A pretty simple challenge from BRADMAN today, without much fuss at all in the solve. I have a query on one clue which I have noted in the blog.
I did this in a bit of a hurry as I was waiting to board a flight, so if there are improvements to be made, do chime in.
FF: 8 DD: 6
| Across | ||
| 1 | MISBEGOT | Assortment of big tomes acquired illegally (8) |
| BIG TOMES* | ||
| 6 | CORPSE | Run into trees and laugh uncontrollably (6) |
| R (runs) in COPSE (trees) – chambers tells me that the meaning is “(ref theatre/drama) to forget one’s lines, because of uncontrollable laughter”; so i wonder if the clue is correct | ||
| 9 | DARWEN | New road, not old, going around Lancashire town (6) |
| NEW RoAD* (not old -> without O) | ||
| 10 | LAME DUCK | Unsuccessful paper boss in mess backing the French (4,4) |
| [ ED (paper boss) in MUCK (mess)] after (backing) LA (the, french) | ||
| 11 | WOOL | Material left at back of court (4) |
| L (left) after WOO (court) | ||
| 12 | INARTISTIC | I sit in cart sprawled out, lacking elegance (10) |
| I SIT IN CART* | ||
| 14 | SIDESHOW | Team’s facing question about style – not the No.1 attraction (8) |
| SIDE’S (team’s) HOW (question about style) | ||
| 16 | IONS | They are charged and kept in station sometimes (4) |
| hidden in “..statION Sometimes” | ||
| 18 | ANTI | Worker, one who votes ‘no’? (4) |
| ANT (worker) I (one) | ||
| 19 | NUTSHELL | Mad, bad place in which the truth resides? (8) |
| NUTS (mad) HELL (bad place) | ||
| 21 | PROGRAMMER | Writer of instructions for school getting spelling a bit wrong? (10) |
| PRO (for) GRAMMeR (school – grammar, with A changed to E) | ||
| 22 | OOPS | Operation penetrating bone – word said when knife slips? (4) |
| OP (operation) in OS (bone) | ||
| 24 | DIAGONAL | Help returning along wiggly line (8) |
| DIA (help = AID, reversed) [ALONG*] | ||
| 26 | LEIDEN | Garland at front of place of crime in Dutch city (6) |
| LEI (garland) DEN (place of crime) | ||
| 27 | CYGNET | Young bird starts to chirp – you get nervous, excited, tense (6) |
| starting characters of “..Chirp – You Get Nervous, Excited, Tense” | ||
| 28 | SUDANESE | Africans appeal for Europeans to enter (8) |
| SUE (appeal) containing DANES (europeans) | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | IMAGO | Insect in picture given different tail (5) |
| IMAGe (picture) with E changing to O (different tail i.e. different last letter) | ||
| 3 | BEWILDERING | Person holding American playwright to be confusing (11) |
| BEING (person) containing WILDER (american playwright, thornton wilder) | ||
| 4 | GUNFIGHT | Deadly contest good fun somehow? Right not to begin (8) |
| G (good) [FUN*] rIGHT (without first letter) | ||
| 5 | TILT AT WINDMILLS | Move towards fans quixotically? (4,2,9) |
| cryptic def; literal don quixote move | ||
| 6 | COMITY | Reluctant to talk about US university achieving harmony (6) |
| COY (reluctant to talk) around MIT (us university) | ||
| 7 | ROD | Cruel king – he is lacking instrument of punishment (3) |
| heROD (cruel king, without HE) | ||
| 8 | SECTIONAL | Coastline irregular in parts (9) |
| COASTLINE* | ||
| 13 | SMITHSONIAN | Famous institution newly established in this mansion (11) |
| THIS MANSION* | ||
| 15 | INNER CITY | Downtown area you see with deficit, yes! (5,4) |
| cryptic def; solution can describe “..defiCIT Yes!” | ||
| 17 | STARTLED | Beginning to want electronic device, being scared (8) |
| START (beginning) LED (electronic device) | ||
| 20 | GANNET | Good girl over time becomes greedy person (6) |
| G (good) ANNE (girl) T (time) | ||
| 23 | PRESS | Urge to be in corps of journalists (5) |
| double def | ||
| 25 | GEN | Dope showing elements of ingenuity (3) |
| hidden in “..inGENuity” | ||
*anagram
Re 6a, I’ve always thought of CORPSE as a verb meaning to forget lines, and hence dry up on stage, but the compact OED has “to spoil a piece of acting by forgetting ones lines or laughing uncontrollably”, so on that basis I think the definition just about works.
CORPSE was the only one I couldn’t come close to parsing. Finished in, for me, record time which confirms my earlier comment re lack of increasing difficulty Mon. to Fri.
Thanks to Bradman and Turbolegs. Enjoyable. I parsed both GANNET and DARWEN but then had to check via Google. As to CORPSE, regardless of what the dictionaries say, the term is regularly used in the theatre to indicate uncontrolled laughter (sometimes faked but usually for real) when the actor loses it – and apparently Judi Dench was famous for changing lines or individual words to trip up fellow actors (e.g., saying erection rather than election).
Yes, shouldn’t have been too difficult but even so I was a DNF with the consonants around the wrong way for the unknown ‘Lancashire town’. GANNET and CORPSE also took a bit of dredging so this served as a good warm-up for the tougher Picaroon in the G. today.
Maybe obvious with ‘quixotically’ in the clue, but I still liked TILT AT WINDMILLS.
Thanks to Bradman and Turbolegs
Thanks Bradman and Turbolegs
I think CORPSE for ‘laugh uncontrollably’ is fine. I’ve always thought of it as suppressed but uncontrolled giggles preventing delivery of the next line, irrespective whether remembered or not – think Dudley Moore when Peter Cook takes off and leaves him utterly incapable.
Thanks Bradman and Turbolegs
Agree that it was on the easier end of the spectrum for this setter, helped along by getting the gimme long 5d as the second one in. DARWEN was the only new term, always interesting to find another new English town in crossword land. Had seen this meaning of CORPSE before, but only in crosswords.
Liked the definitions, ‘writer of instructions’ and thought that both cryptic definitions were quite good as well.
Finished in the NE corner with LAME DUCK and COMITY as the last couple in.