First time we’ve seen Bard on a Saturday I think. I wonder if this completes a set of days of the week?
I was half expecting something with a theme, and saw 1D mentioned in many places in the clues. So I was on the lookout for an “All Saints Day special” or something like that.
What we have is “Hands” (Oh no! Now I have that dreadful Max Bygraves song in my head.)
Hands: It’s a clock change special! But it’s a week late? No, not really. It is the answer to 1D, or “1D” itself used in several different ways in the clues. Not something that’s difficult or interesting, especially as 1D itself is not a terribly hard clue and I solved it immediately. I thought I might rattle through the rest, but I was wrong. The last 10 answers were difficult to come by, and the final couple, 20d and 23a, I would class as very hard – until I looked at them again later and, as y’do, wondered why I had so much trouble.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | HOW COME |
Why show comedian’s bits? (3,4)
|
| Hidden in sHOW COMEdians. HInd: bits | ||
| 5 | GRADUAL |
Step-by-step, accepted Miss Lipa in good 1D (7)
|
| A DUA (Miss Lipa) in G[ood] R[ight] and L[eft} (hands, from 1d) | ||
| 9 | NORSE |
Viking’s choice of partners ultimately divisive (5)
|
| N OR S (choice of partners, ref. card game bridge) [divisiv]E | ||
| 10 | FISH SLICE |
Kitchen utensil left on counter is life changing – protecting skin on 1D (4,5)
|
| (C[ounter] (left on counter) IS LIFE)* AInd: changing, around H[and]S (skin on 1D, HANDS) | ||
| 11 | SUM UP |
Review of problem with university parking (3,2)
|
| SUM (problem) U[niversity] P[arking] | ||
| 12 | CREAM CAKE |
Care about fashion, purchasing a little couture – sweet! (5,4)
|
| (CARE)* AInd: about, then C[outure] in MAKE (fashion) | ||
| 14 | SANDWICH |
Liberally 1D around whiskey, ice and coke for starters – fairly typical lunch (8)
|
| (HANDS (Ref. 1d))* AInd: Liberally, around W[hiskey] I[ce] C[oke] | ||
| 15 | SCHEME |
Woman caught breaking in by Bard hatching plan (6)
|
| C[aught] inside SHE (woman) then ME (Bard) | ||
| 17 | AUBURN |
Red, gold and brown a bit too much (6)
|
| AU (gold) BURN (brown, too much) | ||
| 19 | REFRAINS |
Burdens of official checks discussed (8)
|
| REF (official) RAINS (Checks, discussed, homophone “Reins”) | ||
| 22 | EVIL DOERS |
Malefactors from Tesla maybe left in 1D of EU, oddly case for regulators? (4,5)
|
| EV (Tesla maybe, electric vehicle), then L[eft] inside I D (1d, not hands this time), then O[f] E[u] “oddly”, then R[egulator]S | ||
| 23 | HAKES |
Swimmers’ gestures of goodwill not using 1D (5)
|
| HANDSHAKES (gestures of goodwill) without HANDS (not using 1d), i.e. [hands]HAKES Last One In |
||
| 25 | LONG JOHNS |
Marathon run cut short with 1D frequently lacking kit for colder weather (4,5)
|
| LONG JO[g] (Marathon run, cut short), H[a]N[d]S (1D, frequently lacking) | ||
| 27 | ICIER |
More distant I see – that’s right! (5)
|
| “I C” (“I see”) I.E. (that is) R[ight] | ||
| 28 | GO TO BED |
Call it a day having received medal and diamonds (2,2,3)
|
| GOT OBE (having received medal) D[iamonds] | ||
| 29 | SOMEHOW |
Show Me Love, Spinning Around and Come What May? (7)
|
| (SHOW ME O (love))* AInd: spinning around. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | HANDS |
People working – they’re on the clock (5)
|
| Double Def. | ||
| 2 | WORKMEN |
Rucksack emptied into ladies 1D (7)
|
| R[ucksac]K in WOMEN (ladies) | ||
| 3 | OVERPOWERED |
Subdued group of haematologists were proved wrong (11)
|
| (O – O is most the common blood group, thus the most common “group” of haematologists) , (PROVED WERE)* AInd: wrong. | ||
| 4 | EFFICACY |
Top pairs in effortless finish, calmly cycling, showing ability to succeed (8)
|
| EF[fortless] FI[nish] CA[lmly] CY[cling | ||
| 5 | GOSPEL |
Try short bit of sorcery to obtain the truth (6)
|
| GO (try) SPEL[l] (bit of sorcery, short) | ||
| 6 | ASS |
Foolish person written about in essays (3)
|
| Hidden rev. in eSSAys | ||
| 7 | URINATE |
Guardian regularly ordered tea to go (7)
|
| [g]U[a]R[d]I[a]N (TEA)* AInd: ordered. | ||
| 8 | LIEGELESS |
Lacking superior fiction originally, gathered erotic literature – especially short stories (9)
|
| LIE (fiction) then first letters of each word in rest of clue from G[athered] | ||
| 13 | MCCARTHYISM |
Mystic charm destroyed in witch hunt (11)
|
| (MYSTIC CHARM)* AInd: destroyed. That anag took a lot of effort! | ||
| 14 | SHAKE A LEG |
23A battered with beer start to go quick! (5,1,3)
|
| (HAKES, ref. 23A)* AInd: battered, ALE (beer) G[o] | ||
| 16 | PERSISTS |
“Every society is…,” Eliot continues (8)
|
| PER (every) S[ociety] IS TS [Eliot] | ||
| 18 | BEIGNET |
Pastry binge spoiled appetite, essentially (7)
|
| (BINGE)* AInd: spoiled, [app]ET[ite] “essentially” = “middle of word” | ||
| 20 | INK-FISH |
Sort of salmon, head cut off and stuffed with tiny bit of fennel and squid? (3-4)
|
| [p]INKISH (sort of salmon, the colour, head cut off) around (stuffed with) F[ennel] | ||
| 21 | METHOD |
Manner of drug overdose (6)
|
| METH (drug) OD (overdose) | ||
| 24 | SHREW |
Kate quiet about wife (5)
|
| SH (quiet) RE (about) W[ife] | ||
| 26 | JAB |
Jack tar shot in the arm (3)
|
| J[ack] AB (tar, able seaman) |
For the “fall back” October clock change, proper clocks with hands are easy – just give the short hand a nudge.
Cheap digital clocks – what a pain. Press one button then also press the “hour” button 23 times. Go too fast and miss your station so go around again before landing on the correct number. Then realise you haven’t set the time but the alarm. So do the whole thing again, properly, very carefully. Then later have the fright of your life when the alarm goes off.
If I’d had to guess what a beignet was I’d probably have said something you wear. Hey ho, always learning. And agree the witch hunter’s anag was a right pain — like he was! Missed the salmon pink bit in 20d, biffed and passed on. Otherwise pretty smooth, ta Bard and beermagnet.
MCCARTHYISM & LIEGELESS were my two troublesome clues. EVIL DOERS took longer than it should have as I have never seen it as 2 words. Not sure if any dictionary supports this. Certainly Chambers has it hyphenated.
Personally, I preferred to split the LONG JO in 25a as LONG (marathon, not necessarily the run) + JO(g), simply because runners may not like equating ‘run’ & ‘jog’ but would take serious issue with describing a marathon as a ‘long jog’.
I liked the first pairs in EFFICACY and AUBURN was neat. I couldn’t decide if the “sort of” in INKFISH was there to produce “pink” or “ish”
As for others, MCCARTHYISM held out for a while. Whilst clearly an anagram, there were so few vowels and one does not think to begin a word with MCC… Crossers definitely required. Neat use of HANDS throughout the puzzle. It would have been quite fun to have had this scheduled for last Saturday. The ‘group of haematologists’ made me smile.
Thanks Bard and beermagnet