Solving time 42:56
I used Chambers earlier than normal – after putting in about half a dozen answers. This puzzle seems to have a fairly high proportion of unfamiliar answers, which I think was the main reason for it being fairly hard.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | SEGAR = rages “frrom the end” = backwards. An annoying start as I had cegar jotted down next to the clue, but didn’t guess this spelling was on. |
| 6 | M,UNSHI(p) – also moonshee – a secretary, interpreter or language teacher in India. |
| 10 | U(DO)N – Japanese type of noodle. UN = one (dialect) is pretty routine in barred grid puzzles |
| 11 | INOSITOL = (into soil)* Chambers has a few substances ending -tol. |
| 13 | U(NICO=coin*)RN – apparently ‘unicorn’ is a bad translation of a Hebrew word for an animal in some Bibles. |
| 14 | PER(IOSTRACU = (curio sat)*)M – perm = (permanent) wave |
| 15 | H(ARES)EAR = the are (a hundredth of a hectare) is the reason for {are => A} which is used in some standard cryptics. |
| 19 | GH(ARR)I – GHI = centre of hiGHIsh – a wheeled vehicle, in India again. |
| 22 | SOWTER – O in trews* – a Scots cobbler |
| 23 | BING Crosby is the ‘groaner’, and bing also = a heap or pile |
| 26 | HO(S.P.)OD,AR. – “Old prince” is the def, and a bashlik is a hood. Gospodar is an alternative spelling which I remembered but managed not to put into the grid. |
| 28 | P,ARALI(POME,N)A – Aralia is a genus of ivy, and pome = an apple or similar |
| 30 | TRAGULE = (a ruglet)* |
| 31 | UNSA(FEL(on))Y |
| 34 | MA(D)GE – a partner for the ‘mag’ in magpie as a female name used for a bird. Mage = magus = wise man as in ‘Adoration of the Magi’. |
| Down | |
| 1 | SUM,PHISH = “some fish” – and a gump is a foolish person. Maybe the inventor of Forrest G poked around in a thesaurus or dictionary. |
| 3 | ANTI,ENT=ten* – like segar at 1A, shows that you can make significant strides in Azed puzzles just by being imaginative about spelling. |
| 5 | I NU(r)SE |
| 6 | MONTAG(u)E – it’s curious that doing the same to Capulet also makes a word! |
| 7 | N.(I.C.A)M. – “Land of Enchantment” = is New Mexico’s official state nickname. |
| 8 | STOCK-RIDER = (ocker’s dirt)*. Good surface as an ocker is an Aussie lout. |
| 12 | ARROWGRASS – Ar. = Arabia, then ras (= headland) in grows* |
| 16 | M(1 GRAIN)E |
| 18 | BROILER – a hot day and a disputatious person |
| 20 | H(Y,PONY)M – HM = Her Majesty = ER |
| 21 | A,BOM(AS)A – a boma is a boa or anaconda |
| 24 | KA(R)NO – ref “Fred Karno’s army”. This expression originally described a group of Victorian comedians and extended to mean “chaotic group”, but was later transferred to British troops in WW1, in the song (tune: the Church’s One Foundation): We are Fred Karno’s army, we are the ragtime infantry. We cannot fight, we cannot shoot, what bleeding use are we? And when we get to Berlin we’ll hear the Kaiser say, ‘Hoch, hoch! Mein Gott, what a bloody rotten lot, are the ragtime infantry’ |
| 29 | NO(N)G |
Agreed -it was a bit tougher than normal. I finished with 10A/1D.