Thanks Bradman, for a fun challenge this Friday. Nearly a speedy solve – I took the same time for solving 19d as I did for the rest of the puzzle.
FF: 9 DD: 7
| Across | ||
| 1 | WARLOCK | Wizard’s fighting something hairy (7) |
| WAR (fighting) LOCK (something hairy) | ||
| 5 | SCHOLAR | Person contributing to studies of the sun, engaging companion (7) |
| SOLAR (of the sun) containing CH (companion) | ||
| 9 | LUCRE | Endless good fortune, about to get money (5) |
| LUCk (good fortune, endless) RE (about) | ||
| 10 | TORN APART | Severed pile of rocks, pile constructed with skill (4,5) |
| TOR (pile of rocks) NAP (pile) ART (skill) – this meaning of NAP was a learning for me. | ||
| 11 | LEVIATHAN | He, valiant, destroyed monster (9) |
| HE VALIANT* | ||
| 12 | LOYAL | See American university with no room for English? True! (5) |
| LO (see) YALe (american university, without E – english) | ||
| 13 | CRIMINOLOGISTS | Grim colonist is troubling law- violation experts (14) |
| GRIM COLONIST IS | ||
| 18 | REDISTRIBUTION | Our dirtiest bin is unseemly in new allotment (14) |
| OUR DIRTIEST BIN* | ||
| 20 | SOPOR | Concession with soldiers getting very deep sleep (5) |
| SOP (concession) OR (soldiers) | ||
| 22 | PIRATICAL | One vile creature in charge in China, behaving in criminal fashion (9) |
| [ I (one) RAT (vile creature) IC (in charge)] in PAL (china) | ||
| 24 | BULGARIAN | Prominence endlessly pursued by heretic from European country (9) |
| BULGe (prominence, endlessly) ARIAN (heretic) | ||
| 25 | WRING | Distress call being heard (5) |
| sounds like RING (call) | ||
| 26 | ROTATED | Nonsense a young lout spun (7) |
| ROT (nonsense) A TED (young lout) | ||
| 27 | HALOGEN | Element showing sign of holiness and knowledge (7) |
| HALO (sign of holiness) GEN (knowledge) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | WILDLY | Daughter grabbed by Bill in savage style (6) |
| D (daughter) in WILLY (bill) | ||
| 2 | RECOVERED | Improved, like a sofa given a makeover? (9) |
| cryptic def,; read as RE-COVERED (doing the upholstery again) | ||
| 3 | OPERA | Entertainment an agent set up, nothing superior (5) |
| A REP (agent) O (nothing), all reversed | ||
| 4 | KITCHENER | Equipment given to revolutionary fiddler, loveless soldier (9) |
| KIT (equipment) CHE (revolutionary) NERo (fiddler, without O-love) | ||
| 5 | SIREN | Father has fallen ultimately on account of temptress (5) |
| SIRE (father) N (falleN, ultimately) | ||
| 6 | HEADLIGHT | Condition of giddiness brought by powerful source of illumination (9) |
| cryptic def; read as HEAD LIGHT (condition of giddiness) | ||
| 7 | LEAKY | Palaeontologist reportedly inclined to blab (5) |
| sounds like LEAKEY (paleontologist, louis leakey – from kenya, helped demonstrate humans are from africa) | ||
| 8 | RUTHLESS | Criminal hustlers without mercy (8) |
| HUSTLERS* | ||
| 14 | MISCREANT | Funny type endless involved in moneymaking enterprise, a bad guy (9) |
| SCREAm (funny type, endless) in MINT (money making enterprise) | ||
| 15 | LABYRINTH | There’s a complicated network thy brain will ultimately fire off (9) |
| THY BRAIN L* (wilL, ultimately) | ||
| 16 | SMOOCHING | Hang around, lying in grass, kissing and cuddling (9) |
| MOOCH (hang around) in SING (grass) | ||
| 17 | CROSSBAR | Angry pub – this member is horizontal (8) |
| CROSS (angry) BAR (pub) | ||
| 19 | FLAGON | Emblem on one sort of vessel (6) |
| FLAG (emblem) ON – lidded jug for wine; new word for me | ||
| 21 | PILOT | Plan to go round Italy – guide needed (5) |
| PLOT (plan) around I (italy) | ||
| 22 | PRIED | Was nosy – a sin, from what we hear (5) |
| sounds like PRIDE (a sin) | ||
| 23 | TOWEL | Parking area set up in which we will get drier (5) |
| not sure if this can be termed semi &lit; LOT (parking area, reversed) containing WE | ||
*anagram
Gosh its time someone commented.
A very neat puzzle with some great clues (Kitchener etc)
Thanks Don and turbo
Thanks Turbolegs and Bradman.
Didn’t know Leakey,and WARLOCK is new to me. Pretty neat puzzle.
Favs:
KITCHENER, TOWEL, SMOOCHING, LOYAL, SIREN
Thanks Bradman & Turbolegs.
In 23 down I think the definition is simply drier. The wordplay then says that we gets into tol.
Re 19d: In Hamlet, one of the grave-diggers reminds Hamlet that Yorick once “pour’d a flagon of Rhenish” over his head.
Thanks Bradman and Turbolegs
Late to this one and found it on the easier side of the Don’s difficulty spectrum, helped by the pretty straightforward long anagrams across the middle of the puzzle. No new terms to learn and not a lot going on apart from practicing charades and anagrams throughout – still quite enjoyable working through it though.
Finished in the SE corner with WRING and FLAGON the last couple in.