I found Bradman today to be harder than his usual self. As a result, it wasnt a very enjoyable experience for me and I had to get some help for a complete solve. Thanks Geoff, for the prop up.
FF: 7 DD: 10
| Across | ||
| 1 | MARTLET | Bird in farm out by trade centre (7) |
| LET (farm out) after MART (trade centre) | ||
| 5 | REBECK | Old instrument about to be presented to guitarist (6) |
| RE (about) BECK (guitarist) | ||
| 8 | CONFUCIUS | Philosopher to study flowering plants, might you say? (9) |
| Sounds like CON (study) FUCHSIAS (flowering plants) | ||
| 9 | CRASH | Bankruptcy when Conservative gets impetuous (5) |
| C (conservative) RASH (impetuous) | ||
| 11 | OCHRE | Colour of mineral cladding little church (5) |
| ORE (mineral) around CH (little CHurch) | ||
| 12 | GENOTYPES | Biological groups from Egypt, ones in misplaced order (9) |
| EGYPT ONES* | ||
| 13 | RADISHES | Artist gets rid of bits of salad (8) |
| RA (artist) DISHES (gets rid of) | ||
| 15 | CORTEX | Woo heartless old lover? What’s the matter with your brain? (6) |
| COuRT (woo, heartless) EX (old lover) | ||
| 17 | AEROBE | 1 down in aged garment (6) |
| AE (aged) ROBE (garment) | ||
| 19 | OLD NORSE | Out-of-date language making one’s lord seem silly (3,5) |
| ONE’S LORD* | ||
| 22 | IMPACTION | Deed by little devil means things getting pushed together (9) |
| ACTION (deed) after IMP (little devil) | ||
| 23 | PENAL | Writer and American gangster seen to be punishable (5) |
| PEN (writer) AL (american gangster, capone) | ||
| 24 | MENAI | Workers by major road where there’s a bridge (5) |
| MEN (workers) AI (major road – A1) | ||
| 25 | ELEVATION | Not a plan for promotion (9) |
| double def | ||
| 26 | EDGE IN | Gradually get into position of advantage at home (4,2) |
| EDGE (advantage) IN (home) | ||
| 27 | MISERLY | Unhappy person hoards pounds, being this? (7) |
| MISERY (unhappy person) contains L (pounds) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | MICROORGANISM | Bug possibly running riot in Minorca – so grim (13) |
| MINORCA SO GRIM* | ||
| 2 | RANCHED | Bred on a farm, can herd run free? (7) |
| RAN HERD* | ||
| 3 | LOUSE | Insect left floating on river (5) |
| L (left) OUSE (river) | ||
| 4 | THINGIES | Unspecified objects may be such – no good, that is, for keeping (8) |
| THIS (such) containing [ N (no) G (good) I.E (that is, id est)] | ||
| 5 | RISING | Irish revolutionary to celebrate Dublin’s Easter event? (6) |
| RI (irish = IR, reversed) SING (celebrate) | ||
| 6 | BUCKTHORN | Writer Pearl’s old letter found in shrub (9) |
| BUCK (writer, Pearl refering to Pearl S. Buck) THORN (old letter, of english and icelandic origins) | ||
| 7 | COALPIT | A record I found in bed – it’s mine (7) |
| [ A LP (record) I] in COT (bed) | ||
| 10 | HIS EXCELLENCY | Style of country’s representative – can be explosive if cut short (3,10) |
| answer abbreviates to H.E. (which can alternatively mean High Explosives) | ||
| 14 | SUBSCRIBE | Sign as junior clerk? (9) |
| SUB (junior) SCRIBE (clerk) | ||
| 16 | BLENHEIM | Nimble manoeuvring to capture the man in battle (8) |
| NIMBLE* containing HE (man) | ||
| 18 | REPINED | Expressed discontent as leftie with inner ache (7) |
| RED (leftie, communist) containing PINE (ache) | ||
| 20 | RENTIER | Children, but not one of them joining bank, becoming investor (7) |
| childREN (not one of them, i.e. without CHILD) TIER (bank) | ||
| 21 | SIMEON | Disciple having minimal energy within who wanted to depart peacefully? (6) |
| E[nergy] in SIMON (disciple) | ||
| 23 | PEARS | Fruit company producing annual publication (5) |
| double def; Wiki for the second def | ||
*anagram
I must say I enjoyed it a lot despite the difficulty.Just clever stuff. My only objection would be the (for me) obscure GK – Pearl Buck, Pears Catalogue?
Martlet required a “search” in the Chambers App…
Thanks Bradman and TL for further enlightenment.
Thanks, TL. I achieved my daily ambition of completing by breakfast, so unlike peterj I must have found it relatively easy. But I still needed your guidance on a couple of solutions, and I really thought 23dn was iffy. But thanks to the Don — keep them coming.
I had Pears’ Cyclopedia in mind, an annual almanac, Pears being the soap company that made the Bubbles picture by Millais famous through its advertising. I have a print of that picture at home and was born in my parents’ bedroom where it hung for many years. So I knew about Pears ( without any computer aid!).
An absolute cracker I thought, mind you I am a fan of the Don and was on the same wavelength for this one.
peterj@1
The times in which we live or have grown up count, I think. I read [Pearl S.] Buck’s novels when I was in college in the Sixties (they were not part of the syllabus). Pears Cyclopaedia was in my father’s library and I was encouraged to look it up now and then. My own children may not know either.
I was given the 59th edition of Pears Cyclopaedia in 1949. Its cost then was 7 shillings and six pence net. I see that Amazon are selling the current edition at £20.
I remember referring to it often at school but have not looked into it for many years. I must have treasured it as it is still wrapped in my original brown paper.
Thanks Bradman and Turbolegs
The usual lesson in new words from the Don here with – BUCKTHORN, Pearl BUCK, this definition of THORN, MARTLET, SIMEON, AEROBE, the abbreviation of AE, the MENAI Suspension Bridge and the annual edition of PEARS. All fairly clued so quite gettable.
Finished in the SW corner with REPINED, and EDGE IN and SIMEON (and the quote from Luke Ch 2) astute last ones in.
Thanks Turbolegs and Bradman.
I needed your help to understand the parsing of MARTLET (still not really sure about farm out = LET but that’s my problem) and AE for aged.
I have always found Pears Cyclopedia to be an invaluable companion – especially for help with mythological type clues – so know it well.