1376 was the Saturday puzzle from that glorious Easter weekend. Thankfully it was very much on the gentler side so we were all able to knock it off pretty quickly and get back into the garden, weren’t we? (may not apply to overseas solvers).
I was all done and dusted in about 30 minutes, starting with MOB-HANDED and forgetting to note what my LOI was. Duh.
Clues are in blue with the definition undelined. Anagram indicators are in bold italics.
Notation:
DD: Double definition
CD: Cryptic definition
DDCDH: DD/CD hybrid where a straight definition is combined with a cryptic hint.
&Lit: “all in one” where the entire clue is both definition and wordplay.
(fodder)* denotes an anagram of the letters in the brackets.
Rounded brackets are also used to add further clarity
Squiggly brackets {} indicate parts of a word not used
Deletions are struck out
Square brackets [ ] expand an abbreviation or shortening like N[orth]
Across |
|
1 |
Doctor put into a group round hospital with many others (3-6) |
MOB-HANDED – M[edical] O[fficer] BANDED around H[ospital] |
|
6 |
One who’s not genuine scarecrow (3,2,5) |
MAN OF STRAW – DD |
|
12 |
Runner arrives in haste at start of relay (7) |
HARRIER – ARR[ives] in HIE then R{elay} |
|
13 |
Meeting of alumni? There’s a thing (9) |
OBSESSION – O[ld] B[oy] SESSION |
|
14 |
One page coming out of directory (5) |
RECTO – hidden |
|
16 |
A quiet period assembling for a fast start (3,9) |
ASH WEDNESDAY – A, SH, WEDNESDAY. Period for Wednesday struck me as a bit odd. |
|
17 |
Receive two presents but not make further advance (3,7) |
GET NOWHERE – GET, NOW, HERE. Neat. |
|
19 |
Old police supervisors choosing what to close round wrists? (5,9) |
WATCH COMMITTEE – DDCDH. In England and Wales, watch committees were the local government bodies which oversaw policing from 1835 until, in some areas, 1968. |
|
22 |
Fair experience very popular with creep (3,5) |
BIG WHEEL – BIG, W[ith] HEEL |
|
24 |
Defector from Scottish party returning her dress? (6) |
TARTAN – NAT[ionalist] RAT reversed |
|
25 |
Politician tending to arouse lecherous thoughts, by agreement (10) |
CONSENSUAL – CON[servative] SENSUAL |
|
26 |
Violinist, say, during and at the end of recital? (5) |
BOWER – CD playing on two different senses (and pronunciations) of BOW |
|
29 |
Go over and over something on the drums (4) |
ROLL – DD |
|
30 |
Heavily defeat male, since all but untouchable (8) |
MASSACRE – M[ale], AS, SACRE{d} |
|
32 |
Even biography is an art form (5,4) |
STILL LIFE – STILL, LIFE |
|
34 |
This term oddly tires me out (9) |
TRIMESTER – T{e}R{m} (tiresme)* |
|
35 |
Inopportune fret by half back (8) |
MISTIMED – MIST (as in sea fret, say) + DEMI reversed |
|
36 |
Manages to drop daughter in marshland (4) |
FENS – FEN |
|
39 |
Get cracking, say, to open container (5) |
BEGIN – E.G. in BIN |
|
40 |
Plant second holy book (good!) in church (4,6) |
MOCK ORANGE – MO, then KORAN G[ood] in C[hurch of] E[ngland] |
|
42 |
Presumably happy about one omitted from speech (6) |
UNSAID – “UNSAD” around I |
|
44 |
Searching for this, Marcel fell behind (4,4) |
LOST TIME – DDCDH with the cryptic bit based around Marcel Proust’s À la recherche du temps perdu |
|
46 |
Illnesses later devastated island group (6,8) |
LESSER ANTILLES – (illnesses later)* |
|
48 |
Summarily dismissed in speech all the time (10) |
THROUGHOUT – sounds like THREW OUT. Any dissenters? |
|
49 |
Current situation of the national myth? (3,2,3,4) |
LIE OF THE LAND – DDCDH |
|
53 |
Meaning to float along (5) |
DRIFT – DD (get my drift?) |
|
54 |
Principally relied on such a drive in a British vehicle (5-4) |
RIGHT-HAND – DD |
|
55 |
One may be boring these days, joining in rough fight (7) |
BRADAWL – A[nno] D[omini] in BRAWL |
|
56 |
“Where is the college porter?” barmaid said (4,6) |
BEER CELLAR – Sounds like BEER SELLER. Any dissenters? “College” just seems to have been added to aid the story in the surface reading. |
|
57 |
Setter chosen — assess regularly for brevity (9) |
TERSENESS – {set}TER {cho}SEN {ass}ESS. Unusual but perfectly OK. “Regularly” doesn’t always have to mean alternate letters. |
Down |
|
1 |
Slowly transform school party going over hotel (5) |
MORPH – PROM reversed, H[otel] |
|
2 |
Literary castle often veiled (10) |
BRIDESHEAD – DDCDH. I can’t help thinking there’s a “that’s” or similar missing. |
|
3 |
A monarch abandoning modern art, rejected as without purpose (2,6) |
AT RANDOM – A, (modernart)* without the E[lizabeth] R[egina]. “Rejected” strikes me as a slighly flaky anagrind. |
|
4 |
Refuse Duke Lawrence (5) |
DROSS – D[uke] Ross. Apparently T.E. Lawrence was also known as John Hume Ross. *shrugs* |
|
5 |
Philosopher taking sort of lead, with children round about (9) |
DESCARTES – Back on familiar territory with one of the philosophers from the Monty Python song. Constructed by putting SCART (one of those video leads with the funny-shaped ends) into SEED reversed. |
|
6 |
Paste is inserted by doctor (4) |
MISO – IS in our doctor from 1 across. |
|
7 |
Properly fixed, having got worse after November (6) |
NAILED – AILED after N[ovember] |
|
8 |
Paper money minister initially covered in restrictions (9,5) |
FINANCIAL TIMES – FINANCIAL, M{inister} in TIES |
|
9 |
Delivered curve ball, perhaps, got very upset (5,1,6) |
THREW A WOBBLY – DDCDH |
|
10 |
In a Med island clubs grow together (7) |
ACCRETE – C[lubs] in A CRETE |
|
11 |
Wheatear chewed and eaten by senior bird (10) |
SHEARWATER – (wheatear)* in S[enio]R |
|
15 |
Excessive lavender and rosemary at first in round border (9) |
OVERLARGE -L{avender} A{nd} R{osemary} in O VERGE |
|
18 |
Not so much needed to cover girl, being thin (8) |
LEANNESS – LESS around ANNE |
|
20 |
Sensational preoccupation about running water (9) |
THRILLING – THING around RILL |
|
21 |
Crazed drummer’s means of transport (10) |
MOONSTRUCK – (Keith) MOON’s TRUCK |
|
23 |
Nursing leg, shot — by him? (10) |
GUNSLINGER – (nursing leg)* |
|
27 |
What everyone supports the tiniest bit: government (9) |
WHITEHALL -EH, ALL under (supporting) WHIT |
|
28 |
No atmosphere? I’m having to change double act (9,5) |
PANTOMIME HORSE – (no atmosphere I’m)* |
|
31 |
Made manure as temperature dropped in calm (8) |
COMPOSED – COMPOSTED with T[emperature] kicked out |
|
33 |
Paste up a brunette, top of torso retouched (6,6) |
PEANUT BUTTER – (up a brunette T{orso})* |
|
34 |
Not to be touched on behind, daughter ordered (9) |
TABULATED – TABU, LATE, D[aughter] |
|
37 |
Inch round close to the blue delta, not across the bay? (4-6) |
SIDE-SADDLE – SIDLE around {th}E SAD D{elta}. Great definition. |
|
38 |
At home, box inlaid with pine missing its top — turn to ash (10) |
INCINERATE – IN CRATE around |
|
41 |
Stalin as a vicious aggressor (9) |
ASSAILANT – (stalin as a)* |
|
43 |
Not mentally sound, take horse out? (8) |
UNSTABLE – DDCDH |
|
45 |
Set of dishes for ceremony (7) |
SERVICE – DD |
|
47 |
Good-time girl’s sort of infection (6) |
FUNGAL – FUN GAL |
|
50 |
Stranger backing Communist Party (5) |
ODDER – RED DO reversed |
|
51 |
President commonly received a text (5) |
ADAMS – ‘AD A MS (manuscript) |
|
52 |
Hollywood figure perhaps, half naked (4) |
STAR – STAR{kers} |
While I’m here, and since I can’t edit my comment, I meant “castle?” not “castle”? Didn’t think Brideshead was a castle.
I would always write “Castle?” but did I once read somewhere that some or all Murcans write “Castle”?
Having neither read nor watched Brideshead Revisited I have no idea if it’s a castle, stately home, mansion or manor.
ONG’ARA,
NAIROBI.
Never heard of WATCH COMMITTEE. I assume they weren’t watching for wildlings and white walkers.
In 3dn ‘rejected’ would indeed be a flaky anagram indicator, but it isn’t. It’s a reversal.
When I look at my solved puzzle on the website it won’t let me scroll down to the bottom, so I can’t see anything I’ve put in under DRIFT. Does anyone else have this problem?
I’m also having a problem whereby every so often I get a ‘bad request’ message and I have to clear cookies to regain access to the site. Do you have that problem too?
Edited at 2019-05-05 10:03 am (UTC)