*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone
Apologies for the late posting. I was too busy at work today to give this the two or three hours of attention I would have needed to get through it, so I conceded after getting about 8 clues.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Quantum of Solace: (St MO on flu)* in qua ace. |
| 9 | In The Melting Pot: (into temple thing)*. |
| 10 | Deicide: Decide around i. |
| 11 | Session: Double def. |
| 12 | T J Hooker: T ho in joker. A horrific thing starring William Shatner that I thought had been long forgotten. |
| 13 | Spital: Laps< around it. |
| 17 | Hounds: unshod*. |
| 18 | Savviest: Staves* around vi. |
| 20 | Ad woman: (A nomad)* around w. |
| 22 | Scratch: Don’t get this one. “Casual boxers or or standard-bearers should have come up to it”. Obviously, “coming up to scratch” for the definition, but not sure about the other bits. |
| 23 | Early Day Motions: Double cryptic def. |
| 24 | No Spring Chicken: Cryptic def (chicken run, I suppose). |
| Down | |
| 1 | Quidditch: Ditch under Quid. But how many people would consider Harry Potter to be literature ? |
| 2 | Act Without Words: Cryptic def. Sadly, my poor general knowledge let me down here, Waiting for Godot being the only Beckett work with which I’m familiar. |
| 3 | Trebizond: Rodent* around biz. |
| 4 | Meekened: Me + keen* + ed. Rather embarrassingly, I have to admit that I didn’t know how Roger Alton was and therefore didn’t pick up the “ed” bit. |
| 5 | Fetish: (thief’s)*. |
| 6 | Ornis: O + RN + is. |
| 7 | Apppointment book: Cryptic def. |
| 8 | Eat In: I don’t follow this one either. “Takeaway ? No demonstrated change of starters has occurred”. I can’t get past the fact that “eat in” seems like the opposite of takeaway. |
| 14 | Pavarotti: ta-ra to VIP*. |
| 15 | Latches on: Double/cryptic def. |
| 16 | Balsamic: (c I’m a slab)<. |
| 19 | In vain: In van around I (thanks to Geoff Moss for that one). |
| 20 | Ahern: “Ah, Ern” and Bertie Ahern. |
| 21 | Mayor: May or. |
In the meantime could anyone explain the wordplay for 1 across and 19 down?
1A New Bond St Medical Officer “very brief” on flu spreading, in the capacity of one doing the rounds (QUANTUM OF SOLACE)
19D Holding one up to no effect (IN VAIN)
Thanks.
Testy: 1ac: I’ve got as far as QUANTUM OF SOLACE – new Bond [film] ST MO ON FLU* inside QUA [in the capacity of]…ACE [one] – but I can’t see the need for ‘very brief’.
Still working on 19dn!
I think 19d is probably I in IN VAN – ‘up’ is ‘in the lead’ or ‘in van’.
The “very brief” may indicate that MO is to used for “Medical Officer”.
That’s all I could think of – but it’s a very commonly used abbreviation in crosswords, isn’t it? and doesn’t usually need that explanation [ particularly ‘very’] – but everything else seems to fit.
8d A demonstration can be a ‘sit in’ so ‘demonstrated’ becomes ‘sat in’ which with the initial letter altered (‘change of starters’) gives ‘eat in’. IMO ‘starters’ should have been singular.
22a scratch – (formerly) the line in the ring up to which boxers were led to begin fighting (Chambers). I don’t understand the need for ‘casual’ in the clue.
22ac: ‘casual’ – another meaning for ‘scratch’? Collins gives ‘rough, haphazard’
Neal, I’m sure you weren’t alone in being unfamiliar with Roger Alton, editor of the Independent, though I can quite see why Nimrod wanted an alternative to ‘journalist’.
Early Day Motions made me laugh, anyway!
Alton is the man who has made the Independent look like the Star.
I finished this unaided in over an hour and a half, but can’t say I particularly enjoyed it. Didn’t understand three of the clues (explanations above) and my puzzle became full of question marks regarding the construction of the clues and the surface readings.