Well I never, a Nimrod that I could actually solve! And very good it was too. There are a couple of references in 10 and 12ac that I couldn't quite explain, but no doubt someone here can help.
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | BUTTERNUT SQUASH – B + UTTER + NUTS + QUASH. |
| 9 | NOT UP – dd. |
| 10 | TABLE SALT – I suspect a dd. Perhaps a reader could clarify the nautical reference? |
| 11 | MARCONI – MARCO + IN<. |
| 12 | DONATOR – D + ON A TOR? |
| 13 | AMP – A + MP. |
| 15 | ANGLO SAXONS – AS “touring” (GLOS + AXON). Perhaps a missed opportunity for a reference to Anax, given 26ac! |
| 17 | TO THE LETTER – dd. Really nice clue. |
| 18 | SIX – IS< + X. |
| 19 | EGOISTS – (GET SO)* “about” IS. |
| 21 | EMPORIA – ((AIR + ME) “holds” OP)<. |
| 23 | ROCK OPERA – ROC (ORC with the R and C transposed) + KOP + ERA. |
| 25 | LUNGI – N in (LUG + 1). |
| 26 | MORAL PHILOSOPHY – M + ORAL + PHI + LO + HYP[n]OS*, nicely incorporating references to three other Independent setters. |
| Down | |
| 1 | BINOMIAL THEOREM – (HOME IN BALTIMORE)*. |
| 2 | TATAR – TA TA + R. |
| 3 | ESPIONAGE – (SEA PIGEON)*. |
| 4 | NOTHING LESS – dd. |
| 5 | TUB – BUT<. |
| 6 | QUEEN – [ris]QUE EN[tertainment]. |
| 7 | ADAPTIONS – AS + (IN A SPOT)*. |
| 8 | HETEROSEXUALITY – (SEE LEX + AUTHORITY)*. |
| 12 | DROP THE BALL – dd. |
| 14 | PATROL CAR – (T + CAROL)* in PAR. |
| 16 | ACROPOLIS – (I LOP)< in ACROS[s]. |
| 20 | SPOOL – LOOPS<. |
| 22 | RUN UP – dd. |
| 24 | ETH – [alphab]ET H[ere]. The runic letter ð. |
Re: 12ac
One giving – def
daughter – D
up – ON
in Devon or Cornwall? – A TOR (Tor, I know from crosswords, is a rocky hill; perhaps, Devon or Cornwall abounds in tors. In India, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have areas where rocky hills are common.
10a – the chemical formula for common salt is NaCl which is hidden in binNACLes
I agree with Rishi’s explanation of D ON A TOR. Liked ADAPTIONS, where AS in the blog looks like a typo, and EGOISTS, also liked the construction of MORAL PHILOSOPHY.
Re 15a: there’s also N for ‘N’ (north), as Glos is a western county of England, not a north-western one.
Thanks for the post on this. I was delighted to finish this completely under strict conditions, and for once could work out my time from the passage of the train (50 minutes). Great stuff from Nimrod, lots of really nice clues 🙂
never thought i’d see the day when i finished a nimrod (and i really enjoyed the clues) . i mention 5 dn as 3 letter clues don’t usually manage such neatness.
rer 16 ac still can’t see where acros(s) comes from
Well done, pennes – certainly not the easiest Indy setter. In 16 Down, heading north gives the reversal indicator (in a Down clue) for I lop, which is contained within over = across, but floorless (lacking the last part – hmm, but this is Nimrod), with citadel as the definition. I don’t wish to homogenise the Indy setters and certainly some setters are more libertarian than others.