A fairly small grid this week, 11 × 11, and consequently fewer clues than normal as well. Across answers were to be entered with a letter missing, subsidiary indications being to the entered form. Down clues had an extra word, the second and fourth letters giving information about a performer who had to be highlighted in the completed grid.
A pretty easy one from Loda this week. It was fairly obvious to me after a couple of across clues, both of which lost a W on entry, that all across clues lost that letter. I zipped through this puzzle quicker than any for a very long time. The second and fourth letters of extra words in down clues gave English test bowler and Nineteen for ninety. Knowing next to nothing about cricket, I looked in the grid before consulting Google, and there in the middle row was LAKER, with JIM immediately above it, and I’d heard of him! Wikipedia then confirmed that Jim Laker was the first individual to take all 10 wickets in a Test match innings, 10 for 53 in the Australians’ second innings of the fourth Ashes Test at Old Trafford in 1956. Having also taken 9 for 37 in the first innings, Laker’s match bowling figures were 19 for 90: no other bowler has taken more than seventeen wickets in a first-class match. The nineteen Ws dropped from the across entries represented the nineteen wickets.
An entertaining little puzzle in a busy weekend, but …
… solving time: less than an hour!
Legend:
Definition in clue
X = letter removed from across answers or second and fourth letters of extra words in down clues
xxxx = extra words in down clues
ABC* = anagram
ABC< = reversal
abCDef = hidden
| ACROSS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Extra Letter |
Answer | Clue and Explanation |
| 1 | W | TOWSER | Store supply for dog (6) store* |
| 5 | W | DEW-POND | Pole’s trapped by dead end — a mist-filled hollow (7, hyphenated) PO (pole) in D (dead) END |
| 9 | W | TWIGS | Gets old drinking cups (5) TIGS (old drinking cups) |
| 10 | W | WIENIE | Sausage that’s endlessly being flipped (6) IE (that’s) (b)EIN(g)*; I’d prefer it if ‘that’s’ were ‘that is’ |
| 11 | W | WRITER’S CRAMP | Edit Married script I’d abandoned due to this? (12, two words) (MARRIED SCRIPT – I’D)* |
| 12 | W | SOWLE | Pull using lugs in some parts as luggage is empty (5) SO (as) + LE (LuggagE empty); ‘lugs’ as in ‘ears’ |
| 13 | W | ELBOW | Jostle the Spanish chap in Santa Barbara (5) EL (the in Spanish) + BO (man in Santa Barabara, ie the USA); I’d prefer it if this ended with a question mark |
| 14 | W | SWEAT | Worry Dickie e.g. (5) SEAT (dickie, eg) |
| 17 | W | WHORL | Fingerprint — found in bath or loo? (5) in batH OR Loo |
| 19 | W | WAKE | Watch served at one time returned with energy (4) KA< (served, old word) + E (energy) |
| 20 | W | WREST | Unlawfully take away what’s left (5) REST (what’s left) |
| 24 | W | ARROW | Any obsolete switches left over in Ayr? (5) ORRA< (left over, Scottish word) |
| 25 | W | ASKEW | Like the wings of kittiwake, set at an oblique angle (5) AS (like) + KE (wings of KittiwakE) |
| 26 | W | GNAWS | Astonishingly bites, starts to go numb and screams (5) initials of Go Numb And Scream |
| 28 | W | SWIZZLESTICK | Jam follows extreme heat, stir liquid with this (12) SIZZLE (extreme heat) + STICK (jam) |
| 29 | W | TAWNEY | Any tea? No one drunk port (6) [ANY TEA – A (one)]* |
| 30 | W | WHELM | Destroy lunar module with high explosive (5) HE (high explosive) + LM (lunar module) |
| 31 | W | WANGLES | In rough sea not even Nigel uses craft (7) NGL (NiGeL without even letters) in SEA*; ‘craft’ as in ‘cunning’ |
| 32 | W | BREWER | He makes porter essentially carry Scotch liquor first (6) BREE (Scotch liquor) + R (essentially caRry) |
| DOWN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | 2nd & 4th Letters |
Answer | Clue and Explanation | |
| 1 | E | N | THRASH | Spots teenager following most of the party (6) RASH (spots) after TH (most of THe) |
| 2 | N | I | OTIC | Sexy tops of ear rings removed — inhibiting for the ears (4) EROTIC (sexy) – ER (tops of Ear Rings) |
| 3 | G | N | SITTARS | Dire Straits’ agent makes these instruments (4) STRAITS* |
| 4 | L | E | EGEST | For example, Latin is sleeping — discharge (5) EG (for example) + EST (is in Latin) |
| 5 | I | T | DISLIKENESS | Lump on head shows lack of fitting resemblance (11) DISLIKE (lump) + NESS (head) |
| 6 | S | E | PERES | Fathers from Lourdes and pastor raise dry ashes (5) P (pastor) + SERE< |
| 7 | H | E | NIMBUS | Wet weather indicator — threats are removed from submarine reversing (6) (SUBMARINE – ARE)* |
| 8 | T | N | DEPOT | Dorothea keeps record stand in Grand Central Station e.g. (5) DOT (Dorothea) holding EP (record); depot is a station in the USA |
| 10 | E | F | ICE MEN | Professional killers‘ new-fangled pieces overlaid with diamonds (6, two words) MEN (pieces) with ICE (diamonds) above |
| 15 | S | O | JANGLY | Upsetting? Yes for Heidi and Glyn’s upset Esmond (6) JA (yes for Heidi, ie in German) + GLYN* |
| 16 | T | R | SERVILE | Cringing, relives disastrous stir-fry(7) RELIVES* |
| 18 | B | N | OSSIAN | This Gaelic poet’s legendary musical abandoned or finally forgotten? (6) OSSIA (or in music) + N (finally forgotteN) |
| 21 | O | I | TONKER | Hard-hitting cricketer’s extremely big, no boring opener! (6) (s)TONKER (extremely big, no opener) |
| 22 | W | N | PASTA | Cooked flour dough by swing-door area (5) PAST (by) + A (area) |
| 23 | L | E | BEZEL | Reportedly consume out-of-date bluefish cutting edge at an angle (5) sounds like BEZZLE (consume, old word) |
| 24 | E | T | ASTER | Mention bloomer from East-Ender’s last broadcast (5) [EAST + R (last of endeR)]* |
| 27 | R | Y | ACME | Top reason for youth’s discomfort? Scrub army name for Mark (4) ACNE (reason for youth’s discomfort) – N (name) and M (mark) in its place |