Solving time: 10 minutes. I was very surprised to bring this in on time if only by a whisker as I felt I was struggling throughout the solve. On blogging it I wondered what had delayed me.
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 | Cartoon dog without tail trailed by cunning philosopher (8) |
| PLUTARCH | |
| PLUT{o} (cartoon dog – Disney) [without tail], ARCH (cunning). I bet nearly everyone thought of Snoopy first. | |
| 6 | Graduate meeting church composer (4) |
| BACH | |
| BA (graduate), CH (church) | |
| 8 | Something cheesy coming from pantomime dame (4) |
| EDAM | |
| Hidden in [coming from] {pantomim}E DAM{e}. I thought for a moment that we were being offered ‘pantomime’ as an anagram indicator and was wondering how to justify it, but thankfully it didn’t come to that! Makes a change from ‘Cheese made backwards’ anyway. | |
| 9 | Serious-looking fellow embarrassed about perfume (8) |
| POMANDER | |
| PO (serious-looking), MAN (fellow) then RED (embarrassed) reversed [about]. I tend to think of this as a container for aromatic substances, but the dictionaries assure me that the original meaning referred to the substances themselves, made into a ball and hung somewhere to sweeten the air. ‘Po’ meaning ‘serious’ came up only last week, although it may have been in the main puzzle; anyway it gave rise to a query or two. | |
| 10 | Repaired tent I now entered (4,4) |
| WENT INTO | |
| Anagram [repaired’ of TENT I NOW | |
| 12 | Support for champ, finally (4) |
| PROP | |
| PRO (for), {cham}P [finally] | |
| 13 | Move awkwardly in sleep, hiding head (6) |
| LUMBER | |
| {s}LUMBER (sleep) [hiding head] | |
| 16 | King meeting a judge for contact sport (6) |
| KARATE | |
| K (king), A, RATE (judge) | |
| 17 | Cut up cubes (4) |
| DICE | |
| Two meanings | |
| 18 | Has a feeling religious groups will contain unique selling point (8) |
| SUSPECTS | |
| SECTS (religious groups) containing USP (Unique Selling Point – business jargon) | |
| 21 | Party friend keeping in control (8) |
| DOMINATE | |
| DO (party), then MATE (friend) containing [keeping] IN | |
| 22 | Succeeding with trap, catching ten (4) |
| NEXT | |
| NET (trap), containing [catching] X (ten) | |
| 23 | Foursome in concert on a single occasion (4) |
| ONCE | |
| Four letters (foursome) hidden [in] {c}ONCE{rt} | |
| 24 | Standing in train, get flustered (8) |
| TREATING | |
| Anagram [flustered] of TRAIN GET. Standing someone a drink would be ‘treating’ them. | |
| Down | |
| 2 | Bound to get left on shelf (5) |
| LEDGE | |
| L (left), EDGE (bound). ‘Bound’ as in boundary or border . There’s an ancient parish custom called ‘Beating the Bounds‘. | |
| 3 | Sort of test coming up for boy (3) |
| TOM | |
| MOT (sort of test) reversed [coming up]. It stands for ‘Ministry of Transport’ and is still used as the name of the annual road vehicle test despite that department title having been changed in 1970. It was consumed by Environemnt briefly and then emerged as Department for Transport with some of its work finding its way across my desk. | |
| 4 | English city‘s giving wish for peace — small number turned up (5) |
| RIPON | |
| RIP (wish for peace – Rest In Peace), then NO (small number) reversed [turned up] | |
| 5 | Poor actor to make jokes about in bed (7) |
| HAMMOCK | |
| HAM (poor actor), MOCK (make jokes about) | |
| 6 | Something hard about a role for French emperor (9) |
| BONAPARTE | |
| BONE (something hard) containing [about] A + PART (role) | |
| 7 | Something to smoke in bed — brave man gets tucked in (7) |
| CHEROOT | |
| HERO (brave man) contained by [gets tucked in] COT (bed) | |
| 11 | Lean bit we chewed — this washed it down? (5,4) |
| TABLE WINE | |
| Anagram [chewed] of LEAN BIT WE | |
| 14 | International organisation, one with something banal that can’t be believed in! (7) |
| UNICORN | |
| UN (international organisation), I (one), CORN (something banal) | |
| 15 | Sailor with external support gets new beginning (7) |
| RESTART | |
| TAR (sailor) contained by [with external…] REST (support) | |
| 19 | Woman in garden is lifting something to sift soil? (5) |
| SIEVE | |
| EVE (woman in garden – of Eden) + IS, all reversed [lifting] | |
| 20 | American lover once wearing brown (5) |
| TEXAN | |
| EX (lover once) contained by [wearing] TAN (brown) | |
| 22 | Head old teaching union (3) |
| NUT | |
| Two meanings, the second standing for ‘National Union of Teachers’ which merged into the ‘National Education Union’ in 2017. Although NUT would qualify as a strict acronym I don’t think it was ever used as such, other than by those who didn’t like it and then usually adding an S! The union was referred to either by its full name or spoken as three separate letters N. U. T. | |
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