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I found this mostly quite straight-forward, but one or two of the clues are a bit tricky… and one mystifies me if there isn’t something missing. Perhaps one of you can explain. [Edit: Thanks to Chris of Bermondsey for putting me out of my misery – see comments below]. Some of the long ones were quite biffable once checkers were in place, but I’ve done my duty by checking the parsing for you. So put your hard hats on and join me on an adventure through the building site of this rather good crossword. Thanks are due to our knight errant setter for an interesting global peregrination, sometimes by sleeper train, from America and the West Indies in a new boat, to London and York, Poland and Illyria, and then through the Congo, Tanzania, Burma and Vietnam before arriving in New Zealand. |
| Across | |
| 1 | Scholar regularly eating toast in part of Vietnam (6-5) |
| COCHIN-CHINA – This is every other letter of sChOlAr [regularly] containing [eating] CHIN-CHIN (toast). I had forgotten this name of the french colony of South Vietnam. Nice wordplay too, which had me scratching my head for a while. This was one of my last ones in. Chin-chin to you as I sip my beaujolais nouveau. | |
| 7 | Crazy Greek painter giving up work finally to go walkabout (11) |
| PEREGRINATE – Here we lose the last letter of worK to get (Gree{k} painter)* [crazy] and go roaming. You don’t have to be chivalrous to do this, unless you aspire to a lifestyle of 16a (q.v.). | |
| 13 | Temporal system initially governing many territories? (9,4,4) |
| GREENWICH MEAN TIME – The first letters of [initially] G{overning} M{any} T{erritories] give us the current timezone in the UK now the clocks have gone back. | |
| 14 | Italian men first embracing bishop’s sphere of action (5) |
| ORBIT – OR (men first) + B (bishop) + IT (Italian). See? | |
| 15 | He leaves bay, possibly, with popular old duke (6) |
| ORSINO – The bay is a HORSE from which you take away the H + E (He) and then add IN (popular) and O (old). In case you can’t remember, Duke Orsino is a major character in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. | |
| 16 | Retired soldiers hastened to sample knight’s way of life (8) |
| ERRANTRY – RE are the soldiers, reversed (retired) to get ER + RAN (hastened) + TRY (sample). If you are a knight and you 7a in search of chivalrous adventure, that’s your lifestyle choice. | |
| 17 | Work problem involving outsize marsupial (7) |
| OPOSSUM – OP (work) + SUM (problem) with OS (outsize) in the middle [involving]. Although also called possum, this american marsupial is not to be confused with the Australian possum. | |
| 19 | Raises pay for grass (9) |
| COCKSFOOT – COCKS (Raises) + FOOT (pay for) gives some vegetation. A new word on me. Named for its alleged resemblance to a bird’s foot. I’m not sure I can see it from this. | |
| 21 | Joint check on oxygen in Irish lower house (8) |
| DOVETAIL – VET (check) after [on] O (oxygen) in DAIL (Irish lower house) gives us a neat way of linking two pieces of wood. And another reference to a similarity to a bird. | |
| 23 | Shakespearean prince with Oriental leader’s aura (4) |
| HALO – HAL – the young Henry V of England as a prince before his accession to the throne + O{riental} (leader), giving us a saintly circle of light overhead. | |
| 25 | Nick is “chapel”, do we assume? (5) |
| NOTCH – NOT + CH. Eh? Did our setter mean “isn’t” rather than “is”? If not, I’m baffled! But if you nick a piece of wood, a notch is what you get.[Edit: See the comment below from Chris of Bermondsey for the explanation!] | |
| 27 | Winter sports enthusiast housing very workshy person (6) |
| SKIVER – SKIER with V (very) in the middle. As in skiving off at 3:30pm on a Friday because it’s POETS day. Apparently it also means “a thin soft leather made of the grain side of a split sheepskin, usually tanned in sumac and dyed“. | |
| 28 | Girl on island with container for pasta (10) |
| CANNELLONI – CAN (container) + NELL (girl) + ON + I. I’ve got a can in my kitchen with pasta in it, but spaghetti, not cannelloni. I don’t know about you, but I had a bit of a deja vue feeling doing Mon.13th’s 15×15. | |
| 30 | I study songbird with unknown name (8) |
| IDENTITY – I + DEN (study) + TIT (songbird) + Y (unknown). I blog therefore I am. | |
| 31 | Installed at one’s home and cut down to size? (3,2,4,5) |
| PUT IN ONES PLACE – Double definition, first one cryptic. What I deserve to be if I get one of these answers wrong. | |
| 34 | How we may calculate numbers destroying military chalet (14) |
| ARITHMETICALLY – (military chalet)*. I got an atlas as a primary school prize for arithmetic showing the world as it was in 1960. I still have it. I just checked and it shows Cochin China! | |
| 35 | Railway coach with comedian aboard it, crossing lake (5-3) |
| WAGON-LIT – WAG (comedian) + ON IT (aboard it) [crossing] L (lake). A sleeping car in a continental railway train. | |
| 38 | Charged for carrying about such mail? (10) |
| ELECTRONIC – ELECTRIC (charged) [carrying] ON (about). Does anyone actually pay for it these days? | |
| 40 | Expedition at a great distance, in South Island (6) |
| SAFARI – AFAR (at a great distance) [in] S I. I always associate safaris with Africa, but, yes you can go on a snow safari in New Zealand’s South Island. Cool. | |
| 41 | For example, deliver backing for sorrowful song (5) |
| DIRGE – EG (for example) + RID (deliver) [backing]. “A lament for the dead, especially one forming part of a funeral rite“. Or “a song or piece of music that is considered too slow, miserable, or boring“. | |
| 43 | Dubious, like a famous poem? (4) |
| IFFY – I guess there is little doubt that Kipling’s poem IF is about as famous as poems get. Or are you not so sure? | |
| 44 | Self-obsession of Arab in revolutionary period (8) |
| EGOMANIA – OMANI (Arab) in AGE (period) reversed [revolutionary]. Look at me, me, me! | |
| 45 | It puts off easing of tension, mostly involving fall from grace (9) |
| DETERRENT – DETENT{e} (easing of tension) [mostly] including [involving] ERR (fall from grace). How do you stop elephants eating your crops? One of the best deterrents is a ‘fence of beehives‘. Crikey. | |
| 48 | Congolese, say, are able to, at the end of a half-day (7) |
| AFRICAN – A FRI{day} (a half-day) + CAN (are able to). It’s POETS day again – it looks like they’re allowed to leave at mid-day in the Congo. | |
| 49 | Old money split by detectives in the West (8) |
| OCCIDENT – O (old) + CENT (money) with CID (detectives) in the middle. Where I am but horryd isn’t. And neither is 1a for that matter. | |
| 50 | Place of learning in Paris that’s without equal (6) |
| UNIQUE – UNI (place of learning) + QUE (french for “that”), being english for nonpareil. What was that french word I was trying to think of? Lycées. Nope. Wrong. That’s places of learning. | |
| 53 | Fire partially consuming leylandii (5) |
| INGLE – Hidden word in {consum}ING LE{ylandii}. If your neighbour has a large fence of these monstrous trees you might be tempted to chop them down. And then you could burn them a bit at a time in your cosy inglenook, | |
| 54 | Old man in new boat, adorning it in Caribbean state (8,3,6) |
| TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO – DAD (Old man) in (boat adorning it)*. Anyone else fancy a trip there for some winter sunshine? | |
| 55 | Fellow allowed to put back objet d’art — on this? (11) |
| MANTELPIECE – MAN (Fellow) + TEL (let = allowed) [put back] + PIECE (objet d’art), giving us what you might put it on. | |
| 56 | Church’s delivery lying around in street after Mass? (4,7) |
| YORK MINSTER – If you know your cricket, you’ll see this is YORKER (delivery) [lying around] M (mass) + IN + ST (street). The great organ in this magnificent church is famous for its extermely loud Tuba Mirabilis stop. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Lack of fragrance disturbing fellow soldier in Buffs? (11) |
| COGNOSCENTI – This one held me up until I found where the definition is in this. The Buffs here are not the Royal East Kent Regiment, but CO (fellow) + GI (soldier) with NO SCENT (lack of fragrance) inside [disturbing]. What people who can solve this puzzle are. | |
| 2 | Game chap with son in Court of Session (5) |
| CHESS – HE (chap) + S (son) in CS (Court of Session – the supreme civil court of Scotland) giving a game which my son is rather better at than I ever was. | |
| 3 | Prize money Warwickshire opener sacrificed for time at wicket (7) |
| INNINGS – Another cricketing clue. {w}INNINGS (prize money) without the W (Warwickshire opener). | |
| 4 | Illicitly copy cattle stall (4) |
| CRIB – Double definition. Hmm. This seemed a little dodgy to me at first. To me a crib is “a barred container or rack for animal fodder” which you might find in a stall. But Collins has “a cattle stall or pen“, as another meaning so I guess that’s all right then. | |
| 5 | She succeeds, using trendy woman’s current ploys, we hear (10) |
| INHERITRIX – IN (trendy) + HER (woman’s) + I (current – from the French phrase intensité de courant) + TRIX (sounds like ‘tricks’) [we hear]. | |
| 6 | French writer engineering a sudden alarm about ex (9,5) |
| ALEXANDRE DUMAS – (a sudden alarm)* about EX. “All for one and one for all, united we stand and divided we fall”. En garde! | |
| 7 | The writer’s holding up one in river boat, inflicting suffering (8) |
| PUNITIVE – I (one) in PUNT (river boat) over I’VE (The writer’s) [holding up]. And this writer is glad not to have been in the punt on the river Cam shown in Monday’s paper. They looked like they were suffering while I was cosy and warm in my nearby office. | |
| 8 | Painter unknown to go outside in such weather? (5) |
| RAINY – RA (Painter) + Y (unknown) [outside] IN. That sounds fair enough to me. I don’t suppose it’s easy to paint with raindrops hitting your canvas. By the way, there is a well regarded painter called Ian Fairweather (1891-1974). | |
| 9 | Visiting old lady, I initially revel in such chant (9) |
| GREGORIAN – The old lady is GRAN with EGO (I) + R{evel} I{n} [initially] inside [visiting], giving the form of plainsong. | |
| 10 | Eg woodlouse I originally saw on seedcase (6) |
| ISOPOD – I + S{aw} O{n} [originally] + POD (seedcase). “Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Isopods live in the sea, in fresh water, or on land.” | |
| 11 | Roving diplomat in Dar es Salaam got bar refurbished (10-2-5) |
| AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE – (Dar es Salaam got bar)* [refurbished]. I wonder whether any bars got refurbished for Ambassador Goosby’s visit on 11th June 2011? | |
| 12 | Ad-lib, using energy and variable increase in speed (11) |
| EXTEMPORISE – E (energy) + X (variable – not Y, for once) + TEMPO RISE (increase in speed). As contestants do on Just a Minute. | |
| 18 | Chocolate leading compiler fails to finish? (8) |
| NOISETTE – NO. I (leading) + SETTE{r} (compiler) [failing to finish]. Only a No. 1 setter could create a yummy clue like this? | |
| 20 | Old queen, one in Thrace, travelling around a long way back? (9,2,6) |
| CATHERINE OF ARAGON – Did anybody bother to fully parse this? Well I suppose I should.. It’s (one in Thrace)* [travelling] outside [around] FAR AGO (a long way back). | |
| 22 | Milk supplier crossing river in Earl Grey’s vessel? (6) |
| TEAPOT – TEAT (Milk suppller) outside [crossing] PO (the italian river). giving something in which to serve your Earl Grey tea. Personally I prefer Assam or Darjeeling… or even Tetley’s or PG Tips to tea adulterated with bergamot oil. Yuck. But I guess there must be plenty who like it | |
| 24 | Motorway access area Pole crosses by mistake (4,4) |
| SLIP ROAD – SLIP (mistake) + ROD (Pole) with A (area) inside [crosses]. Why did the Pole cross the slip road? | |
| 26 | Experts taking much favoured photographs (8) |
| HOTSHOTS – HOT (much favoured) + SHOTS (photographs). Hotshot solvers will have seen this quicker than I did. I’m not sure why it took me all the checkers to get it. | |
| 29 | They ruled a line under testament man and maid devised (7,3,4) |
| WILLIAM AND MARY – Here’s another that I suspect others, like me, biffed from the crossers and enumeration. So let’s check the setter’s not kidding us here… It’s WILL (testament) + (man, maid)* [devised] with A RY (a line) [under]. Nice construction job. | |
| 32 | Make abnormally thin eastern spies tuck into tea (8) |
| EMACIATE – E (eastern) + CIA (spies) inside [tuck into] MATE, which, as you all know, is “a traditional South American caffeine-rich infused drink prepared by steeping dried leaves of yerba mate in hot water. It is served with a metal straw from a shared hollow calabash gourd.” Well I didn’t know that, and if you didn’t either, you do now. | |
| 33 | Foolish-sounding hesitation identifying hair-like structure (6) |
| CILIUM – CILI [sounding] like ‘silly’ + UM (hesitation). More commonly used in the plural I think. CILIA is Latin for eyelashes, I’m told. | |
| 34 | A chap is mad at first about Morecambe — 24/7, possibly? (11) |
| AMERICANISM – A + MAN (chap) + IS + M{ad) (mad at first) around ERIC (Morecambe). I guess “round-the-clock” only covers the 24 bit. Of course the Sunday Trading laws here in England prevent a lot of businesses being truly 24/7. | |
| 36 | One who may view the flats from the pit? (11) |
| THEATREGOER – Cryptic definition. The pit is not just for an orchestra. This Glossary says “The term was used in the Globe Theatre in London for the lower area immediately in front of the stage where the ‘groundlings’ watched the performance. “ | |
| 37 | House plant young woman supplied with hot breeze (10) |
| MAIDENHAIR – MAIDEN (young woman) + H (hot) + AIR (breeze). A sort of fern. | |
| 39 | Possibly the principal magazine’s chief (5-4) |
| ORGAN-STOP – ORGAN’S (magazine’s) + TOP (chief). The type of stop that provides the main voice of a pipe organ is a Principal. Generally a type of Diapason unlike the afore-mentioned Tuba Mirabilis, which is a Reed. | |
| 42 | Idle one on green encircling court (8) |
| INACTIVE – I (one) + NAIVE (green) surrounding CT (court). As a 27a might be. | |
| 46 | Managed to proceed, reaching Burmese port (7) |
| RANGOON – RAN (Managed) + GO ON (proceed). “In Rangoon, the heat of noon is just what the natives shun…“, but not mad dogs an Englishmen. | |
| 47 | Set up last month, one goes round to give consent (6) |
| ACCEDE – Reverse DECember (last month) [set up] with ACE (one) going round. | |
| 49 | Long to join circle and express one’s views (5) |
| OPINE – O (circle) joined by PINE(long). | |
| 51 | Amount of liquid son removed from illegal lodging across river (5) |
| QUART – {s}QUAT (illegal lodging) without the ‘s’ [son removed] with R (river) inside. Don’t try and fit this into a pint pot. | |
| 52 | First person to make precocious girl lose head? (4) |
| ADAM – {m}ADAM (precocious girl) [lose head]. Coiner of the first palindrome when he met Eve and introduced himself saying…. Well you all know what he said, don’t you? | |
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Oh. So why did our elephant cross the road? Because it was the Polish chicken’s day off! |
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I’ll get my coat… |
Chris. Bermondsey
Thanks also Chris of Bermondsey for the explanation of NOTCH – the inverted commas in the clue certainly support that explanation.
Ong’ara,
Kenya.