All very smooth this week, though not unchallenging. There are some particularly nice surface readings, while if someone could confirm 23 down, I’d be grateful.
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | AGGLUTINOGEN – (NIGGLE + NOUGAT)*. |
| 11 | NIDERING – NIDE + RING. |
| 12 | SOPHI – SOP + HI. |
| 13 | ELINOR – IN in ROLE<. Elinor Dashwood is apparently the main protagonist in Sense and Sensibility, though I admit I couldn’t have told you that without googling. |
| 15 | CRIT – CR[ed]IT. |
| 16 | PENITENT – PEN + I + TENT. |
| 18 | OKRA – OK + RA[w]. |
| 20 | ESAU – A in USE<. The brother of Jacob. |
| 21 | OVERMULTITUDE – (VERDI + TUMULT)* in O[pera-hous]E. This seemd odd at first, but it is listed in Chambers as a verb, and obsolete, so Have more than oldis a perfectly cromulent definition. |
| 22 | TA-TA – TA + TA. |
| 23 | RILL – two definitions: stop/flow of river in US. The first one is a type of sound your mouth makes. It’s a fricative, and if I remember my MA Liguistics well (I do not) that’s a subclass of stop. |
| 25 | AGREMENS – A + (M in GREENS). |
| 28 | AJAR – RAJA<. The definition “This is not to” was nicely hidden here, I thought. |
| 29 | CASINO – CAS[t] + IN + [fl]O[or]. |
| 30 | LAIRY – L + AIRY. |
| 31 | BARRANCO – BAR + RANC[h]O. |
| 32 | INDOOR RELIEF – (DOLE INFERIOR)*. A type of support given to workhouse paupers, rather than something you pay for in Soho when it’s raining. |
| Down | |
| 1 | ANECDOTALLY – (TOLD A CLEAN) + [stor]Y. |
| 2 | GILRAVAGE – GIRL* + AV[er]AGE. |
| 3 | LENTO – T in LENO. |
| 4 | UROSOME – OUR* + SOME. |
| 5 | INTERLINEAR – (AIRLINE RENT)*. |
| 6 | NGANA – N + (A NAG)< and I think &lit, as it’s a disease that sounds like it would indeed upset a horse. |
| 7 | OSSI – OSSI[an]. A former East German, compare Wessi. |
| 8 | GOUT – GO [o]UT. |
| 9 | EPHESUS – EP + HE + SUS. |
| 10 | VIRTUE-PROOF – TRUE* in (VIP + ROOF). |
| 14 | IN ADVANCE – I + NA + (V in DANCE). |
| 17 | DETRAIN – DE-TRAIN. Nice whimsical second definition. |
| 19 | KILDARE – KIL[l] + DARE. |
| 23 | REMBO – R + ME< + BO. Well, I guess it must be this, but I don’t see it listed in Chambers, at least via the app. The clue is King upset me and another guy? Take defiant stance, perhaps. |
| 24 | VASAL – VAS[s]AL. |
| 26 | EARD – ‘EARD. |
| 27 | MAYO – MAY + 0. |
Hi Simon, and thanks again for the blog.
23 down is kembo (k not r for king) which Chambers says is the same as kimbo.
Due sacrifice has been made to B, in the hope of appeasing him.
That makes 23A KILL which fits definitions in Chambers. Guess you were pleased with Capital Cup win in London, Simon. Thanks Beelzebub and Simon.
Wow, thanks both. That’s kind of interesting: it should/would have occurred to me to try KEMBO, but 23 across works absolutely perfectly as RILL. Well…I think it does?
Thanks for the blog!
For 7D I too had OSSI to start with, but I couldn’t justify OSSIAN as being Italian.
Could it be OSTI from OSTI(AN)…someone from Ostia? OSTI isn’t in Chambers but it’s in the Urban Dictionary.
Any thoughts?
Hmmm, interesting. I don’t have the grid in front of me to check whether that clashes with anything, but it does seem plausible. I hadn’t even thought to confirm Ossian as being Italian, but you’re right, I can’t back it up.
Trouble is, I’ve checked with a German friend, and she has never heard of anyone being referred to as an “Osti”, so I’m a little perplexed.
Here’s the link to the Urban Dictionary, but I agree with your friend – I’ve heard only “Osti” before:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Osti
Looks like we’ll have to wait until Sunday!
I had 7d as OSSIA (or in Italian) minus A (article.)
Aha! I think we have a winner.
That’s a well-hidden definition, to say the least. I’m sure OSSIA came up in another puzzle recently (Inquisitor?) so perhaps should have been closer to the front of my mind.
Thanks, kenmac et al.
Clearly the winner! Thanks kenmac.