Anyone hoping for a gentle post-Sunday lunch solve would have been in for a shock! I got everything in the end but it was not easy. Very satisfying though. Thank you Nimrod.
Whizzing round the outside of the track we have gold medal winners and newly-weds Laura Trott and Jason Kenny. Congratulations to them both.
| Across | ||
| 6 | PHIAL | Magnum, perhaps, hard to charge with a litre bottle (5) |
| PI (private investigator, Magnum perhaps) containing (with…to charge) H (hard) then I (one) and L (litre). |
||
| 7 | PAUSING | The old man on intermission (7) |
| PA (the old man) and USING (on, eg drugs) | ||
| 9 | JAMPOT | Not much to write about a parliamentarian collar (6) |
| JOT (not much) containing (to write about) A MP (parliamentarian) – a high collar, as worn by clergymen | ||
| 10 | OUTBREAK | In error, leave to escape the onset of war? (8) |
| OUT (in error) BREAK (leave) – two definitions | ||
| 11 | A MATTER OF COURSE | Someone covering Aintree? It’s routine (1,6,2,6) |
| cryptic/double definition – someone who covers a racecourse (Aintree) with mats perhaps | ||
| 12 | SCOFFER | I doubt he eats very quickly (7) |
| double definition | ||
| 14 | INKED IN | Topless online business service made permanent selection? (5,2) |
| LINKEDIN (online business service) missing top letter | ||
| 17 | OUT OF PROPORTION | Unbalanced, so not in for a bit … (3,2,10) |
| OUT (not in) OF (for) PROPORTION (a bit) | ||
| 20 | NINETEEN | … -1 after the round, the number for the next round? (8) |
| NINETEEN is 20 -1 (… indicates the preceding item, the clue number) – the nineteenth hole, where one goes after a round of golf and buys a round of drinks | ||
| 21 | JOCKEY | Japanese duty officer’s crucial manoeuvre (6) |
| J (Japanese) OC (officer in charge, duty officer) and KEY (crucial) | ||
| 22 | SEE TO IT | Make sure noisette has no trace of nuts before distributing (3,2,2) |
| anagram (distributing) of nOISETTE missing Nuts (first letter, trace of) | ||
| 23 | CHESS | It’s played on board ship by chemical engineer (5) |
| SS (steam ship) following (by) CHE (ChE, Chemical Engineer) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | LIMPET | Back of car missing special sticker? (6) |
| LIMo (car, back missing) and PET (special) | ||
| 2 | ALL THERE | Nothing unaccounted for on one’s trolley, presumably? (3,5) |
| double definition – all present and sane. To be “off one’s trolley” is to be insane, an old coal mining expression I think. | ||
| 3 | UP TO NOW | Discovered two – not put about so far (2,2,3) |
| found inside (discovered, without covering letters) tWO NOT PUt reversed (about) | ||
| 4 | RUSTIC | It’s chewed by dog after picking up clodhopper (6) |
| ITS inside CUR (dog) all reversed (after being picked up by) | ||
| 5 | AIR ROUTE | Flight-path modified heading off to Etruria (3,5) |
| anagram (modified) of tO ETRUIA (heading off) | ||
| 6 | PHARMACEUTICS | Chairs put out around club in preparation for patients (13) |
| anagram (out) of CHAIRS PUT containing (around) MACE (club) – the discipline of pharmacy that deals with the process of turning chemicals or old drugs into a new medication, so “preparation for patients” | ||
| 8 | GRASS WIDOWERS | Lonely husbands not fully understanding wise words, unfortunately (5,8) |
| GRASp (understanding, not fully) then anagram (unfortunately) of WISE WORDS | ||
| 13 | FLOWERET | Some cauliflower cheese, 75% reduced in store (8) |
| FETa (cheese, 75% of) containing (with…in store) LOWER (reduced) – a floret, especially of cauliflower or broccoli | ||
| 15 | NO OBJECT | “Gift” turning up on aircraft containing cocaine considered unimportant? (2,6) |
| BOON (gift) reversed (turning up) on JET (aircraft) containing C (cocaine, slang) | ||
| 16 | BOUND TO | Under legal obligation regarding invalid no doubt (5,2) |
| anagram (invalid) of NO DOUBT | ||
| 18 | PLEXOR | In spin, Lion’s caught by Hammer (6) |
| PR (public relations, spin) contains (with…in) LEO (lion) containing (has caught) X (by, as in 2cm x 4cm for example) – a small hammer used for testing reflexes | ||
| 19 | TICKET | What to do if criterion is satisfied in sound test? Pass (6) |
| TICKET sounds like (in sound) “tick it” (what to do if criterion is satisfied). Apart from being part of the surface reading I can’t see how “test” fits in here, it does not seem be part of the wordplay or the definition. | ||
*anagram
definitions are underlined
I write these posts to help people get started with crosswords. If there is something here you do not understand feel to ask questions; chances are there are others wondering the same things.
Nimrod on a Sunday.
There must be a reason for that.
And there is of course.
Today, In Birmingham, we’ll choose ‘our’ Sports Personalities of the Year.
Nimrod apparently puts the odds on the lovely couple round the perimeter.
They certainly helped me to finish this puzzle without too much trouble.
Last one in and the only one unparsed was FLOWERET (13d).
Get it now (thanks PeeDee) , still a pity to have cauliFLOWER and FLOWERet.
All in all, less a shock than the setter’s name might suggest for many.
Very enjoyable.
I get the track cycling bit, I have had a go at that myself before now. Sports personality of the year leaves me completely baffled.
Thanks Nimrod and PeeDee
That was well worth the effort.
In 6A, Magnum was a TV series about a Private Eye (PI).
hth
A rare treat for a Sunday-for which I thank the golden couple.Loved JOCKEY
A lovely Sunday treat – the Nina was particularly helpful for getting the last few stragglers sorted out.
Thanks to Nimrod for the crossword and the Happy Couple for inspiring its creation
Started well on this – A MATTER OF COURSE caught my eye at once and having got a few more I began to think “is Nimrod being gentle with us this time?” Then I ground to a halt! But a few crossing letters in 6dn enabled a word finder to come up with PHARMACEUTICS which helped get a few more and spotting the nina allowed me to finish (with more help form the word finder).
Some excellent clues make picking a CoD difficult but I’ll go for LIMPET.
Thanks, nimrod and PeeDee
Spent most of the evening struggling with Azed so I thought I’d finish off the evening by doing this to relax. It was not to be. Only managed to get half a dozen before calling it a night.
Some fiendish stuff for a Sunday. Thought there was a Nina around the perimeter, but not very familiar with the subjects. Had trouble parsing PLEXOR, never heard of this use of JAMPOT.
The parsing of 4D is ITS inside (chewed by) <CUR (dog after picking up, ie reversed).
And thanks to Nimrod and PeeDee.
gwep@8 – quite right, fixed now.