Nothing too troublesome this week, I think, but an enjoyable Sunday solve nonetheless.
Plenty of interesting new words to get to grips with: ZUNI, TUTENAG and ORGAN OF CORTI being among those to try to remember for next time.
Comments on a recent entry in Samuel Pepy’s diary contained some discussion of how we get “tweezers” from “etui”, via other forms, and it was interesting to learn a little more about this crossword staple. (I say “recent”. It was written in 1662, but republished on the blog last month.)
*=anagram, []=dropped, <=reversed. Hover to expand abbreviations.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | SQUARE AWAY – SQU[ad] + AREA + WAY. “Area” for “basement” was new to me, and seems to be a North American term in fact. |
| 11 | ZUNI – Z + UNI. |
| 12 | ENEMATA – AMEN< in ETA. |
| 13 | PIERCE – PIER + CE. |
| 14 | NAIL UP – AIL in PUN<. |
| 15 | LET SLIP – LET (from tennis) + SLIP (from cricket). |
| 16 | STEREOCHROME – (HORSE ETC)* + ROME. |
| 17 | SENATE – SEN + ATE. |
| 22 | ORDEAL – (D + E) in ORAL. |
| 24 | ORGAN OF CORTI – (ROOTING FOR A + C[riminals])*. |
| 25 | NONAGON – NON (avoiding) + AGON (struggle). |
| 27 | AVIDIN – V in AIDIN[g] |
| 28 | SATANG – SATAN + G[lobal] |
| 29 | TUTENAG – E in (TUT + NAG). |
| 30 | ET AL – LATE<. |
| 31 | EXECUTRESS – T in (SECURE SEX)*. |
| Down | |
| 2 | QUILTED – (L in QUITE) + D. |
| 3 | UNEVEN – NEVE in UN. |
| 4 | AIR-TRAP – A1 + TRAP. |
| 5 | ROCKET ENGINE – (ENERGETIC + ON + K[ingston])*. |
| 6 | ANNECY – NEC in ANY. |
| 7 | WEATHER CHART – (WATCH HERE)* + ART. |
| 8 | Y-ALLOY – ALL in YO-Y[o]. |
| 9 | ETUI – UTE< + 1. |
| 10 | DAPPERLING – PPE in DARLING. |
| 13 | PASSIONATE – (ASS + ION) in PATE. |
| 18 | ADOPTER – OP in TRADE*. |
| 19 | CATENAS – (SANE + TAC[k])<. |
| 20 | IGNITE – I + (N in GITE). |
| 21 | POONAC – O in (CAN + OP)<. |
| 23 | ERGATE – RE< + GATE. “Gate” is from electronics, while the bug in question is a type of ant. |
| 26 | OVUM – O’ + V[andals] + UM. |