One of those puzzles which I tried to make harder than it turned out to be. On the first run through I missed some now obvious ones, eg the 1a anagram and that old 2d double definition chestnut, but there were some more difficult ones here like the somewhat vague definition for 23a.
All told, a good QC challenge with my 12:25 time indicating I found this more difficult than average.
Thanks to Joker
Definitions underlined in bold, deletions indicated by strikethrough
| Across | |
| 1 | Put out some faint indication of political intent (9) |
| MANIFESTO – Anagram (‘Put out’) of SOME FAINT | |
| 6 | Drink — and slurp regularly (3) |
| SUP – Every second letter (‘regularly’) of SlUrP | |
| 8 | Run across moon explorer (5) |
| ROVER – R (‘Run’) OVER (‘across’)
I only knew about the lunar rovers on Apollo 15, 16 and 17 but there have also been non-manned rovers from China and Russia on the moon and the Chinese rover Yutu 2 is still there, which I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t know about. |
|
| 9 | Let wine breathe for start of foreign holiday? (7) |
| AIRPORT – AIR PORT (‘Let wine breathe’)
A less than obvious one. To AIR your PORT (type of ‘wine’) is to ‘Let (it) breathe’. The ‘start of foreign holiday?’ cryptic definition indicates an AIRPORT might (hence the question mark) be the setting off point for your trip of a lifetime to Torremolinos or Benidorm. |
|
| 10 | Second place to bury shard (8) |
| SPLINTER – S (‘Second’) PL (‘place’) INTER (‘to bury’)
Back on firmer ground with this one |
|
| 11 | Image of veneration like Iona’s centres (4) |
| IKON – Middle letters (‘centres’) of ‘lIKe IONa’
The alternative, less common spelling |
|
| 13 | One female in very influential game of football? (9) |
| SEMIFINAL – I (‘One’) F (‘female’) contained in (‘in’) SEMINAL (‘very influential’) | |
| 16 | Part you see in Hero and Leander’s union? (4) |
| ROLE – Hidden in HeRO LEander
‘Hero and Leander’s union?’ meaning that the two words are joined together without the intervening conjunction, with the surface alluding to the tragic ending of the Greek myth |
|
| 17 | Chic male wandering in compound? (8) |
| CHEMICAL – Anagram (‘wandering’) of CHIC MALE | |
| 20 | Boat nearly departed with wrong load (7) |
| GONDOLA – GON |
|
| 21 | Food — tons ready for eating (5) |
| TRIPE – T (‘tons’) RIPE (‘ready for eating’)
Yum |
|
| 22 | Garment that is used after the end of August (3) |
| TIE – IE (‘that is’=id est in full) following (‘after’) T (‘the end of August’= last letter of AugusT) | |
| 23 | Looking for a vehicle with key lifetime support? (9) |
| AFTERCARE – AFTER (‘Looking for’) CAR (‘vehicle’) E (‘key’)
AFTER for ‘Looking for’ as in “I’m after/looking for a new spade for the garden ” This seems a bit odd. I suppose AFTERCARE as ‘lifetime support?’ meaning care provided during a particular period (time) of life, usually when recovering from an acute illness or surgery
|
|
| Down | |
| 1 | Bad-tempered? More so, unfortunately (6) |
| MOROSE – Anagram (‘unfortunately’) of MORE SO | |
| 2 | New book (5) |
| NOVEL – Double definition | |
| 3 | For me, Ena is covered by this (8) |
| FORENAME – ENA contained in (‘is covered by’) FOR ME
The def ‘this’ refers back to ‘Ena’ as an example of a FORENAME, but I may be missing something else here. I tried to read the whole clue as the definition, which would work for the Ena’s of this world, but not for anybody else |
|
| 4 | Very modern country frequently has concern for others (5,2,3,3) |
| STATE OF THE ART – STATE (‘country’) OFT (‘frequently’) HEART (‘concern for others’)
HEART as in the expression “Have a heart” |
|
| 5 | Monster thus turned up (4) |
| OGRE – Reversal (‘turned up’) of ERGO (‘thus’) | |
| 6 | Diving apparatus soon empty round river with a lot of kelp (7) |
| SNORKEL – SN (‘Soon empty’=only first and last letters of SooN) O (’round’) R (‘river’) KEL The ‘apparatus’ part of the def made me think of SCUBA first |
|
| 7 | Powerful warning king must leave (6) |
| POTENT – PO |
|
| 12 | Film-maker from Taormina originally (8) |
| ANIMATOR – Anagram (‘originally’) of TAORMINA
If I ever knew, I’d forgotten that Taormina is the site of a famous Roman amphitheatre in Sicily, overlooked by a famous crossword smoker who has appeared here very recently |
|
| 13 | Hush nieces playing round lake (7) |
| SILENCE – Anagram (‘playing’) of NIECES containing (’round’) L (‘lake’) | |
| 14 | Cheerful bishop — just (6) |
| BRIGHT – B (‘bishop’) RIGHT (‘just’) | |
| 15 | Run from Conservative European swindle (6) |
| FLEECE – FLEE (‘Run from’) C (‘Conservative’) E (‘European’) | |
| 18 | Friend in the country? (5) |
| CHINA – Double definition
‘Friend’=mate= CHINA plate in Cockney rhyming slang |
|
| 19 | Fish with a tail (4) |
| CODA – COD (‘Fish’) A (‘a’)
The completion (‘tail’) of a piece of music or story etc |
|
It just gets worse and worse. I try to approach the QC with optimism, but that soon gets crushed by my incompetence. A DNF in 40 mins. Was doing well but held up for a while by 18dn and 15dn. Why couldn’t I see these obvious clues straight away?
Then my day was totally ruined by 23ac. Thought AUTO for vehicle and MATE for key lifetime support. I don’t know how so many of you got the answer. I wouldn’t have got that in a month of Sundays. How can AFTERCARE be lifetime support?
As usual, I have a complete inability to see what is word play and what is the straight definition. I thought the clue for 23ac required a word meaning looking for, just as I thought 15dn required a word for run.
There was a time when I looked forward to the QC. Now it just gets me down because I can’t make progress and my times are usually dreadful.
I looked at Don Manley’s book last night. It was written for better minds than mine.
No doubt I’ll be back for more humiliation tomorrow.
Thanks for the blog.
Got interrupted in the morning coffee, busy day, hence a late finish.
As above, could not do the last one – AFTERCARE, might need some of that myself now as I SUP. Anyhow I am not feeling MOROSE as I did it all except one so I am seeing progress after 4 years at it!
Also lots to make me think and smile in a nice way.
COD NOVEL
And what about that chic male wandering in the compound!
Thanks Joker and Bletchley Reject