*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
Quite tough going this week but I got there, albeit lacking explanations for a couple (14 and 4, for which I’ve reproduced the wordplay here). This one deserved more time than I was able to spend in blogging it – there was some top-notch clueing in there.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1/1D | CURRENTE CALAMO – (ACCOUNT RE LA MER)*. Latin – “with a running pen, offhand”. |
| 7 | AVER – A + VER[y]. |
| 11 | AFEARD – (A FARD) “will hide” [smil]E. |
| 12 | RUTILE – TI “in” RULE. |
| 13 | LEAD – dd. “Came” is “A lead rod for framing a pane in a leaded or stained-glass window”. |
| 14 | CORSNED – certainly it might make you choke, but “number of baths cut”?. |
| 15 | ASPIC – dd. |
| 17 | TOGA – TOG + A. |
| 19 | PALAESTRIC – (ASPIC + LATER)*. cf. 15 across. |
| 20 | OPENABLE – OP + ENABLE. |
| 23 | SYLPHISH – (PHI’S “following” L) “getting” SHY* “about it”. |
| 25 | BERKELEIAN – BERK + (ELIAN “possesses” E). |
| 27 | ET AL – ETA + L. |
| 28 | PRAHU – P + RAHU. |
| 29 | LENDING – [b]LENDING. |
| 30 | ATOM – O “blocking” ATM?. |
| 31 | UNCINI – UNC[o] + IN I. |
| 32 | TIERED – RED “after” TIE. An uncomfortable reminder of a disappointing day at Wembley last Monday. |
| 33 | STEM – triple def, I think! “stem the tide”/”a curved timber at the prow of a ship”/”a race or family”. |
| 34/24D | GABRIEL’S HOUNDS – (UNLEASH BIRDS AND GO)*. |
| Down | |
| 2 | REAPPEARANCE – REAP + PEAR + ANCE. |
| 3 | RADIANT – RIANT “about” AD. |
| 4 | ERIC – “the blood-fine paid by a murderer to his victim’s family in old Irish law”, but “a man will accept for New Yorker”? |
| 5 | TROWELLED – T + ROWELLED. |
| 6 | EURUS – SURE< “around” U[ruguay]. |
| 8 | VIN ORDINAIRE – (ON AIR IN VERDI)*. |
| 9 | ELEGIAST – (EG + 1) “engaging in” (E + LAST). |
| 10 | REDACT – RED ACT. |
| 18 | APPETENT – (A + PENT) “suppressing” PET. I wrote APPETITE in for no good reason, and paid for it later. |
| 21 | SHAR-PEI – SHARP + IE<. |
| 22 | OBELUS – OBE + L + US. |
| 26 | EYING – [malark]EY IN G[lasgow]. |
| 28 | PAIR – P + AIR. |
Hi Simon
14a COR (a Hebrew measure equal to 10 ephahs or baths) SNED (cut)
4d ERIC when put in ‘a man’ gives ‘American’ (New Yorker)