A typical Bradman workout on a Friday morning. Thanks Don.
FF: 8 DD: 8
One clue that I wasnt too comfortable with.
| Across | ||
| 8 | SOURCE | It’s bitter, attending church in spring (6) |
| SOUR (bitter) CE (church) | ||
| 9 | IMAGINED | Bradman’s opposing crossword checker? Not really true! (8) |
| IM (bradman’s) AGIN (opposing) ED (crossword checker?) | ||
| 10 | MIEN | Demeanour of soldiers crossing India (4) |
| MEN (soldiers) crossing I (india) | ||
| 11 | REDRESSING | Making good action to improve attire? (10) |
| cryptic def | ||
| 12 | TACO | Old pet maybe returning for food (4) |
| [ O (old) CAT (pet, maybe) ], reversed | ||
| 13 | CAERPHILLY | Chopped pear covered in cold cheese (10) |
| PEAR* in CHILLY (cold); never come across this before | ||
| 17 | METE | Some territory’s internal boundary (4) |
| hidden in “..soME TErritory’s..”; new meaning for me | ||
| 18 | TYROL | Wandering up this mountainous region – poultry? (5) |
| anagram of UP with TYROL = POULTRY; felt like a bit too contrived for a clue. | ||
| 19 | See 26 Down | |
| 21 | NOW AND THEN | Hand went on twitching periodically (3,3,4) |
| HAND WENT ON* | ||
| 23 | LIVE | Survive with organ not right (4) |
| LIVEr (organ, without R – right) | ||
| 24 | UNCARED FOR | Awful crude fan men ignored (7- 3) |
| CRUDE FAN* OR (men) | ||
| 28 | TEST | Match put back with first hint of trouble (4) |
| TES (reverse of SET – put) T (hint of Trouble) | ||
| 29 | INFERIOR | Deduce backward-looking French king is not so good (8) |
| INFER (deduce) IOR (french king = ROI, reversed) | ||
| 30 | MULLET | Something hairy and out of this world east of island (6) |
| MULL (island) ET (out of this world) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | DOMINATE | Party maiden at home – troublesome female, bully (8) |
| DO (party) M (maiden) IN (at home) ATE (troublesome female, goddess leading people to do rash actions) | ||
| 2 | GRAND OPERA | Senior woman has info on artist providing entertainment (5,5) |
| GRAN (senior woman) DOPE (info) RA (artist) | ||
| 3 | DEPRECATED | Act to keep carpet unfortunately pulled to pieces (10) |
| CARPET* in DEED (act) | ||
| 4 | WIND | What twister effects with empty words (4) |
| double def | ||
| 5 | BABE | Ruth maybe in a confusing situation endlessly (4) |
| BABEl (confusing situation, endlessly) | ||
| 6 | KIDS | Teases youngsters (4) |
| double def | ||
| 7 | KERNEL | Report of army officer being a bit of a nut (6) |
| sounds like COLONEL (army officer) | ||
| 14 | EARTH | Planet’s core – hot, going right down (5) |
| HEART (core) with H – hot going right to the end | ||
| 15 | PALINDROME | Comic traveller and daughter see madam? (10) |
| PALIN (comic traveller, michael) D (daughter) ROME (see) | ||
| 16 | IMPOLITELY | Pity Mollie being treated in a rude manner (10) |
| PITY MOLLIE* | ||
| 20 | LAVISHED | Showered in small room atop one outhouse (8) |
| LAV (small room) I (one) SHED (outhouse) | ||
| 22 | OWNING | Confessing Cambridge college should sack its head (6) |
| dOWNING (cambridge college, without its head) | ||
| 25 | ACER | Tree, one hanging over river (4) |
| ACE (one) R (river) | ||
| 26, 19 | EXIT POLL | People facing way-out questions during an election (4,4) |
| cryptic def | ||
| 27 | FIRE | Sack with wood on bottom of grate (4) |
| FIR (wood) E (bottom of gratE) | ||
*anagram
At the first sitting, all went in except BABE and TYROL. That meaning for METE was also new to me and bunged in OWNING without checking Cambridge college names.
Thought BABE was a tough clue and agree fully with you concerning TYROL but managed them both on my second sitting. To be honest, if Bradman had simply moved “poultry” from the end to the beginning, it would have made a much better clue imo.
Thanks both.
Sort of nina down the middle?
I don’t think the clue would be quite as helpful with POULTRY at the front ,No.1. Yes, it was contrived as I had to resolve a TIROL/TYROL ambiguity and that proved trickier than anticipated . Well spotted, No.2!
Still cannot see how 18a makes sense. Perhaps I’m missing something. “Disturbed poultry, but not up this mountainous region” would seem better, and moves the definition out of the middle.
I thought TYROL was fine – three crossers and the solution fairly indicated as a composite anagram.
Billyk @4, I’m not sure your version works as the letters of UP don’t appear in that order in poultry.
Thanks, Bradman and Turbolegs. Pretty straightforward except TYROL was confusing, but I don’t think you can always construct a clue like that perfectly – it became apparent what it was. BABE and METE (“metes and bounds” in real estate speak) were no prob for me, but DOMINATE was LOI – didn’t recognize “Ate”.
Many thanks to both. An enjoyable romp. I am another to whom that meaning of METE was new.
But I question if the first two words of 26,19 are necessary as the people are not the poll itself. They might be there to improve the surface but are neither definition or wordplay.
Thanks Bradman and Turbolegs
Enjoyable puzzle that went across a couple of sittings. A new term with DOWNING College and had to look up CAERPHILLY, but then remembered it.
Took a while to decode the wordplay of PALINDROME (keep forgetting that Michael Palin was a Python and a tricky definition for ROME). The Greek goddess of mischief took a while to come to mind at 1d and BABE Ruth was a penny drop moment.
Didn’t spot the nina – but that’s not unusual.
Finished with MULLET (and its vague definition) and TYROL (with its convoluted compound reverse anagram).