Hob has provided a puzzle to challenge and delight this Tuesday.
I am late posting owing to work commitments, but that has not stopped me from thoroughly enjoying this multi-layered puzzle, with all its cross-references and punning. This is the kind of solving experience that I most like to have when tackling a daily puzzle: taxing but not unreasonably so, quirky in its treatment of its theme(s) and above all thoroughly entertaining.
I have to say that Hob has the last laugh today, since I cannot parse the definition at 11 (now amended) and suspect that I have missed something very obvious at 15/23 (now amended). I look forward to being enlightened by other solvers – thanks for the help!
It is hard to single out any particular clues here, as this is a puzzle whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts, in my humble opinion. I like the near the knuckle references to contraception and the way that this sub-theme has been tied in with the bigger theme of ATMs and banking. The mind boggles at what Hob might have come up with if he’d squeezed hole-in-the-wall into the grid too 😉 On a more serious note, I appreciated the “stripping” devices used in 24 and 27; and the & lit. at 27.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
Across | Â | |
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01 | ETHIOPIAN | African playing the piano around lunchtime?
I (=lunchtime?, i.e. one o’clock) in *(THE PIANO); “playing” is anagram indicator |
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10 | MATES | Johnny’s so-called // friends?
Double definition: Mates is a brand of condoms (“johnny”) in the UK |
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11 | FIRST | Trees planted at edge of forest by Geoff or Damien?
FIRS (=trees) + <fores>T (“edge of” means – here – last letter only); a (Geoff) Hurst or a (Damien) Hirst is Cockney rhyming slang for a first class honours degree!! |
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13 | ENFIELD | Gun takes aim, without life being lost
*(LIFE) in END (=aim); an e.g. Lee-Enfield is a bolt-action, repeating rifle |
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14 | ROWDIES | Noisy lot dispute “offside”
ROW (=dispute) + *(SIDE); “off” is anagram indicator |
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17 | TUBED | Returning from French bar, used the Underground
DE (=of French, i.e. the French word for of) + BUT (=bar, except); “returning” indicates reversal |
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19 | ATM | 15 23 used by 24D 10
In full, with words substituted for the clue references, this clue reads: Withdrawal method used by flatmates Hidden (“used by”) in “flATMates”; an ATM (=automated teller machine) is a way of withdrawing cash (“withdrawal method”) |
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20 | TIGHT | Mean // to get drunk
Double definition; “mean” is to be read as an adjective |
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21 | PARADED | Made a show of old man, er … dad dancing
PA (=old man, i.e. father) + *(ER DAD); “dancing” is anagram indicator |
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22 | MADE MAN | Appearing in film, a demanding person sure of success
Hidden (“appearing in”) in “filM A DEMANding” |
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24 | FULL-CREAM | Sort of milk drunk by European after credit, 19A having been emptied
FULL (=drunk) + CR (=credit) + E (=European) + A<t>M (=19A; “having been emptied” means middle letter is dropped) |
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26/22D | AT THE MOMENT | 19A usage having been expanded now
In e.g. texting, ATM (=19A) stands for “at the moment” when expanded |
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28 | ABYSS | Bottomless depths of 9, once no longer popular with Scotsman
ABYSS<inian> (=Ethiopian (=entry at 9) once); “no longer popular (=in) with Scotsman (=Ian)” means letters “in + Ian” are dropped |
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29 | CANTALOUP | Silly plan to cut the end off a melon
*(PLAN TO CU<t> + A); “end off” means the last letter is dropped from the anagram, indicated by “silly” |
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Down | Â | |
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01 | DEAF | Somewhat senseless idea fool holds
Hidden (“holds”) in “iDEA Fool”; a deaf person lacks the sense of hearing so could be cryptically described as being “somewhat senseless” |
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02 | SHARIF | Former actor cooking a fish, with a little rice
*(A FISH + R<ice>); “a little” means first letter only; “cooking” is anagram indicator; the reference is to Egyptian actor Omar Sharif (1932-2015) |
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03 | SOFT-HEADED | Stupid, like Patsy
The word “Patsy” begins with a p = piano, i.e. soft in music and could thus cryptically be described as being soft-headed |
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04 | MINDED | Was bothered if 30 seconds late, we hear
MIN<ute> (=30 seconds, i.e. half a minute!) + homophone (“we hear”) of “dead” (=late, deceased) |
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05 | ANGSTROM | Strong man cut out to be a physicist
*(STRONG MA<n>); “cut” means last letter dropped from anagram, indicated by “out”; the reference is to Swedish physicist Anders Jonas Ã…ngström (1814-74) |
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06 | SMEE | Duck out of kinky sex and drugs
SM (=kinky sex, i.e. sadomasochism) + E E (=drugs, i.e. two ecstasy tablets!) |
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07 | STASHING | Hiding away, as night’s unravelling
*(AS NIGHT’S); “unravelling” is anagram indicator |
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08 | USER | Drug addict’s trick cycling
RUSE (=trick); “cycling” here means first letter moves to the end of the word, etc |
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13 | EAT UP | Use large amounts of RAM following each brief
EA (=each; “brief” indicates abbreviation) + TUP (=ram, i.e. male sheep) |
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15/23 | WITHDRAWAL METHOD | Finding another 19A worthwhile? Dad is Johnny’s alternative
*(ATM (=19A) + WORTHWHILE DAD); “another” is anagram indicator; the withdrawal method is an alternative (but unreliable) form of contraception to the condom (=Johnny)! |
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16 | SIT-IN | Protest is about money
SI (IS; “about” indicates reversal) + TIN (=money, colloquially) |
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18 | BARCLAYS | Bank of material found in watering holes
CLAY (=material) in BARS (=watering holes) |
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19 | AUDIENCE | House dance moves in use, regularly added to the mix
*(DANCE + I<n>U<s>E); “regularly” means alternate letters only are used in anagram, indicated by “moves” and “the mix” |
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24 | FLAT | Residence recently out of bounds
<o>F LAT<e> (=recently); “out of bounds” means first and last letters are dropped |
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25/12 | CASH DISPENSER | 19A ready for use next to Boot’s?
CASH (=ready) + DISPENSER (=Boot’s, i.e. the Chemist); & lit. |
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27 | EXPO | Show what hot young thing shows, after removing the covers
<s>EXPO<t> (=hot young thing); “after removing the covers” means that first and last letters are dropped |
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