Hello. Sorry this post is a little later than normal. I thought I’d managed to schedule it last night, but it disappeared without trace. Hopefully we are now through the particular obstacle course of the site maintenance, and can turn our attention to this one …
The preamble:
All answers are eight letters in length and must be entered around the numbered square, clockwise or anticlockwise, beginning anywhere. The wordplay in every clue provides an extra letter not required for the answer and this must be entered into the numbered cell. A two-word phrase (10 cells in a straight line to be highlighted) states what constructors did to make the four OBSTACLE COURSES; solvers must draw a continuous line linking the shaded cells, tracing a path in which letters in numbered cells spell out the OBSTACLE COURSES. The twelve unchecked corner cells could spell out LEND STERN CRY. Chambers Dictionary (2016) is recommended; 11 is in Collins.
I did a very quick first pass to identify low-hanging fruit, and this netted me three adjacent answers (26,27,28). There were two possible ways of fitting these together (anticlockwise, clockwise, clockwise or clockwise, anticlockwise, anticlockwise), but the first of these put an I in 23. This was another I’d already solved, and since SCREAMED has no I, the latter it was.
I also had 30, PIERCERS, so was able to complete that corner of the grid without trouble, and moved outwards from there. I appreciated that we were given the unchecked letters, using them when I found myself stuck on 5 and 6 in the top right with the neighbouring entries all in place.
With most of the solving done (I didn’t fully parse 16, WARDROBE, until I had the T from the end game), I turned my attention to the grid. The central letters didn’t seem to string together to form anything meaningful at first, but I did spot RAISE WALLS in the central column. It took the hint from raise before I found those walls, snaking upwards: the Walls of TROY, the BERLIN Wall, the GREAT Wall OF CHINA and HADRIAN’S Wall.
Very satisfying – thanks Luxor!
| # | ANSWER | Clue with definition underlined | |
| Explanation, with quoted indicators in italics and ANSWER letters in bold caps | |||
| 1 | MATRONLY | Smartly adjusting time round working – like some mature women | S |
| [S]MARTLY moving the position of (adjusting) T (time) round ON (working) | |||
| 2 | OPSIMATH | Mature student is posh man struggling with IT | N |
| An anagram of (… struggling …) POSH MA[N] with IT | |||
| 3 | PONIARDS | Daggers in a prison desperately concealing Burmese knife | A |
| A PRISON anagrammed (desperately) around (concealing) D[A] (Burmese knife) | |||
| 4 | DRAINAGE | Daughter intermittently laying her bucket down at first outflow system | I |
| D (daughter) + intermittently lAy[I]nG hEr with RAIN (bucket down) at first | |||
| 5 | MELEAGER | Noting odd characters, markedly longing for fabulous prince | R |
| Noting odd characters, Ma[R]kEdLy + EAGER (longing) | |||
| 6 | ELEMENTS | Recalled tablet has repair within components | D |
| Reversed (recalled) STELE (tablet) has MEN[D] (repair) within | |||
| 7 | FORTUNED | Burst of thunder happened on the way out | H |
| Anagrammed (burst) OF T[H]UNDER; on the way out indicates the archaic meaning | |||
| 8 | NUTHOUSE | Abandoned asylum hotel by river following night in Paris | I |
| H (hotel) by OUSE (river) following NU[I]T (night in Paris) | |||
| 9 | RESINOUS | Describing Benjamin’s nature perhaps – concerning evil talent | N |
| RE (concerning) + SI[N] (evil) + NOUS (talent) | |||
| 10 | BOTANISE | Collect vegetation to study from tub with aromatic plant | A |
| BO[A]T (tub) + ANISE (aromatic plant) | |||
| 11 | ATONABLE | Headgear on one bloke not fine but possible to be put right | H |
| [H]AT (headgear) + ON + A (one) + BL[ok]E, not OK (fine) | |||
| 12 | SATIABLE | Apt to be satisfied having knocked back carrot drink after siesta on vacation | A |
| Reversed (knocked back) BAIT (carrot) and [A]LE (drink) after SiestA having removed inner letters (on vacation) | |||
| 13 | TURBANED | Turned axe against communist seizing outlaw in religious attire | C |
| Reversed (turned) [C]UT (axe) + RED (communist) taking in (seizing) BAN (outlaw) | |||
| 14 | ENABLERS | People bestowing authority originally encourage new inventors | F |
| Originally Encourage + N (new) + [F]ABLERS (inventors) | |||
| 15 | REWATERS | Supplies additional drinks in scripture lesson by temple god | O |
| RE (scripture lesson) + WAT (temple) + ER[O]S (god) | |||
| 16 | WARDROBE | Cupboard drawer to remain in place after struggle | T |
| DR. (drawer), [T]O and BE (remain in place) after WAR (struggle) | |||
| 17 | DEMEANOR | Design ring in costly American manner | A |
| MEAN (design) and O (ring) in DE[A]R (costly) | |||
| 18 | MINUTIAE | Note fanatic regularly missing delicate details | E |
| MI (note) + NUT (fanatic) + regularly missing d[E]lIcAtE | |||
| 19 | BRUTALLY | Cruelly, bridge game score kept using notches | R |
| B[R]. (bridge) + RU (game) + TALLY (score kept using notches) | |||
| 20 | BLEARILY | In drowsy state put primitive cooking vessel in oven? On the contrary | L |
| On the contrary to the order in the clue, put LEAR (oven) in BI[L]LY (primitive cooking vessel) | |||
| 21 | ARILLATE | Look unwell and worried in seedy coat | I |
| A[I]R (look) + ILL (unwell) + ATE (worried) | |||
| 22 | COLLARDS | Now and then dines on joint of bacon and cabbages | N |
| Alternate letters of (now and then) Di[N]eS by (on) COLLAR (joint of bacon) | |||
| 23 | SCREAMED | Shrieked in violent rage and schemed, having dismissed ambassador | G |
| An anagram of (violent) RA[G]E and SC[he]MED, having dismissed HE (ambassador) | |||
| 24 | CREAMING | Appropriating the best clubs and providing alternative weapons | R |
| C (clubs) + REA[R]MING (providing alternative weapons) | |||
| 25 | BIRDCALL | Tweet clanger framing Irish Department for Constitutional Affairs | E |
| B[E]LL (clanger) surrounding (framing) IR. (Irish) and DCA (Department for Constitutional Affairs) | |||
| 26 | TRILBIES | Attempts to pinch diminutive hobbit’s hats | B |
| TRIES (attempts) holding (to pinch), without the last letter (diminutive), [B]ILBo (hobbit) | |||
| 27 | NOSTRILS | Affected tonsils and sides of rheumy nasal openings | Y |
| An anagram of (affected) TONSILS and the sides of Rheum[Y] | |||
| 28 | LOCRIANS | Clock and trial both exposed numbers in historic race | O |
| cLOCk and tRIAl both missing outer letters (exposed) + N[O]S (numbers) | |||
| 29 | CRISPIER | Is tart in college recipe three times fresher? | R |
| IS and PIE (tart) in C (college) plus R R [R] (recipe three times) | |||
| 30 | PIERCERS | Those poking holes in case of robbers chasing bogus receipt | T |
| The outer letters of (case of) RobberS after (chasing) an anagram of (bogus) RECEIP[T] | |||