Solving time 21:14
I really should make notes while solving, as now I come to write the blog entry I can’t remember what clues caused me problems or why I took so long to solve it. I remember it took me a while to decipher the wordplay for 3 down, but that was after solving the puzzle.
Across
| 1 | BIG APPLE – nice cryptic definition to start off with: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. |
| 5 | SN[ee](A,Z)ZY. [Oops, I originally had the dwarf’s name as Snoozy, who doesn’t exist!] |
| 10 | SALV(e),O – I’m not that keen on “ball” = O, but it’s sort of justified in Chambers with the definition “anything round or nearly so”. |
| 14 | BUFF,A,L,O – there it is again: O = wheel this time! |
| 18 | RED-EYE – another nice cryptic def. Crashing as in falling asleep. |
| 20 | TO(US,L)ES |
| 22 | 1,N(P)UT – I liked 1 NUT = “minimum for squirrel” |
| 27 | PHYSI,O (“fizzy”) – and a third euphemism for O! |
| 28 | DOGGER,EL – EL (and even just L) – short for ELevated railway – are becoming increasingly common. One to watch out for. |
Down
| 1 | BUS(HB,A,B)Y – HB must be clued as “bold sort of lead”, but the HB pencil I use for Listeners etc doesn’t make particularly bold lines. I suppose it could if you press hard… |
| 2 | G,U,LAG – U = “for everyone”, as in film classifications. |
| 3 | PRO,XI,MA(am rev)(CENTAUR)I – not just any star, this is the closest one to our Solar System, just 4.22 light years away. |
| 4 | LE(A,VEG)O |
| 6 | NUMB(E.R.,CRUNCH)ING |
| 7 | Z(IN,F)ANDEL – “New Zealand not a” = ZELAND* |
| 8 | Y(AMME=Emma rev)R – Miss Woodhouse is Emma in the book by Jane Austen. |
| 15 | F(R)ED,PERRY |
| 19 | (Cz)EC(hs)HO(us)ED – nice variation on the skipping letters clue type |
| 20 | TAP IN,TO – “easy chance” = TAP IN, e.g. a 3-inch putt in golf. |
(From Snow White)
“Bank with railway lines of inferior quality”
Good surface reading, not easy to spot the definition, and the wordplay is made up of half UK and half US specific knowledge.
— Smillsy
(I always imagine an apocryphal set of dwarves named Sleazy, Sneaky, Shabby, Shifty … it’s hard to stop.)
Valentine
This was a really fun puzzle with a mixture of astronomy, classics, Disney cartoons, the Shipping Forecast, botany, playground activites and Latin. As I never studied the last of these I was very pleased to unravel the anagram at 11a. This and the other “easies” are here:
11a Relating to particular individual (made him no)* different (2,7)
AD HOMINEM. A legal term I suspect?
12a Perhaps lament players getting the sack (9)
BAGPIPERS. Is that because they always sound mournful?
13a Get around plug to fill centre of lever (5)
EV AD E
16a Find hidden meaning in last month’s poetry (6)
DEC ODE
23a Bound to put an end to children’s game (9)
HOP SCOTCH
25a Energy evident in revised (re-launch)* of Old Labour (9)
HERCUL E AN. Hercules – the Jeremy Corbyn of Ancient Greece?
26a One struggled with climber (5)
I VIED. A wrestling match with Edmund Hillary?
9d Hunted around SE African State (6)
CHA SE D. As far as I have seen, this kind of construction can cause much discussion as it infers African State (is) around SE.
17d Lily (pad) spolied with (holes)* (8)
ASPHODEL
21d Blow landed in skirMISH APpropriately (6)
MISHAP
24d One wouldn’t give up place in Germany (5)
TRIER