As always an intellectual treat to solve a Paul puzzle — and as usual he pushes the Ximenean envelope — typically from the outside, but always gratifyingly — e.g. 17D. A couple of very Brit-local refs (e.g. 11A).
Across
| 1 | FRACAS – my last clue and the only one I didn’t fully understand. It’s an argument but the wordplay? “Argument draining for conciliation service”. |
| 4 | KNOCK-OFF – must be a town called KNOCK in County Mayo is my bet. |
| 9 | S[outh],AT,NAV=rev(van) – haven’t checked the dictionary, I wonder if this term for GPS-based navigation devices is there? |
| 10 | [m]ET(HERE)AL – Tin is a kind of metal… |
| 11 | SQUEAKY BUM TIME – (tummies quake by)* — fortunately the anagram was well-indicated and the fodder apposite, so with some crossing letters and inspired guessing and wikipedia I worked out that Alex Ferguson invented this term to describe what end of season nerves do to one’s GI tract. |
| 16 | O,OPS – I liked this simple and elegant charade. |
| 18 | HALF-ASLEEP – a wordplay in the answer clue: half of “snoozing” is “snoo”. |
| 21 | [h]AIR CONDITIONER – clever double-definition with one half cryptic. |
| 24 | WINDOW S,EAT – quite a clever clue, ref. Microsoft WINDOWS. |
| 25 | [ag]ENCI[es],R,CLE[ver] – somewhat complex wordplay with a somewhat less than satisfying surface: “Ring agencies at the centre right, not half clever!” |
| 26 | SH(ODD)Y |
Down
| 1 | FAST BOWLER – the requisite cricket ref. |
| 2 | AN,TIQUE=”teak” |
| 5 | NOT A BIT OF IT |
| 6 | CR(E)AM,[ro]Y[al] |
| 7 | O,NET,IM,E – “heading for exit” is just E. |
| 8 | FIL(T)ER TI,P – T in (fire lit)* |
| 13 | PROPA=”proper”,GATE – didn’t we have exactly this homophone in “The Guardian” last week? Note GATE the generic suffix for scandal (as in its progenitor Watergate). |
| 15 | A(STONI)SH – (sot in)* in ASH (our “tree”). |
| 17 | P(Y)R,RHIC=”rich” – Paul uses Y to represent “why” with no indicator. I think it’s fine. The def is cryptic (PYRRHIC victories tend not to be worth it). |
| 19 | EM,ENDED – simple and elegant charade. |
| 22 | SWAY – two meanings. |
1A FRACAS This was lovely and by contrast one of my first solved.
“draining for” gives FR – “for” drained of its innards.
“conciliation service” is ACAS which is an Arbitration Service, a quango for resolving employment disputes.
I presume ACAS is a UK based organisation.
4A I believe KNOCK is in Mayo, is the site of a Catholic shrine and also has an airport, hence destination – but I’d quibble slightly with Knock Off as cancelled.
18A I do like SNOO for half asleep – but I’m not sure what Ximenes would make of it!
24A I’m not happy with Window for computer operator.
4A ‘Mayo destination’ = KNOCK (place with shrine in Co Mayo) and ‘cancelled’ is OFF. The definition is ‘imitation’. KNOCK OFF is more usually employed as a (phrasal) verb, meaning steal or imitate, but I suppose a pirated copy could be described as a KNOCK OFF (ie using expression as a noun).
24A ‘Computer operator’ is WINDOWS, not WINDOW – which seems a perfectly reasonable half-cryptic def as Windows is an operating system. Add EAT (‘to take in’) to produce WINDOW SEAT
I really enjoyed this puzzle. 11A was marvellously characteristic of this setter. We haven’t had a ‘Paul’ for a while and I was beginning to pine..
I disagree with Ron and side with Paul – a computer operating system is very much a computer operator as its the means by which a computer is operated.
“Squeaky bum time” may refer to the state of one’s innards, but I tend to think of it in terms of the noise made by someone anxiously shifting position on a hard plastic seat of the type found at football matches.
Good stuff – I particularly liked ‘air conditioner.
Great puzzle – more Paul please.