I found it hard to get going with this; I did about 6 clues in 20 minutes and then got stuck. So I did something else for a while, came back to it and polished the rest off in about 10 minutes. I still don’t understand 18,3,22 though – I know the defintion is “saw” but I don’t see how the rest of the clue works.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | P(HOB)OS – I like “top-of-the-range item” as HOB. Phobos is the largest of Mars’ two moons |
| 11 | REPITITIONAL – anagram of “Note: reptilia” |
| 13 | JO(E)Y – A joey is a baby kangaroo. Like the def “bounder in the making” |
| 17 | C-LAUD-I-US – or CLAVDIVS from the 80s TV series. |
| 23 | COBBER – is this china=china plate=mate=cobber? Or something a little less indirect that I’m missing? |
| Down | |
| 12 | CODLIN MOTH – I guessed CODLIN from checked and remaining letters as this was new tome |
| 15 | MILITARIA – Excellent surface reading; not misleading but reads perfectly. |
| 16 | PISSARRO – if you thought of Rory Bremner he’s the wrong kind of impressionist. |
| 19 | BEHEST(-ON) – my first thought was Bobby Charlton, rather than Charlton Heston. |
what do you make of 26A? I see that TRAPPY can be coerced into an adjective describing a member of the Von Trapp family — I don’t get the “hardly the silent type”… i know about the Trappists (order of silence) — is that the deriviation somehow?
18, 3, 22: LOOK BEFORE (YOU) LEAP
“Saw butcher’s pre-spring lamb type, it’s said, inside ”
I think I can parse most of this…
“Saw” –> LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP is an instance of a saw (adage)
“butcher” –> LOOK (i think this is rhyming slang)
“pre” –> BEFORE
“spring” –> LEAP
“lamb type” –> YOU (sounds like ewe)
“it’s said” –> homophone indicator
“inside” –> YOU is contained inside the previous
Not the world’s greatest surface but clean wordplay.
The rhyming slang is butcher’s (hook) = look. “Butcher” wouldn’t be recognised as the same thing.