Quite a tough week, and I struggled to finish things off. In fact I failed to do so, because 29 across has me beaten.
There seem to be many options in Chambers, though I can’t make any of them work. Any ideas are most welcome.
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 4 | LADY CHAPEL – (CHAP in DYE) in ALL*. |
| 12 | SELF – FLES[h]<. |
| 14 | NOTE – NOT E. Nicely done. |
| 15 | BAIN-MARIE – (IN + MA) in BRIE. |
| 16 | SESQUITERPENE – (QUEEREST PINES)*. |
| 17 | ASSUAGE – US< in A SAGE. |
| 19 | EVIL – LIVE<. |
| 21 | FLORRIE – F + (I in Peter LORRE). |
| 22 | EELY – [j]ELLY. |
| 23 | CONJURE – J in CONURE. |
| 24 | VIOLA DA SPALLA – (O + LADAS + PALL) in VIA. I like the definition here: this provides strain on the shoulder. |
| 27 | STERILITY – (LISTER + IT)* + [purit]Y. |
| 28 | COED – CO[ach[e]]ED. |
| 29 | ?ERE – Queen’s leader of England, in England, for English residents. |
| 30 | HARASSMENT – (MAN HAS REST)*. |
| Down | |
| 1 | TSESAREVICH – EST< + ARCHIVES*. |
| 2 | HEBE – [t]HE BE[d], and presumably &lit, though I’m not sure I quite follow. Anyway, a reference to this. |
| 3 | GLASSBLOWER – G + LASS + BLOWER. |
| 5 | AINU – UNIA[t]<. |
| 6 | DEMIGODDESS – DOG< in MISDEEDS*. |
| 7 | CEREBROSIDE – (R in BODIES*) in CERE. |
| 8 | HAIRPIN – RPI in HAIN. Adam Smith was Scottish, so the refernence denotes we’re looking for a Scottish word for “preserve”. |
| 9 | POLEVAULTER – VEAL* in POULTER. |
| 10 | ETHNIC – (NH in CITE)<. |
| 11 | LEVEL-HEADED – L + LEVE< + (AD in HEED). |
| 13 | WATER CART – RACER* in WATT. |
| 18 | ALGATES – L[ey] in AGATES. |
| 20 | FEIJOA – FEIJOA[da]. Not a fruit or a dish that were at all familiar, so I’ve learnt something. |
| 25 | PLAN – PLAN[t]. |
| 26 | LYRE – reverse anagram, as LYRE with A and P are PLAYER*. |
Re 29A, I thought it was HERE, with the definition “England, for English residents” and the wordplay Queen’s=HER (belonging to a woman) and leader of England=E. However I wasn’t keen on equating Queen’s and HER, even though a queen is obviously female, so I suspect I’m missing something.
Yeah, I guessed HERE too, for similar reasons, but no, I wasn’t convinced, either.
Well, that’s one to the editor, I guess, since he queried 29a, and I convinced him it was OK.
I can glance from my window and see three feijoa trees in the garden, two of which are coming on very well (wouldn’t normally expect blossom till Christmas; the third we transplanted in autumn, and it’s regaining its strength) – certainly something the UK is missing out on. Their ready availability (along with feijoa yoghourt and feijoa vodka) doesn’t make the word any easier to clue, alas.
Must admit, 20dn was just about my last one in. Like Simon, I’d heard of neither the fruit nor the dish and with an unchecked first letter, it required an e-search to find it.