Solving time: 45′
Nice (comic?) relief from yesterday’s Independent for which I’ve exonerated myself for not knowing Nigella Lawson (she’s probably never heard of me after all). Some clever &lits and overall a pleasant aura of humour pervades.
Across
| 1 | DYLAN THOMAS – ref. Bob DYLAN and Doubting THOMAS. (She missed a chance here to clue Dylan James given our fearless blog captain’s new arrival). |
| 10 | USE,LESS – Simple elegant charade: the kind of clue demonstrating that brevity is the soul of wit (hmm… that was a rather longwinded compliment). |
| 11 | TAN,GER(I)NE – I in green*. |
| 12 | SU(C)RE – I’m guessing that SUCRE is a legal tender of some South American country — unless you can use French sugar instead (not being obsessive about checking things since I’m in an internet cafe in Hendon for a pound an hour). |
| 13 | NOT,E – very cute clue that’s worth repeating: “A,B,C, D, F or G?” — only NOTE missing is E. |
| 16 | SHANE WARN,E – (new, rash an[d])*. Not the most popular bowler I would have thought for the English (didn’t England get burnt by him in the Ashes recently? or am I stepping on toes here?) |
| 21 | MO,TET – As an American, I’ll never forget the TET offensive. |
| 25 | RE,ALIST – The A-LIST is for leading celebs only. Realistically speaking, I’m number 59,987,654. |
Down
| 1 | DEFINITE ARTICLE – clever double definition: “the” being an example thereof. |
| 3 | NORWI,CH – mildly indirect anagram: (iron, W=tungsten)* |
| 4 | H,AUTEUR – nice clue since an AUTEUR probably has his own fair share of HAUTEUR. |
| 5 | MU(E)NSTER – it’s a cheese and MUNSTER is in Ireland somewhere. |
| 6 | SPEECH THERAPIST – (he practises the p)*. nice fodder and good surface. |
| 8 | ASTERN – Not sure about the wordplay here and I’m running out of internet time… so… “Behind top part of a horse’s anatomy.” |
| 16 | SO(M)BER – American spelling of sombre and M is 6th letter of “victim”. |
| 18 | NIG(E)RIA – E in Airing*. |
| 20 | TWENTY – “this clue” is 20D which means its number (“no”) is TWENTY. Clever &lit. |
| 23 | STATE – two meanings – I love this clue: “Me, say”. It’s Maine (a STATE) and it’s a verb! |
Re 8d, the reference is to ‘PASTERN’, the part of the foot of a horse (amongst other animals).
I think even the most embittered England fan would admit that Shane Warne is one of the greatest players in the history of the game. It’s not really my sport, but I must admit that the Sri Lankan guy who took those four wickets in four balls the other day looks like a chucker to me.
Can’t let PASTERN go by without a pointer to a famous story.