After the rigours of the 2500 special, a reasonably straightforward Plain puzzle, in which the NE corner gave me the most trouble (for no very good reason, in retrospect). A minor point of interest is that there are no hyphenated or multi-word answers. Thanks to Azed, and on to the next milestone…
| Across | ||||||||
| 1. | CHOTT | Shallow watercourse, very warm in continent’s extremes (5) HOT in C[ontinen]T |
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| 7. | JOIST | Lives with little to go round, requiring support (5) IS in JOT |
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| 11. | HOMORELAPS | Reptilian creature offering extra drinks after moderation (10) HO (cessation or moderation) + MORE LAPS |
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| 12. | UMBRERE | Beer mixed with rum in part of old helmet (7) (BEER RUM)* |
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| 13. | MUMPS | Swellings, start of plague? What often precedes the word going round (5) P[lague] in MUM’S (as in “mum’s the word”) |
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| 14. | RIFE | River that is containing strong current (4) F (forte, strong) in R I.E. |
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| 15. | WAST | Midriff showing loss but no sign of age (4) WAST[AGE] – an old variant of “waist” |
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| 16. | INFRACTED | Direct fan for repair – it’s broken (9) (DIRECT FAN)* |
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| 19. | SHREWISH | Ill-natured female retaining right to desire (8) R in SHE (female) + WISH |
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| 20. | GILTWOOD | Like richly decorated chairs? I left pair in keep of one much admired (8) I L TWO in GOD |
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| 25. | AIRPLANES | Hurricanes? Real pains when flying about (9) (REAL PAINS)*, with the definition referring to the WW2 fighter aircraft – perhaps there should have been some indication that “airplane” is mainly a US term |
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| 27. | YAPP | Type of binding always backing pages (4) Reverse of AY (always) + P P |
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| 28. | SORN | What Troon gatecrashers do, showing contempt when shunned by clubs (4) SCORN less C |
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| 29. | INAPT | Trendy gym accepting one that’s unfit (5) A in IN PT |
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| 30. | SILIQUE | Liquidised? Such dry fruit did when pounded (7) LIQUIDISED is an anagram of SILIQUE + DID |
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| 31. | SHRILLNESS | After silence, brook head causing the opposite thereof? (10) SH (“silence!”) + RILL (brook) + NESS (geographical head) |
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| 32. | LATHY | Turner cut short yard of wood strip (5) LATH[E]+ Y[ard] (This was wrongly listed as a duplicate 33 in the version I used) |
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| 33. | YOKES | Combines one agreement incorporating another (5) OK in YES |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 1. | CHURINGA | Sacred charm crafted from a rich nugget, half lost (8) Anagram of A RICH NUG[get] |
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| 2. | HOMINY | Maize porridge, plain, for consuming at home (6) IN (at home) in HOMY (plain) – I knew this from the longer “hominy grits”: a particularly unappetising name, I always thnk |
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| 3. | TORERO | Content of storeroom for performer in ring (6) Hidden in sTOREROom |
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| 4. | TREMA | Opening in a college (Oxford) coming up? Not on (5) Reverse of A MERTON less ON – the “trem-” element is seen in the animal group Monotremes |
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| 5. | PERICHORESIS | Essential part of Trinity, one routine seen amid shimmering spires (12) I CHORE in SPIRES* – in spectacularly unhelpful fashion, Chambers defines this with the one word “cirumincession”; in turn is defined as “the reciprocity of existence in one another of the three persons of the Trinity”, which still leaves me very little the wiser. I dare say people were burned at the stake for believing or not believing in it. |
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| 6. | ELECTROPHILE | I’ve affinity for negative charges and rile the police awfully? Not I (12) (RILE THE POLICE)* less one I |
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| 7. | JAMBEE | Cane yielding alternative to honey and source thereof (6) JAM (alternative to honey) + BEE |
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| 8. | ISMATIC | Given to faddish theory, I mostly relish accepting upsurge of it (7) I + reverse of IT in SMAC[K] (relish) |
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| 9. | SEPSIS | Rotting snake found on island (6) SEPS (“a very venomous snake mentioned by classical writers”) + IS (island) |
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| 10. | TOST | Two pairs from Towcester’s line-up rarely thrown (4) Two separate pairs of letters from TOwceSTer |
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| 17. | THUSNESS | Being so gauche shuns set (8) (SHUNS SET)* |
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| 18. | FLYPAST | Plays subtly dividing feet – near-miss space-wise? (7) PLAYS* in FT. I thought this might be an exception to the “no hyphens” feature, but Chambers only gives it as a single word |
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| 21. | INANGA | Whitebait substitute causing bad angina (6) ANGINA* |
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| 22. | WINTRY | Shot after victory? That’s bleak (6) WIN + TRY (a shot) |
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| 23. | CASINO | Company circulates just like at home in old dance hall (6) AS IN in CO – a less-familiar meaning of this word, originally from the Italian for “little house” |
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| 24. | PERUSE | What examiners do in university encapsulated by ‘dark blue’ (6) U in PERSE(dark blue) |
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| 26. | LOLLY | Idle year requiring cash, commonly (5) LOLL (to idle) + Y |
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| 27. | YILL | E.g. McEwan’s best, badly needed after end of austerity (4) [austerit]Y + ILL (badly) – a Scots form of “ale” |
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Thank you Azed and Andrew
I found this relatively straightforward after the (for me) impossibility of 2,500.
I liked the neat reference to the Scottish brewer in 27dn. And despite being a churchgoer I have never come across 5dn. I shall try and bring it up in conversation with the vicar, when we’re allowed back in.
Ref. 5dn Collins states:
perichoresis
[?p?r?k??ri?s?s]
n
Christian theol the relationship between or interlinking of the three Persons of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)
Still none the wiser…
5 Down: Not a word I’d heard before, but Wiki goes into more detail on it than Chambers – fair to put it in the puzzle if it’s there.