Solving time: 65:33 – quite quick for me, and probably could have been under the hour if I hadn’t kept getting distracted by the TV for the first 30 minutes or so.
Most of if seemed pretty straightforward. Some good clues, and nothing particularly dreadful, so an entertaining hour all told.
cd = cryptic def., dd = double def., rev = reversal, homophones are written in quotes, anagrams as (–)*, and removals like this
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | FED + UP |
| 4 | POPULATION = (PAUL)* in POTION |
| 9 | SKIERS = (RISKS)* about |
| 14 | AND + A + N + T + IN + O |
| 15 | WEIGHT-WATCHER = “WAIT” + “WOTCHA” |
| 16 | O |
| 17 |
|
| 18 | HONEY = YE + NOH all rev – Noh is a Japanese drama that crops up from time to time, and is worth remembering |
| 19 | COMPREHENSIBLE = (CHOIR ENSEMBLE)* about P |
| 22 | MINI + CA + B |
| 25 | RIGHT OF WAY – in the word ‘highwaymen’ the ‘men’ are literally to the right of ‘way’ |
| 27 | WINDING STAIR = (IT’S RAIN WIND + G)* |
| 30 | C + LEAN |
| 31 | UN(C + LOTH)E |
| 32 | LIGATURE – I (current) + GAT (rod) in LURE (fly). I struggled to justify GAT = ‘rod’, but both can mean gun. I knew gat could, but I’d not come across rod as a slang term for gun before. |
| 35 | R |
| 36 | FOREWARN = FOR + RN about AWE rev |
| 37 | PET + AL – Stock can mean ‘the perennial part of a herbaceous plant’, so I guess a petal could be taken from one. |
| 39 | BURGLAR ALARM – cd |
| 41 | WELLINGTON – dd |
| 43 | E + X + AMPLE |
| 45 | IN WORKING ORDER = IN + W + OR + KING + (RODE)* + R |
| 48 | hidden in |
| 49 | BREAK + FAST |
| 51 | REPLICA = REP + |
| 53 | HOUSEBREAKING = HOUSE + “BRAKING” |
| 54 | INTRODUCE = (ROUTINE + CD)* |
| 55 | REEFER = |
| 56 | CELEBRATED = BE |
| 57 | S + PELT – Spelt being an old type of wheat, a new word to me |
| Down | |
| 1 | FLAGON = GO in FLAN, although I wasn’t sure why GO = ‘to be used up’, but it’s in my dictionary as ‘to be consumed, eaten up’, so it’s fine. |
| 2 | DADDY-LONG-LEGS = (LANDS DOGGEDLY)* |
| 3 | P(IN)UP |
| 4 | PRIM + ATE |
| 5 | PROTUBERANCE = (BEAT-UP CORNER)* |
| 6 | LEWDNESS = L |
| 7 | T + AIN’T |
| 8 | OPHICLEIDE = HI + “CLYDE” after OP – it’s a brass instrument of the bugle family, that was replaced by the tuba. |
| 10 | K(ITCH)EN |
| 11 | E(CHINA)C + E + A – I didn’t know the medicinal herb, but I could piece it together from the wordplay. |
| 12 | SPRAY = SPAY about R |
| 13 | TWO-DIMENSIONAL = (ISOLATED MINNOW)* |
| 20 | POTENTIAL = PAL about O + TENT + I |
| 21 | B(RIGHT)EN |
| 23 | B + ORDERLINE |
| 24 | PRO + CURABLE |
| 26 | FOUNDER + MEMBERS |
| 28 | SHARPE |
| 29 | TOM + |
| 33 | UP-TO-THE-MINUTE – dd, one cryptic |
| 34 | LAKE DISTRICT = (DISLIKE TRACT)* |
| 38 | I’LL + ITERATE |
| 40 | ROADHOUSE = (EUROS HAD)* about O |
| 42 | ARR + ANGER |
| 44 | PRECEDE = REC |
| 46 | GYRATED = GRATED about |
| 47 | CAVE + A + T |
| 48 | O(THE)R |
| 50 | KNIFE = FINK rev + E |
| 52 | P |
In 37ac, I think “stock” is probably the “cruciferous garden plant of the genus Matthiola having heavily scented spikes of flowers” (to quote Chambers (2003)).