… not the crossword, but (indirectly) the wordplay in 3d which could lead to TIREDNESS. Anyway, hello, and welcome to another Monday! I don’t have much to say here – it took a normal kind of time and I’ve no particular favourites – but have made comments by a few of the clues. I also ponder the question: when is a double definition not a double definition? (See 22a.) All good fun, thanks Hurley!
Definitions are underlined in the clues below. In the explanations, most quoted indicators are in italics, specified [deletions] are in square brackets, 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 | Bullfighter miffed initially at bother, resistance (7) |
| MATADOR — The first letter of (… initially) Miffed + AT + ADO (bother) + R (resistance] | |
| 5a | Card one used at Augusta? (4) |
| CLUB — Double definition. The first is a playing card; the second refers to a famous golf course in Augusta, Georgia (fully the Augusta National Golf Club), which hosts the Masters Tournament | |
| 7a | Grasp every so often there’s an opening (3) |
| GAP — Regular letters of (… every so often) GrAsP | |
| 8a | Flag of usual kind (8) |
| STANDARD — Two definitions | |
| 10a | Prevailing fashion in climbing place, we hear (5) |
| STYLE — Sounds like (… we hear) STILE (climbing place – step(s) built into a fence etc.) | |
| 11a | Some concoct agonising contests here? (7) |
| OCTAGON — Part of (some) concOCT AGONising. Perfectly solvable form the clue but I had to investigate: The Octagon is the arena in mixed martial arts. Accordingly the whole clue also serves as an extended definition | |
| 13a | Say aloud something memorised about internet location reportedly (6) |
| RECITE — RE (about) + CITE, which sounds like (… reportedly) SITE (internet location) | |
| 15a | Spot note about hospital, become very angry (6) |
| SEETHE — SEE (spot) + TE (note) around (about) H (hospital) | |
| 17a | Take care of article on regular basis in part of plant (7) |
| TENDRIL — TEND (take care of) + regular letters of (… on regular basis) aRtIcLe | |
| 18a | South American welcome for Japanese dish (5) |
| SUSHI — S (south) + US (American) + HI (welcome) | |
| 20a | Roundhead’s opponent, offhand (8) |
| CAVALIER — Double definition | |
| 22a | Party’s place for research (3) |
| LAB — Two definitions more-or-less, but since LAB (Lab.) is properly an abbreviation for Labour (party), I’ve allocated it wordplay status. I’ve done similarly in 5d and 21d but would not call you wrong if you think any or all these clues are double definitions, because it’s a very picky point | |
| 23a | Money from Government not good — make violent speech (4) |
| RANT — [g]RANT (money from Government) without (not) G (good). | |
| Violent seems just a bit strong here to me, although it’s justified, obliquely in Chambers but directly in Collins. Feel free to debate – but please no ranting! | |
| 24a | Clothing linked to particular period? Nonsense (7) |
| GARBAGE — GARB (clothing) by (linked to) AGE (particular period) | |
| Down | |
| 1d | Judge’s target aims for change (10) |
| MAGISTRATE — TARGET AIMS is to be anagrammed (for change) | |
| 2d | Suggestions Yankee is a little intoxicated (5) |
| TIPSY — TIPS (suggestions) + Y (yankee, NATO alphabet) | |
| 3d | One departing from majority line upset residents (9) |
| DISSENTER — An anagram of (upset) RESIDENTS. | |
| When double-checking the anagram fodder for the blog I found the other anagram of the answer, leading to the warning in the title | |
| 4d | Cause new start to season (6) |
| REASON — We change the first letter (from S to R) giving a new start to sEASON | |
| 5d | Method of payment for fish (3) |
| COD — C.O.D. = Cash on Delivery (method of payment) | |
| 6d | Honest, appearing in court? Correct (7) |
| UPRIGHT — UP (appearing in court) + RIGHT (correct) | |
| 9d | Lane bin due for replacement? True, definitely (10) |
| UNDENIABLE — LANE BIN DUE anagrammed (for replacement) | |
| 12d | One with funds role errs, a true shambles (9) |
| TREASURER — ERRS, A TRUE anagram (shambles) | |
| 14d | Musical work in prison — so long (7) |
| CANTATA — CAN (prison) + TA–TA (so long, goodbye) | |
| 16d | Means of travel — female not telling truth (6) |
| FLYING — F (female) + LYING (not telling truth) | |
| 19d | Dance rehearsal, saucy in part (5) |
| SALSA — Hidden in (… in part) rehearSAL, SAucy | |
| 21d | Suitable apartment in short (3) |
| APT — APT. (apartment), abbreviation (in short) | |
7:32 here, which I think is my second fastest time ever. I also tried to make “indubitable” work for 9 dn, despite it having the wrong number of letters. Other than that, no hold-ups.
Thanks to Hurley and Kitty.
Note that the Octagon is the cage used by the UFC, who are the biggest but by no means the only MMA promotion in the world. Other promotions may differ, e.g. Bellator uses a circular cage, PFL uses a 10-sided cage. Some promotions do use cages in the shape of an octagon but, due to a UFC trademark, they can’t call it an octagon (!)
Had to stop and check OCTAGON as many above, apart from that gentle stroll
10 mins – too straightforward as preparation for tackling the biggie.
Needless to say, bad day on biggie – 18/28 in 90 mins. Awful performance.
Rather too easy for Hurley? Pretty well a top to bottom solve. I had time to finish my Costa after checking it through… None-the-less it was enjoyable, and, as far as I am concerned, that is the only test.
It’s a bit late, but I just did 12:39 so I thought I might as well write something. SALSA seems to be popular at the moment. Maybe because it’s summer, albeit not for much longer. Thanks Kitty and Hurley.
I know it was yesterday and nobody will read this but had to record a quickest ever quick at 4:55. How do some people do the 15×15 quicker? My pen was melting doing this.
Sorry, it’s now yesterday yesterday and you probably won’t see this, but well done anyway!