I’ve had my obscure word fix for the week and I’m feeling much better now. Thank you Azed.
| Across | ||
| 1 | ASCETICISM | Sit over half emaciated, ill, to wit confined? That’s self-denial (10) |
| anagram (ill) of SIT and EMACIated (over half of) containing (confining) SC (to wit) | ||
| 12 | HONEY-CART | Refuse truck on the move, turning pungent inside (9) |
| anagram (move) of ON THE containing RACY (pungent) reversed (turning) | ||
| 13 | NUGAE | Fresh runny butter, we hear, for trifles (5) |
| NU GAE sounds like (we hear) new (fresh) ghee (runny butter) | ||
| 14 | LUNAR | Like months one’s taken in Cal. City, end of summer (5) |
| UN (one) in LA (Cal city) then summeR (end of) | ||
| 15 | SCOG | Shelter for Jock, cold, in deluge (4) |
| C (cold) in SOG (deluge) | ||
| 16 | SMITTLE | Show of amusement about wowser that’s infectious (7) |
| SMILE (show of amusement) contains TT (teetotal, wowser) | ||
| 17 | THULITE | Norwegian mineral – it’s found in very remote location (7) |
| IT inside THULE (remote location) | ||
| 20 | ROLE | Eggs stuffed with a bit of lox for function (4) |
| ROE (eggs) contains Lox (first letter, bit of) | ||
| 21 | ECTOSARC | Outer layer of cell core acts differently (8) |
| anagram (differently) of CORE ACTS | ||
| 22 | UNPACKER | One early front runner lapping last of pack – does he empty his all? (8) |
| UN (one) PACER (early front runner) contains (lapping) pacK (last letter of). I can’t explain the definition. He could be unpacking his hold-all, but an all is not a bag. Any takers? | ||
| 25 | PRUH | Call from Scottish dairymaid, over-modest? Sid’s turned away (4) |
| PRUdisH (over-modest) missing (away) SID reversed (turned) | ||
| 28 | VITRINE | Display cabinet I invert, cracked (7) |
| anagram (cracked) of I INVERT | ||
| 29 | TURTLER | Marine hunter, line cast in form of turret (7) |
| L (line) inside (cast in) anagram (form) of TURRET | ||
| 32 | OMER | See this writer tucking into tincture, over 2 litres (4) |
| ME inside OR (gold tincture) – Hebrew measure | ||
| 33 | INTAL | Drug to inhale? In plain talk it must be restricted (5) |
| found inside (restricted by) plaIN TALk | ||
| 34 | STOLE | Gown that’s lifted is alluring back to front (5) |
| TOLES (is alluring) with back letter to the front – two definitions | ||
| 35 | VIA LACTEA | Numberless stars botched a live act with little acting (9, 2 words) |
| anagram (botched) of A LIVE ACT with A (acting, little=abbrev) – the Milky Way | ||
| 36 | SAPHIR D’EAU | Bright blue mineral I spotted in spur ahead, rocky (10, 3 words, apostrophe) |
| I inside (spotted in) anagram (rocky) of SPUR AHEAD | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | SOUCHONG | Pained cry rends the air: ‘Tea wanted!’ (8) |
| OUCH (pained cry) inside (rends) SONG (the air) | ||
| 3 | CAGOUL | Waterproof covering for the head? Travel in that (6) |
| GO (travel) inside CAUL (covering for the head) | ||
| 4 | TOEPIECE | Front of boot accounting for damaged picotee, English (8) |
| anagram (damaged) of PICOTEE and E (English) | ||
| 5 | INGS | Meadowland to celebrate, first to last (4) |
| SING (celebrate) first letter to last | ||
| 6 | CERMET | Electronic resistor? A safe bet having me installed (6) |
| CERT (a safe bet) containing ME | ||
| 7 | SCUTA | Bits of old armour providing toy for kids, we hear (5) |
| sounds like (we hear) scooter (toy for kids) | ||
| 8 | MANTUA | Mother dressed aunt in a loose gown (6) |
| MA (mother) then anagram (dressed) of AUNT | ||
| 9 | URAL | River that’s guardable with regular detachments (4) |
| gUaRdAbLe with every other letter detached | ||
| 10 | STRETCHERED | Like casualties requiring care formerly in desert, injured (11) |
| RETCH (care, formerly=archaic) inside anagram (injured) of DESERT | ||
| 11 | INSTRUCTIVE | Isn’t it involved with curve, educational? (11) |
| anagram (involved) of ISN’T IT with CURVE | ||
| 18 | MORTISER | One working on joint, tight one with fragment in (8) |
| MISER (tight one) containing ORT (fragment) | ||
| 19 | BRUNELLA | Old treatment for sore throat? Ring about course one’s following (8) |
| BELL (ring) containing NE (North East, a course) followed by A (one) | ||
| 23 | PORTAS | What’s pastor carried about? (6) |
| anagram (carried about) of PASTOR – definition is &lit, a portable breviary that a pastor may carry about | ||
| 24 | KVETCH | Five aboard sailing vessel developing complaint (6) |
| V (five) inside (on board) KETCH (sailing vessel) | ||
| 26 | RIMOSE | Crazed doctor’s cutting response when angry? (6) |
| MO (doctor) inside RISE (a response when angry) | ||
| 27 | ITALA | What do you call this? A translation not to be confused with the Vulgate (5) |
| ITAL. (italic, what you call this) then A – a translation of the Bible | ||
| 30 | UNIT | You marry (or so it’s said) as an individual (4) |
| U NIT sounds like (or so its said) you knit (marry) | ||
| 31 | ROTI | A slice of carrot inside a wrap (4) |
| found inside (a slice of) carROT Inside | ||
definitions are underlined
I write these posts to help people get started with cryptic crosswords. If there is something here you do not understand ask a question; there are probably others wondering the same thing.
Thanks for the blog, PeeDee. I couldn’t understand the definition for UNPACKER either; I suspect a literary or poetic allusion. I was also troubled by the fact that PACK appears in the clue and within the solution.
Could it simply relate back to “last of pack” and now mean “unpack everything (all)” which could explain why pack appears twice?
Sorry, I don’t follow you trenodia. Would you explain that idea a bit more for me please?
For 27d in my newspaper version, the word ‘this’ was not in italics which made the clue impossible to parse. It was only after looking at the online version was I able to see what was meant.
steven – your comment prompted me to notice that this I was not italicised in my blog either. Fixed now.
PeeDee – I have been out all day so apologies for the delay. It is weak I know but the way I thought it could be read was “A front runners laps the last of the pack and an unpacker possibly empties all of his pack“.
I think Azed is the only person alive who knows how that definition works.
A pretty straightforward Azed, with no question marks at the close. The definition of 22ac sort of makes sense, if you squint hard enough. I questioned the use of PACK in the clue and answer, but never mind.
It seemed to me that ‘his all’ was there in order to create a [moderately] satisfactory surface reading as well as a [moderately] satisfactory definition. The pacemaker who laps the last of the pack is likely to be emptying (=using up) his all (=everything he’s got) in order to do so, while the unpacker perhaps empties (=removes from receptacles) his all (=his whole possessions). This sort of agent noun can be very difficult to indicate (what does an unpacker do except ‘unpack’?), and here it seems particularly tricky to find an indication of ‘unpacker’ which makes any sense in the context established by the wordplay of this clue (‘One early front runner lapping last of pack’).
I think the fact that ‘his’ is not italicized in the clue rules out any possibility of there being a backwards reference to ‘pack’ in the definition.