Rather a rush today with mouths to feed etc., and I made things difficult for myself
by expecting clues to be more complicated than they were!
ACROSS
1. QUARTERBACK – (American football position – quarter as in North and South, and
therefore’ point’)
7. BID – (bird without ‘r’)
9. ACTOR – ( hidden in ‘fACT ORiginally.)
10. SEDENTARY- *n trade yes)
11. MOVIEGOER- dd
12. IDEAL – (ide-a-l)
13. RESPITE – (* priest- e)
15. APSE -( L-apse )
18. EPIC – (e-picT- one clue where I was looking for an old Scots word instead of the marauding clans)
20. JOYRIDE – (Joe (as in GI Joe) around*diary without ‘a’)
23. LAVER- (think this is the star but not sure about the bluish colour etc. – lavender without ‘end’?)
24. ANASTASIA – (a-n-ast-as-i-a – asti is the wine – other letters simply initial characters).
26. WINNEBAGO – ( *gain on web – trade name of a mobile home, based on North American Indian tribe)
27. SWAMI – (SW for Cornwall. ami – French for friend – Swami a Hindu title)
29. TREE SURGEON – (The service tree- sorbus domestica)
DOWN
1. QUAGMIRE -( Someone will have to explain this word-play to me.)
2. ACTIVIST – (Act 1-short of vista)
3. TERSE -(hidden in chapTER SEttled)
4. RISSOLE – (<sir-sole)
5. ANDORRA (dual principality)
6. KANDINSKY -(k-and-in-sky(E) – Russian artist, 1866-1944)
7. BLAZER – ((b-laze-r)
8. DAYGLO -(‘ ay’ in letters of ‘gold’ – Trade name for manufacturer of Black light paint.)
14. IMPERFECT -(I’m perfect – dd.)
16. DISSUADE – ( di-s-su-ad-e)
17. VEXATION -(*I’ve no tax)
19. CHARADE (char -a-d-e – presumably the ‘d’ and ‘e’ restrict the ‘a’ by coming closely after them)
20. JEALOUS -(j-e-a-lousE)
21. GLOWER- (g-l-ower -David Gower, the blonde batsman and I think, one-time English Captain, now
a popular commentator.
22. AVENUE -( a-venue -(Spent time trying to find and Australian place here!)
25. TASER – (tas-T- er, the controversial police stun gun, now being sold fairly indiscriminately
as a protective weapon to women in the States, I hear. Terrifying thought.)
23a Yes – LAV[end]ER – ‘end being a side of a playing field, court etc and Rod Laver the great Australian tennis player at the time the sport turned professional.
1d QU (queen) G (government) around A MIRE (problem)
Quagmire also appeared as one of yesterday’s answers.
1d: I was in a right quagmire when I stuck quandary in, thinking I’d work it out later.
23a: Being colour blind (or just thick), I couldn’t decipher this at all. Maybe I’ve just seen the mauve ones – or neither.
Thanks Geoff – I thought I’d seen quagmire very recently!
Didn’t know that you could use ‘mire’ as a problem.
Also Duggie – I must say I made heavy weather of some very easy clues, expecting something more involved. Not one of my better days.
23a From COD – lavender, pale blue colour with a trace of red
From Collins – lavender, a pale or light bluish-purple to a very pale violet colour
Collins also states that lavender has mauve or blue flowers
1d From Chambers – mire, any problematical or ineluctable situation
23a: I’ve just remembered the song “Lavender’s blue dilly, dilly/Lavender’s green (?)/Soon I’ll be king/You’ll be my queen”. So there you are – chapter AND verse!