A fun challenge from XELA!
FF: 9 DD: 7
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | GOLF COURSE |
Front of garage undoubtedly accommodating large area for drivers? (4,6)
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[ G ( Garage, first letter ) OF COURSE ( undoubtedly } ] containing L ( large ) |
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| 6 | SWAP |
Hands over change (4)
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reverse of PAWS ( hands ) |
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| 9 | SECOND-RATE |
Poor moment to offer a critical opinion? (6-4)
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SECOND ( moment ) RATE ( offer a critical opinion ) |
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| 10 | OPAL |
Round, whitish, cut gem (4)
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O ( round ) PALe ( whitish, cut i.e. without last letter ) |
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| 12 | SLOE |
Bush turkeys fail to disperse in the end (4)
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last letters of "..turkeyS faiL tO dispersE .." |
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| 13 | SINGLETON |
Carol possibly revealed they have no partner (9)
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SING ( carol, possibly ) LET ON ( revealed ) |
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| 15 | TRYSTING |
Agreeing to meet after test is smart (8)
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TRY ( test ) STING ( smart ) |
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| 16 | THESES |
Dissertations requiring this and this and, ultimately, this (6)
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THESE ( this and this ) S ( thiS, ultimately ) |
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| 18 | DEAD-ON |
Precise trouble encountered during study (4-2)
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ADO ( trouble ) in DEN ( study ) |
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| 20 | LISTERIA |
21 bats carrying current source of illness? (8)
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[ REALIST ( answer to 21d ) ]* containing I ( current ) |
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| 23 | ONSLAUGHT |
Some person’s laughter is offensive (9)
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hidden in "..persON'S LAUGHTer.." |
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| 24 | SCAM |
Shady scheme involving small pic-taking device (4)
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S ( small ) CAM ( pic-taking device ) |
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| 26 | LIEU |
Deceitful act leading to university place (4)
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LIE ( deceitful act ) U ( University, first letter ) |
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| 27 | INFINITIVE |
What’s to go or to stay? (10)
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cryptic def |
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| 28 | TREE |
Plane maybe finally left after intense gale (4)
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last letters of "..lefT afteR intensE galE " |
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| 29 | CASTIGATED |
Players I punished with a curfew and reprimanded (10)
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CAST ( players ) I GATED ( punished with a curfew ) |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | GOSH |
My attempt initially seems hare-brained (4)
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GO ( attempt ) SH ( starting letters of '..Seems Hare-brained' ) |
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| 2 | LOCALLY |
Accountant drawn in by money nearby (7)
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CA ( accountant ) in LOLLY ( money ) |
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| 3 | CONVENTIONAL |
Traditional nunnery somewhere in Scotland beside lake (12)
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CONVENT ( nunery ) IONA ( somehwere in scotland ) L ( lake ) |
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| 4 | UPRISING |
Using force to support universal rebellion (8)
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U ( universal ) PRISING ( using force ) |
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| 5 | SATANG |
Underworld figure with good amount of cash in Bangkok (6)
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SATAN ( underworld figure ) G ( good ) |
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| 7 | WAPITIS |
Deer used to be seen around quarry on island (7)
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WAS ( used to be ) around [ PIT ( quarry ) I ( island ) ] |
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| 8 | POLYNESIAN |
Resident of Aotearoa perhaps lays in open ground (10)
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[ LAYS IN OPEN ]* |
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| 11 | ALPHA TESTING |
Identifying a bug, say, that’s leaping all over the place (5-7)
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[ THATS LEAPING ]* |
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| 14 | STUDIO FLAT |
Boss recently snubbed taking on one little apartment (6,4)
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STUD ( boss ) [ OF LATe ( recently, without last letter ) containing I ( one ) ] |
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| 17 | DISTRICT |
Neighbourhood police officer unwilling to bend (8)
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DI ( police officer ) STRICT ( unwilling to bend ) |
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| 19 | AUSTERE |
Strict or direct, by the sound of it (7)
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sounds like AU ( or ) STEER ( direct ) |
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| 21 | REALIST |
One facing facts about Hollywood’s in- crowd (7)
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RE ( about ) A-LIST ( hollywood's in-crowd ) |
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| 22 | AGENDA |
Programme info covered by computing pioneer Lovelace (6)
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GEN ( info ) in ADA ( lovelace ) |
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| 25 | LEAD |
Principal criminal investigator’s need (4)
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double def |
Thoroughly enjoyed this from Xela, a setter I’ve not seen in a good while. Lots of smooth surfaces and neat wordplay throughout so that even the unfamiliar SATANG (only knew ‘baht’) was clear enough. LISTERIA was my top pick.
Thanks to Xela and Turbolegs.
First two in (SLOE and OPAL) were nice surfaces and ticks, which set the scene. Fourth one in was LIEU, which was pretty good too.
While the other clues were well constructed with a lot of nice wordplay, there were too many UKisms and obscurities for me.
Thanks Xela and Turbolegs
I enjoyed this. I hadn’t heard of Ada Lovelace (but my tablet had — as soon as I entered “Ada” the pre-emptive text presented me with the surname), nor lolly/money, nor WAPITIS nor SATANG. So a reasonable number of lexicon expanders without having to spend too much time at the dictionary.