Solving Time: 14 minutes
Fairly straightforward fare with a couple of nice off-the-wall clues. Bit baffled by 24 down.
ACROSS * = Anagram (r) = Reversal (CD) = Cryptic definition
1 MEMBER (RE)MEMBER
5 GEOMETRY GET ROME* + Y (Italy’s latest)
9 LEONARDO ON REAL DA* If I had a grumble, it is with this clue. It can be
argued that “Da” is also part of the definition as well.
10 HAIRDO Cut = definition H + RADIO*
11 PEEWIT WEEP (R) + it
12 THROTTLE (CD)
14 DANISH PASTRY A PANTRY’S DISH* Nice appropriate anagram
18 TOP-HEAVINESS (CD)
22 VERBATIM BRAVE* + TIM I think I preferred Nimrod’s version of this clue in last
Saturday’s Indy.
25 LEEWAY LEE + WAY
26 COSSET COS + SET
27 NEGLIGÉE (CD) This clue’s a bit weak for me. The CD is too close to a normal def.
28 KEROSENE KNEE ROSE *
29 TIERED TIE + RED
DOWN
2 ELEVEN Prime Number + Coffee break time
3 BANDWIDTH BAND + WI + D + TH Bit of a clunky clue for a difficult word to clue.
4 RURITANIA Hooray! Kudos to Flimsy for not using Land of Hope as a hackneyed
clue for this. R + URANIA about IT. URANIA is one of the nine Muses from
Greek mythology
5 GLOTTIS L in GOT + TIS
6 OTHER (H)OT + HER
7 ELIOT CD – George Eliot – Not a male novelist, really!
8 RED ALERT R + RELATED*
13 OVA V in o A
15 PREFLIGHT CD
16 SYSTEMISE MESSY SITE*
17 FOREGONE RE in FOG + ONE
19 ERA ARE*
20 IMMENSE IM + M + SEEN*
21 GAMETE GET ME A*
23 BASSO A BOSS*
24 TYTHE/TITHE can’t parse this clue – thought it might be TY (Man) with THE.
“They leave the man with the rent (5)
24dn: I think that is supposed to be THEY without HE plus THE. This variant is in Chambers, but not the most recent Collins.
Nice blog by the way – very prompt …
Slight correction on 9a. The “Da” is not doing double duty (otherwise we’d have two As). Wordplay is do (“celebration”) after the anagram.
Relieved to see confirmation of 7d (ELIOT). I had a mindfart on this one, before settling on it via the erroneous route of TS Eliot (a literary all-rounder who wrote pretty much everything except novels. Doh!).