*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
This seemed to come together a little more quickly than in recent weeks, so I’d be interested to hear how other solvers found this. There were certainly less obscure terms than last week, although “Queer Cuffin” is a belter.
I have a couple of minor queries at 30 and 18, so if anybody fancies clearing those up I’ll be grateful.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | CHELSEA WARE – CH + ELSE + AWARE. China made in Chelsea from the mid 18th century. |
| 10 | QUAIL – QUIL[-l] “restricting” A. |
| 11 | THEAVE – HEAVE (swelling) “on” T. A dialect word for a young ewe. |
| 12 | UNSNAPS – ((SN “after” N) + AP) “to feed” US. |
| 13 | PYET – P + YET. A Scottish word for the magpie. |
| 16 | NINTH – [-incantio]N IN THE[-ere]. |
| 17 | EUCHARIST – (THIS A CURE)*. I think you have to read this as curé rather than cure. |
| 19 | ASTROTURF – A + (TROT in SURF). I enjoyed the “sporting coverage” definition. |
| 20 | CHASTISED – CH + ASTI + SED. |
| 23 | WESTERNER – WE + STERNER. |
| 25 | FUROR – FUR + OR. |
| 27 | FEEL – L “gets” FEE “up front”. |
| 28 | SHIATZU – SHIA + [-Sun] TZU. |
| 29 | I’LL SAY – ILLY “receiving” SA. |
| 30 | FREES – FEES “being about” R. This was last to go in, and is the one of which I’m least sure, since I can’t find a reliable reference to anyone named exactly “Frees” being a German physician. |
| 31 | FLAKY PASTRY – (FLAKY + RY) “about” PAST. |
| Down | |
| 2 | HUNG UP – HUN + PUG<. |
| 3 | EAST – [-b]EAST. |
| 4 | LINCH – LINCH[-pin]. |
| 5 | EXPERTISE – (EXERT + IS + E) “securing” P. |
| 9 | WHENSOE’ER – (NEW HEROES)*. |
| 7 | RAYNAUD – ANY< “found in” DUAR (a circular Arab tent village). Maurice Raynaud, French physician, 1834-1881. |
| 8 | EVETS – STEVE<, and an archaic word for “newts”. |
| 9 | LETHIFEROUSLY – (LO THE FURIES)*. |
| 10 | QUEER CUFFIN – ENQUIRE* “about” CUFF. An archaic slang term for a Justice of the Peace. |
| 14 | PASTERNAK – P + ASTERN + A[-nna] K[-arenina]. Boris Pasternak, Russian author, 1890-1960. |
| 15 | FIRST CHOP – (FIRS + TOP) “including” CH. |
| 18 | FARRELL – FALL “about” ERR<. I assume “fall” here is an alternate spelling of “fell”, in the sense of “cruel, fierce”, but I can’t track down a reference for that spelling. J. G. Farrell, Booker Prize winner, 1935-1979. |
| 21 | GEEZER – GEE + ZER[-o]. |
| 22 | GUELF – GULF “swallowing up” E. An alternate spelling of Guelph. |
| 24 | REARS – dd. |
| 26 | STET – STE[-n]T. |
In 30, the Frees is a German physician mentioned in the Chambers definition of Freesia.
18 is an error which I failed to spot, unfortunately.
18 – I think eimi is falling on his sword rather too quickly here – he spotted the error at 18, and asked me for a rewrite. I assume that the IoS ignored the need to replace it.
He also worried about the obscurity of FREES, but he got in as a change from doing the verb!