A good one from Mara, heavy on the anagrams (8 full or partial) and with some witty surfaces. I found that this continued the run of easier puzzles we’ve had this week and it took me 06:58. I hope you enjoyed it too.
Definitions underlined in bold.
| Across | |
| 1 | Money for members of orchestra (5) |
| BRASS – double definition. | |
| 4 | Style that’s uniform in chart I revised (7) |
| HAIRCUT – U [uniform, NATO alphabet] inside [in] an anagram [revised] of “chart I”. | |
| 8 | Eight from Oxford, say, awful moaners (7) |
| OARSMEN – anagram [awful] of “moaners”. Rather apt to cover this year’s Boat Race, given Oxford’s awful moaning to get Cambridge rowers banned. They still lost. | |
| 9 | Dishonesty on the floor, perhaps (5) |
| LYING – definition with a cryptic hint. I paused here since I thought I was looking for a word like carpet/rug/mat etc. | |
| 10 | Feline mouse or chicken? (7-3) |
| SCAREDY-CAT – I’m not totally sure how this works, but (all from Collins): a SCAREDY-CAT is “a person who is unreasonably afraid”; a “mouse” is “a quiet, timid or cowardly person”; and a chicken is also “a cowardly person”. Therefore a “scaredy-cat” could also be described as a “mouse” or a “chicken”, and if you called a mouse/chicken a “scaredy-cat” it might be a “feline” mouse/chicken. Something along those lines. This feels like applying earnest textual analysis to a cracker-joke. | |
| 14 | Seldom right, a bank (6) |
| RARELY – R [right] + A [a] + RELY [bank, as in “I was banking on that”]. | |
| 15 | Poor taste, English property (6) |
| ESTATE -anagram [poor] of “taste” + E [English]. | |
| 17 | I’d knocked over small hut affected by subsidence? (10) |
| DIMINISHED – DI [I’d knocked over, i.e. reversed] + MINI [small] + SHED [hut]. If something subsides then it diminishes and so could be said to be “affected by subsidence”, ho ho. | |
| 20 | Idea has you pocketing millions (5) |
| THEME – THEE [you] including [pocketing] M [millions]. Bit sneaky in QC-land not to indicate that we needed an old form of “you”, but perfectly fair. | |
| 22 | Underwear, really daring! (7) |
| BRAVERY – BRA [underwear] + VERY [really]. I held myself up a little by putting “bravest” first up (the logic being bra + vest = underwear, and if you’re the bravest then you’re “really daring”). TYPE sorted me out when I got to the downs. | |
| 23 | Put right, start puzzle again? (7) |
| RESOLVE – cryptic hint. We “solve” a puzzle; if we start a puzzle again we “re-solve” it. | |
| 24 | Series called “Beginning of Empire” (5) |
| RANGE – RANG [called, as in “I rang my mum yesterday”] + E [Beginning of Empire]. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Boxer’s head down, punch (4) |
| BLOW – B [boxer’s head] + LOW [down]. | |
| 2 | Area of land in Leicester carved up (4) |
| ACRE – reverse hidden [in … up, this being a down clue] in “Leicester carved”. | |
| 3 | Mark Simon Cole wrong (9) |
| SEMICOLON – anagram [wrong] of “Simon Cole”. “Mark” for a piece of punctuation gets me every time, I always faff around trying to remember synonyms for “scar”. | |
| 4 | Ambitious leader of association deported from country (6) |
| HUNGRY – HUNGaRY [leader of association deported from country]. My LOI since I am geographically challenged. | |
| 5 | Iffy, lousy and liverish, primarily? (3) |
| ILL – the first letters [primarily] of “iffy, lousy and liverish”. | |
| 6 | Difficulty filling kitty for talk (4-4) |
| CHIT-CHAT – HITCH [difficulty] inside [filling] CAT [kitty]. Very good, COD from me. I spent a while trying to get “pool” for “kitty” in there. | |
| 7 | In partnership to win that lady (8) |
| TOGETHER – seeing “to get her” [to win that lady] in TOGETHER is no doubt a chestnut but it was new to me and I liked it! | |
| 11 | Rides out of order, two in shocking state (9) |
| DISREPAIR – anagram [out of order] of “rides” + PAIR [two]. | |
| 12 | Hunter in trap rode off (8) |
| PREDATOR – anagram [off] of “trap rode”. | |
| 13 | Breakfast items politician found in salt and pepper shakers, perhaps (8) |
| CRUMPETS – MP [politician] inside [found in] CRUETS [salt and pepper shakers, perhaps]. “Breakfast items”, forsooth??? Crumpets are for tea-time and anyone eating them at breakfast urgently needs help. Yes I know that there are Scottish pancake things also called crumpets but they shouldn’t be eaten at breakfast either. Mara may be thinking of muffins. | |
| 16 | Practical, as lube that’s slippery (6) |
| USABLE – anagram [slippery] of “as lube”. This clue made me feel slightly queasy. | |
| 18 | Place to drive with new youngster (4) |
| TEEN – TEE [place to drive, i.e. on a golf-course – the TEE is the area from which the first shot is made on each hole, as well as the little wooden/plastic peg the ball can be placed on for the first shot] + N [new]. | |
| 19 | Sort pet out, with puppy finally kennelled (4) |
| TYPE – anagram [out] of “pet” containing [kennelled] Y [puppy finally]. | |
| 21 | Fish found in three lakes (3) |
| EEL – hidden inside “three lakes”. | |
Meh, OARSMAN entered in my rush or it would have been a tad under 8 mins.
I seriously need help because crumpets are definitely for breakfast in my house. Having them another time of the day would be seen in the same way as having cornflakes for tea. It has certainly been an eye-opener to see that Mara and I are in the minority. Liked the clue though even if I wouldn’t immediately equate cruets with salt and pepper. It gets my COD.
Good puzzle and enjoyed the anagrams.
Cheers Mara and Templar.
Approximately 8.10.
Very late solve today. Great QC. COD to the brilliant DI MINI SHED 😁. Struggled to solve THEME and TEEN and couldn’t parse RANGE at first. Otherwise all good. Thanks Templar and Mara.
Nice and easy, done in 7 minutes, not far off pb pace. Nothing tricky at all, just need checking letters before bravery and disrepair went in.