*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
Aha, so here’s this week’s Dac. Whilst I do have a habit of missing such things, there doesn’t appear to be any particular Mayday theme here as might have been expected. A fairly straightforward outing, though in a couple of cases I’m left with spare bits of clue that I can’t explain away.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | CUTLASS – UT “carried by” CLASS. |
| 5 | SCARPER – [-thi]S CAR PER[-haps]. |
| 9 | MARIENBAD – (MAN A BRIDE)*. Apparently a reference to a 1961 film named “Last Year at Marienbad”. |
| 10 | KICKS – KINKS “having change of heart”. |
| 11 | LEND – [-colone]L + END. |
| 12 | STABLEMATE – STALEMATE “involving” B. |
| 15 | TOAST – T[-r]O[-j]A[-n]S [-a]T[-e]. |
| 17 | NICHOLAS – (COLIN HAS)*. |
| 19 | MARRIAGE – I don’t follow this at all, beyond the def, and maybe AGE = “time”. |
| 20 | TOKAY – T + OKAY. Tokay is a Hungarian wine, so I wonder where “drinking woman’s health thus” fits in? |
| 22 | RICHARDSON – (RICH + ARSON) “pinching” D. I don’t know who this refers to, but a quick Google for authors named Richardson brings back numerous options. |
| 23 | YORK – YOR[-e] + K. |
| 26 | ALIBI – ALI + B + I. |
| 27 | EUPHORBIA – B[-ride] “carried amid” EUPHORIA. |
| 28 | SATINET – SET “round” (A TIN). |
| 29 | DIPTERA – PARTIED*. |
| Down | |
| 1 | COMPLETE – L “joining in” COMPETE. |
| 2 | TURIN – TU + R + IN. |
| 3 | APEX – dd. |
| 4 | SUBSTANDARD – SUB + STANDARD. |
| 5 | SAD – DAS<. I’m not sure where “complaint” fits in. |
| 6 | ANKLE BOOTS – (A BLOKE’S NOT)*. |
| 7 | PICKABACK – PICK + A + BACK. |
| 8 | RESTED – RE ST[-e]ED. |
| 13 | BACHELOR PAD – (PLACE BRO’ HAD)*. Nicely done. |
| 14 | STARVATION – (A RV) “enters” STATION. |
| 16 | ANARCHIST – (A + IN CHARTS)*. |
| 18 | GYMKHANA – hom. of “Jim” + KHAN + A. |
| 21 | ARRAYS – hom. of “A RAISE”. |
| 24 | OMBRE – dd. Ombre is a card game, and “ombré” means “with colours or tones blending into each other to give a shaded or striped effect”. |
| 25 | POOP – PO + PO<. |
| 27 | EAT – [-f]EAT[-hers]. |
Are we being asked to raise a “Toast” to “Nicholas” on his “Marriage To Kay Richardson”? (In York?)
Simon
19a R (right) in MAR 1 (first day of month) AGE (time)
20a ‘drinking woman’s health thus’ = TO KAY
5d ‘complaint’ = Seasonal Affective Disorder
Well spotted, Ian. Nicholas, son of Dac, indeed. Congratulations to the happy couple.
Absolutely, Eimi.
(Was I right about York?)
He didn’t say, but he lives near there apparently – even though he’s a Lancastrian.
Best wishes to the couple – I expect it’s Samuel RICHARDSON at 22 across. Excellent as always from Dac.
I note the unusual form of 20A – two SIs with the definition stuck in the middle.
I’ve a feeling that SAD BACHELOR PAD down the middle may have relevance too!
18D Gym homonym of Jim, as in Kingsley Amis’s novel Lucky Jim.