Another typically solid puzzle from Orense (does anyone know whether the correct pronunciation is O-rense or Oar-ense? I’ve always wondered.). One answer entered more in hope than expectation at 7D.
Across
1 BUFFER ZONES – re: ‘old buffers’.
7 POT – double def’n.
9 CANOE – 0 in cane. A refreshing change from the old ‘ocean’ anagram.
10 PAMPHLETS – (a MPH lets) in PS.
11 STAND DOWN
12 OPINE – o + pine.
13 ANTIQUE – a n + homophone of “teak”.
15 LAIR – A1 in (L + R).
18 TALC – tal{e} + c[irca].
20 FIGURES – double def’n.
23 CHAIR – C + hair.
24 TERMAGANT – term + a g[ood] ant.
26 CAPTIVATE – (a + t{alent}) in captive.
27 PRIMP – rim in PP.
28 EAR – a in er. I assume that a matador/picador brandishes the vanquished’s ear once he’s been put to the sword.
29 GASTRONOMES – (roast)* in gnomes.
Down
1 BACK SEAT – back’s eat.
2 FINE ARTS – (tries fan)*.
3 EMEND – me in end.
4 ZIPCODE – Z + (copied)*.
5 NOMINAL – N{igeria} + (oilman)*.
6 SCHOOLING – school (= fish) + I + ng.
7 POETIC – entered on a wing and a prayer. I can see Poe (= ‘writer’), but the remainder doesn’t seem relevant to my crackpot theory.
8 TASTER – hidden.
14 QUARRYING – quarry + I +n{eeding} g{grouse}. A very similar construct to 6D.
16 ORGANISM – 0 + (margins)*.
17 ISOTOPES – (posies to)*.
19 CUTLASS – Cu + (salts)*. But shouldn’t the anagrind be ‘processed’ rather than ‘process’?
20 FORBEAR – orb in fear.
21 ICICLE – cryptic def’n.
22 JASPER – spe (i.e. the middle of ASPEN) in jar.
25 ASPEN – asp + {s}E{e}N.
Hi smiffy
I finally decided on PREFIX for 7dn because that is what ‘script’ is in scriptwriter.
Thanks to Smiffy for the review – it’s pronunciation varies, but is the Castilian version of Ourense, or Oirense, a provincial capital of Galicia, NW Spain.
Gaufrid is correct – 7d is supposed to be def. by example
Thanks, Smiffy. I got to “prefix” this way: it dawned on me at some point that Orense intended the answers to be pangrammatic (and they are). When I only had 7d left to fill in, I saw I was missing an “x”, so “prefix” it had to be!