Solving time: 8 minutes. This is only Jalna’s 9th puzzle so his style may seem a little different, but perhaps I’m getting used to him as this was the very first time I have solved one of his offerings within my target 10 minutes. I was doubly pleased to achieve this today after three consecutive failures at the end of last week.
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 | Wild diatribe interrupting female in charge (7) |
| FRANTIC | |
| RANT (diatribe) contained by [interrupting] F (female) + IC (in charge) | |
| 5 | Insincere talk about a collection of books (4) |
| CANT | |
| CA (about – circa), NT (a collection of books – New Testament) | |
| 7 | Separate the ropes, partly for fastening (6) |
| TETHER | |
| Hidden [partly] in {separa}TE THE R{opes} | |
| 8 | After match, get endless sharp pain (6) |
| TWINGE | |
| TWIN (match), GE{t} [endless] | |
| 9 | A mix of hate and respect for favoured pupil (8,3) |
| TEACHERS PET | |
| Anagram [a mix of] HATE RESPECT | |
| 10 | Friend returning item of clothing and computer (6) |
| LAPTOP | |
| PAL (friend) reversed [returning], TOP (item of clothing) | |
| 12 | Disreputable person is great socially, from time to time (6) |
| RASCAL | |
| {g}R{e}A{t} S{o}C{i}A{l}L{y} [from time to time] | |
| 14 | A pretty cold, agitated old reptile (11) |
| PTERODACTYL | |
| Anagram [agitated] of A PRETTY COLD | |
| 17 | Arrange one European trip (6) |
| SORTIE | |
| SORT (arrange), I (one), E (European). My LOI and I was slow to see it | |
| 18 | Nervous individual departs, say, after returning (2,4) |
| ON EDGE | |
| ONE (individual), D (departs), then EG (say) reversed [after returning] | |
| 20 | One employing some house rules (4) |
| USER | |
| Hidden in [some] {ho}USE R{ules} | |
| 21 | Fruit gelato served up without nuts on top (7) |
| TANGELO | |
| Anagram [served up] of GELATO containing [without – outside] N{uts} [on top] | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Bill of fare excludes escargots for starters (3) |
| FEE | |
| F{are} E{xcludes} E{scargots} [for starters]. I had some doubts about ‘bill’ and ‘fee’ being synonymous, but on reflection there are instances when they can be, and that’s good enough for crossword purposes. | |
| 2 | Fundamentally, the answer lies in technique (2,5) |
| AT HEART | |
| THE + A (answer) contained by [lies in] ART (technique) | |
| 3 | Set fire to rubbish piled up next to church (5) |
| TORCH | |
| ROT (rubbish) reversed [piled up], CH (church) | |
| 4 | Meal provider — someone tending to consume a lot of tea (7) |
| CATERER | |
| CARER (someone tending) contains [to consume] TE{a} [a lot of…] | |
| 5 | Fold the first pieces of crêpe paper around the edge (5) |
| CRIMP | |
| C{rêpe} + P{aper} [first pieces] containing [around] RIM (edge) | |
| 6 | Thing amazingly preceding Californian autumn sunset (9) |
| NIGHTFALL | |
| Anagram [amazingly] of THING, then FALL (Californian autumn) | |
| 9 | Utensils made using soapstone, possibly (9) |
| TEASPOONS | |
| Anagram [made using…possibly] of SOAPSTONE | |
| 11 | Specialist trial demo (7) |
| PROTEST | |
| PRO (specialist), TEST (trial) | |
| 13 | I told you, her toe’s broken! (2,5) |
| SO THERE | |
| Anagram [broken] of HER TOE’S | |
| 15 | Come in the main front gate, or always at the back (5) |
| ENTER | |
| {th}E {mai}N {fron}T {gat}E {o}R [always at the back] | |
| 16 | A party with sailors below deck (5) |
| ADORN | |
| A, DO (party), RN (sailors – Royal Navy) | |
| 19 | Sentimental stuff is fine, mostly (3) |
| GOO | |
| GOO{d} (fine) [mostly] | |
Edited at 2021-08-30 03:33 pm (UTC)
Nice enough puzzle, of average difficulty for me. I could probably have knocked a minute off with a keyboard and some reading glasses.
SORTIE was LOI..
6:58.