Solving time: About 1 hour 40 minutes.
On the whole a pleasant solve. I was held up by never having heard of either of the two long ones at 4 & 15. I loved the ‘four out of five’ device at 10d so I’ll give that my COD.
cd = cryptic def., dd = double def., rev = reversal, homophones are written in quotes, anagrams as (–)*, and removals like this
Across | |
---|---|
1 | SHELL + |
5 | SO + C |
9 | SH(AD)OW |
13 | CYRILLIC ALPHABET = (ICY BIRTHPLACE ALL)* |
14 | SIGNET = “CYGNET” |
16 | EXTRA – dd |
17 | ICEBERG – dd |
18 | TRIME(S |
19 | AYLESBURY = (BAY SURELY)* |
21 | FAST + NET – Fastnet & Lundy are adjacent shipping areas just south of the Irish Sea |
22 | SOLDI |
23 | IOWAN = I |
25 |
|
27 | RED + COAT – A Redcoat is a member of the frontline staff at Butlins Holiday Camps |
29 | THE PEOPLE – dd – A UK Sunday newspaper |
31 | MULTINATIONAL = (ANNUAL LIMIT TO)* |
34 | JUR |
35 | FREE-LIVER – dd |
37 | CORONER = CROONER with first R moved |
39 | PISTACHIO = (AS I CHOP IT)* |
42 | DELTA – dd – The first letter of Daedalus, when written in the Greek alphabet (Δαίδαλος if you’re interested) |
43 | RIFLE – dd – the lock, stock and barrel being the three distinct parts of a rifle |
45 | AI(RHEA)D |
47 | ROAD + TRAIN – ‘Antipodean lorry with trailers’ is the rather lengthy definition |
49 | STAND + DOWN – although I can’t find a way of justifying ‘feeling’ = STAND |
50 | EASTING = (AGENT IS)* |
52 | S + CRAM |
54 | EMI(G |
55 | HOUSE OF ILL REPUTE – dd – A reference to Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher |
56 | LINGER |
57 | GR |
58 | STAINES = “STAINS” |
Down | |
1 | SECRET + |
2 | EGRET – rev hidden |
3 | L(ALL)ANS – A Scots dialect – A LAN is a computing acronym for a Local Area Network |
4 | CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON = (UP IF ACTOR REQUIRES ONE)* – written by Immanuel Kant |
5 | SNAKE + EYE + S – ‘two in game’ is the definition, as this is a colloquial term for a double 1 thrown on two dice. |
6 | COPS + |
7 | ANALGESIA = S instead of R in AN + ALGERIA |
8 | EVERTON = NOT rev after EVER |
10 | HEI(F |
11 | DONATELLO = |
12 | WATER PISTOL = (WAS IT PETROL)* – a brilliantly misleading definition |
15 | VICTOR + I + A + DE + LOS ANGELES – I’ve never heard of her, and having read her Wikipedia entry, I’m entirely unsurprised by this. She seems a little obscure for inclusion in a Times crossword. |
20 | LOW + GEAR |
21 | FOR + AMEN – Not a word I knew, but once I had the F & R, the rest was obvious |
24 | NIELSEN = (LINES |
26 | T |
28 | DRILLED – dd |
30 | E |
32 | LEE(WAR)D |
33 | NOVE |
34 | JACK RUSSELL = ELL (measure) after JACK/RUSS (two men) |
36 | REAL NUMBERS = (BARREN MULES)* – I didn’t recognise the name of Georg Cantor so this one took me a while. |
38 | RE(F)LATION – Not a word I’ve come across before, but a logical extension of inflation and deflation. |
40 | STEVENSON = S |
41 | HERBI(CID)E |
44 | END + |
46 | RANCOUR = “RANKER” |
48 | TESSERA = ARES (Greek God of War and resident of Olympus, hence Olympian) + SET all rev |
51 | S(TO)IC means a philosopher in its original sense. The adjective came later. I’m not sure about TO for ‘closed’ though. I would argue that if a door is to, then it is ajar, and hence NOT closed. But maybe there’s another meaning which I’m overlooking. |
53 | ROUE + N |
Re 51dn, the ODO says: adv: so as to be closed or nearly closed: “he pulled the door to behind him.” It is a tricky idiom, as in fact is “ajar.” I would say ajar meant open but the ODO says “slightly open.” Chambers says “partly open” …