged in solely from the definition, and it was tentative as I had no idea what the rest of the clue was about. Apart from two long answers, around three-quarters of the grid had been completed within my target half-hour, but then I ran into major problems with the fourth quarter (the SE) which stumped me completely for what seemed like forever. Eventually the anagram at 16dn gave way and one by one the remaining answers slowly fell into place.
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]. I usually omit all reference to positional indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.
 Across |
|
| 1 | Cat losing seconds repeatedly chasing shy rodent (5) |
| COYPU | |
| COY (shy), PU{ss} (cat) [losing seconds repeatedly] | |
| 4 | Plan to squander and run off (9) |
| BLUEPRINT | |
| BLUE (squander), PRINT (run off) | |
| 9 | Home with trees arranged in small group (9) |
| THREESOME | |
| Anagram [arranged] of HOME TREES | |
| 10 | Atmosphere about street is bustling (5) |
| ASTIR | |
| AIR (atmosphere) containing [about] ST (street) | |
| 11 | Live with success around German city (6) |
| LUBECK | |
| LUCK (success) containing [around] BE (live). I nearly died of food poisoning there in 1989. | |
| 12 | Change the appearance of flag, not new (8) |
| REDESIGN | |
| RED E{n}SIGN (flag) [not new]. It’s the flag of the British Merchant Navy. | |
| 14 | Dismantle vehicle for the purpose of working a series of panels (5,7) |
| STRIP CARTOON | |
| STRIP (dismantle), CAR (vehicle), TO (for the purpose of), ON (working). ‘Panel’ is the technical term it seems. | |
| 17 | Brief result I brought about? Far from it (12) |
| FILIBUSTERER | |
| Anagram [brought about] of BRIEF RESULT I. I think most if not all of the clue is the definition. To filibuster is to obstruct (often legislation) by employing delaying tactics. This was one of the long answers that contributed to my difficulties although I know the word well. | |
| 20 | Victorian work is old anthem entirely unfinished (8) |
| IOLANTHE | |
| I{s} + OL{d} + ANTHE{m} [entirely – all – unfinished]. Not the most helpful of definitions but the wordplay was useful in identifying the well-known comic opera by Gilbert & Sullivan | |
| 21 | Perhaps dredge river in front of submarine dock (6) |
| DEEPEN | |
| DEE (river), PEN (submarine dock). Another clue that held me up. I knew there is a special word for submarine moorings but was unable to remember it until the checkers arrived. | |
| 23 | Something that may give one a lift from doctor on Thursday (5) |
| THUMB | |
| THU (Thursday), MB (doctor). ‘Give’ seems intended to mislead here. | |
| 24 | Balance arm is caught in edges of one (9) |
| EQUIPOISE | |
| EQUIP (arm – supply), then IS contained by [caught in] O{n}E [edges]. Another word that took me ages to construct from wordplay. It’s not one I’m particularly familiar with although I remember TV advertisements for ‘equipoise lamps’. | |
| 25 | At one time included, quoted in vain (9) |
| CONCEITED | |
| CITED (quoted) with ONCE (at one time) included | |
| 26 | Delightful one for the king in lodge (5) |
| SWEET | |
| This was my LOI. Although I had thought of ‘sweet’ as a possible answer quite early in the proceedings, at that stage I had no checkers and was unable to parse the remainder of the clue so I held off writing it in, convinced there had to be an alternative word for ‘delightful’ that would make everything fall into place. But gradually the checkers arrived and SWEET it had to be so I bunged it in and stopped the clock. Having confirmed by revealing the answer that it was correct and I wasn’t wasting my time I then continued trying to parse it. Here’s my conclusion:
WE (one for the king) contained by [in] SET (lodge). As Wiki has it, “the royal we, majestic plural, or royal plural, is the use of a plural pronoun…by a single person who is a monarch or holds a high office to refer to themselves.” It’s actually a way of avoiding saying ‘I’ which ‘one’ in the clue already has covered, so I’m not entirely convinced it works unless we’re supposed to reason that ‘one = I = royal we’ – but perhaps I’m overthinking it. The most memorable use by a non-royal came from Margaret Thatcher on the birth of her first grandchild when she issued a press release announcing “We have become a grandmother”. As with many statements by Maggie, this led to adverse comments. I took some convincing that ‘lodge = set’ but it’s in my thesaurus in the 6th and final tranche of meanings so I suppose it’s ok. |
|
| Down |
|
| 1 | Note girl is after hairstyle that’s refined (3-5) |
| CUT-GLASS | |
| CUT (hairstyle), G (note), LASS (girl). This is used figuratively in the expression ‘cut-glass accent‘ to describe a manner of speaking that’s characterized by excessively careful enunciation. | |
| 2 | Rhea, perhaps under three feet, captive in the US (8) |
| YARDBIRD | |
| YARD (three feet), BIRD (rhea, perhaps). I knew this only from the nickname of the saxophonist Charlie Parker and there was an English pop group called The Yardbirds. I see it has several meanings in the USA, one being ‘convict’ which matches the definition here. | |
| 3 | Cube confused with exponential? Unlikely to be called out (15) |
| UNEXCEPTIONABLE | |
| Anagram [confused] of CUBE EXPONENTIAL. I got this from the anagram but was not sure what exactly it means. SOED obliges with ‘perfectly satisfactory or adequate’, so ‘unlikely to be called out’ or challenged. | |
| 4 | Float to purchase a container for oxygen (4) |
| BUOY | |
| BUY (purchase) containing [a container for] O (oxygen) | |
| 5 | Odd time almost completely quiet (10) |
| UNEVENTFUL | |
| UNEVEN (odd), T (time), FUL{l} (completely) [almost] | |
| 6 | Film a sheep running under tree on old homestead (6,2,3,4) |
| PLANET OF THE APES | |
| PLANE (tree), TOFT (old homestead), then anagram [running] of A SHEEP. This was another answer that gave me major problems as it was one of my last clues solved and its long absence deprived me of checkers to help with four words in the troublesome SE corner. I realised when writing the blog that I had failed to account for T OF T but fortunately the SOED came to my assistance with this entry: toft – a homestead, the site of a house and its outbuildings. Freq. in toft and croft, an entire holding, consisting of the homestead and attached plot of arable land. OE. I never ever ‘eard of it! | |
| 7 | Know instinctively northern dweller accepts temperature (6) |
| INTUIT | |
| INUIT (northern dweller) contains [accepts] T (temperature) | |
| 8 | Seat of power good for European crowd (6) |
| THRONG | |
| THRON{e} (seat of power) becomes THRONG when G (good) stands in for E (European) | |
| 13 | British worker embracing to some extent chaps in exile (10) |
| BANISHMENT | |
| B (British), ANT (worker) containing [embracing] ISH (to some extent – suffix) + MEN (chaps) | |
| 15 | Lead with buffet covered in fruit (8) |
| GRAPHITE | |
| HIT (buffet) contained by [covered in] GRAPE (fruit). Graphite is used for making pencil ‘lead’ so the clue works colloquially, but no doubt there will be the usual objections. | |
| 16 | Division of church in ten parts roughly (8) |
| TRANSEPT | |
| Anagram [roughly] of TEN PARTS. It crosses the nave to make the cruciform in a church. This was the breakthrough answer that eventually took me out of the doldrums. I’ve no idea why I needed so long to work it out. | |
| 18 | Mexican, note, cross with detective (6) |
| MIXTEC | |
| MI (note – music), X (cross), TEC (detective). I feel I should be ashamed to admit that I didn’t know this word, but this would seem to be its first appearance in the TfTT era. | |
| 19 | Adviser to Charlemagne Gauls caution regularly (6) |
| ALCUIN | |
| {g}A{u}L{s} C{a}U{t}I{o}N [regularly]. This was Alcuin of York (735-804) scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher. I didn’t know about his association with Charlemagne but I was aware of him from the age of about 7 when I attended a prep school named in his honour. | |
| 22 | Kitty’s daughter chasing light-hearted pleasure (4) |
| FUND | |
| FUN (light-hearted pleasure), D (daughter) | |
I was thinking that that usage (both the wording of the clue, and also the usage of “we” for “one”, “I”, or “me” by the English Royals) refers to a specific King, Charles, andnot some random king.
Same difficulties as many others, especially with SWEET, REDESIGN ; but to my shame NHO LUBECK either. Also NHO ALCUIN or MIXTEC, but following the cryptic allowed for them to be solved. I too had a bit of trouble with the film, not realising an anagram of sheep was needed, and looking for a tup/ram/ewe in there somewhere! Finally figured it out though, after the plane tree hove into view. No problem with IOLANTHE ( having played a small part in a school production of it), nor with EQUIPOISE , which is a lovely word IMHO. Oh and I had a problem with BUOY, which I invariably spell wrongly!