Hi everyone. My second Teazel blog in a row, but I’m not complaining. Timewise I fared better today, taking 30s under par. After a flying start in the NW I slowed down, then finished with a long hesitation and fingers crossed over 8a. Enjoyable as ever – thanks Teazel.
Definitions are underlined in the clues below. In the explanations, quoted indicators are in italics and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER. For clarity, I omit most link words and some juxtaposition indicators.
| Across | |
| 1a | Advertising professional with formal proposal (9) |
| PROMOTION — PRO (professional) + MOTION (formal proposal) | |
| 6a | Very quiet concession (3) |
| SOP — SO (very) + P (quiet) | |
| 8a | In front of us is Nurse Bell (7) |
| ANGELUS — In front of US is ANGEL (nurse) The bell rung to signal the time for angelus, a short RC prayer recited three times daily. It took me until after completion to remember angel is a term for a nurse; I somehow managed to get this from the definition without knowingly knowing it. Cryptics can summon things from places in my brain I can’t readily access any other way! |
|
| 9a | Very sick at a holiday home (5) |
| VILLA — V (very) + ILL (sick) + A | |
| 10a | Secret motive in handing a deed out (6,6) |
| HIDDEN AGENDA — An anagram of (… out) HANDING A DEED | |
| 12a | After dance noticed activity in assembly room? (6) |
| JIGSAW — After JIG (dance) we have SAW (noticed) | |
| 13a | Not liable to change where horses are kept (6) |
| STABLE — A double definition | |
| 16a | Sort of drug spreading Italian alarm (12) |
| ANTIMALARIAL — An anagram of (spreading) ITALIAN ALARM | |
| 19a | Statuette showing no blemish? (5) |
| OSCAR — O SCAR (no blemish?) | |
| 20a | Work on paper — wrong bit used (7) |
| SUBEDIT — An anagram of (wrong) BIT USED | |
| 22a | A nervous throw? (3) |
| SHY — A kind of cryptic definition, but I’d prefer to call it a precise definition, “throw”, with a second indication embedded which plays on nervous/shy. Or I could be overcomplicating things: without the A it would just be a simple double definition | |
| 23a | Success with race leading to sort of accident (3-3-3) |
| HIT-AND-RUN — HIT (success) + AND (with) + RUN (race) | |
| Down | |
| 1d | Aircraft’s unfinished chart (4) |
| PLAN — PLANe (aircraft) is unfinished, i.e. missing its last letter | |
| 2d | Working, leaving? Continuing (7) |
| ONGOING — ON (working) + GOING (leaving) | |
| 3d | Bird initially over western lake (3) |
| OWL — The first letters of (initially) Over Western Lake | |
| 4d | Foolish to hold son mad (6) |
| INSANE — INANE (foolish) containing (to hold) S (son) | |
| 5d | Cockpit colleague perhaps good to introduce to new airman (9) |
| NAVIGATOR — G (good) inserted into (to introduce to) N (new) and AVIATOR (airman) | |
| 6d | Sister at first by herself almost in the hairdresser’s? (5) |
| SALON — The initial letter of (… at first) Sister + ALONe (by herself) without the last letter (almost) | |
| 7d | Calm down situation — a time to intervene (7) |
| PLACATE — PLACE (situation) with the insertion of (… to intervene) A and T (time) | |
| 11d | Solemn procession when no sign of an early spring? (4,5) |
| DEAD MARCH — If nothing is growing in March it doesn’t look like Spring is coming early | |
| 12d | Envious of ale drunk in short tournament (7) |
| JEALOUS — An anagram of (… drunk) ALE in all but the last letter of (short) JOUSt (tournament) | |
| 14d | One getting on train — and staying at school? (7) |
| BOARDER — Two definitions, slightly entwined, the second really “one staying at school?” | |
| 15d | Private room nearby, at end of street (6) |
| CLOSET — CLOSE (nearby) next to (at) the last letter of (end of) streeT | |
| 17d | A little sticky, and in bad taste (5) |
| TACKY — A double definition | |
| 18d | KO — crazy to get up (4) |
| STUN — NUTS (crazy) needs to be reversed (to get up) | |
| 21d | Throw away wine stored here (3) |
| BIN — A final double definition | |
I failed to get (and NHO) ANGELUS because I didn’t use the wordplay properly, but otherwise I struggled less than normal. Would have been a personal best if not for the bell! Oh well, at least that might help it to stick in my head for next time.
A little slow, coming in a shade over 9 minutes. ANGELUS and DEAD MARCH both new to me, and accounted for much of the excess, the former not helped by my having biffed in BOW for 3d (bowled, over, with, and there’s such a thing as an oxbow lake so perhaps BOW is some sort of odd old names for a lake, I told myself…). Eventually corrected myself, got hold of PROMOTION and ANGELUS, and there we are.
Thanks both.