I know next to nothing about horse-racing so once I’d twigged the theme I had to use Google to check a couple of answers that I got from the wordplay (1a and 28a). There are still 4 clues that I don’t understand though.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | P,(SNEAKERS)* – the PREAKNESS Stakes is the second leg of the American TRIPLE CROWN. I’d never heard of it so had to confirm the word with some Googling. |
| 6 | EPS,OM – I think this may have been the clue which led me to cracking the theme. |
| 10 | IN FOR IT – FORINT is the standard unit of currency in Hungary. The wordplay asks us to move “note” = N to the front to get IN FOR IT. |
| 15 | TAKE in S,S – can’t see how SAS can be justified here, unless it’s to make the surface reading better |
| 16 | CATC-[h]ALL – I guess “without aspiration” means losing the H. |
| 17/12/9 | (WHODUNIT ON USA STAGE)* – TWO THOUSAND GUINEAS. Very good, and very deceptive clue. |
| 18 | INSURER – can’t work out the wordplay here. “I’ll guarantee second return of repeat and I’ll cover it” |
| 20/24 | TRIPLE CROWN – or this one: “17 Across versions are sweet, quiet (not loud, one half of China concludes…) |
| 23 | KENT,[-l]UCKY – even I’ve heard of the KENTUCKY DERBY. |
| 26 | ST[-y]LE,GER |
| 28 | MON in BELT – the BELMONT Stakes is the third leg of the American TRIPLE CROWN. |
| 29 | DERBY – another one where the mists have yet to clear: “(…)local match in the other half of China”. “Local match” is obvious but not the rest. |
| 30 | VERY in EYE,AR – filled this in very quickly but it took ages of staring to work out the clue. A VERY is a type of light. |
| Down | |
| 1 | PUGILISTIC – don’t understand this either: “Prize-fighter’s cross but admitting the end is close to bout – framed?” |
| 2 | (RITE)* in ERA |
| 3 | KEEP (CREATES)* – I liked this clue and I’ve just seen “Board” = KEEP (as in, “pay your keep”). |
| 4 | ER’S, A T[-o]Z |
| 6 | hidden in “cross-channEL Ferry” |
| 13 | (A LA LYRICIST)* – SATIRICALLY. Another good one, with a great surface reading. |
| 17 | O,RN in TRICE. |
| 22 | BYE-BYE – a cricketing clue I think, as a BYE is a run scored without actually hitting or touching the ball. |
| 27 | GUY – triple definition. |
Anyone remember precisely that marvellous clue by Virgilius in The Times for THOUSAND GUINEAS? It involved two ponies for part of the answer but I can’t remember the rest.
INSURER looks like it’s “return of repeat and I” giving RERUN+I reversed, will cover S (second). “I’ll guarnatee” being he definition.
The two halves of China refer to CROWN and DERBY (Crown Derby being a type of porcelain).
The TRIPLE of 20/24 comes from TRIFLE (i.e. sweet) but P (quiet) instead of F (loud).
Maybe it’s implicit in the explanation but I read STAKES as TAKE for ‘one = A in SAS ie a substitution.
STAKES – I hadn’t spotted that at all but I think you’re right.
Testy – thanks. I knew I could rely on you for explanations!
I’m still struggling with PUGILISTIC though. I can see lots of potential bits and pieces but nothing that makes much sense. What’s making it harder is that I can’t even spot the definition (given that it is an adjective rather than a noun).
“prize” could be CUP
“fighter” could be GI
“cross” could be PUG (in the cross-breed of dog sense)
“is close to bout” could be IS (bou)T
“framed” could be a container indicator……???
PUGILISTIC is by far the trickiest clue, as it contains the manipulation of a word that is not very precisely clued. The key to the parsing is that ‘cross’ is used in the sense of a hybrid, in this case UGLI, but with the last letter inside UGL. So, UGIL, IS, (bou)T, inside PIC, indicated by framed, the definition being ‘Prizefighter’s.’ Very Nimrod!
Good grief. I saw IST but I doubt I would ever have got the rest.
PUGILISTIC I got it from the definition “Prizefighter’s” but, like Neildubya, IST was as far as I got with the wordplay. Thanks, Eimi, for explaining it.
OMG! Never in a month of Saturdays would I have got that!
Did anyone else (other than Eimi and Nimrod) manage to parse it?
Re PUGILISTIC:
For UGLI shurely some indication that it is a fruit that is required is necessary, like, er, “fruit”, for instance, in which case the solver might stand a microscopic chance (UGLI being a very obscure fruit) of working it out.
Can “framed” be a container/contained indicator which gets the contained inside PIC? I’ve always thought a PIC (i.e. picture) is inside a frame (i.e.framed) not inside a PIC!
Has Eimi got a more precise definition than “Very Nimrod”! of the clue that is being described?
Al
One shouldn’t attempt to define Nimrod’s unique brand of genius 😉