An enjoyable Monday morning offering from CRUX. We learned a few things, which is always a bonus.
We thought that there might have been a bit of a nautical theme here initially?
Wasn’t sure about 30A being one word, and we may have been a little heavy handed with the &lits.
We particularly liked 17D. LOI was 20A, for some reason!
Thanks CRUX!
Across
1 A bison developing little growth (6)
BONSAI
*(A BISON) (*developing)
4 Musical and ballet, oddly, that can be avoided (8)
EVITABLE
EVITA (musical) + B[a]L[l]E[t] (ballet, odd letters)
10 Container holding extra whitewash (5-2)
COVER-UP
CUP (container) holding OVER (extra)
11 A sphere that’s subject to mutation (7)
RESHAPE
*(A SPHERE) (*subject to mutation)
12 I travel around with unknown Indian mystic (4)
YOGI
Y (unknown) + (I + GO [travel])< (around)
13 Died down or became a man of mystery (5,5)
EDWIN DROOD
*(DIED DOWN OR) (*became)
15 Polish that is given to stones, primarily, like these? (6)
RUBIES
IE (that is) inside (given to) (RUB (polish) + S[tones] (primarily))
16 Endless account with debts make you bad-tempered (7)
BILIOUS
BIL[l] (endless account) + IOUS (debts)
20 Old soldier and deserter caught breaking code (7)
REDCOAT
*(CODE) (*breaking) in (caught) RAT (deserter)
21 Main road, you might say (6)
SEAWAY
SEA (main) + WAY (road) &lit
24 Think about 12, maybe (4,2,4)
BEAR IN MIND
&lit (21 = yogi, a cartoon bear)
26 Find fault with the fish (4)
CARP
DD
28 Aircraft commonly of metal gets hot inside (7)
CHOPPER
H (hot) inside COPPER (metal)
29 See 5 Down
30 Wee fellow in Ulster resolved to give up time to independence (8)
SELFRULE
ELF (wee fellow) in (*ULS[t]ER (give up time)) (*resolved)
31 A team’s words not for everyone to hear (6)
ASIDES
A SIDES (a team’s)
Down
1 A nimby’s special interest, apparently (8)
BACKYARD
CD (nimby = Not In My BackYard)
2 What St Lawrence 21 is to ocean-going ships (9)
NAVIGABLE
CD
3 Broadcasts put on by the pretentious (4)
AIRS
DD
5, 29 Attractive wall-covering gets damaged – receiving repair (8,7)
VIRGINIA CREEPER
(*RECEIVING REPAIR) (*gets damaged)
6 To check on golf club he may do circuits of course (4,6)
TEST DRIVER
TEST (to check) + DRIVER (golf club)
7 Party’s instruction to vote against? (5)
BEANO
BE A NO (instruction to vote against)
8 What proofreader does – some of them end spellbound! (6)
EMENDS
[th]EM END S[pellbound] (some of)
9 Tool seen as standard for plain speaking, presumably (5)
SPADE
&lit (call a spade a spade)
14 Carpet-pile woven to portray the Cutty Sark,say (3-7)
TEA-CLIPPER
*(CARPET PILE) (*woven)
17 Not carried away, we’re told, as children’s presents quickly are (9)
UNWRAPPED
UNWRAPPED = “unrapt” (not carried away, we’re told)
18 Article from Hatter’s Castle in Scotland (8)
BALMORAL
DD
19 Busy ports mostly work spasmodically (2,6)
BY SPURTS
*(BUSY P[o]RTS (mostly)) (*work)
22 One degree Celsius on US counting device (6)
ABACUS
A (one) + BA (degree) + C (Celsius) + US
23 Strike or 26 (5)
KNOCK
DD (26 = carp)
25 The island needs what travellers often pay (5)
ATOLL
DD: A TOLL (what travellers often pay)
27 Four points given for intelligence (4)
NEWS
N E W S (four points, north, east, south and west)
Thanks Crux and Teacow
A pleasant workout that I was able to get out over lunch – no pushover but not overly taxing at the same time.
Some interesting clues and one old chestnut (NEWS) that would surely have grown into a very big tree had it been planted when I first saw it appear. Did like the linked YOGI and SEAWAY clues and thought that BALMORAL was excellent as well.
Finished in the NW corner with the ‘nimby’ (which I had to look up again) and BONSAI (which I found more tricky than I should have) the last one in.
I don’t care for 19D. I don’t recall the last time that “most of” removed an arbitrary letter in the middle, and I’d rather it not be a habit.
Thanks to Crux and Teacow. I had a slow start, but once I got VIRGINIA CREEPER and TEA CLIPPER things fell into place. I did not know the BALMORAL hat and was not sure that RESHAPE equaled “subject to mutation.” Re 1down, I hear that YIMBY, a variation of NIMBY, is now used to designate those who favor urban development.
ACD @ 3 (if you see this)
In ‘subject to mutation’ subject is being used as a verb. I think the definition is actually the last three words of the clue.
hth
I agree with The Guild of Barbarians.
Also 2dn wasn’t a cryptic clue, it was simply a fact.