Solving time: 7:36
Nothing too difficult here I feel, though I wasn’t aware of the particular meaning of 4d. I liked the clever &lit at 9a and am startled to learn of the UK’s lethargy and idleness having read up on 16a’s wordplay. Clearly, none of you successful solvers will be wearing that particular early morning attire…
What did you all think?
Definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [directions in square ones].
| Across | |
| 1 | I am sharp with Mompou’s last piano piece (9) |
| IMPROMPTU – I‘M (I am) PROMPT (sharp) with last letter of {Mompo}U
PROMPT = sharp as in timekeeping e.g. “I’ll be there at 10am sharp” An IMPROMPTU (loosely meaning “offhand”) is a free-form musical composition with the character of an ex tempore improvisation as if prompted by the spirit of the moment, usually for a solo instrument, such as piano. Federico Mompou (1893-1987) was a Spanish composer and pianist, some of whom’s output included short, relatively improvisatory music, often described as “delicate” or “intimate”. |
|
| 6 | Public transport broken — time’s lost (3) |
| BUS – BUS |
|
| 8 | Fashionable friend of Barbie in yellow (7) |
| CHICKEN – CHIC (Fashionable) KEN (friend of Barbie)
KEN and Barbie were each named after the two children of Barbie’s creator Ruth Handler, co-founder of toy manufacturer Mattel. |
|
| 9 | Opening for dealing with drizzle? (5) |
| DRAIN – D{ealing} [Opening (letter) for] with RAIN (drizzle)
This looks like an &lit to me, where the whole clue is both the definition and the wordplay. (I am sure that I shall be corrected if I am wrong) |
|
| 10 | Who’ll make a good case new PM’s role should be this? (12) |
| CABINETMAKER – Double definition where both are of the mildly cryptic variety | |
| 12 | Dog is shy round the heartless (6) |
| COYOTE – COY (shy) O (round) T{h}E [heartless i.e. remove the middle letter] | |
| 13 | Girl penning info for to-do list (6) |
| AGENDA – ADA (Girl) containing [penning] GEN (info) | |
| 16 | Scolding daughter in early morning attire, not good? (8-4) |
| DRESSING-DOWN – D (daughter) in DRESSING I was amused to read in Wikipedia, that towards the end of the 20th century, dressing gowns fell out of fashion within the USA, as wearing such garments became increasingly associated with idleness and lethargy. However, this is in stark contrast to the UK where they are still in common use today. What does that say about us Brits? |
|
| 19 | Weak dove going west shows spirit (5) |
| VODKA – Reverse hidden [going west shows] in Weak dove | |
| 20 | Pictures of mirage shimmering before day’s end (7) |
| IMAGERY – Anagram [shimmering] of MIRAGE before the end of {da}Y | |
| 22 | Use oars in line (3) |
| ROW – Double definition | |
| 23 | Absorbed strange need to keep entire amount (9) |
| ENGROSSED – Anagram [strange] of NEED containing [to keep] GROSS (entire amount)
GROSS here in the sense of income before tax |
|
| Down | |
| 1 | Move slowly inside church (4) |
| INCH – IN (inside) CH (church) | |
| 2 | Expensive to have mother in commanding position (7) |
| PRIMACY – PRICY (Expensive) containing [to have…in] MA (mother) | |
| 3 | Area covered by very good variety of tree (3) |
| OAK – A (Area) inside [covered by] OK (very good) | |
| 4 | Pimp’s embarrassed to sleep over (6) |
| PANDER – RED (embarrassed) NAP (sleep) all reversed [over]
Collins online, amongst others, defines a PANDER as a person who procures a sexual partner for another i.e. a pimp I did not know this meaning of the word. |
|
| 5 | Remove blockage as old as the hills in one piece (9) |
| UNDAMAGED – UNDAM (Remove blockage) AGED (as old as the hills)
UNDAM exists in Collins online. |
|
| 6 | British want jet (5) |
| BLACK – B (British) LACK (want) | |
| 7 | Grain as processed for alcoholic drink (7) |
| SANGRIA – Anagram [processed] of GRAIN AS | |
| 11 | Lacking will during cricket match, scoffed (9) |
| INTESTATE – IN (during) TEST (cricket match) ATE (scoffed) | |
| 12 | Body chap found in vehicle (7) |
| CADAVER – DAVE (chap) found in CAR (vehicle) | |
| 14 | Novelty of seven points? (7) |
| NEWNESS – N E W N E S S (seven points… of the compass) | |
| 15 | Ceasing transmitting — not the first (6) |
| ENDING – |
|
| 17 | Give funds to finish town’s centre (5) |
| ENDOW – END (finish) then middle letters [centre] of {t}OW{n} | |
| 18 | Broadcast I’d watched (4) |
| EYED – Homophone [broadcast] of I’D | |
| 21 | Violent struggle leaving New York behind in the past (3) |
| AGO – AGO Collins online mentions ‘struggle’ and Merriam Webster mentions ‘violent struggle’ in their respective definitions of AGONY |
|
16 mins.
Did ok on 15 x 15.
Thanks for the blog.
The 15×15 was a really good one today, wasn’t it? I liked both puzzles today and felt they were well-pitched.
Yes, I agree. 😊
10.29. Definitely on the slow train tonight.