Lorraine: Good morning one and all.
I enjoyed this weeks offering until I got to the South West corner; I needed help with 15dn, 16dn and 24ac. Thanks Nick, to the rescue once again.
I think my head was in holiday mode, Nick and I are flying out to Santa Susanna on Monday, so no blog from me in a fortnight’s time. Thank you in advance to whoever covers my slot.
Big thank you to Everyman, even if for me it was a tad more difficult then normal : )
| Across | |||
| 1. | Pause at these, I fancy (8) | ||
| HESITATE | (AT THESE, I)* | ||
| 5. | Instruments for d#travelling salesmen#d (6) | ||
| AGENTS | cdd | ||
| 9. | Ankle was twisted in ballet (4,4) | ||
| SWAN LAKE | (ANKLE WAS)* | ||
| 10. | Flyer needed by funfair manager (6) | ||
| AIRMAN | hidden: funfAIR MANager | ||
| 12. | Poet in university in former British colony (5) | ||
| AUDEN i | U in ADEN | ||
| 13. | Put food in this stuff on barge at sea (6-3) | ||
| TUCKER-BAG | TUCK[stuff]+(BARGE*) | ||
| 14. | Girl’s old lady finds something in an oyster, perhaps (6-2-5) | ||
| MOTHER-OF-PEARL i | pun about a girl called PEARL so her ‘old lady’ is MOTHER OF PEARL | ||
| 16. | Comedian in lace factory heading off for Wigan (5,8) | ||
| SPIKE MILLIGAN | SPIKE[lace]+MILL+(w)IGAN | ||
| 20. | Entailed trips crossing lake in part of Egypt (4,5) | ||
| NILE DELTA i | (ENTAILED*) around L(ake) | ||
| 21. | Arabs murdered in Iraqi port (5) | ||
| BASRA | (ARABS)* | ||
| 22. | Gold cross initially concealed in plant (6) | ||
| ORCHID | OR[gold]+C(ross)+HID | ||
| 23. | Neat poker hand (8) | ||
| STRAIGHT | cdd | ||
| 24. | Annoy the Parisian after final (6) | ||
| NETTLE | LE after NETT[final] | ||
| 25. | Two kings on board a majestic flagship of yore (3,5) | ||
| ARK ROYAL | R+K in (A ROYAL) | ||
Down |
|||
| 1. | Soldier, American, stopping reckless climbing (6) | ||
| HUSSAR | US in (RASH<) | ||
| 2. | Throwing darts, gets honour and fame (7) | ||
| STARDOM | (DARTS*)+OM[order of merit] | ||
| 3. | Possessed by lanneret, a long claw (5) | ||
| TALON | hidden: lanneraT, A LONg | ||
| 4. | Believe magazine is to go on a campaign (4,3,5) | ||
| TAKE THE FIELD | TAKE[believe]+THE FIELD[a country magazine) | ||
| 6. | Rodent from African country, and farm animal (6,3) | ||
| GUINEA PIG | GUINEA+PIG | ||
| 7. | African country ban I aim to change (7) | ||
| NAMIBIA | (BAN I AIM)* | ||
| 8. | Eagles shot across northern African country (7) | ||
| SENEGAL | (EAGLES*) around N | ||
| 11. | One teaching in the classroom, possibly (12) | ||
| SCHOOLMASTER | (THE CLASSROOM)* &lit a well know associated anagram word (one other I can think of is ‘mother-in- law’ = ‘woman hitler’) |
||
| 15. | Little time to study philosopher’s routine (9) | ||
| TREADMILL | T+READ+MILL See this Guy |
||
| 16. | What may be sown in Isle of Wight resort? (7) | ||
| SANDOWN | pun: SOWN = S AND OWN | ||
| 17. | One about to be strangled by evil Italian criminal (7) | ||
| ILLICIT | I+C in (ILL+IT) | ||
| 18. | Bouquet may make beak happy (7) | ||
| NOSEGAY i | NOSE+GAY | ||
| 19. | Clubs, later, reformed syndicate (6) | ||
| CARTEL | C+(LATER*) | ||
| 21. | Former PM in black hole (5) | ||
| BLAIR | B+LAIR | ||
|
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I thought at first that this was going to be trickier than usual but I finished it pretty quickly once I had a toehold in the puzzle. The only answer I wasn’t 100% sure about when I entered it was TAKE THE FIELD because I didn’t know the magazine and the expression didn’t seem familiar in the context required.
Incredibly frustrating because I raced through this -until I was left with 17d i?l?c?e which I could not get as 24a was not needle. Why I thought needle was correct I have no idea. Also for 4d I guessed it must be take the ?i?l? but even if field occured to me, I must have dismissed it as a non phrase.
Nice one as usual from Everyman.
Thanks Lorraine; there were some very nice clues here. I particularly liked SWAN LAKE, SPIKE MILLIGAN, STARDOM, SENEGAL, SCHOOL MASTER and, particularly, SANDOWN [I love these type of clues!]
I’m afraid THE FIELD was not very well known for me, although I may have seen it in the dentist’s waiting room!
Thanks Lorraine,
Another enjoyable Everyman but like others, I did not understand TAKE THE FIELD although it seemed the most likely answer.
Other possibilities for the third word that I dismissed were TITLE and BIBLE. Favourites were SPIKE MILLIGAN (great surface
and hero of mine), ORCHID, SCHOOLMASTER and ILLICIT (best surface of the puzzle). Thanks Everyman.
From NZ, my LOI was FIELD in 4d which was the only link I could match with the clue. Field magazine ( it might have been Country and Field?) was popular in doctors’ waiting rooms in my home county of Herefordshire. I’m quizzical as to whether it will be familiar to many in this region of the world. As usual a fun way to spend Saturday morning.
A bit trickier than usual, I was trying to reconcile “pills” where field was supposed to go. Had to look up a couple of the geography clues, but well worth spending a Saturday morning on.
Found bottom left corner tricky but got there eventually. Never heard of the Field magazine nor the expression, but guessed it was that. Once I got Nile Delta, managed to get the rest of the bottom left.
Am I alone in thinking Sandown was a really feeble clue? Or do I truly not fully understand it? Otherwise like others I finished in the bottom left and enjoyed Spike and Illicit.
Sandown still troubles me though. How is it a pun? S and Own make Sown? Huh?
Am I alone in thinking Sandown was a really feeble clue? Or do I truly not fully understand it? Otherwise like others I finished in the bottom left and enjoyed Spike and Illicit.
16 dn still troubles me though. How is it a pun? S and Own make Sown? Huh?
Sorry for the cup the first one wouldn’t send
Argh. Dup.