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” …