A weekend for the sports fan, with Wellington (NZ), Sri Lanka and England all notching significant wins, with Manchester United chipping in with an insignificant one of their own.
As for the proposal to switch to 4-day Tests, the statisticians must be saying ‘We told you so’ after, of two matches being played concurrently, one finished in 3 days, while the other went the full allotment of 5.
It’s not often I swap my Brahms and Schubert for more modern stuff, but this puzzle was solved to the dulcet tones of Midnight Oil’s album Diesel and Dust, featuring the unlikely global hit ‘Beds are burning’.
And the crossword? Typical Monday fare, as I clocked in in a little under 28 minutes.
ACROSS
1. SHALLOT – ALL in SHOT.
5. NO-HOPER – NOH (Japanese chestnut) + OPER[a].
9. ALE – [h]ALE.
10. SCREENSHOTS – the toughest decode of the day: SNEER (‘scornful remark’) reversed (‘about’) + H[usband] in SCOTS (‘Northerners); ‘pictures’. My penultimate.
11. DOTTEREL – hidden in ‘anD OTTER Eluded’. I was looking for a hidden, but in the wrong place (‘dandotte’?), and was done like an Aussie on a turner. My last in.
12. LAZIER – [g]LAZIER.
15. PORN – PO + RN; ‘blue material’.
16. STRAVINSKY – I removed various consonants from Tchaikovsky to try and make him fit, but I was playing down the wrong line. It’s STRAINS around V + KY.
18. MINCE WORDS – CRIMES DOWN* (anagram); ‘indirectly say’.
19. PREP – initial letters of four of the words in the clue.
22. SWEETS – WE in SETS.
23. GREEN TEA – GREEN + TEA[m].
25. INVESTIGATE – I + N + VEST + I + GATE.
27. BOA – OB (abbreviation of Latin ‘obiit’, meaning he/she snuffed it) reversed (‘turning’) + A for the constrictor.
28. GREENIE – reversal (‘repulsed’) of EINE (as in kleine Nachtmusik) + ERG (‘work unit’). An Antipodean slang term for someone who annoys the tits off you with his or her apparent concern for the environment. I’m not jesting – I am told by my Kiwi colleague that it is typically used in a derogatory manner.
29. HALBERT – HAL + BERT. Also called a ‘halberd’, this Medieval cross between spear and ax was probably dreamt up by a committee with too much time on their hands. Like most hybrids, it probably wasn’t very effective.
DOWNS
1. STAND-UP – double definition. I was stood up once – still coming to terms with it...
2. AGENT ORANGE – ENTO[mbed] in A GRANGE. ‘Grange’ is making a stealthy bid for Crossword Word of the Year 2016.
3. LISTER – whimsical definition, playing on the lean sense of ‘list’. Joseph Lister was a pioneer of antiseptic surgery who has become something of a crossword staple. I wonder if he ever lived in a grange?
4. TURKEY TROT – TORT (‘wrong’) reversed after TURKEY (‘country’); ‘dance’.
5. NOEL – EON reversed + L. Perhaps he was in a trio with Hal and Bert?
6. HISPANIC – H followed by IS and PANIC.
7. PRO – PRO[m].
8. RESPRAY – 3 of the 9 letters of RESidents + PRAY; ‘makeover for estate [car]?’
13. INSCRUTABLE – [v]INS (‘French wines not very’) followed by CRU (‘certain vineyards’) + TABLE (‘list’); ‘hard to understand’.
14. BALDERDASH – RED (‘left-wing’) + LAB (‘party’) reversed (‘upset’) + DASH (strike); ‘nonsense’.
17. JETTISON – JET + IS NOT*; ‘scrap’ (verb).
18. MASKING – SKIN in MAG.
20. PEASANT – SAN[k] in PEAT.
21. BEFELL – BE + FELL.
24. CITE – IT in CE.
26. VIE – VI[l]E.
As for the proposal to switch to 4-day Tests, the statisticians must be saying ‘We told you so’ after, of two matches being played concurrently, one finished in 3 days, while the other went the full allotment of 5.
It’s not often I swap my Brahms and Schubert for more modern stuff, but this puzzle was solved to the dulcet tones of Midnight Oil’s album Diesel and Dust, featuring the unlikely global hit ‘Beds are burning’.
And the crossword? Typical Monday fare, as I clocked in in a little under 28 minutes.
ACROSS
1. SHALLOT – ALL in SHOT.
5. NO-HOPER – NOH (Japanese chestnut) + OPER[a].
9. ALE – [h]ALE.
10. SCREENSHOTS – the toughest decode of the day: SNEER (‘scornful remark’) reversed (‘about’) + H[usband] in SCOTS (‘Northerners); ‘pictures’. My penultimate.
11. DOTTEREL – hidden in ‘anD OTTER Eluded’. I was looking for a hidden, but in the wrong place (‘dandotte’?), and was done like an Aussie on a turner. My last in.
12. LAZIER – [g]LAZIER.
15. PORN – PO + RN; ‘blue material’.
16. STRAVINSKY – I removed various consonants from Tchaikovsky to try and make him fit, but I was playing down the wrong line. It’s STRAINS around V + KY.
18. MINCE WORDS – CRIMES DOWN* (anagram); ‘indirectly say’.
19. PREP – initial letters of four of the words in the clue.
22. SWEETS – WE in SETS.
23. GREEN TEA – GREEN + TEA[m].
25. INVESTIGATE – I + N + VEST + I + GATE.
27. BOA – OB (abbreviation of Latin ‘obiit’, meaning he/she snuffed it) reversed (‘turning’) + A for the constrictor.
28. GREENIE – reversal (‘repulsed’) of EINE (as in kleine Nachtmusik) + ERG (‘work unit’). An Antipodean slang term for someone who annoys the tits off you with his or her apparent concern for the environment. I’m not jesting – I am told by my Kiwi colleague that it is typically used in a derogatory manner.
29. HALBERT – HAL + BERT. Also called a ‘halberd’, this Medieval cross between spear and ax was probably dreamt up by a committee with too much time on their hands. Like most hybrids, it probably wasn’t very effective.
DOWNS
1. STAND-UP – double definition. I was stood up once – still coming to terms with it...
2. AGENT ORANGE – ENTO[mbed] in A GRANGE. ‘Grange’ is making a stealthy bid for Crossword Word of the Year 2016.
3. LISTER – whimsical definition, playing on the lean sense of ‘list’. Joseph Lister was a pioneer of antiseptic surgery who has become something of a crossword staple. I wonder if he ever lived in a grange?
4. TURKEY TROT – TORT (‘wrong’) reversed after TURKEY (‘country’); ‘dance’.
5. NOEL – EON reversed + L. Perhaps he was in a trio with Hal and Bert?
6. HISPANIC – H followed by IS and PANIC.
7. PRO – PRO[m].
8. RESPRAY – 3 of the 9 letters of RESidents + PRAY; ‘makeover for estate [car]?’
13. INSCRUTABLE – [v]INS (‘French wines not very’) followed by CRU (‘certain vineyards’) + TABLE (‘list’); ‘hard to understand’.
14. BALDERDASH – RED (‘left-wing’) + LAB (‘party’) reversed (‘upset’) + DASH (strike); ‘nonsense’.
17. JETTISON – JET + IS NOT*; ‘scrap’ (verb).
18. MASKING – SKIN in MAG.
20. PEASANT – SAN[k] in PEAT.
21. BEFELL – BE + FELL.
24. CITE – IT in CE.
26. VIE – VI[l]E.