Another difficult QC: I was nearly four minutes over target, which was nearly four minutes quicker than yesterday’s, done just beforehand. So perhaps a bit easier today (although I am more used to Izetti’s style, so perhaps not). Certainly some tricky clues, and I had to return to different parts of the grid several times before ending up at 1 down and deciding against bunging in an unlikely-looking word. A lovely puzzle for the more experienced, and I can assure you every such person has spent plenty of time staring blankly at empty grids, so don’t be dispirited if you struggled a bit with this. Many thanks to Izetti!
| Across | |
| 1 | Disdain continued briefly, almost completely futile (8) |
| CONTEMPT – CONT. (continued “briefly”), EMPTy (“almost completely” futile) | |
| 5 | Distinctive quality of gold shown by artist (4) |
| AURA – Au (gold) RA (artist) | |
| 8 | Little devil by old shelter, unable to act (8) |
| IMPOTENT – IMP (little devil) O(ld) TENT (shelter) | |
| 9 | Divine figure with some authority (4) |
| THOR – with “some” auTHORity | |
| 11 | Fathers outside church shy away from dogs (10) |
| DACHSHUNDS – DADS (fathers) outside CH(urch) SHUN (shy away from) | |
| 14 | Religious person giving description of our earthy sphere (6) |
| OBLATE – double definition, the first more obscure than the second. Wikipedia covers both in depth if you’re interested. | |
| 15 | Report of oil in this country (6) |
| GREECE – sounds like (reportedly) GREASE (oil) | |
| 17 | A lone comic, terribly cheap (10) |
| ECONOMICAL – anagram (terribly) of A LONE COMIC | |
| 20 | Gosh, one with nothing is in a state! (4) |
| OHIO – OH (gosh) I (one) with O (nothing) | |
| 21 | University class? Crashing out in examination (8) |
| TUTORIAL – anagram (crashing) of OUT in TRIAL (examination) | |
| 22 | Border straddled by distinguished gentlemen (4) |
| EDGE – is straddled by distinguishED GEntlemen | |
| 23 | Notice obsession making one very angry (8) |
| SEETHING – SEE (notice) THING (obsession). As in to have a thing for something. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Impudent youngster, Conservative success (4) |
| CHIT – C(onservative) HIT (success). I was wondering if a CWIN was a brat of Welsh extraction but no: a chit is the young of an animal, as in a whelp, cub or kitten, applied “more or less contemptuously to a child” (OED). News to me, but I like the word (not least because, if preceded by the word “little”, it bears a satisfying similarity to a rather more vulgar analysis). | |
| 2 | Little drinks go round after characters have turned up (4) |
| NIPS – SPIN (go round) after characters have turned up = reversed. | |
| 3 | Separation from ethnic origin (10) |
| EXTRACTION – double definition | |
| 4 | Vivacious horse going over yard (6) |
| PUNCHY – PUNCH (horse) going over Y(ard). As in a Suffolk Punch: a punch is a thickset person or thing, from puncheon, a large barrel or cask. | |
| 6 | Likely to go mad, being in need of a joint? (8) |
| UNHINGED – cryptic hint, as in lacking a joint/hinge. | |
| 7 | Criminal e-traders nabbed by the police (8) |
| ARRESTED – anagram (criminal) of ETRADERS | |
| 10 | The soldiers facing an attack in that vicinity (10) |
| THEREABOUT – THE, R.E. (soldiers) facing A BOUT (an attack) | |
| 12 | Repeated invitation that I cannot accept! (4,4) |
| COME COME – COME (invitation) repeated. | |
| 13 | Permitting everyone to be given due (8) |
| ALLOWING – ALL (everyone) to be given OWING (due) | |
| 16 | Diagram to be understandable (6) |
| FIGURE – double definition. The second as in to imagine or picture in the mind: the OED has the phrase “to figure to oneself”, where “be understandable” swaps well enough. | |
| 18 | Little friend of Mickey being heard (4) |
| MINI – MINNIE [Mouse] (friend of Mickey) “being heard” | |
| 19 | Something eating the lettuce? Blow! (4) |
| SLUG – double definition. | |
Woody
Why does the Don have (at least) two personae here in the QC? I.e. Izetti and Pedro (if memory serves).
Anyway, great puzzle, thank you very much, Mr Manley. Lovely surfaces as usual. I DNK the other OBLATE and horse=PUNCH has been noted too. Had a bit of a MER with the the greasing of the surface with ‘in’ in 20A which is very non-Ximenian but people seem to care less about that these days. I mean *in* a state is very different to ‘a state’.
Like others I wrangled a bit with understandable = FIGURE.
COD for me was 14A for obscurity – I knew one half of it, but sadly not the other. I’ve given up timing myself by the way – I’m getting older and slower.
Woodsy.
Got Spin but not really happy with it.
Pleased to see Dachshunds early after some time trying Pas around the outside.
But much of it seemed a bit dated and along old worn lines of obscurity as others have touched on.
(In other words I’m just cross at my knowledge weaknesses!!)
Stopped after about 35 minutes.
Thanks all
John George