Solving time: 55 minutes with the last quarter-hour on 15ac, 13ac and 13dn
I got off to a great start at the top of the grid but then slowed down drastically so that I was beginning to wonder if I would ever finish without recourse to aids. Writing the blog wasn’t exactly a doddle either, and there’s one parsing I’m not sure of.
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]. “Aural wordplay” is in quotation marks. I usually omit all reference to juxtaposition indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.
 Across |
|
| 1 | Furniture component well attached to lower surface (9) |
| BEDSPRING | |
| BED (lower surface), SPRING (well) | |
| 6 | Revolutionary way figure presents (5) |
| GIFTS | |
| ST (way – street) + FIG (figure – abbreviation) reversed [revolutionary] | |
| 9 | Call telephone number about lock (7) |
| RINGLET | |
| RING (call), then TEL (telephone number – abbreviation) reversed [about] | |
| 10 | Amateur mural ultimately delineated with felt-tip pen (7) |
| DABBLER | |
| {mura}L [ultimately] contained by [delineated with] DABBER (felt-tip pen). I didn’t know this, but Collins has: dabber – a felt-tip pen with a very broad writing point, used esp by bingo players to cancel numbers on their cards. ‘Delineate’ can mean to set boundaries, so I guess that justifies ‘delineated’ as a containment indicator. | |
| 11 | Discussed current plan (5) |
| DRAFT | |
| Aural wordplay [discussed]: “draught” (current of air) | |
| 12 | Scientist’s novel shocked nation (9) |
| NEWTONIAN | |
| NEW (novel), anagram [shocked] of NATION. The apostrophe S is crucial to the definition here. |
|
| 13 | Scraps publicity charges for boring items (8) |
| BRADAWLS | |
| AD (publicity) is contained by [charges] BRAWLS (scraps). This is a tool for boring holes, resembling a small, sharpened screwdriver. ‘Awl’ appears quite regularly in crosswords and I’m not sure whether it’s an alternative name or a similar device that differs in some way. | |
| 14 | Asian city a German visited regularly (4) |
| AGRA | |
| A, G{e}R{m}A{n} [visited regularly] | |
| 17 | Shy to caress, releasing anxiety (4) |
| TOSS | |
| TO, {care}SS [releasing anxiety – care]. ‘Shy’ in this sense is perhaps best known from the coconut shy at fairgrounds and fetes. | |
| 18 | Live in backward sleepy area somewhere in Spain (8) |
| BENIDORM | |
| BE, then IN reversed [backward], DORM (sleepy area – informal abbreviation of dormitory) | |
| 21 | Lacking practice, fix cocktail (5,4) |
| RUSTY NAIL | |
| RUSTY (lacking practice), NAIL (fix). NHO this. Typical ingredients are Scotch whisky (45-60 ml), Drambuie (25-30 ml), Ice, Lemon twist (optional). | |
| 22 | Sketch encapsulates back of designer garment (5) |
| SKIRT | |
| SKIT (sketch) contains [encapsulates] {designe}R [back of…] | |
| 24 | Following cut, Freudian slips not broadcast (7) |
| UNAIRED | |
| Anagram [slips] of {f}REUDIAN [following cut from it] | |
| 25 | Foodstuff from plant covering lake roughly to the west (7) |
| TREACLE | |
| TREE (plant), containing [covering] L (lake) + CA (roughly – circa) reversed [to the west] | |
| 26 | Old obsolete Tesla parts returned (5) |
| DATED | |
| T (Tesla – logo) is contained by [parts] DEAD (obsolete) reversed [returned]. Edit: Thanks to Paul for pointing out that Tesla (T) was an SI unit before it became a car brand. I never got that far in my O-Level physics. | |
| 27 | Set period to tidy up place again (9) |
| REDEPOSIT | |
| Anagram [tidy up] of SET PERIOD | |
| Down |
|
| 1 | Inferior shelters engineers exposed (5) |
| BARED | |
| BAD (inferior) contains [shelters] RE (engineers) | |
| 2 | Not totally evident a lass is tantalising healthcare worker (6,9) |
| DENTAL ASSISTANT | |
| Hidden in [not totally] {evi}DENT A LASS IS TANT{alising}. Amazing! | |
| 3 | Splendid taking up tour of chambers overlooking river (8) |
| PALATIAL | |
| LAP (tour) reversed [taking up], AT{r}IAL (of chambers) [overlooking river]. Two of the chambers of the heart are the left atrium and right atrium. Plural = ‘atria’, and pertaining to / of these = ‘atrial’. This answer appeared in yesterday’s puzzle and gave some commenters a problem. | |
| 4 | Where circus acts perform bounds of lunacy with determination (8) |
| INTENTLY | |
| IN TENT (where circus acts perform), L{unac}Y [bounds of…] | |
| 5 | Happen to stop working (2,4) |
| GO DOWN | |
| Two meanings. The second was obvious as we are all used to systems going down, but I had to turn to Collins for the other one: To go down means to happen. [informal] ‘What’s going down? Any ideas?’. I thought everyone said ‘What’s occurring?’ these days. | |
| 6 | Turning fat, short skinny monkey (6) |
| GIBBON | |
| BIG (fat) reversed [turning], BON{y} (skinny) [short] | |
| 7 | Breaking down feelings with Capitol riots (7,2,6) |
| FALLING TO PIECES | |
| Anagram [riots] of FEELINGS CAPITOL | |
| 8 | Tattered rag’s first of many torn using physical force (6-3) |
| STRONG-ARM | |
| Anagram [tattered] of RAG’S + M{any} [first of…] + TORN. As in strong-arm tactics. |
|
| 13 | Discuss speed on a cycle (3,6) |
| BAT AROUND | |
| I’m not sure of this one, a kind of reverse-cryptic perhaps? TAB (speed – drug) reversed [on a cycle] = BAT AROUND. Or am I missing something obvious? If my parsing is correct I felt the clue needed a question mark. Edit: Thanks to those below who have pointed out that some sources have ‘bat’ = ‘speed’, which certainly simplifies matters. | |
| 15 | Dispirited and fed up with tardy daughter (8) |
| DEFLATED | |
| FED reversed [up], LATE (tardy), D (daughter) | |
| 16 | Thoroughly investigates lodgings of Parisian with record (4,4) |
| DIGS DEEP | |
| DIGS (lodgings), DE (‘of’ Parisian), EP (record) | |
| 19 | Cross top of range by climbing concealed nets (6) |
| HYBRID | |
| HID (concealed), contains [nets] R{ange} + BY reversed [climbing] | |
| 20 | Look chestnut horse over (6) |
| GANDER | |
| RED (chestnut) + NAG (horse) reversed [over]. I’m a little surprised that ‘gander’ meaning ‘look’ appears to have originated in the USA, something to do with geese having long necks which they stretch to stare at things. | |
| 23 | River split after type of junction (5) |
| TRENT | |
| T (type of junction), RENT (split). The third longest river in the UK after the Severn and the Thames. | |
I enjoyed this puzzle, got there slowly under my own steam with only DABBER a bit of a guess. I convinced myself “bat along” was a phrase I’d heard before. Only one post-completion trip to the dictionary to find out why palatial has a “t” and not a “c”. Thanks for the blog!
52 minutes – but after a long and stressful day at work, and some less stressful wine. Parsed OK but NHO bat=speed, or ‘dabber’=felt- tip pen. Nice puzzle!
Tough, but got there. Like others L2I were BAT and TOSS, though I kinda remember “going at a fair bat” from about the 1960s. Failed to parse that, and dabber… what? My grandfather was a carpenter, had bradawls, taught my father who also had them, he failed to teach me – my fault, a bit of a klutz with handtools but I knew the word.
30:27
Didn’t know BAT = speed, but otherwise pretty good progress. No problem with BENIDORM though I have neither visited it, nor watched the tv programme.
Thanks Jack and setter
Thoroughly enjoyed, especially after seeing the long hidden in 2d, which helped confirm RINGLET , RUSTY NAIL and UNAIRED. God knows how I know of the cocktail, as I’m not into them. Unfortunately this didn’t help with TOSS or BRADAWLS ( which NHO, but should have guessed); and I also mis-spelled BENIDORM with a central E, rendering DIGS DEEP impossible. Fitted this one into my morning breakfast ritual, so am quite happy.