My last one in was 12ac, where I needed the helpers to get this slightly unfamiliar word. But, my last one justified was 9ac, where I didn’t understand the “sounds like” component. Is that a common expression?
My clue of the day was 18dn, for the nice combination of “twisting” and “turning”. The definitions in 10dn and 22dn were also particularly nice. Thanks to the setter for a very enjoyable puzzle. Lots of fun all round, including more than the usual number of jocular double definitions.
Clues are in blue, with definitions underlined. Answers are in BOLD CAPS, then wordplay. (ABC*) means ‘anagram of ABC’, with the anagram indicator in bold italics. Deletions are in [square brackets].
Across
1 E.g. Pancake Day hamper? (7,5)
MOVABLE FEAST: double definition: the first because Pancake Day, like Easter, is tied to lunar cycles; the second a jocular reference to picnic hampers.
8 Conclude negative vote’s a disaster (7)
INFERNO: INFER / NO.
9 Pre-publicity on the radio increasingly highly charged? (5-2)
BUILD UP: this was a puzzle. I think the idea must be that to load charges onto a bill would be to “bill up”. If so, “billed up” would sound like the answer we’re looking for (“on the radio”). But, is “billed up” really an expression? I couldn’t find it in the usual dictionaries.
11 Some on reflection uselessly fill unfillable void (7)
NULLIFY: backwards (“on reflection”) hidden answer (“some”).
12 Drop fowl from behind, having permit (7)
DRIBLET: BIRD (fowl) “from behind” / LET (permit). A vaguely unfamiliar word, but clear enough once I thought of it.
13 Car wheel’s sound (5)
AUDIO: AUDI (car) / O (“wheel”).
14 Taking this turns friend into devil at once (5,4)
RIGHT AWAY: if you take R out of FRIEND, you get FIEND.
16 Takes cue, perhaps, and breaks down (4,2,3)
GOES TO POT: double definition, the first a jocular reference to billiards or snooker.
19 Otologist, say, finding her area of expertise dull (5)
DREAR: DR (since an otologist, say, is a doctor) / EAR (what our otologist specialises in).
21 Vegetable lacking in hotel (7)
AUBERGE: the veg is an AUBERG[in]E.
23 Stint in India ends (7)
TERMINI: TERM (stint) / IN / I[ndia].
24 Taking home Anne, girl endlessly distressed (7)
EARNING: (ANNE GIR-*). Drop the L since the girl is endless.
25 I regret that Scottish cheese covers French bread (7)
BRIOCHE: OCH in BRIE. Chambers gives “regret” as a secondary definition of “och”. New to me.
26 Gone to take corner (5,3,4)
ROUND THE BEND: another double definition, the second the jocular version this time.
Down
1 Subdued miss was forward (7)
MUFFLED: MUFF, as in miss a shot / LED (was forward).
2 Doctor I try controls onset of rare medical condition (7)
VERTIGO: VET (doctor) “controls” R from r[are], then GO (try, as in “have a go”).
3 Bash goof up in unwelcome surprise (5,4)
BOOBY TRAP: reversal (“up”) of PARTY (bash) BOOB (goof).
4 Posh girl yours truly raised to get settled (5)
EMBED: reversal (“raised”) of DEB (your posh girl) / ME (yours truly).
5 English Literature is ultimately subject privileging the select few (7)
ELITIST: E (English) / LIT (literature) / IS / [subject]T.
6 Salad’s got a bit of earth on it — proving this? (4,3)
SOD’S LAW: SOD on a SLAW, giving the thing known in my parts as Murphy’s Law.
7 Replace ageing slang with ‘U’ as digital expression (4,8)
SIGN LANGUAGE: (AGEING SLANG U*). Clever definition – not a computer language, after all.
10 At an early stage, continent’s bananas went by rail (5-7)
POTTY TRAINED: POTTY (bananas, as a euphemism for “mad”) / TRAINED (went by rail). And an even cleverer definition!
15 Make reservation in restaurant that’s accessible (3-2-4)
GET-AT-ABLE: with a change in spacing, GET A TABLE.
17 Trade restriction scary chap lifted with business expert intervening (7)
EMBARGO: MBA “intervening” in OGRE (scary chap) backwards (“lifted”).
18 Top person’s rubbish, turning and twisting (7)
TORSION: NO 1’S ROT, “turning”.
19 Room to rest together and chill — will they have nibbles? (7)
DORMICE: DORM (room to rest) / ICE (chill). I know nothing about dormice, but clearly they must be nibblers.
20 Indicated one man has kidnapped another (7)
EVINCED: ED takes VINCE.
22 Loopy figure’s importance, bypassing the Head (5)
EIGHT: [w]EIGHT. More cleverness!
Edited at 2018-11-10 01:02 am (UTC)
Edited at 2018-11-10 01:02 am (UTC)
My last three were DREAR,EVINCED and BRIOCHE. Lots of candidates for COD I thought. I’ll say Potty Trained edges out Brioche. David
I did the puzzle on Monday after my return from London, and the Chris Rea song was Earworm of the Day.
A bit of a mixed bag, but cleared up in 9:42
FOI NULLIFY
LOI BOOBY TRAP (strange to have first and last crossing !)
COD RIGHT AWAY
Found BUILD-UP puzzling, wasn’t keen on the random men at 20D, and groaned at the chestnut that was INFERNO.
Apparently I enjoyed quite a few here, including 1a MOVABLE FEAST (though I knew the phrase more from the Hemingway book, where he spells it “moveable”), 13a’s concise AUDI-O and 19’s lovely DR EAR.
I got the same earworm as Philip from 21a, as that song is the first place I ever encountered the word AUBERGE…
Edited at 2018-11-10 09:21 am (UTC)
I came to the blog to understand the parsing of one biff but as it has been a week since I did the crossword I cannot now remember which one it was! Possibly BRIOCHE as I remember that being my LOI. Thanks for the blog anyway.
https://times-xwd-times.livejournal.com/174088.html
Brand names not alllowed. That always seemed to be non-binding for: The Times, and other newspapers like FT, Sun, Express. Then Sky (the channel of the Antichrist) and even Al Jazeera got in. Now everything goes – Audi is not the first in the past year or two. Call me an old fuddy-duddy, but we’re going to hell in a handcart. It’s worse than the Guardian.
The following day, I solved the whole thing in about half an hour.
My only objection is that an ‘MBA’ is not a ‘business expert’ – quite the reverse. Hire one at your own risk.
If you don’t like that, you’re welcome to do it your way!