Despite two answers I’d not met before (19ac, 36dn), I didn’t find this too difficult, with a solving time of 21 minutes split across two sessions. There were two George Eliot references (25ac, 55ac), but I don’t think they were part of an overall theme – perhaps the setter just likes George Eliot!
As ever, * indicates an anagram.
Across | |
1 |
SNAZZIEST – ( |
6 | BIDET – I’D in BET |
9 | BUCKS UP – BUCK + SUP |
13 | OUTDO – OUT, + DO (defined by fleece, = con, cheat) |
14 | BURNOUS – O + U, in BURNS |
15 |
PLATITUDE – P |
16 | TICKLED PINK – TICK, + Del (reversed), +PINK |
17 | RIDE SHOTGUN – (shouting Red)* |
18 | SPRING – double definition |
19 | TROUPIAL – O + UP, in TRIAL. I’m not usually too bad on bird names, but I’d never heard of a TROUPIAL |
21 | ASTRAY – AS + TRAY |
25 | EOLITHIC – (Eliot)* + H + I + C |
26 |
UTHER PENDRAGON – |
28 |
EDWIN – hidden in |
29 | SIERRA – the dedfinition is chain (as in mountain chain). SIERRA is the NATO phonetic alphabet code for the letter S. It took me a while to figure this one out! |
30 |
VILLANELLE – LLANELL |
33 | THESSALIAN – (saint heals)* |
35 | PHLEGM – P, + LEG in HM (= Her Majesty). PHLEGM was one of the four “humours” in ancient medical terminology – the others were black bile, yellow bile and blood. Apologies if you’re reading this over breakfast… |
36 | KOORI – rook (reversed), + I. This was my other did-not-know answer |
38 | PIG IN THE MIDDLE – cassowary has SOW (= pig) in the middle of the word |
40 | BARATHEA – Arab (reversed), + THE + A |
42 | DETAIN – DIN around ETA |
43 |
DIPLOMAT – T |
44 |
PIERCE – PIER + C |
47 | WASHING SODA – (Ads showing a)* |
50 | ALL-NIGHTERS – cryptic definition |
52 | PLAINTIFF – PLAIN + TIFF |
53 | IMITATE – I ATE around M.I.T. |
54 |
EMAIL – |
55 | DE MILLE – MILL (reference to ‘The Mill on the Floss’), in DEE |
56 |
LANCE – |
57 | KEEPSAKES – KEEPS, around SAKE (Japanese rice wine) |
Down | |
1 | SNOUT – SN (chemical symbol for tin is Sn), + OUT (defined by old hat) |
2 | ANTI-CORN-LAW LEAGUE – (win local guarantee)*. This one brought back unpleasant memories of school history lessons |
3 |
ZOOPLANKTON – ZOO |
4 | EMBEDS – E + M, + BEDS (short for Bedfordshire) |
5 | TERRIERS – TIERS around ERR |
6 | BLOCKBUSTERS – BLOCK, + BUSTER’S (reference to Buster Crabbe, the American athlete/actor) |
7 | DISTRAINED – DI’S TRAINED (DI = Detective Inspector) |
8 | TEPID – P, in diet (reversed) – ‘diet’ is a term used for the Japanese Parliament, as well as various historical assemblies |
9 |
BOATSWAIN – BOA (defined by stole), + T |
10 | CHIROPTERAN – (to pinch rare)* |
11 | STUNG – gnu (reversed) under ST |
12 |
PAEONY – A |
18 | STEREOTYPE – (See pottery)* |
20 | LOPSIDED – LOPS, + alternate letters of birdseed |
22 | ANGELS ON HORSEBACK – GELS in A + N + ON HORSEBACK. The appetizer traditionally consists of oysters wrapped in bacon, though these days I imagine it’s just as likely to feature real horse |
23 | DIESEL – DIES + E + L |
24 | INDELICATE – INDICATE around EL |
27 | BECALMED – BE CALM, + ED |
31 |
LAMMAS – M |
32 | WHALE OF A TIME – (Who ate meal if)*. The definition is ‘ball’, as in ‘having a ball’ |
34 |
SENSATIONAL – |
36 | KNAVISHNESS – (saves NHS ink)* |
37 |
ADAPTATION – P |
39 | HANG-GLIDE – N + G + G, in HALIDE |
41 | BALLPARK – double definition (reference to a ‘ballpark estimate’) |
45 | SWIPED – double definition |
46 | BIREME – sounds like ‘buy ream’ |
48 | SWARM – S + WARM |
49 | OFFAL – OFF + A + L |
51 |
SILAS – is (reversed), + LAS |
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