7:17. My anagram skills were well and truly put to the test here, but I think I did all right. This puzzle featured a nice variety of tough clues, which made for a very enjoyable solve overall. Incidentally, now that classes are over, I’ve been doing the puzzles most days, and I’m enjoying getting back into the flow!
My conventions in the solutions below are to underline definitions (including a defining phrase); put linking words in [brackets]; and put all wordplay indicators in italics. I also use a solidus (/) to help break up the clue where necessary, especially for double definitions without linking words.
| Across | |
| 1 | Exceptional talent [of] Bill in race, swimming (10) |
| BRILLIANCE – BILL IN RACE anagrammed | |
| 8 | A / part-time worker captivated by non-drinker[’s] endeavour (7) |
| ATTEMPT – A + TEMP in TT (teetotaler) | |
| 9 | Dark — somewhere to sleep in Paris (5) |
| UNLIT – UN LIT (= ‘a bed’, in French)
A chestnut — not that I remembered it. |
|
| 10 | Large room [in] hotel? Entirely (4) |
| HALL – H + ALL | |
| 11 | Limit time off work, initially resulting in crankiness, temper (8) |
| RESTRICT – REST + R + I + C + T | |
| 13 | Italian city Anne exits, regularly going back (5) |
| SIENA – every other letter of ANNE EXITS reversed | |
| 14 | Leather had influence reportedly (5) |
| SUEDE – homophone of SWAYED | |
| 16 | Shopkeeper, / he tells stories (8) |
| RETAILER – double definition
Never knew this second one. Chambers lists one definition of ‘retail’ as ‘to repeat in detail’. |
|
| 17 | Happen [in] mountain route (4) |
| PASS – double definition | |
| 20 | Factory scheme / finally right (5) |
| PLANT – PLAN + last letter of RIGHT | |
| 21 | Some unsold, Tim explains, [being] ancient (3-4) |
| OLD-TIME – hidden | |
| 22 | Card game boss[’s] defensive position (10) |
| BRIDGEHEAD – BRIDGE + HEAD | |
| Down | |
| 1 | To some extent maybe a charming seaside place (5) |
| BEACH – hidden | |
| 2 | Egghead perhaps I let call tune disastrously (12) |
| INTELLECTUAL – anagram of I LET CALL TUNE | |
| 3 | US city postgraduate [becoming] priest (4) |
| LAMA – L.A. + M.A. | |
| 4 | Two articles on Mike[’s] song (6) |
| ANTHEM – AN + THE + M | |
| 5 | Comfortable including new version of true politeness (8) |
| COURTESY – COSY around anagram of TRUE | |
| 6 | As, say, many momentous money matters — trial, leave it to be sorted out? (12) |
| ALLITERATIVE – anagram of TRIAL LEAVE IT
I knew what was going on here but I couldn’t think of the word in question until I had many checking letters in place. |
|
| 7 | Condition protecting university sculpture (6) |
| STATUE – STATE around U | |
| 12 | Staircase feature miler Roger’s spoken of (8) |
| BANISTER – homophone of BANNISTER
Roger Bannister was the first to run a mile in under four minuter. |
|
| 13 | Discard energy [creating] predicament (6) |
| SCRAPE – SCRAP + E | |
| 15 | Back / a very short time (6) |
| SECOND – double definition | |
| 18 | On reflection, hard to understand Society drug (5) |
| SPEED – DEEP + S reversed | |
| 19 | Heard one much admired [is] not working (4) |
| IDLE – homophone of IDOL | |
A flying start, but then took a break to go out to run a few errands and restart over a coffee in a local restaurant. Then I couldn’t recapture my pace. FOI 1a Brilliance. LOI 18d Speed was biffed, so grateful for Jeremy’s explanation. COD – other than 9a Un Lit nothing stands out today.
Struggled over 14a until a persistent alphabet trawl got me the U. Wasted time thinking my way around the shops in the Market Square until Retailer popped up for 16a.
I often find Hurley one of the more tricky setters so was surprised to see so many going in (in the NW) on first glance. I wonder whether I should have simply ploughed on rather than looking for a coffee break…
Late to this after golf. LOI RESTRICT took me a while to unravel. And slow to come to PASS.
A new meaning of Retailer today.
A good puzzle. Not timed but not my quickest.
David
Could not see the BRIDGEHEAD/SECOND cross at all, so DNF today. A challenging puzzle.
Well I managed to solve a Hurley. Had speed for 18dn but couldn’t parse it, so spent 20 mins trying to think of something else.
Somebody will probably argue with me, but surely a bridgehead is an offensive rather than defensive position?
Seems that it might be either. Merriam-Webster:
: a fortification protecting the end of a bridge nearest an enemy
b: an area around the end of a bridge
or
an advanced position seized in hostile territory