A top quality puzzle of medium difficulty this week, I found. Just one question from me at 10dn, which is a shame because I’ve a feeling it’s the best clue here.
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 4 | WAMPISHED – (A + M.P.) in WISHED. |
| 11 | RHOS – RHO[de]S. |
| 12 | CONTOUR – CON + TOUR. |
| 13 | CONNOISSEURS – CON + (UR in SESSION<). |
| 14 | HACKETTE – sort of a reverse anagram, in that RARE + HACKETTE is (THE CARETAKER)*. |
| 17 | SLEDGE – L in SEDGE. |
| 19 | DEMO – D + EMO. |
| 20 | TENEBRITY – TEN + EBRI[e]TY. |
| 22 | SEED CORAL – CO in (RED SEA)*. |
| 24 | NARC – RAN< + C. |
| 25 | ENNAGE – (N + N) in EAGE[r]. |
| 27 | ORRERIES – RE in [l]ORRIES. |
| 29 | MOTIVATIONAL – (I’M VALIANT TOO)*. |
| 30 | PROBANG – PRO + BANG. |
| 31 | SENA – SEN + A. |
| 32 | STREETAGE – TREE in STAGE. |
| Down | |
| 1 | ARCHSTONE – (ON THE CARS)*. |
| 2 | SHOALED – ALE in SHOD. |
| 3 | CONCENTRATOR – (NOT CORRECT + A + N)*. |
| 5 | ALOE – ALO[n]E. |
| 6 | POSTRIDER – RID in POSTER. |
| 7 | INSECT – C in INSET. |
| 8 | STEADY ON – STEADY + ON. |
| 9 | HOUSETRAINED – (URINE TO HEADS)*. |
| 10 | EURO – this is probably a very topical &lit, but I can’t see where the “EU” comes from: Currency that’s – well, in Greece – run out. |
| 15 | TEREBRANT – BERET< + RANT. |
| 16 | BOYLE’S LAW – BOY + (S in (WE ALL)*). |
| 18 | DESCRIBE – CRIB in SEED*. |
| 21 | PAGEANT – PAGE + ANT. |
| 23 | EVOVAE – OVA in EVE. |
| 26 | RORT – R OR T. R and T being the ends of the word “rampant”. |
| 28 | EIGG – I in EGG. |
Re 10dn: eu is the Greek for ‘well’. It can be found in Chambers in the etymology of lots of words beginning eu-.