*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
A typically high-quality Friday Phi, I think. The SE corner put up a bit of a fight for me, but apart from that it all went in fairly steadily.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 8 | ENTREATS – EN[-d] + TREATS. |
| 9 | EXILED – [-v]EXED “about” IL. |
| 10 | TINY – [-mu]TINY. |
| 11 | OBEDIENCE – ONCE “about (BE + DIE). |
| 12 | MESA – SAME*. |
| 14 | GUINEA PIGS – (USING PAGE + I)*. |
| 15 | RICHES – R + (ICES “having snatched” H). |
| 16 | JEWELS – JE + SLEW<. |
| 19 | COMMANDANT – (M + MAN + AND*) “lying in” COT. |
| 21 | SPIT – TIPS<. I guess this is “spit” as in “an elongated…strip of sand or shingle projecting from the shore”? |
| 22 | BALLOONED – BOD “swallowing (ALL, and “later” ONE). |
| 24 | POSH – OP< + SH. |
| 25 | CRISIS – CR + ISIS. |
| 26 | TAILSPIN – TAILS + PIN. |
| Down | |
| 1 | ENGINEER – (E + NE’ER) “accepting” GIN. |
| 2 | X-RAY – X + (Man) RAY. |
| 3 | MAYO – MAY + O? I can’t explain “day, one avoided” for O, though. |
| 4 | ASTERIA – (I STARE)* + A. |
| 5 | RETIREMENT – (TIRE MEN) “during” [-sec]RET. |
| 6 | KIDNAPPERS – AND< “tucking into” KIPPERS. I thought this was very nicely done. |
| 7 | SEA EGG – (A + EG) “consumed by” (S + EG). As was this one. |
| 13 | ACCOMPLISH – (CLAIM + CHOPS)*. |
| 14 | GREENHOUSE – (GEN “that’s included” RE) + HOUSE. |
| 17 | SWIMSUIT – ((W + I + M) in SS) + [-q]UIT, |
| 18 | GARNETS – (A RN) “brought in” GETS. |
| 20 | OSBERT – (OS + BET) “about” R[-ace]. |
| 23 | DRIP – D + R.I.P. |
| 24 | PESO – [-th]OSE P[-eople]<. |
“Ex marks the spot”. I presume that’s because the cross in the centre meets 4 “treasures”?
The only explanation I could furnish for 3 down was that it was May 10, which is fairly late Spring, with the 1 dropped. But I wasn’t very convinced by it.
I think you’re slightly wrong with 2 down – I think it’s actually X + RA (Royal Academician) + Y.
You’re right Neal, I think I didn’t even read to the end of the clue in my haste to write that one in!
Re 3d: I tried hard to work out the wordplay but never did see and went to bed. At one stage I did consider we had probably to delete 1 from 10 to get O but was not sure how to get 10 because having decided that late Spring gives May, I didn’t know how to get 10 from ‘day’.
Ian W
Spot on. You wouldn’t believe how few 7-letter gems begin with A. What do we pay mineralogists for, after all?
Simon
12ac is SAME (“unchanged”) with parts – SA and ME – swapped, giving MESA; not an anagram.
For “swapped” read “switched”.