A pretty tough week, judging by the number of entries I had to check before entry, and the little bit of cheating I had to do to finish off the NW corner. There remains a small gap in my understanding of 3dn, should readers fancy helping out.
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | CHIMERAS – CHIME + RAS[h]. |
| 7 | AHAS – A + HAS. I think HAS = “expresses” in the the sense of “has a baby”. |
| 10 | METAPHRAST – HR in MET A PAST. |
| 11 | GAG-REIN – [n]AG in GREIN. |
| 13 | ECCE – ECCE[n + tric[k]]. |
| 14 | ILLIPE – LIP in ILE. |
| 15 | DISSIMULATOR – (MORAL STUDI[e]S I)*. |
| 17 | ESPOUSE – POU[r] in ESSE. |
| 19 | ATTUENT – TUNE* in AT&T. |
| 21 | SHOULDER ARMS – (DURHAM SOL[di]ERS)*. A sort of reverse anagram with a bit (“I’d”) missing. |
| 22 | TUCKET – TUCK + ET. |
| 24 | REAP – [massac]RE AP[palling]. |
| 26 | THORITE – THO’ + RITE. |
| 27 | MASTICATED – MAST + (A [lo]T in ICED). |
| 28 | ANTE – [d]ANTE. |
| 29 | CANSTICK – CANS + TICK. Shakespearean spelling of “candlestick”. |
| Down | |
| 1 | CAGE – C + AGE. “C” for “common” or 4/4 time was new to me, but seems like a good one to remember for future reference. The composer is of course John Cage. |
| 2 | HYCINTHUS – (Y in CHINA*) + THUS. |
| 3 | MEREST – can’t quite nail this one, though I can see how the clue works: Simplest place for resting one overlooked. |
| 4 | ET-EPIMELETIC – LET in TIMEPIECE*. |
| 5 | RAILMEN – L in RAIMEN[t]. I expect I’m not alone in having spent a while trying to make somehting from GARMEN[t]. |
| 6 | SHELL PARROTS – (REPORTS SHALL)*. |
| 7 | ARYL – ARY + [radica]L. |
| 8 | HABITUÉ – A BIT in HUE. |
| 9 | STEERERS – E.R. in STEERS. |
| 12 | APOSEMATIC – A POSE + MA[n]TIC. |
| 15 | DIASTEMA – (A MET’S AID)<. |
| 16 | OTOCYST – C[ycles] in (TO TOYS)*. |
| 18 | STEPHAN – STEP + HAN. |
| 20 | GARRET – A in (GR + RET). |
| 23 | KITE – dd. |
| 25 | PEEK – KEEP<. |
Hi Simon
All I can think of for 3dn is MEREST[one]. A merestone is a boundary stone so I don’t really see how this becomes ‘place for resting’ (though there is a pub in Manchester called The Merestone 🙂 ).
I used to rest on milestones in the days (long gone) when I could still walk.
Well, the clue in my file has ‘boundary marker’
Interesting, I’ve double-checked the paper, and no mention of boundary markers, so I’m not sure what gives. One of those things I guess, and at least I don’t feel quite so bad about not quite following it!