Time: 28.27
Cher mes amis, for our final solve of the year, we have animals in abundance, with reptiles; sharks; pets and rather smaller many-legged creatures to go in our open-air Zoo. And appropriately for New Year’s Eve, beer and gin as well.
A couple of slightly offbeat spellings and maybe lesser well known varieties of protestor and turtle but otherwise an obscurity-free grid.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Small dog circling large seal (4) |
| PLUG – PUG around L. | |
| 4 | Island stocking much drink for venue hosting big game? (6,4) |
| SAFARI PARK – SARK around FAR + IPA.
FAR as in “Sunderland were to the chagrin of every true Toon supporter far better than Newcastle on the day”. Indian Pale Ale originated in the UK for export to India in the nineteenth century, with the higher hop content over other pale ales acting as a natural preservative for the long voyage. |
|
| 9 | Serving game or possibly swan in Lent (4,6) |
| LAWN TENNIS – (SWAN IN LENT)*.
Nice definition. |
|
| 10 | Put gold periodically in front of one cross (4) |
| UGLI – UGL in front of I.
A cross between an orange and a grapefruit, originating on Jamaica and also known as the Jamaican Tangelo, UGLI being a little easier to clue. |
|
| 11 | Interrupt primate delivering Mass at home (4,2) |
| CHIP IN – CHIMP minus M + IN. | |
| 12 | Beaming adult in row visiting Derby? (8) |
| RADIANCE – Double containment clue – A in DIN surrounded by RACE, of which the Derby is an example. | |
| 14 | Hunter from Med destination avoided by crew (4) |
| ORCA – MENORCA minus MEN.
Minorca maybe a bit more common in the UK. |
|
| 15 | Maidens poorly record nameless garden’s creatures (10) |
| MILLEPEDES – M + ILL + EP + EDE(N)S.
Another alternative spelling. Without the clear parsing we might have seen a few MILLIPEDES. |
|
| 17 | Endure visit arranged by tense protestor (10) |
| HACKTIVIST – HACK + (VISIT)* + T.
Not sure `I knew this, but the -TIVIST part needed something on the front of it and BEARTIVIST seemed less likely. We had T for tense a few months back and I thought it was the first time I had encountered it, but as it seems to have appeared a few times since then, it must be more common than I realised. |
|
| 20 | Rent out of bounds outlets (4) |
| TORE – (S)TORE(S). | |
| 21 | Panic about a lot of good cosmetic use (8) |
| SKINCARE – SCARE around KIN(D). | |
| 23 | Mark barrel carried by retired setter repeatedly (6) |
| EMBLEM – Two EMs around BL.
BL for barrel is a rare visitor but it is in the dictionaries. |
|
| 24 | Orderly exchange of partners in rear (4) |
| NEAT – SEAT with the S changed to a N.
Bridge partners changing places. |
|
| 25 | Wavering daughter boarding soon? (2,3,5) |
| IN TWO MINDS – D inside [boarding] IN TWO MINS, which might be a way of indicating “soon”.
Nice clue. |
|
| 26 | Inattentive fool with note picked up blankets (5-5) |
| CLOTH-EARED – CLOT + HEARD around [blankets] E [a musical note]. | |
| 27 | Withdrawn grouch regularly left project (4) |
| HURL – HUR + L. | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 2 | Poet catching the second reptile (11) |
| LEATHERBACK – LEAR is our poet, which surrounds THE. Add BACK for that type of second.
This turtle was slow to come, as it didn’t immediately spring to mind; crossword poets are a-plenty, and I couldn’t see beyond MO and S for second. |
|
| 3 | Crowd quiet on long thin dock platform (9) |
| GANGPLANK – GANG [crowd] + P + LANK [long, thin]. | |
| 4 | Character upset bearing back and front part of chest (7) |
| STERNUM – MU is our character. Reverse it and make it bear STERN. | |
| 5 | Amusing builder outside supermarket run for parlour boss? (7,8) |
| FUNERAL DIRECTOR – FUN + (ERECTOR around ALDI + R).
I look forward to seeing LIDL clued soon. Other supermarkets available. |
|
| 6 | What’s left on uniform team adopts (7) |
| RESIDUE – RE [on] + (SIDE around [adopts] U). | |
| 7 | Element of legalese possibly ignored by judge (5) |
| ARGON – JARGON without the J. | |
| 8 | Stick cut of reared beef in kitchen (5) |
| KNIFE – Reverse hidden.
KNIFE as a verb here, I think. |
|
| 13 | One vocally rouses singer broken by English article (11) |
| CHEERLEADER – Our singer is CHER which parts to include an E. Add LEADER for a newspaper article.
Tricky definition of article and one of our lesser spotted crossword warblers. |
|
| 16 | Cycling charts originally in study happily found (9) |
| ESTABLISH – TABLES cycles to become ESTABL. Then first letters as shown in red. | |
| 18 | Fancy English and French friend returning full of spirit (7) |
| IMAGINE – Reverse E + AMI and insert GIN. | |
| 19 | Means of access in cargo area below tug declared (7) |
| TOEHOLD – HOLD underneath a homophone of tow. | |
| 21 | Really pleasant belting out last bit of sound (5) |
| SONIC – SO NIC(E). | |
| 22 | Got around boring satellite state (5) |
| IDAHO – Reversal of HAD inside [boring] our favourite moon, IO. | |
50 minutes. I’ve got used to T for Tense but I don’t think I’ve seen BL for Barrel or A for Adult before.
Trickyish as I failed to get 8 in the bottom but I was one of the few who have heard of HACKTIVIST and the ones I did get I got very quickly. I also fell into the ‘torn’ bear trap. A slightly early happy new years to you all!
Finished the year on a high with a rare no-aid-solve! LOI HACKTIVIST – I had the TIVIST, but spent far too long trying to think of _A_K words for endure.
Too many great clues to pick a favourite. Thanks setter!