Enigmatic Variations No. 1703 – Opening by Gaston

Logic/Parsing

PALPABILIT_ES (anag, i.e. mixture, of BASIL and APPLE IT) around (capturing) I (one)

AREA(CH) – obsolete, i.e. no longer, for to seize, missing CH (children)

P (piano, music, quietly) + RIDE (journey)

REGAL(E), or treat, briefly, or short of one letter

[a regal being a small portable organ]

E (earl) + STOP (pots, masses of cash, turned over)

double defn. – SAGE is a plant/herb; and apparently there was a particular group of seven SAGEs in Ancient Greece

double defn. – neither an area of expertise for me, but DRACO Malfoy was a rival of Harry Potter’s; and there is a constellation of stars called DRACO, the Dragon

anag, i.e. excitedly, of INCREASES

U (acceptable, not non-U!) + MAR (to damage)

anag, i.e. incorrectly, of COUNTED + R (rubles)

evens letter, i.e. not viewed oddly, of ‘oNe-EyEd’

OFTEN (regularly) changing N (name) to l (lambert, physics unit of brightness)

(M)ARC(H), steady advance, endless!

homophone, i.e. audible – RAISE (brig up) sounds like RAYS (streams of particles)

O(P)US – musical work, without P – pressure

[ou being informal for a ‘man’ in South Africa, i.e. in Jo’burg]

HASH (mess) + E (logarithmic base) + ESH (anag, i.e. made, of SHE)

[pot of the organic, cannabinoid kind!]

DENS – studies, as in the room for study, not the academic activity of studying, reflected backwards = SNED

reversed, hidden, word, i.e. some and returning, in ‘raIDINg’

CARAP(ACE), shell, abandoned by ACE (expert)

[carap being a tropical tree of the mahogany family]

SI(L)VER – whitish-grey – removing L – length

[siver being Scottish, i.e. in Ayr, for a drain or grating]

anag, i.e. over, of GLOSS

A (adult) + DOC (doctor), returned to give CODA

P_ETER (safe) around (stuck into by) R (rex, king), plus NATURAL (accidental, in music – sharp, flat or natural not in the key signature)

Logic/Parsing

double defn. – in a game of bingo, LEGS eleven is a ‘call’; and LEGS can be distinct stages of a journey

I (international) + RIDIC(ULOUS) (half of ridiculous, or stupid)

S (sons, as in a shop name, XXX & Sons) + RAIL (mock) all uplifted to give LIARS

alternate, or occasional, letters of ‘fIdDlEd AhEaD’

EV (puzzle, what you are solving here!) + O (over, cricket notation) + VAES (anag, i.e. broken, of VASE)

[evovae being a type of Gregorian cadence]

SAP (drain) + GREEN (new)

[sapgreen being a paint made from the juice of buckthorn berries]

RE (concerning) + ACT (decree)

abbreviated double defn. – the ESC(ape) key on your keyboard; and the ESC(udo) used as currency in Cape Verde

L (lake) + ERNA (anag, i.e. contaminated, of NEAR)

NO_D (indicate agreement) around EN (Enrolled Nurse)

IE (id est, that is) + A + RU (Rugby Union, game), all mounting to give URAEI

[uraei being snake symbols on an Egyptian god’s or king’s headdress]

GOO (sentimentality) + SECAP (paces, or steps, up)

[goosecap being obsolete, or outdated, for a silly person]

F (central letter of belFast) + UNFAIR (not just)

CHIN (aggressively tackle) + A

[cockney rhyming slang, china plate = mate]

REV (reverend, cleric) + IS (remains) + IT (perfection, ne plus ultra, n’est-ce pas!)

homophone – HIRPLE (Scottish, i.e. in Oban, for a limping gait) can sound like HER PULL (the woman’s attraction)?!

anag, i.e. created, of DESIGN

H (hot) + EX (former) + ED (editor, journalist)

SEN(I)OR – older, with I (Gaston, from our setter’s point of view) leaving

DU_AL (twofold) around R (recipe, Latin, take…)

[dural, or duraluminium being an aluminium alloy containing copper]

T (time) + RUE (strong-smelling shrubby Mediterranean plant)

double defn. – to ‘have’ can be to own, or to trick, so HAS can take both meanings

hidden word in, i.e. involved in, ‘dIVORce’