Nick: A game of two halves this week.
The top half of the grid flew in, but then I ground to a halt on the bottom half, taking a few hours to complete it. Fairly tough, I thought.
I have a slight query reference 8dn.
This is my last blog today, and as they say, so long, and thanks for all the fish; also I thank Geoff for letting the Trafites be on the blogging team all those years ago and for all his hard word creating and maintaining this great web site.
(my first blog was on January 3rd 2010; Azed 1961)
| Across | |||
| 1. | Old lecher getting me in the stomach (8) | ||
| GAMESTER | ME in GASTER | ||
| 7. | Soggy bit of bread, hot – one was fresher earlier (4) | ||
| SOPH | SOP+H | ||
| 10. | Tropical climbers: one is ariot growing wild round lake (12) | ||
| ARISTOLOCHIA | A+((IS AROIT*) around LOCH) | ||
| 11. | Archaic slang talk confined to German glossaries (4) | ||
| MANG | hidden: GerMAN Glossaries | ||
| 13. | Cooking pot – one put in what’s fit to eat, removing lid (6) | ||
| DIABLE | A in [e]DIBLE | ||
| 14. | Secular piece of glass on account of being inserted wrong way round (7) | ||
| PROFANE | (FOR<) in PANE | ||
| 16. | One who earnestly sought rest disturbed with pigeon around (9) | ||
| QUESTRIST | (REST*) in QUIST | ||
| 17. | Gentile girl he excited with kiss (6) | ||
| SHIKSE | (HE KISS)* | ||
| 19. | Tiny amount, or nothing, held in palm (4) | ||
| IOTA | O in ITA | ||
| 21. | Leather shroud (4) | ||
| HIDE | dd | ||
| 23. | Was chattering fool catching fish? The opposite (6) | ||
| GASSED | ASS in GED (not ged in ass) | ||
| 24. | Part of fossilized tree – it’s vaguely discernible on grand lunar levels (9) | ||
| STIGMARIA | (ITS*)+G+MARIA | ||
| 28. | Soldier with sword, its head concealed in his cloak (7) | ||
| MANTEEL | MAN+[s]TEEL | ||
| 29. | Crafty old horse a length behind favourite (only third) (6) | ||
| FAVELL | ELL after FAV[ourite] | ||
| 30. | Classical pianist: you’ll find Verdi – – may be varied (4) | ||
| ANDA | composite anagram of sorts – (VERDI and A*) = VARIED reference Géza Anda, Hungarian pianist |
||
| 31. | Gynaecological surgeon having nothing against out of control MO’s messing with it (12) | ||
| OVARIOTOMIST | O+V+A RIOT+(MO’s+IT*) | ||
| 32. | Overcast? Band of rain we see heading westwards (4) | ||
| SEWN | hidden reverse: raiN WE See clever mislead in the definition |
||
| 33. | Training cord round front of pastern – does it make horse lame? (8) | ||
| CREPANCE | CREANCE around P[asture] | ||
Down |
|||
| 1. | Bulging crone turned up clutching wayward imps (7) | ||
| GAMPISH | (IMPS*) in (HAG<) | ||
| 2. | I cover up after love in hussy’s embrace – it offers new hope for baldies! (9) | ||
| MINOXIDIL | (I+(LID<)) after (O in MINX) | ||
| 3. | Former skipper trained tars on American ship (7) | ||
| STRAUSS | (TARS*)+USS the former England cricket captain |
||
| 4. | No country-dweller, wet one when it’s stormy (6) | ||
| TOWNEE | (WET ONE)* | ||
| 5. | First-born’s share of Nuffield estate (6) | ||
| ELDEST | hidden: NuffiELD ESTate | ||
| 6. | Carouse is getting stuck into Franconian red (5) | ||
| ROIST | IS in ROT(German for red) | ||
| 7. | Was looking up after getting round constant low point? (4) | ||
| SCAW | (WAS<) around C | ||
| 8. | Showing certain columns I penned, after long lunch in El Vino’s? (10) | ||
| PILASTERED | I in PLASTERED I don’t really get this; is there a reference somewhere that you get plastered at/in El Vino’s? |
||
| 9. | Meat, round end of T-bone, the colour of blood (4) | ||
| HAEM | HAM around [T-bon]E | ||
| 12. | Part of entablature with e.g. pictures put up in repository (10) | ||
| ARCHITRAVE | (ART<) in ARCHIVE | ||
| 15. | Extract of yams? Stirred dose in gin (9) | ||
| DIOSGENIN | (DOSE IN GIN)* | ||
| 18. | Keen on opening chart in crow’s-nest? (7) | ||
| MAINTOP | INTO in MAP clever clue |
||
| 20. | Butter potato beginning to dry up, upset about it (7) | ||
| ADULATE | ATE around (ALU+D[ry]<) | ||
| 22. | Jack I exchanged for money for autorickshaw? (6) | ||
| SAMLOR | SAILOR with M for I | ||
| 23. | Adorned old jar with square inside (6) | ||
| GRASTE | S in GRATE | ||
| 25. | What serpent shows cutting ultimate bit of sour apple? (5) | ||
| MALIC | MALIC(e) I suppose a serpant could show malice |
||
| 26. | What only the gullible believe in? Objectively we’ll admit owning up (4) | ||
| UFOS | (OF<) in US | ||
| 27. | Old peasant, one remembered for his tunes (4) | ||
| KERN | cdd ref. Jerome Kern, an old composer of popular tunes (google to the rescue!) |
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Thanks for all the blogs!
El Vinos is (was?) a Fleet Street pub much favoured by journalists hence Lunchtime O’Booze in The Eye.