Solving time: 36 minutes
A simple but original gimmick and fairly easy clues to non-theme words combined to make this a quick but still entertaining solve. Experience of Azed’s Spoonerism puzzles also helped to speed things up.
Calling the two sets of ‘back-Spoonerism’ answers A and B respectively, we have:
| A | |
|---|---|
| 1D | TOT COPE => TOP COAT |
| 6 | CARP SHARD => CARD SHARP |
| 14 | NOTE FLUES => NOSE FLUTE |
| 22 | HEART HAD => HARD HAT |
| B | |
| 10 | WIND BREAK => WICK BRAINED |
| 17 | MADNESS => MASS NED |
| 26 | SINFUL => SILL FUN |
| 36 | HATPEG => HAG PET |
| Across | |
| 18 | ALTESSE = (see salt)* – If there had been misprint clues too, we might have got “sea salt”! |
| 24 | GUAR = source of gum,ANA = gossip |
| 37 | KISMET – not so easy here – I don’t understand the wordplay, except that it includes KIT = equipment – any offers? |
| Down | |
| 3 | A,Co.,L – bridge bidding system named after a road in Hampstead. |
| 8 | (d)ANTON |
| 9 | (w)EDGED |
| 21 | SNEB = bens<= – same thing as ‘snub’ |
| 25 | (b)UN(BAR)K |
| 27 | LA(z)ING – R. D. Laing – who was very big in the 1970s. The picture in his Wikipedia entry shows him reading the Ashley book of Knots, which I remember my parents owning in that decade. |
| 29 | S(TUM)M – kinky behaviour being S & M (Sadism & Masochism). Cue the Edmund Akenhead quote from Brian Greer’s Times xwd book: “Setters are of course sadists (though in the nicest possible way) and since all solvers appear to be masochists this leads to a rather beautiful relationship.” |
| 33 | GAP = pag(e)<= |