Solving time:
Apologies for the late arrival of incoming Flight Number Jumbo 712 – I decided to take advantage of the very pleasant Bank Holiday weather and shot away at very short notice before the weekend – but I have returned so here we go…
I found this puzzle pretty tough – especially the right hand side, hence the tardy time. There did seem to be quite a number of cryptic definitions that were not actually that cryptic.
Peter has intimated to me that he has spotted the author for this one. I admit that I am not very good at that sort of thing and do not have a clue! Perhaps PB will offer up his suggestion!?
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Across |
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1 |
MEGALOPOLIS (ME + GAL + O + POLISh) – for some reason it took me ages to spot the last element of the wordplay. |
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13 |
NYASA (SAY rev. in NA) – “state” works well in the surface reading here. |
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14 |
BENTHAM (BENT + HAM) – Mr Bentham was not previously in my list of known philosophers. |
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15 |
FISHPLATE (cryptic def.) – here’s an on-line joiner to explain this clue. |
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16 |
REDSTARTS (RED STAR + TenaciouS) – even the most amateur of astronomers surely knows that Betelgeuse is a red star. My trips to the local planetarium have also given me the knowledge that if Betelgeuse were our Sun its size would engulf the orbit of the Earth (and beyond!) and it means “armpit”! Great stuff, astronomy! |
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24 |
NOCTURN (“KNOCK” + TURN) |
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26 |
ELECTRA COMPLEX (i.e. LEER ACT = complex ELECTRA) – one of those clues where part of the actual answer acts as the anagram indicator. |
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28 |
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39 |
CLERICAL COLLAR (cryptic def. – just!) |
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41 |
ALVEOLAR (AL + A LOVER *) – the word refers to how a “T” is produced in phonetics. |
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45 |
SIGNALS (SLANG + IS all rev.) |
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49 |
READJUSTS (i.e. READ JUST “S”) – I loved the wordplay here – “S” being interpreted as the 19th section of an encyclopedia. |
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54 |
ICTUSES (pICT + USES) – the definition surprised me here – I cannot remember ever seeing ICTUS defined other than “foot”. |
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56 |
HEARTHSTONE (NOTE THE ASH* round pokeR) – decent & lit. here. |
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Down |
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1 |
MAN ORCHID (MANOR CHID) – very nice way that this answer split for the wordplay. |
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7 |
BOMBAY DUCK (DUCK – zero in cricket , Mumbai = |
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8 |
OFFAL (OFFALy) – not the commonest county to encounter in a crossword. |
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27 |
CORNICES (OR + NICE in CastleS) |
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31 |
EL GRECO (COLLEGE* with R for L) |
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36 |
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38 |
PLAGIARISE (ALP rev. + GI + A RISE) – nice definition in this clue. |
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It’s actually rather nice that you posted a few days late, as we can now see two very different ways of cluing one of the answers in cryptic no. 23691.