However everything flowed pretty smoothly and this ended up being very interesting – especially whilst writing the blog as I took a turn or two through the dictionary.
Here’s how I got on.
1. Larkspur – plant – any of various ranunculaceous plants of the genus Delphinium, with spikes of blue, pink, or white irregular spurred flowers. Early risers (LARKS), express contentment endlessly (PUR)r.
5. Opus – work. Quietly (P) in middle of house h(OUS)e.
8. Cairo – Capital. Broadcast (AIR) covered by firm (CO).
9. Spanner – tool. Girl (ANNE) in the first half of (SPR)ing.
11. Nan – old woman – nanny/grandma. Nan or naan is an Indian bread.
12. Overspend – fork out too much. Deliveries (OVERS), quietly (P), object (END).
13. Worthy – commendable. Why (WHY) protecting old (O) and right (RT).
15. Erotic – sexy. Books (OT) in (ERIC) Morecambe – who brought us sunshine.
18. Essential – indispensable. Anagram (construction) of AS IN STEEL.
19. Aga – Turkish commander. A (A), key (G), area (A).
20. Artiste – performer. Anagram (badly) of one (I) and TREATS.
21. Smock – loose garment. (S)ome, make fun of (MOCK).
22. Dodo – extinct bird. (O)ne inside strange (ODD) backwards.
23. Islander – inhabitant of detached territory. This writer defames (I SLANDER).
DOWN
1. Lucknow – Indian City – a city in N India, capital of Uttar Pradesh. Good fortune (LUCK), currently (NOW).
2. Reign – exercise authority. Anagram (transforming) of NIGER.
3. Show of hands – vote. A show for the entertainment of the hands.
4. Ulster – a man’s heavy double-breasted overcoat with a belt or half-belt at the back. Some mog(ULS TER)ribly.
6. Pungent – sarcastic. Joke (PUN) senior officer (GENeral), (T)olerated. Pungent is usually a strong, sharp smell or taste which is also used of wit, satire, etc to mean biting; caustic. So sarcastic can be described as pungent.
7. Strad or Stradivarius is a priceless instrument. Dashed (DARTS) upwards – to the north.
10. Australasia – huge area. LOI as a very many things could be described as a huge area (like the space taken up by weeds in my back garden). Regrettably (ALAS) seized by European Country (AUSTRIA).
14. Resited – give new position. I (I) with relaxed (RESTED) outside.
16. Cracker – thing to pull at Christmas. I’m sure you’d like to know that a good friend went to a fancy dress party dressed as a Christmas cracker where she began a relationship – a long happy marriage ensues. Endlessly crazy (CRACKER)s.
17. Divers – double definition. The first is ‘in the past, various’. The British definition is archaic or literary making it ‘in the past’ – although I also note that the American definition isn’t archaic. Both mean various. The second is aquatic birds – the loons or divers are a group of aquatic birds found in many parts of North America and northern Eurasia.
18. Eland – African native. Aim (END) to tour US city (LA). An eland is a large spiral-horned antelope. As a slight aside it turns out that Elland Road (Leeds Utd) is not named after said beast but after a market town whose name derives from land by the water, river or land partly or wholly surrounded by water.
19. Aloud – how books may be read. Homophone (to be heard) of allowed – permitted.
Struggled with the last two: strad and especially divers. Almost put livers for the liver bird.
Dnk nan spelling, ulster for coat or pungent for sarcastic, although they all seemed reasonable.
COD erotic
Still, once SPANNER went in I knew it was wrong and then OVERSPEND helped me to the right answer, with it going in last, just after PUNGENT.
Helpfully I knew LARKSPUR from, of all places, a Nancy Drew novel I read when I was very young! It even has delphinia on the cover.
Edited at 2017-08-22 08:59 am (UTC)
I would have gone with something like:
Frogmen? a mixed bag dropping e!
4’30”
PlayUpPompey
A classic puzzle in many ways with a plant and an antelope. About 17 minutes. David
PS the 15×15 is mostly do-able for the experienced QCer.