52:18, which sadly included a fifteen-minute struggle to get the last two clues. I nearly gave up, but I’m nothing if not persistent. Quite a good and challenging puzzle, in my opinion.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Drink factory one enters, begging (9) |
| SUPPLIANT – SUP + PLANT around I | |
| 6 | Lighter selection from Tesco welcomed (4) |
| SCOW – hidden | |
| 10 | Anything you hear in Yorkshire’s inaccurate (3) |
| OUT – homophone of OWT | |
| 11 | Italian player substituted sooner given bottle to carry (6,5) |
| SOPHIA LOREN – anagram of SOONER around PHIAL | |
| 12 | Humbug, penny sweet (6) |
| PHONEY – P + HONEY | |
| 13 | Migrant alarming at the border (8) |
| MARGINAL – anagram of ALARMING | |
| 15 | Deadly unit evacuated by hospital — never mind (3,5) |
| LET ALONE – LETHAL ONE – H | |
| 16 | Large amount in account, others short (5) |
| ACRES – AC + RES{t} | |
| 18 | Did champ taking gold first complete circuits? (5) |
| ORBIT – BIT after OR | |
| 20 | Basket lost below clothes son put outside room, finally (4,4) |
| SLAM DUNK – SUNK (lost below) around LAD around M
My last one in. Thanks to Kevin for catching my erroneous parsing! |
|
| 22 | Money provided in case member bet on ace (5,3) |
| LEGAL AID – LEG + LAID next to A
Great definition. |
|
| 23 | Evil German hit interpreter, perhaps (6) |
| SINGER – SIN + GER
Another great definition. I tried HITLER and BADGER before seeing how this worked. |
|
| 26 | Study chapter that discusses basis for subsequent work (11) |
| CONTEMPLATE – C + ON (that discusses) TEMPLATE
I see now that this was quite simple, but I struggled with this one. |
|
| 27 | Yank instinctively felt repelled (3) |
| TUG – GUT reversed | |
| 28 | Discover son with decapitated cat (4) |
| SUSS – S + {p}USS | |
| 29 | Smear cologne on mate’s back, blushing (9) |
| RUBESCENT – RUB + SCENT next to {mat}E | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | So much ice cream commonly sold in small supermarket (5) |
| SCOOP – S + CO-OP | |
| 2 | This jolting the Polo? (7) |
| POTHOLE – anagram of THE POLO | |
| 3 | WI group managed farm, charging tenants (6,8) |
| LESSER ANTILLES – RAN TILL in (charging) LESSEES
Great misdirection with WI! |
|
| 4 | Lake in spring rising where glaciers have melted (4) |
| ALPS – L in SPA reversed | |
| 5 | Having three parties, suffering hosts delayed fourth for year (10) |
| TRILATERAL – TRIAL around LATE + {yea}R | |
| 7 | Examiner questioning how someone passed? (7) |
| CORONER – cryptic definition
Am I missing something? This is nearly a straight definition. |
|
| 8 | Still second behind cycling cheat (8) |
| WINDLESS – S after SWINDLE cycled | |
| 9 | Pull and haul up ropes aboard ship, being very slack? (14) |
| SLUGGARDLINESS – LUG + DRAG reversed + LINES in SS
One of the ones I thought I’d never get. My next to last in. |
|
| 14 | Proper wish maybe taking form of prayer? (10) |
| WORSHIPPER – anagram (maybe) of PROPER WISH | |
| 17 | Republican party ties do very well (2,6) |
| GO PLACES – GOP LACES | |
| 19 | History smashed Boney’s grand forces apart (7) |
| BYGONES – anagram of BONEY’S around G | |
| 21 | Close relationship warmer in bed? (7) |
| NIGHTIE – NIGH TIE | |
| 24 | Due and true correspond in sound (5) |
| RIGHT – homophone of WRITE (correspond)
Fooled by RHYME! |
|
| 25 | A little Jacob male that needs raising? (4) |
| LAMB – hidden reversed | |
Very tricky i thought. Was defeated by the south west corner
COD to Slam Dunk and Lamb…..
SLAM DUNK: You’ve got L twice, Jeremy; ‘lost below’ is SUNK.
Thank you!!
Yeah, liked this. Took a break to eat before finishing. LESSER ANTILLES was LOI, seen before parsed.
40:19
It took me forever to get LESSER ANTILLES; great misdirection indeed. To get it, I first needed to give up thinking that ‘player’ meant athlete and to see SOPHIA LOREN. Like Jeremy, I tried BADGER before SINGER. LOI SLAM DUNK.
Hardest of the week, but no complaints. A steady solve, but the last few in the SW corner had to be picked off, one by one.
Also failed to spot the anagram at 13ac for quite a while..
I liked 7dn because the deception in the surface reading was effective. Certainly not my FOI. Also some very nice use of anagrams. Clever and enjoyable puzzle.
Biffed 3 and 11, but most of the rest had to be carefully worked out. Enjoyable stuff, finishing with SLAM DUNK. If there was a clue-writing competition for this phrase, I think the setter might do okay.
23:42
53 minutes and a very enjoyable challenge. I surprised myself by constructing LESSER ANTILLES quite quickly while being much slower on the shorter ones like LET ALONE.
DNF. It was the SE that did for me. I was so confident that it was RHYME that 27a and 29a were impossible. COD to the LESSER ANTILLES. Thank you Jeremy and setter.