This seemed to be a solve of two halves for me. Progress was quite smooth until the last half dozen or so entries, whereby I had to hit the Chambers search pretty hard to get finished. Still, a few new words were learned in the process, which is no bad thing.
30 across still has me beaten: I’m unable to identify either the pass or the fern.
*=anagram, []=dropped, <=reversed.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | ORTHOEPICAL – (HOE + PIC) in [p]ORTAL. |
| 10 | EUTYCHIAN – (CHA[s]E UNITY)*. |
| 11 | SALUTARY – UT in SALARY. |
| 12 | USED – US + ED. |
| 13 | DESPOT – ESP in DOT. I don’t think I’ve come across “dot” meaning “to limp” before, and wonder if it’s perhaps a horse racing term. |
| 15 | APEX – APE + X. |
| 16 | ADEEM – [tr]ADE EM[bargo]. |
| 17 | CONSIDERABLE – (ON + SIDE + R) in CABLE. |
| 20 | LITTLE DORRIT – LIT + (ORDER* in TILT<). A novel by Charles Dickens, I hardly need add. |
| 22 | ENIAC – A in (EN + IC. |
| 25 | ETCH – [f]ETCH. |
| 27 | STELAE – ([garbag]E + L) in EATS<. |
| 28 | ASTI – ASTI[r]. |
| 29 | MESMERIC – MES[h] + MERI + C. A “meri” or “mere” is a Maori war-club. |
| 30 | CHINAROOT – Pass round fern lacking density in rhizome. |
| 31 | PLAIN-SPOKEN – (I + N + SPOKE) in PLAN. |
| Down | |
| 1 | OBSTACLE RACE – (COLT BEARS)* + ACE. |
| 2 | REAPPOINT – REAP + (IN in POT). |
| 3 | TILDE – L in TIDE. |
| 4 | OUTSAIL – (U + [limi]T) in (OS + AIL). |
| 5 | ETAPE – e + TAPE. |
| 6 | PYROPE – P + Y + ROPE. I got this one wrong, writing in PYROSE on the fairly reasonable assumption that there might be a painter named Rose. Even if there is, it’s ROPE, of which “painter” is a type. |
| 7 | CHUDDAR – (HUD + D) in CAR. |
| 8 | AISLE – IS in ALE. |
| 9 | INDOMETHACIN – (MEDIC HIT ON AN)*. |
| 14 | HELICTITE – (T in ELICIT) in HE. |
| 18 | STAMINA – ST + ANIMA<. |
| 19 | ROLLMOP – (L + L + M) in POOR<. |
| 21 | EXTERN – EX + TERN*. |
| 23 | INTIL – ([connectio]N in IT) + I + L. It took a while to spot the definition here: it’s simply “Scots to”. |
| 24 | PESOS – PE + SOS. |
| 26 | TEREK – [la]KE RET[urned]<. |
30ac, the pass is a CHIT and the fern is the NARDOO.
Fair enough, thanks! I’m not sure I’d ever have got there myself, though CHIT seems vaguely familiar.
I think I recall Chit from Dan Dare back in the sixties, which suggest to me it might have been an army term in the old National Service days and I see it’s an Anglo-Indian term. (A character said, “Have you signed your chits” which led Dare to guess that the person was ex-Space Fleet.)
That’s some memory you have there. I don’t feel so bad, given that I wasn’t born then!
🙂