A very challenging puzzle which saw me struggling to finish it throughout the week. Several (for example 1 across and 17 across) took quite some time to work out, but I hope I’ve managed to understand everything this week.
*=anagram, []=dropped, <=reversed.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | CATCHPOLE – CAT + (P in CHOLE[r]). |
| 10 | ORTHO – [res]ORT HO[tel]. |
| 11 | FOLIAR – (RAIL + OF)<. |
| 12 | MARE’S-NEST – SENSE< in MART. |
| 13 | TARSALS -TARS + ALS . |
| 14 | BATS – double definition: bats an eyelid/bats in the belfry. |
| 16 | BARGEE – (GEAR BE)*. |
| 17 | RHODODENDRON – ((HOD + O + DEN) in RD) + R + ON. |
| 19 | MONOFILAMENT – (OF NAIL)* in MOMENT. |
| 23 | ITALIC – TAL[e] in (II + C). |
| 26 | NOTT – NO + TT. |
| 27 | PLUMBUM – PLUM + BUM. |
| 28 | MIASMATIC – AIM< + (MAT in SIC). |
| 29 | TENACE – NAT< + ACE. |
| 30 | SCION – (C + IO) in Sn. |
| 31 | SOI-DISANT – (SAID TO SIN)*. |
| Down | |
| 1 | CONTERMINATE – (CENTRE TO MAIN)*. |
| 2 | ARMAGH – ARM + AGH[a]. |
| 3 | CHASID – HAS in CID. |
| 4 | HORAH – ORA in (H + H). |
| 5 | PRELUDI – RULED* in PI. |
| 6 | LONGAN – LONG + . |
| 7 | DISAGREE – (SAG in DIRE) + E. |
| 8 | MATTE – T in MATE. |
| 9 | PRESENTIMENT – PRESENT + I + ME[a]NT. |
| 15 | SONATINA – TIN in (SON + AA). |
| 18 | ELFLAND – FELL* + AND. |
| 20 | FIASCO – IF< + AS + CO. |
| 21 | MIMICS – (I in MMI) + C + S. |
| 22 | NEURON – (U in NERO) + N. |
| 24 | TOMES – M in TOES. |
| 25 | TUTSI – S in TUT[t]I. |
Thanks, there were a couple I couldn’t understand, although I had the correct answers – 2dn and 15dn. Don’t think I’ve come across agha as an alternative to aga before, nor aa as a type of rock (and me with an O-level in geology).