Another one that took a little while to get going but then got much easier. Not my favourite ever, but probably pretty fair throughout.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | MODICUM – ODIC in MUM. An odic is a lyric poem. |
| 5 | POTOMAC – POT + O + CAM< |
| 9 | UNTAMED – DUETMAN* |
| 10 | ALMONER – ALONE around M + R. Almoners were Christian officers whose duty was to distribute alms to the poor. |
| 11 | DRAMATIST – DRAM + A(r)TIST |
| 12 | ADAGE – AD + AGE |
| 13 | DAYLIGHT ROBBERY – BYATHIRDGLORYBE* |
| 15 | STATE DEPARTMENT – STATEMENT around DEPART |
| 19 | METAL – ET AL after M |
| 21 | PEGGED OUT – dd ref. cribbage |
| 22 | ROUTINE – ROUTE around IN |
| 23 | AUCTION – ACTION around U. I assume the U stands for universal ~ acceptable but any better ideas welcome! |
| 24 | ADDRESS – dd |
| 25 | DEPRESS – DE + PRESS |
| Down | |
| 1 | MOULDED – MOD around DUEL* ref. Mods and Rockers |
| 2 | DITTANY – DITTY around AN |
| 3 | CAMPANILE– CAMP + A + NILE |
| 4 | MIDNIGHT EXPRESS – MIDNIGHT (Cowboy) + EXPRESS |
| 5 | PRAETORIAN GUARD – RINGATOURPARADE* |
| 6 | TAMPA – “TAMPER” |
| 7 | MANDATE – MAN + DATE |
| 8 | CARVERY – CAR + VERY as in “jolly/very good” |
| 14 | BUTTERCUP – B(lue) + UTTER + CUP |
| 15 | SAMARIA – A + MARIA under S |
| 16 | ASTOUND – T(raining) in A + SOUND as in “of firm/sound mind” |
| 17 | EMOTIVE – E + MOTIVE |
| 18 | TETANUS – TE + AUNTS* |
| 20 | LOIRE – LORE around I |
Common crossword abbreviations this week:
duck = O
miles = M
runs = R
son = S
English = E
one = I
Hello Arthur, I had no trouble starting the puzzle but had trouble finishing it, yet again had to concede and ask Nick for help.
Lorraine.
Arthur, 23dn, ‘U’ is the lowest film rating of the which does indeed mean ‘Universal’ ~ suitable for all. I have yet to see ‘X’ used in this way, BTW.
Nick
In 23 across, the U means “acceptable” in the sense of U and Non-U as proposed by one of the Mitfords. Thus, in their terminology, U = acceptabel, non-U is “not acceptable”.
“Action” = suit and “Public Sale” is the definition.
John McDonald
Hmm. I’m not sure we’ve cracked this one fully yet. I have to admit, I followed the same route as Nick, but I’m not really certain “suitable for all” and acceptable are true synonyms. In fact, I realised it was auction, then found action and realised U must be acceptable, went away and when I came back thought of film ratings and decided that would do, but I do wonder if there’s a better solution.
Similarly with John’s solution, U here stood for Upper Class, so although to the Mitfords and and various others, U speech was acceptable while non-U speech was not, I’m not sure that U and acceptable are really synonyms either.
Any other takers?
Arthur
OK, Chambers states under U?; Universal, as used by or found among upper classes, hence socially acceptable.
Nick
U3, that is… the superscript font did not appear.
Nick
Just to be clear: U (as in U and non-U) means ‘acceptable to the upper classes’, while U (as in universal) denotes in Britain ‘(a film) acceptable to people of all ages’. Thus each meaning – while suggesting some kind of acceptability – is genuinely different from the other.