A typically good Virgilius puzzle with a few tough clues. I made one significant error early on which left me flummoxed over the last two entries.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 7 | TICKET COLLECTOR — double def. — a driver committing parking or speeding offences might collect tickets! For some reason I wrote in TICKET INSPECTOR very early on without fully resolving the second cryptic definition. This was great for a while as almost all the crossing lights went in okay. Then at the end I was left with 3 and 4 down. I spent too long trying to force in wrong answers before I realised my error was in this clue! |
| 10 | LIVELIHOOD — (HOLD OIL I’VE)* — this is a great anagram because it is such an awkward answer to see without a few checking letters. For a while I had just the final D and so moved ‘handled’ from the word play to the definition, desperate to find a word ending in -ED. |
| 12 | ENDORSED — (RED-NOSED)* — another good angram and great, but simple, surface. |
| 13 | MIDAIR — austRIA DIMly — excellent reverse hidden word. |
| 18 | OUTGENERAL — OUT+GENERAL — I didn’t know this word at all and despite having OUT for a time I didn’t connect usual and GENERAL. |
| 19 | BLUE — double def. — BLUE refers to adult in the sense of blue joke, blue movie, etc. |
| 21 | SHIP OF THE DESERT — cryptic def. — a camel would be seen in a caravan. |
| 22 | DIFFERENTLY — (FRIEND LEFT)* + (part)Y — yet another good anagram with potential anagrinds at both ends of the clue just to confuse things further. |
| Down | 1 | RICHARD THE THIRD — cryptic def. — mounting desperation from, “A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse.” |
| 2 | FLEW — L in FEW — The Few refers to the RAF in 1940. The term arises from a speech by Churchill about the Battle of Britain. |
| 4 | ALLIED — L in A LIED — LIED = a German song = number. |
| 5 | INELIGIBLE — (I.E. BEING ILL)* |
| 6 | NATIONAL GALLERY — “art-of-the-state”. Just the opposite usually signifies a reversal in the word play from that stated, here it creates a cryptic definition. |
| 8 | RED CRESCENT — RE + CR after D in DESCENT — an insertion clue with a precise location specified. The Red Crescent is the equivalent of the Red Cross in Islamic countries. |
| 14 | MILANESE — M1 LANES + E — parts of motorway = M1 LANES |
| 20 | BEAT — BE AT — a real doh! moment to end on. |
This was good as always from Virgilius – not too difficult. I do not understand the wordplay in 3 down “Sort of criminal who’s less blessed?” R?C?I?E? RECEIVER from the definition, I guess.
I think it’s a cryptic def. It is better to give than receive.
Yes. Bible reference, Acts 20:35 ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’
Many thanks for that, Colin and Testy.
I had out ‘outperform’ for 18 across, which I think fits the wordplay better (just a shame my version doesn’t actually correspond to the definition).
OUTPERFORM crossed my mind too. If I’d put that in as well as TICKET INSPECTOR I doubt there’d have been a blog at all!