Solving time 15:12
Should have been quicker, but I got stuck for a while on the last two to go in, 19 across and down, mainly because I couldn’t see why 19d should be GENERAL (easy, because it wasn’t). There were a few tricky words, but nothing I hadn’t come across before (apart from that meaning of LEGIT in 25a).
Across
| 1 | LONG(TIME)NOSE,E – TIME = opportunity, which I thought was a bit shaky, but Chambers gives one meaning of it as “leisure or opportunity long enough for a purpose”. |
| 10 | NUMERATOR – nice cryptic def. It’s the number above the line in a fraction. I’ll now be looking out for “Figure fractionally inferior” for DENOMINATOR. |
| 11 | HI(TAN,D)MISS |
| 14 | S(US,P)ECT |
| 19 | CA(IRE)NE – someone from Cairo, hence African. |
| 24 | WARM,(l)ONGER |
| 25 | LEGIT – TIGER (9a) reversed with R changed to L. LEGIT is short for legitimate, and legitimate drama is “drama of typical form, normal comedy and tragedy, distinguished from opera, musicals, variety etc”. |
Down
| 1 | LET THE SIDE DOWN – (needed with lots)*, &lit. We don’t do COD on Saturdays, but if we did this would be my selection. |
| 3 | T(A,RANT)ELL,A – a lively Neapolitan dance. |
| 4 | MA,NUM,IT – NUM is sort for Numbers, a sacred book. |
| 5 | NAM(A,S,T)E – one of those words that comes up regularly in advanced cryptics – “(in India) a traditional form of greeting, a slight bow with the palms pressed together before the chest or face.” |
| 13 | PEN,INSULAR – the Peninsular War was part of the Napoleonic wars in the early 19th century. |
| 19 | CENTRAL – as MAN is to comMANder. |
| 22 | (j)ARGON |
| 23 | MOO,R |
I wouldn’t have finished anyway, I had ‘general’ instead of ‘central’, screwing up ‘cairene’.
Is ‘hit and miss’ the UK version? In the US it is ‘hit or miss’.
I was tempted by GENERAL myself, until I saw how the clue worked. I’ve just looked up HIT-AND-MISS in Chambers dictionary, which says “hitting or missing, according to circumstances; random”. The entry for HIT-OR-MISS just says “hit-and-miss”, no indication of US usage.
A mere Baker’s Dozen of omissions here. You can hardly blame Mr Linxit for that when nobody was reading the blog. Interest will be blossoming in 10 years time – honest.
9a Soldier held back in short period – he got his stripes (5)
T .I.G ER (m). The GI ended up inside the man-eater before he could get his sergeant’s stripes.
12a Lots of boasts right out (4)
B (R) AGS
16a Point to one knowing the law, a reflective writer (7)
E LEGIST
17a (Glad end)* criminal was on gibbet? (7)
DANGLED
20a Attraction of daughter, naked (4)
D RAW. Steady on with that line of imagery setter!
21a The sort of fussy rule that gets your goat? (5,5)
NANNY STATE
26a Love to play, given strict rule enforcement (4,9)
ZERO TOLERANCE. The “to” is a redundant addition for the surface?
2d Black piece, not king (5)
(K) NIGHT
6d Active resistance agent is about (4)
SP R Y
7d Extension of deadline that may avoid penalties (5,4)
EXTRA TIME
8d Understand stingy type is to act boldly (5,3,6)
GRASP THE NETTLE
15d (Czar’s aunt)* relocated in South American city (5,4)
SANTA CRUZ. The less familiar spelling of TSAR because there is no SANTA TRUZ.
18d Swallow in air moving (7)
DRAUGHT. Makes me fancy a nice cold foaming frostie.