I found this a bit of a struggle, which is unusual for an Aardvark puzzle.
Some of the wordplay left me thinking “Oh really?” rather than “Oh wow!”. Perhaps I am just feeling a bit under the weather today and missing the point. Thank you Aardvark.
| Across | ||
| 1 | TONKED | Boss retiring with state aid, ultimately hit hard (6) |
| KNOT (boss) reversed (retiring) with statE aiD (ultimately, last letters). I originally had BONKED with KNOB for boss. | ||
| 4 | SCABROUS | Harsh banking system backed and put in action shortly (8) |
| BACS (banking system) reversed (backing) then ROUSe (put in action, shortly) | ||
| 10 | COMPOTE | Business representative with bow- tie oddly missed dessert (7) |
| CO (business) MP (representative, in Parliament) than bOw-TiE (odd letters missing) | ||
| 11 | ESTONIA | Country lane at the end more rocky, it’s said (7) |
| lanE (end letter of) and STONIA sounds like (it’s said) stonyer (more rocky). Is that how to spell stonyer? It looks wrong to me, but stonier does not look much better. | ||
| 12 | TONY | Unknown in play gets US award (4) |
| N (unknown number, maths) in TOY (play) | ||
| 13 | MONOTONOUS | Humdrum type of recording given to intellect (10) |
| MONO (type of recording) with TO and NOUS (intellect) | ||
| 16 | CATCHY | Jazz fan and companion close to sixty like certain tunes? (6) |
| CAT (jazz fan) with CH (Companion of Honour) and sixtY (closing letter of) | ||
| 17 | PET HATE | It’s a bugbear training with half of team around Derby perhaps (3,4) |
| PE (training) with TEam (half of) containing (around) HAT (Derby perhaps) | ||
| 20 | TONED UP | Sheep eating round lair westwards became healthier (5,2) |
| TUP (sheep) contains (eating) O (something round) and DEN (lair) reversed (westwards, right-to-left on a map) | ||
| 21 | ALPINE | Clip opens beer from Germany, Austria etc (6) |
| 24 | BOSTON CRAB | Wild bronco found around street by Jack that’s held in the ring (6,4) |
| anagram (wild) of BRONCO contains (found around) ST (street) by AB (able seaman, jack tar) – a wrestling hold, something that’s held in the ring | ||
| 25 | JETE | Dance manoeuvre in France I tackle peripherally (4) |
| JE (I in French) with TacklE (peripherally, outside letters of) | ||
| 27 | OUTSOLE | Dated individual in part of Oxford? (7) |
| OUT (dated) and SOLE (individual) – an Oxford is a shoe | ||
| 29 | OVEREAT | Type of grass occupied by English churchman turning pig out (7) |
| OAT (type of grass) contains (occupied by) E (English) REV (churchman) reversed (turning) | ||
| 30 | BEDDY-BYE | Bachelor swirling given farewell and place to sleep (5-3) |
| B (bachelor) and EDDY (swirling) with BYE (farewell) – I have only ever heard this in plural beddy-byes | ||
| 31 | PAXTON | Slate housing unknown to English architect (6) |
| PAN (slate) contains (housing) X (unknown) TO – Joseph Paxton (1803 – 1865) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | TICK-TACK | Communication system gets sign of approval by board (4-4) |
| TICK (sign of approval) by TACK (board) – in sailing the tack or board is the distance travelled between turns when sailing to windward | ||
| 2 | NOMINATIONS | Those in the running races circulate medal at home (11) |
| NATIONS (races) contain (circulate) OM (Order of Merit, medal) IN (at home) | ||
| 3 | ETON | Partly manage to name academic institution (4) |
| found inside (part of) managE TO Name | ||
| 5 | CHEW OVER | Ponder extent of Waterloo victory during celebratory meal? (4,4) |
| WaterloO (extent of, outside letters of, really?) V (victory) inside CHEER (celebratory meal). Why is CHEER celebratory meal? | ||
| 6 | BUTTONHOLE | Collar and lapel containing this (10) |
| double definition | ||
| 7 | OWN | Private given old quarters (3) |
| O (old) W N (quarters, of the compass) | ||
| 8 | SPARSE | Meagre box someone emptied (6) |
| SPAR (box) with SomeonE (emptied, no middle letters) | ||
| 9 | GET ON | Agree to entering details (3,2) |
| TO inside GEN (information, details) | ||
| 14 | OUTSIDE LEFT | Position of old footballer – finished on field, set for transfer (7,4) |
| OUT (finished) with anagram (for transfer) of FIELD SET – in modern football tactics outside lefts have become either forwards or midfielders | ||
| 15 | PHRENOLOGY | Fanciful science guidebooks originally brought in help Roy on broadcast (10) |
| Guidebooks (originally, first letter of) in anagram (broadcast) of HELP ROY ON | ||
| 18 | QUACKERY | Mallard’s sound on English railway – it’s a racket (8) |
| QUACK (sound a mallard makes) on E (English) RY (railway) | ||
| 19 | BEN ELTON | Novelist’s book number 3 inspired by Deighton, in hindsight (3,5) |
| B (book) then ETON (clue number 3) contains (inspired by???) LEN (Len Deighton) reversed (in hindsight). I can’t see how “inspired by” means “contains”, nor how “by Deighton” could mean “len”. | ||
| 22 | ABSORB | Take in seaman and siblings briefly wanting lift (6) |
| AB (able seaman again) and BROS (siblings, briefly) reversed (wanting lift) | ||
| 23 | BATON | Academic heavyweight one’s passed in athletics event (5) |
| BA (academic) with TON (heavy weight) | ||
| 26 | ZETA | Greek character showing much enthusiasm about tenor (4) |
| ZEAl (enthusiasm, much of) containing (about) T (tenor) | ||
| 28 | TAD | Touch top of telephone plug (3) |
| Telephone (top letter of) and AD (plug) | ||
definitions are underlined
I write these posts to help people get started with cryptic crosswords. If there is something here you do not understand ask a question; there are probably others wondering the same thing.
Thanks PeeDee
I share your reservations about this one, particularly 19dn. With regard to 5dn, under ‘cheer’ the ODE gives “food and drink provided for a festive occasion: they had partaken heartily of the Christmas cheer“. I suppose in the example given that ‘celebratory meal’ could replace ‘cheer’.
Thanks Gaufrid. I only looked in Chambers which just gave “food and drink” or words to that effect. Any ideas about ALPINE?
For 21A PIN is for Clip
For 26A ZEAL is the same as enthusiasm
26D of course
Thank you AID. Zest instead of Zeal was nonesense, I must have mixed them up when writing the blog.
I’m sure you are right for ALPINE, but is a clip really a pin? One pinches and the other pierces. Chambers does not give clip as a meaning for pin.
Didnt know of KNOT=boss so just went on def-I considered TONKED put entered TANNED-with limited knowledge, neither of them parsed.
So thanks for blog, PeeDee. Quite tricky but enjoyable.
Couldnt find too much hidden apart from HYPE and TEES but did spot a pangram (well probably, my counting is not great)
Loved JETE.
Thanks Aardvaark and PeeDee
In 21A I took PIN to be the French word for a badge, which you could say you clip to a garment.
Having got alpine, I was then looking for 19 to be N E _ _ _ T _ L, as to me ‘inspired by means that it’s taking something in.
I did think of looking for a pangramafter getting Q, K and Y, but then forgot. If I hadn’t I’d have got 25 right.
In 1D, did anyone parse as tack/board = food?
ub – I thought of that first too, it is a more obvious explanation. I was actually looking through Chambers intending to double-check the definitions of tack and board=food when I came across the nautical uses. I must have forgotten why I originally went there and have written in the nautical explanation into the blog.
Thanks Aardvark and PeeDee
Did this one near publication time but only just got around to checking it off tonight. There was a fair bit going on in here and it took three sittings to get it out.
A couple of the queries that you had outstanding: LEN Deighton was regarded as one of the best spy novelists of his time along with Ian Fleming and Le Carre and at 1d, I ended up going with TACKBOARD which is a board to which you pin notices.
There were several new terms for me – KNOT (as a synonym to ‘boss’), BACS (the British clearing house organisation which took ages to work out) and JETE (the ballet jump). The logic behind SCABROUS, PET HATES, ALPINE, OVEREAT and TICK TACK were all quite testing. GET ON was my last one in.
Quite tough but an enjoyable solve.