Hello all. I took well over an hour on this and had to sleep on the last few, notably SMOLLETT and my last in, ARIOSO, for which I gave up and searched the dictionary. (I’m normally good at musical terms but two new ones for me here.) Some flair on display, but a few surfaces and constructions didn’t feel quite up to the usual high standard. Lots of double meanings means I would wager a few pennies (not from heaven!) in a game of “guess the setter.” Regardless of the result, thanks to the setter and sorry for being a bit grumpy!
Definitions are underlined in the clues below. In the explanations, quoted indicators are in italics, specified [deletions] are in square brackets, and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER. For clarity, I omit most link words and some juxtaposition indicators.
| Across | |
| 1a | Delight at confined bears (9) |
| CAPTIVATE — AT, which CAPTIVE (confined) holds (bears) | |
| 6a | Wood shaving redder initially? (5) |
| OSIER — [r]OSIER (redder) removing the first letter (shaving … initially) | |
| 9a | Nocturnal grazers try and cut back (7) |
| WOMBATS — STAB (try) and MOW (cut) reversed (back) | |
| 13a | Note that lifts the spirits? (5) |
| TONIC — It’s a musical note; a TONIC is also something which might “lift” or enhance spirits such as gin or vodka | |
| 14a | Whole business report written by that woman (7) |
| SHEBANG — BANG (report) written by SHE (that woman) | |
| 15a | Match catching alight at last — fire! (9) |
| STIMULATE — SIMULATE (match) taking in (catching) alighT at last | |
| 16a | Scary job of Mohawk maker? (4-7) |
| HAIR-RAISING — Definition plus an alternative interpretation of HAIR RAISING. The hairstyle is generally known as a Mohican in this country; Mohawk is the chiefly North American term | |
| 17a | Bit of lemon served with duck meat, novel! (6,5) |
| OLIVER TWIST — TWIST (bit of lemon) by O (duck) and LIVER (meat) | |
| 18a | Type of delivery to Alps proving slippery! (6) |
| POSTAL — TO ALPS anagrammed (proving slippery) | |
| 19a | Reddish-brown, something cheesy? (8) |
| CHESTNUT — Two meanings | |
| 21a | A pop song thus sung (6) |
| ARIOSO — A + RIO (pop song – by Duran Duran) + SO (thus). Chambers: “In the melodious manner of an aria, or between aria and recitative” | |
| 25a | Ecclesiastic figure (8) |
| CARDINAL — Definition, with figure also referring to a CARDINAL number | |
| 26a | Sharp, raising arm almost immediately? (5,2,3,4) |
| QUICK ON THE DRAW — Double definition | |
| 28a | Bodily cavity, pulmonary organ almost filled by yours truly (5) |
| LUMEN — LUNg (pulmonary organ) almost containing (filled by) ME (yours truly) | |
| 29a | Filled snack: bit into double servings of it (6) |
| SAMOSA — MO (bit) goes into two copies of (double serving of) SA (it) | |
| 30a | Strong wire for rebuilding in Berlin, say? (10) |
| SONGWRITER — STRONG WIRE anagrammed (for rebuilding) | |
| 33a | A band of colour? (4,6) |
| DEEP PURPLE — Double/cryptic definition | |
| 35a | Kid given detention by lecturer, monster! (6) |
| DRAGON — RAG (kid) held inside (given detention by) DON (lecturer) | |
| 36a | Plug broken by Greek character, little pest (5) |
| APHID — AD (plug) with insertion of (broken by) PHI (Greek character) | |
| 38a | Die, or come back from the dead? (4,2,3,5) |
| GIVE UP THE GHOST — The answer could possibly be interpreted as to come back from the dead. Perhaps in the sense of stopping being a ghost? | |
| 40a | A run embraced by numbers of New Yorkers on — this? (8) |
| MARATHON — A and R (run) surrounded by (embraced by) MATH (numbers of New Yorkers) + ON | |
| 42a | An obligation unfulfilled with ten accommodated in extra building (6) |
| ANNEXE — AN + NEEd (obligation) without the last letter (unfulfilled) with X (ten) inside (accommodated) | |
| 43a | Smash art, until split (4,4) |
| TURN TAIL — Make an anagram of (smash) ART, UNTIL | |
| 44a | Chicken wraps back in Kansas for dessert! (6) |
| MOUSSE — MOUSE (chicken – timid person) surrounds (wraps) the last letter of (back in) KansaS | |
| 47a | Opera about English ship, and German aria (6,5) |
| NESSUN DORMA — NORMA (opera) around (about) E (English), SS (ship) and UND (and, German) | |
| 50a | Add revenue fraudulently, accepting zero made an effort (11) |
| ENDEAVOURED — An anagram of (… fraudulently) ODD REVENUE taking in (accepting) O (zero) | |
| 52a | Cold gas, natural (9) |
| HEARTLESS — HE (gas, helium) + ARTLESS (natural) | |
| 53a | Naked folk I observed on holiday in African capital (7) |
| TRIPOLI — Without the outer letters (naked) fOLk plus I seen after (observed on) TRIP (holiday) | |
| 54a | Lover, one captured by pen in poetry? (5) |
| SWAIN — I (one) in (captured by) SWAN (pen) – “in poetry” belongs to the definition, indicating the word’s poetic nature | |
| 55a | Turner fan joins faction (4,3) |
| WING NUT — NUT (fan) joins WING (faction) | |
| 56a | Short selection from shorter selection (5) |
| TERSE — A selection from shorTER SElection | |
| 57a | Wasps for example near meal, thousand on carpet (5,4) |
| RUGBY TEAM — BY (near), TEA (meal) and M (thousand) on RUG (carpet) | |
| Down | |
| 1d | Hear song (5) |
| CATCH — Double definition. Chambers tells me a catch is “a round for three or more voices, often deriving comic effect from the interweaving of the words” | |
| 2d | Windfall, change in the air? (7,4,6) |
| PENNIES FROM HEAVEN — Definition plus a literal interpretation of the answer punning on change being coins | |
| 3d | Form relationships primarily visiting old people from South America? (11) |
| INCARNATION — The first letter of (… primarily) Relationships entering (visiting) INCA NATION (old people from South America?) | |
| 4d | Let oneself down while climbing, say, fib about underlying muscles (6) |
| ABSEIL — LIE (fib) reversed (about) beneath (underlying) ABS (muscles) | |
| 5d | Immeasurably vacuous, he gets ridiculed for observation (8) |
| EYESIGHT — An anagram of (… ridiculed) ImmeasurablY without inner letters (vacuous) and HE GETS | |
| 6d | Drink nothing and stretch before game (6,6) |
| ORANGE SQUASH — O (nothing) + RANGE (stretch) before SQUASH (game) | |
| 7d | Doing well at a decent prison? (2,4,4) |
| IN GOOD NICK — Another definition plus literal interpretation of an idiom | |
| 8d | Teacher shown up, good day for wise guy (5) |
| RISHI — In reverse (… shown up) SIR (teacher) + HI (good day) | |
| 9d | Fish a bit wet, I suspect, hard to slice through (9) |
| WHITEBAIT — An anagram of (… suspect) A BIT WET, I with H (hard) going inside (to slice through) | |
| 10d | Form of enumeration, one going up (11) |
| MOUNTAINEER — An anagram of (form of) ENUMERATION | |
| 11d | Raised in Detroit, a marvellous family of violinists (5) |
| AMATI — The answer is found backwards in (raised in) DetroIT, A MArvellous | |
| 12d | Cold and wet, shelter found in home on farm (6) |
| SLEETY — LEE (shelter) found in STY (home on farm) | |
| 18d | Something consumed in pub, Humpty Dumpty likely to fall off wall? (7,3) |
| PICKLED EGG — If Humpty Dumpty the EGG were PICKLED/drunk he might likely fall of the wall | |
| 20d | Full, but approximate (8) |
| THOROUGH — THO’ (but) + ROUGH (approximate) | |
| 22d | Barely touch on graze (7,3,7) |
| SCRATCH THE SURFACE — Two indications, the second literal | |
| 23d | King is monarch having succeeded a German emperor (6) |
| KAISER — K (king) followed by IS and ER (monarch) after (having succeeded) A | |
| 24d | Some cutting-edge steps taken? (5,5) |
| SWORD DANCE — A whimsical punning definition, perhaps also an &lit if you take the wordplay as SWORD (some cutting edge) + DANCE (steps taken) | |
| 27d | Scottish novelist whose beastly home visited by girlfriend (8) |
| SMOLLETT — SETT (beastly home) with the insertion of (visited by) MOLL (girlfriend) | |
| 31d | Warm when placed, say, upside down (6) |
| GENIAL — LAIN (placed) and EG (say) reversed (upside down) | |
| 32d | Finish and go too far? (5,3,4) |
| CROSS THE LINE — Two definitions | |
| 34d | In a stew, put beans out in freezer? (5,6) |
| PAUSE BUTTON — An anagram of (in a stew) PUT BEANS OUT | |
| 36d | A song you all murdered — likewise! (11) |
| ANALOGOUSLY — A SONG YOU ALL anagrammed (murdered) | |
| 37d | Later the beam will be split by axe, finally (10) |
| THEREAFTER — THE + RAFTER (beam) will be split by axE finally | |
| 39d | Runs and boundary I observed in cricket match, most stylish (9) |
| TRENDIEST — R (runs) and END (boundary) plus I observed in TEST (cricket match) | |
| 41d | Pig bothering a bird, owl (4,4) |
| WILD BOAR — We are anagramming (bothering) A BIRD, OWL | |
| 45d | Nevertheless, a hostel has opened today (6) |
| ANYHOW — A + YH (hostel) which has gone into (has opened) NOW (today) | |
| 46d | Wide rivet passed through muzzle (6) |
| GAPING — PIN (rivet) inside (passed through) GAG (muzzle) | |
| 48d | Turn around a country (5) |
| SPAIN — SPIN (turn) around A | |
| 49d | One having stopped others, here’s another test (5) |
| RESIT — I (one) inside (having stopped) REST (others) | |
| 51d | Material obtained via excavation, brought up (5) |
| DENIM — MINED (obtained via excavation) reversed (brought up) | |
I didn’t know that wombats are nocturnal, or that SMOLLETT was Scottish. DNK LUMEN in the relevant sense, DNK IN GOOD NICK. I liked CAPTIVATE & SAMOSA. I don’t think I’ve seen ‘ridiuled’ as an anagram indicator; not sure I care for it. Kitty, you’ve got typos at 14ac and 53ac.
Fixed – thanks Kevin.
My print-out has no workings other than a few anagram circles so I assume I found this easy.
My only question mark query, resolved on completion, was RIO in ARIOSO, but then I wouldn’t expect to know the name of any pop songs by Duran Duran. It may surprise some around here that I’ve even heard of them, but rest assured that the name of the band is the full extent of my knowledge and I’ve never knowingly heard any of their recordings.
Down with the kids!
I do this on paper and then enter my answers online to enter the competition. No chance of winning this time with no less than 3 typos on typing in my answers. Grr. All done on paper in just under 30 minutes, so at the easier end of the Jumbo level of difficulty. LOI OSIER thinking it meant basket rather than the wood to make one. DNK the pop song Rio, (obviously as I have never listened to pop music voluntarily, but like jackkt I had heard of the group). I don’t know how, but I vaguely recognised the name (Tobias) SMOLLETT having no idea who he/she was or what they had written. I see now, having looked him up, he was an 18th century writer. Crikey! Who would have heard of him these days, and why? I had ticks of appreciation against PENNIES FROM HEAVEN and MOUNTAINEER. Thanks Kitty and setter.
P.S. Who do you think the setter is, Kitty?
Quite straightforward, but I hesitated at the end of OSIER, which I couldn’t parse for some reason.
Rio is of course Duran Duran’s most famous song. Like a lot of old bands they’ve had something of a revival recently: I saw them play live in Hyde Park a couple of years ago and the audience was full of people my age who knew all the words.
Match=simulate in 18a is very loose indeed.