I saw the setter’s name and settled down for a patient solve rather than my normal QC romp attempt. This was rewarded by the enjoyment of some mental gymnastics and deceptions. I took over 12 minutes so I suppose that makes this rather tricky but I didn’t do this as a time trial today.
Enjoy!
Definitions are underlined.
| Across | |
| 7 | Harmful recreational drug is ordered (4) |
| BADE – harmful (BAD), recreational drug (E). | |
| 8 | A quiet member of the family, that’s evident (8) |
| APPARENT – a (A), quiet (P), member of the family (PARENT). | |
| 9 | Carol wants love first and last, being unattached (6) |
| SINGLE – carol (SING), (L)ov(E). | |
| 10 | Place in Somerset, a colony to the west (6) |
| LOCATE – inside Somers(ET A COL)ony – to the left (west). Not the little known (as it doesn’t exist) hamlet of TACOLO which I first mused upon. | |
| 11 | Beloved Bambi perhaps being heard (4) |
| DEAR – homophone (being heard) of deer. | |
| 12 | Charlie has new pastime in temporary accommodation? (8) |
| CAMPSITE – Charlie (C), anagram (new) of PASTIME. | |
| 15 | Item of office equipment is essential, needed by firm’s bosses (8) |
| KEYBOARD – essential (KEY), firm’s bosses (BOARD). The item of office equipment seemed a bit tenuous to me. | |
| 17 | Poet who lives in a small community in Rome? (4) |
|
POPE – Q. Who lives in a small community in Rome? A. The Pope. Alexander Pope was a poet and satirist of the Augustan period ( |
|
| 18 | Old city the one above all others? Not quite (6) |
| THEBES – the one above all others is (THE BES)t – not quite – without the final letter. Thebes was a source of many a Greek myth (e.g. Oedipus, Dionysus) and currently called Thiva which is in a region with nearly every vowel – Boeotia. | |
| 21 | Shine, getting fantastic result (6) |
| LUSTRE – anagram (getting fantastic) of RESULT. | |
| 22 | Report of a snow leopard being broadcast (8) |
| ANNOUNCE – homophone (being broadcast) of an ounce. | |
| 23 | Stinking row (4) |
| RANK – double definition. Great surface for just 2 words. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Islanders queue to enter HQ (8) |
| BALINESE – queue (LINE) inside HQ (BASE). No hope of any biffing here with the letters I had at the time. | |
| 2 | Reginald (vicar?) upset church worker (6) |
| VERGER – Reginald (REG) and vicar? (REV) all upset (upwards). | |
| 3 | Winding canal I’ve found in foreign city (8) |
| VALENCIA – anagram (winding) of CANAL IVE. | |
| 4 | Work with a learner to produce a gem! (4) |
| OPAL – work (OP) with a (A) and learner (L). | |
| 5 | Small reptile spotted on American plant (6) |
| CROCUS – small word for a reptile (CROC) on American (US). | |
| 6 | Upper-class fool in group of soldiers? (4) |
| UNIT – upper-class (U), fool (NIT). | |
| 13 | Having crossed valley, Maureen and Edward sat (8) |
| MODELLED – going across valley (DELL – not dale or vale which I tried) is Maureen (MO) and Edward (ED). Sat as in for a painting. | |
| 14 | Gradually decreasing sound at end of recording (8) |
| TAPERING – sound (RING) at end of recording (TAPE). | |
| 16 | Prohibition involving shout that startles monkey (6) |
| BABOON – prohibition (BAN) around shout that startles (BOO!). Liked this one. | |
| 17 | People on forums having no time for puzzles (6) |
| POSERS – people on forums (and here we are) are (POS)t(ERS) with no time (T). | |
| 19 | Look for building to accommodate any number (4) |
| HUNT – building (HUT) holding any number (N). | |
| 20 | Function for mathematicians at home in the home counties (4) |
| SINE – at home (IN) inside Home Counties (SE). | |
Typical fare from Izetti, nicely pitched to be challenging with precise clueing.
After all my years of puzzle-solving I was stiil misled by 10 ac “locate” and failed to spot the reverse hidden element of the clue at first, until my admittedly short trawl of Somerset place names I knew yielded nothing!
COD 17 ac “Pope” made me smile
Thanks to Chris for an entertaining blog and to the Don