Lorraine: Good morning to you all,
Well that will teach me for saying in my last blog how easy it was as this weeks offering was a bit of a struggle, big thanks to Nick for his help this week without his help I probably would not have finished it.
Big thanks to Everyman for keeping me on my toes!
| Across | |||
| 1. | Expectation of the man taking work on board (4) | ||
| HOPE | OP in HE | ||
| 3. | Trying on red heels and short trousers (10) | ||
| LEDERHOSEN | (ON RED HEELS)* | ||
| 10. | Ready examples of rehearsed moves (3,6) | ||
| SET PIECES | SET+PIECES | ||
| 11. | Dexterous lady primarily brought in to make earthenware (5) | ||
| DELFT | L(ady) in DEFT | ||
| 12. | Smart choice crossing river (5) | ||
| PRICK | PICK around R(iver) | ||
| 13. | Look at key and wonder? (3-6) | ||
| EYE-OPENER | EYE+OPENER[key] | ||
| 14. | Key issue in 2011, say (5,6) | ||
| PRIME NUMBER | PRIME+NUMBER and cd | ||
| 18. | A Muse could make poets richer (11) | ||
| TERPSICHORE | (POETS RICHER)* one of the Muses |
||
| 21. | Play tune no end, hit by Armstrong originally (9) | ||
| MELODRAMA | MELOD(y)+RAM+A(rmstrong) | ||
| 23. | Respond emotionally about turn (5) | ||
| REACT | RE+ACT | ||
| 24. | Extremist in Kabul, traitor (5) | ||
| ULTRA | hidden: KabUL TRAitor | ||
| 25. | Special revolutionary character (3-6) | ||
| RED-LETTER | RED+LETTER | ||
| 26. | It may bring comfort to a child, receiving love if throaty, suffering (5,5) | ||
| TOOTH FAIRY | O(love) in (IF THROATY*) | ||
| 27. | Cold, and sore throat (4) | ||
| CRAW | C+RAW | ||
| Down | |||
| 1. | Weed round front of semi with instrument, gardening aid (8) | ||
| HOSEPIPE | (HOE(weed) around S(emi))+PIPE | ||
| 2. | Girl, aristocratic? Not quite (8) | ||
| PATRICIA | PATRICIA(n) | ||
| 4. | Former cashier, we hear, in a royal treasury (9) | ||
| EXCHEQUER | cryptic homophone: EX-CHECKER[cashier] | ||
| 5. | Follow unseen, mostly in disguise (5) | ||
| ENSUE | (UNSEE(n))* | ||
| 6. | Reportedly conceal Scottish explorer, with difficulty, in a West End location (4,4,6) | ||
| HYDE PARK CORNER | homophone of HIDE+(PARK+CORNER[difficulty]) see Mungo Park |
||
| 7. | Famous lawgiver given good farewell (2,4) | ||
| SO LONG | SOLON+G see Solon |
||
| 8. | Kind disposition (6) | ||
| NATURE | dd | ||
| 9. | Highly amused, choose the odd tale to be broadcast (7,2,5) | ||
| TICKLED TO DEATH | TICK[choose]+(THE ODD TALE*) | ||
| 15. | Onlooker before with rest shivering outside (9) | ||
| BYSTANDER | BY[before, as in bygones]+(AND[with] in (REST*)) | ||
| 16. | Talk idly about award? It doesn’t make any difference (2,6) | ||
| NO MATTER | NATTER around OM[Order of Merit] | ||
| 17. | How earth may be turned into an airport (8) | ||
| HEATHROW | (HOW EARTH)* | ||
| 19. | Size of a horse used for riding (6) | ||
| AMOUNT | A+MOUNT | ||
| 20. | Bachelor by house, extremely drunk (6) | ||
| BLOTTO | B+LOTTO[house, bingo et al] | ||
| 22. | Vessel from Kenya or Tanzania (5) | ||
| AORTA | hidden: kenyA OR TAanzania | ||
| … | |||
Thanks, Lorraine, I needed your help in parsing 15d which I had only solved with the help of the crossing letters.
It just goes to show that one man’s meat is another mans’s poison. For whatever reason I sat down on the Sunday evening and just wrote answer after answer in without having to pause. I’ve often wondered how it was possible for the incredibly quick times to be recorded on the Times site -now I know.
I didn’t understand 7d but it couldn’t be anything else.
It may never happen again but I did feel a sense of achievement.
Entertaining, as ever.
Thanks Lorraine; I needed to check SOLON, Hide and TERPSICHORE, but the cluing was, as usual, precise. TICKLED TO DEATH appeared two days ago in an Orlando crossword.
I liked the 2011 PRIME NUMBER clue; apparently, 2011 is the sum of eleven consecutive prime numbers.
Thanks, Lorraine. All good stuff from Everyman as usual. I too liked PRIME NUMBER (and thanks for the link, Robi – interesting).
And bravo, Bamberger! Nothing to do with the glass of red you had with supper, I presume?