7 minutes for me. How did you all get on?
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]. I usually omit all reference to positional indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.
| Across | |
| 1 | Document from Manchester United’s vault picked up (10) |
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MANUSCRIPT : MANU’S (Manchester United’s), then CRIPT sounds like [picked up] “crypt” [vault]. I can never see the word “crypt” without thinking of the cat who crept into one… |
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| 8 | Row involving tail of big animal (5) |
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TIGER : TIER (row) containing [involving] {bi}G [tail of…] |
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| 9 | Trainer struggling to find ground (7) |
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TERRAIN : Anagram [struggling] of TRAINER |
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| 10 | Playing one’s best against spinner for Middlesex, initially (2,3,4) |
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ON TOP FORM : ON (against), TOP (spinner), FOR, M{iddlesex} [initially]. Good to see my home county getting a mention despite the attempts of Grocer Heath to kill it off. Of course it’s still prominent in the world of cricket as suggested here, as Middlesex county cricket team survives and has its home at Lord’s. |
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| 12 | Male carrying old gardening implement (3) |
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HOE : HE (male) containing [carrying] O (old) |
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| 13 | Change horse’s headgear after heading off (5) |
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ALTER : {h}ALTER (horse’s headgear) [after heading off] |
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| 15 | Mournful song‘s awful, including its ending? (5) |
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DIRGE : DIRE (awful) containing [including] {son}G [its ending]. ‘Its’ refers back to the mournful song. |
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| 17 | Secure link (3) |
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TIE : Two meanings |
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| 18 | Applied to cheek, the best cosmetic (4,5) |
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FACE CREAM : FACE (cheek – impudence), CREAM (best) |
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| 20 | Girl‘s name, one in a story (7) |
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NATALIE : N (name), A, then I (one) contained by [in] TALE (story) |
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| 21 | Bishop and knight eating uncooked beef (5) |
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BRAWN : B (bishop) + N (knight – chess), containing [eating] RAW (uncooked). The meat dish brawn is usually made from pig so the ‘beef’ here is figurative, referring to muscle. |
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| 22 | Unhappy having lots of money moved electronically? (10) |
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DOWNLOADED : DOWN (unhappy), LOADED (having lots of money) |
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| Down | |
| 1 | Dramatic technique encountered doing chat, strangely (6,6) |
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METHOD ACTING : MET (encountered), anagram [strangely] of DOING CHAT |
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| 2 | Near end of flight in darkness (5) |
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NIGHT : NIGH (near), {fligh}T [end of…] |
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| 3 | Way of addressing a man in business I respect (3) |
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SIR : Contained by [in] {busines}S I R{espect} |
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| 4 | Budget speech lacking nothing (6) |
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RATION : {o}RATION (speech) [lacking nothing – O] |
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| 5 | Who may give injured camper aid? (9) |
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PARAMEDIC : Anagram [injured] of CAMPER AID |
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| 6 | Deserter, that woman? On the contrary (6) |
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RATHER : RAT (deserter), HER (that woman) |
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| 7 | Not yet resolved, working men endured it (12) |
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UNDETERMINED : Anagram [working] of MEN ENDURED IT |
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| 11 | Left large-sized book in case (9) |
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PORTFOLIO : PORT (left), FOLIO (large-sized book) |
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| 14 | Deal with leader of youth convention (6) |
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TREATY : TREAT (deal with), Y{outh} [leader]. With a checker or two in place some may have biffed this from the first word of the clue, deal, which is actually part of the wordplay. |
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| 16 | Show shield (6) |
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SCREEN : Two meanings |
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| 19 | Large antelope from eastern country (5) |
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ELAND : E (eastern), LAND (country). A creature that’s always lurking somewhere in Crosswordland but I’m not sure we’ve seen a reference to its size before. |
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| 21 | Voice disapproval when volume reduced (3) |
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BOO : BOO{k} (volume) [reduced] |
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