I needed more than an hour for this one but as 60 minutes approached, when I might sometimes have decided to cut my losses, I was still confident that I could solve it without reference to aids and I was really pleased that I persevered and eventually managed to do so. There were a few gifts along the way but I felt the majority of clues were quite chewy in one way or another. Here's my blog...
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]
| Across | |
| 1 | Not European, yet poet comes round at intervals (2,5) |
| BY TURNS - BURNS (poet) contains [comes round] Y{e}T [not European] | |
| 5 | In socks that are rinsed? (5) |
| HOSED - Two definitions of sorts although I think the second leads more naturally to "hosed down". | |
| 9 | Am about to monitor missing answer (5) |
| GONNA - This is a homophone of "gone" (missing) followed by A (answer) with [monitor] as the sound-alike indicator. Mctext (below) has this as GO{a}NNA (monitor- lizard) [missing answer], which I suspect is more likely to be what the setter had in mind, though I think my version works too. | |
| 10 | Orgiastic and noisy, I must be drunk (9) |
| DIONYSIAN - Anagram of AND NOISY I with [drunk] as the anagrind. I'd tend more to associate the Roman equivalent "bacchanalian" with orgies, but what would I know? | |
| 11 | Brother’s in control: keep away (7) |
| REFRAIN - FRA (brother - friar) in REIN (control). I wasn't too sure of the definition here as "refrain" usually means to stop doing something, but apparently it can also mean to hold someone back from doing something and I suppose in that sense it is keeping them away. | |
| 12 | Safely store sulphur beside plant, cropped (7) |
| SHEATHE - S (sulphur), HEATHE{r} (plant) [cropped] | |
| 13 | Brings takeaway home, having to work hard (3,5,2) |
| GET STUCK IN - GETS (brings), TUCK (takeaway - well "food" anyway), IN (home) | |
| 15 | Big beasts latest to broadcast (4) |
| GNUS - Sounds like [broadcast] "news" (latest), unless one has fallen under the spell of Flanders and Swann. | |
| 18 | Set up a capital— or two states (4) |
| RIGA - RIG (set up), A. Or alternatively RI (state #1 - Rhode Island), GA (state #2 - Georgia). An unusual clue with one definition and a choice of wordplay. Having the definition in the middle is also a bit unusual. | |
| 20 | Entering fine games field always brings state of excitement (5,5) |
| FEVER PITCH - F (fine), EVER (always), PITCH (games field) | |
| 23 | Be defeated in competition and snap? (5-2) |
| CLOSE-UP - LOSE (be defeated) in CUP (competition). I thought of "snap shut" at first but of course we're talking photography here. | |
| 24 | Participant in French/English wedding has clearance (7) |
| LEGROOM - A straight but somewhat loose definition of the answer and a cryptic one that gives us LE GROOM as participant in wedding conducted in Franglais or Frenglish. | |
| 25 | Silent, not one to interrupt what joiner does: woodwork (9) |
| MARQUETRY - QU{i}ET (silent) [not one] is contained by [to interrupt] MARRY (what joiner does) | |
| 26 | A Welsh girl or Chinese? (5) |
| ASIAN - A, SIAN (Welsh girl) | |
| 27 | Little girl’s back and stomach on front, swollen (5) |
| TUMID - TUM (stomach), DI (little girl) reversed [back] | |
| 28 | Miss very keen on voices (7) |
| AIRSHOT - AIRS (voices), HOT (very keen) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Pope half suitable for welfare (7) |
| BENEFIT - BENE{dict} (Pope) [half], FIT (suitable) | |
| 2 | Conservatives still on the up, keeping separate (3,5) |
| TEA PARTY - YET (still) reversed [on the up] containing [keeping] APART (separate), with "Conservatives" referring to a US political movement just for a change. | |
| 3 | Gas attack announced, and taking place (5) |
| RADON - Sounds like [announced] "raid" (attack), ON (taking place) | |
| 4 | One needled drunk, pierced with cold quill (5,4) |
| SCOTS PINE - SOT (drunk) contains [pierced with] C (cold), SPINE (quill) | |
| 5 | Tomboy’s Orkney retreat (6) |
| HOYDEN - HOY (Orkney - an island in the group), DEN (retreat). It took me ages to dredge this word up from memory, one that I learned from crosswords years ago but have not seen for ages. Or so I thought, as on checking I found that it's only appearance in TftT records was in a Quick Cryptic last February when I also had problems remembering it. | |
| 6 | Mostly quiet and not up to it, I have a place on the board (7) |
| STILTON - STIL{l} (quiet) [mostly], NOT reversed [up...]. A rather cheesy cryptic definition. | |
| 7 | Caught hiding in sand? I never learn (5) |
| DUNCE - C (caught) contained by [hiding in] DUNE (sand) | |
| 8 | Seaweed’s energy expended by a motor-home on a run (4-4) |
| AGAR-AGAR - A, GARAG{e} (motor-home) [energy expended), A, R (run) | |
| 14 | In moving cart, big cat, no way a queen (9) |
| CLEOPATRA - LEOPA{rd} (big cat) [no way - road], in an anagram [moving] of CART | |
| 16 | One Robert that is sort of being nice to start with (8) |
| SCHUMANN - SC (that is - scilicet), HUMAN (sort of being), N{ice} [to start with]. Robert Schumann, composer (1810-1856) | |
| 17 | Happier to arrange to install grand inscription (8) |
| EPIGRAPH - Anagram [arrange] of HAPPIER contains [to install] G (grand) | |
| 19 | Coarse fabric is rum stuff (7) |
| GROGRAM - GROG (rum), RAM (stuff). Has Mr Corbyn's "ram-packed" made it to the on-line dictionaries yet, I wonder? | |
| 21 | Follower of philosopher, but with haziness (7) |
| THOMIST - THO' (but), MIST (haziness). Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) | |
| 22 | Part of speech some teenager understands (6) |
| GERUND - Hidden [some] in {teena}GER UND{erstands} | |
| 23 | Arrive on time in old plane (5) |
| COMET - COME (arrive), T (time) | |
| 24 | Hen in brief losing weight (5) |
| LAYER - LA{w}YER (brief) [losing weight] | |