There were some excellent clues in this, but I found it a little unbalanced in that I finished the across clues very quickly but was left with 6 down clues that I found a real struggle.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 10 | Land Agent: Landau (a type of carriage) – “u” + Gent. |
| 11 | Camaraderie: CA (circa) + MARIE around (AD + ER). |
| 13 | Ego: Ergo with r removed. |
| 17 | Ice: Double def. I’m not familiar with ice as a term for drugs, but apparently it’s Methamphetamine. |
| 18 | Speed Camera: (E + “A MERC PASSED” – S)* + &lit. |
| 22 | Sushi: Soundalike of “sioux she”. |
| Down | |
| 1 | Stoa: S to A. Not a word I’m familiar with, so one of those I struggled with. |
| 3 | Dislodge: D lodge around “is”. I’m guessing it’s referring to David Lodge, but I’m not sure in what way he was Malcolm Bradbury’s rival. |
| 4 | Wagner: WAG + ner(o). I got the Nero (fiddler), but it took me ages to twig why “Owen’s partner” was “wag”. Of course, it’s WAG (wife & girlfriend), although one would have to question how that can be a singular (unless he has both). |
| 5 | De Valera: (A RED)* around (V ALE). I’m not sure why ALE is clued as “short drink”. The word hasn’t been shortened and it’s not a spirit, although I suppose it is a short word. |
| 8 | Petrol Station: Cryptic def, a “crate” being an old car. |
| 16 | Andesite: A site around (N de). |
| 20 | Answer: A + NSW + ER. I really struggled with that, mainly because the Australian reference convinced me it must start “AUS”. |
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3d: Lodge and Bradbury both wrote comic novels that centred around universities and academic life; in that sense, they might be called rivals but it is stretching things a little bit I think.
As you say, some really good clues in this. My favourite was 18a: “European in a Merc passed recklessly without modicum of sense – activating this?” (5,6)
DE VALERA I think the short refers to very ie v. Thanks for WAGNER – I was right but had no idea of the wordplay that you’ve explained. When I saw six cells in top and bottom rows I thought there may be a theme, but apparently not. Enjoyable puzzle.