Hurredly done Paul. Fairly straightforward for Paul with a just couple of words I had to check and some devilish word play in places
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 9,8,6,22d | IF YOU CAN’T BEAT THEM JOIN THEM | cd | typical single large answer. You either guess it from the enumeration or the clue early, in which case the rest of the puzzle is easier. Or, like me you fail to have an inkling for far too long. Ref. Panel beating. |
| 10 | HEAVE | HEAVE(n) | |
| 11 | DUDGEON | DUD+G+EON | |
| 12 | LAMBENT | (quee)N in LAMBET(h) | Lambeth Palace is home to the Archbishop of Canterbury. I didn’t know this word. |
| 13 | BROWN | BROW+(cardiga)N | |
| 14 | LAMPOONER | O in (PLAN MORE)* | |
| 16 | EVENING STANDARD | EVEN+IN + STAND in DRAG< | clever wordplay… |
| 19,2 | TOURETTES SYNDROME | SETTER< in (STUDY ON)* + ROME | …and again. |
| 21 | CAPON | CAP ON | |
| 22 | TICKLER | L(over) in TICKER | |
| 23 | STAUNCH | dd | |
| 24 | EVANS | E+VANS | |
| 25 | GRUMBLING APPENDIX | cd? | |
| Down | |||
| 1 | WILDEBEEST | (trough)S in WILDE+BEET | |
| 4 | DAMN | dd | |
| 5 | STALEMATES | STALE MATES | |
| 7 | TAVERN | REV< in TAN | ref Rev Green in Cluedo. Green Man is a classic pub name. |
| 14 | LIGHTERAGE | (GARETH+G(et))< in LIE | |
| 15 | RIDING HIGH | “hiding rye” Spoonerised | |
| 17 | IDEALIST | IDEA LIST | |
| 20 | UNCLAD | UNCL(e)+(d)AD | tricky one. |
| 21 | CRABBY | R in CABBY | |
| 23,3 | SOUP TUREEN | (UP NOSE TRUE)* | |
Dont understand Very mild oath = damn. Can see oath = damn but where does very mild come in?
Inspired by Colin’s invitation, and having a day off work, I managed to finish this one in about 20 minutes – quite quick for a Paul for me, but with a few niggles. So here’s my stab at a full blog.
Across
9,8,6,22D: IF YOU CAN’T BEAT THEM, JOIN THEM – reference to panel-beating, but not much of a clue, unless I’m missing something.
10 HEAVE(n)
11 DUD-G-EON
12 LAMBENT – N in LAMBET(H). Nice misleading use of “Queen’s back” to mean N rather than RE (ER reversed)
13 BROW-N. Can’t quite convince myself this is sound, but it is Paul after all…
14 LAMPOONER – (PLAN MORE O)*
16 EVENING STANDARD – EVEN IN + STAND in DRAG rev.
19,2 TOURETTE’S SYNDROME – SETTER rev in (STUDY ON)* + ROME. Tourette’s sufferers supposedly have uncontrolled outbursts of swearing.
21,22 – deliberately omitted (but easy)
23 STAUNCH – can’t understand the wordplay here: I think STANCH = ‘check’, but why ‘amount lost’?
24 E-VANS
25,18 GRUMBLING APPENDIX – is this just a cryptic def?
Down
1 WILDE-BEE(S)T
4 DAMN – confirmed by the online “check” facility, but I don’t like this: I think it’s 2 meanings : “very” – as in “very good” = “damn good”, and “mild oath”, but the “very” meaning is really a direct consequence of the oathiness.
5 (Omitted)
7 TAVERN – REV (reversed) in TAN. Ref to the character “Reverend Green” in Cluedo. I got this before 13, helping me to get BROWN there.
14 LIGHTERAGE – refers to loading (etc) by lighters, a lighter being “a large open boat used in unloading and loading ships”. Can’t work out the wordplay here.
15 RIDING HIGH – cf HIDING RYE.
17 IDEA-LIST – nice “aha!” moment when I got this
20 UNCLAD – presumably from UNCL(e)+(d)AD
21 C(R)ABBY
23,3 SOUP TUREEN – (UP NOSE TRUE)*
To explain my long posting to late arrivals: originally there was just an apology from Colin for late posting, plus an invitation for others to comment or blog in full.
Re STAUNCH – I can now see it as a dd – “check amount lost” being one def. STANCH is apparently just an alternative spelling.
Dave, DAMN = very. As in, “That was damn close”. It is also a mild oath on its own, “Damn! That was close.”
Andrew, I guess we were both editing at the same time. I also see you answered Dave’s query.
Yes indeed. I still think 4D is a very weak clue, as the two defs are virtually the same. The answer could just as well be DARN, which is perhaps more clearly a “mild oath”.
In Paul’s defence, DAMN is defined in both Chambers and Collins as an intensifier under a separate sub-heading to the main entry as an oath. Though clearly its use as an intensifier is derived from its use as an oath.
14d: Lighterage – LIGHTERAGE lie is the interrupted rest, gareth is the boy and g is the beginning of get, these last are reversed (up)
But wait a minute. I don’t really like this. Granted, I didn’t think of ‘damn’ specifically. But I did think of ‘darn’, which has the same uses but is even milder!
Surely a bit weak.