*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed
I haven’t had chance to see who the compiler is yet, although it seems a bit easier than some of the recent monday puzzles.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Sometimes: so me times. |
| 6 | Fosse: foe around ss. |
| 9 | Coulomb: comb around [j]oul[e]. |
| 10 | Triumph: trump h around i . |
| 11 | Often: [s]often. |
| 12 | Unnatural: u[nchristia]n + natural. |
| 14 | Eke: hidden. |
| 15 | Insecticide: cryptic def. |
| 17 | Jugular vein: jug + (I unravel)*. |
| 19 | Cat: initial letters backwards. |
| 20 | Yom kippur: (up my pork I)*. Good and apt surface meaning, although not quite an &literal. |
| 22 | Clash: cash around l. |
| 24 | Balloon: boon around all. |
| 26 | Unnerve: hidden. |
| 27 | Empty: yet* around MP. |
| 28 | Millennia: Mil[it]ia around le nn (two lots of new). |
| Down | |
| 1 | Sicko: sick + o. |
| 2 | Mountie: mo + untie. |
| 3 | Thornbill: thorn + b + ill. |
| 4 | Mobius strip: cryptic def (a mobius strip only has one surface). |
| 5 | Set: final letters. |
| 6 | Faint: f + aint. |
| 7 | Samurai: Aramis* around u. |
| 8 | Ethelbert: Ethel + Bert. |
| 13 | Nuclear fuel: (clue funeral)*. |
| 14 | Enjoyable: Enable around Joy. |
| 16 | Innocence: In n o CE n CE. |
| 18 | Gymslip: soundalike of Jim’s lip. |
| 19 | Chagrin: GR in chain. |
| 21 | Irony: double def. |
| 23 | Hyena: H yen a. A hyena isn’t properly a dog, so the “sort of” is needed. |
| 25 | Nim: Min[d]<. |
Monk today.
Top quality clues – I found it a bit easier than usual from Monk.
Yes agreed — the usual top-quality clues from Monk. And also agreed — a bit easier than usual. I’m glad it wasn’t something I had to send in, since I made a great mess of it, initially writing MOEBIUS BAND for 4dn.
He used the same device in 10a and 14d though, which I thought was unusual.