Thankfully not too tricky for the first day back after a long weekend, but a very enjoyable puzzle with an impressive number of “Q”s
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | QUACK QUACK – QUACK x 2, ref. ducks |
| 6 | GAZA – GA,ZA |
| 10 | ALLOWABLE – ALL,(A BOWEL)* |
| 11 | OAKUM – Not sure on this one – ‘Give us a ring back with money for old rope’ |
| 12 | DEJA VU – (JADE)*,UV rev. |
| 14 | ROWAN – Double def. |
| 17 | PLUTO – Double def. |
| 18 | CURLICUES – U x 2 in (CIRCLES)* |
| 22 | UNDUE – UN,”JEW” (I think) |
| 23 | QUORN – Double def. |
| 25 | ORBITS – OR,BITS |
| 29 | EQUAL – E,QUA[-i]L |
| 30 | STRUCK OFF – (ROCKS + TUFF)* |
| 31 | EDEN – (NEED)* |
| 33 | CROQUETTES – R in COQUETTES |
| Down | |
| 1 | QUAD – [-s]QUAD |
| 2 | AXLE – X in ALE |
| 3 | KEW – K[-n]EW |
| 4 | UMBRA – Hidden in plUM BRAndy |
| 5 | CHEQUERED – ER in CHEQUED |
| 7 | ASKEW – AS “Q” |
| 8 | AMMAN – M in A MAN |
| 9 | TOURNIQUET – UR in (NOT QUITE)* |
| 13 | ELOQUENTLY – (QU[-i]ET + LONELY)* |
| 15 | EPIC – P in (ICE)* |
| 16 | QUIN – QUI,N |
| 18 | CURIOUSER – CURIO,USER |
| 19 | URDU – RD in U x 2 |
| 20 | SKEW – S,KEW |
| 23 | QUEUE – “Kew” |
| 24 | OVULE – (LOUV[-r]E)* |
| 26 | BAR-B-Q – “Barbie cue” |
| 27 | PORT – Double def. |
| 28 | EFFS – “Fs” |
| 31 | CUE – “Kew”, ref. snooker |
…and all possible homophones of “Q”
I think 28 down is UFOS (alternate letters). Good puzzle, liked QUACK-QUACK and QUIN.
Thanks for the blog, Ali. I think 28 down is UFOs (bUfFoOnS).
Oakum is (UK a o) reversed + m. We are the UK, although I think that must be a bit questionable in the case of the website, where presumably quite a lot of the readers are in other countries.
I think it’s fair for a UK publication to use UK = us, tho I’ll admit that I, like Ali, did not understand this one until NealH explained it in 4 above.
In addition to a lot of Qs and Us (not just those accompanying the Qs) the grid is also pangrammatic.
The homophone at 22a just didn’t work for me. I definitely pronounce the D in UNDUE even if there is an edge of a J in there.
Otherwise an enjoyable puzzle made easier by the number of short entries.
Thanks for the blog and your comments. Just to say that this was intended as a whimsical celebration of Kew’s 250th birthday. Clues (36) had to be brief to fit, hence some less than eloquent efforts. Re comment 6: I rightly deserve this slap on the wrist for not following my instinct to avoid the deep waters of regional pronunciation.
Ali 21a seems to be missing
CONQUERED R in QUEEN in COD
Definition of 4d “umbra” in Chambers – “an uninvited guest who comes with an invited one.”
Lots of references to Queens and Gardens.
No subtext here then?
5 down is Queen (QU) in Cheered (encouraged) for chequered careers. ER in chequed doesn’t make sense.
John M