Club Monthly 20194 November 2016

Solving Time: An excellent crossword which nevertheless took me under an hour, about 50 mins or so which makes it of average hardness, Apatite or feldspar perhaps on Moh's scale. This blog is a day late and a little terse in places, because most of it unaccountably disappeared on publication so it has had to be retyped.

Dictionaries: The Club Monthly uses several dictionaries as sources, and why not? The main ones are the Concise Oxford Dictionary (COD), Collins, and Chambers. I can't afford all those so I use Chambers, the online Collins dictionary and the ODO I use the online Oxford English Dictionary too (OED), though it sometimes goes beyond what we may reasonably be expected to know.

cd = cryptic definition, dd = double definition, rev = reversed, anagrams are *(--), homophones indicated in ""

Definitions are underlined, clues in italics. Please note that the closing date for entries for this crossword is midnight on the last Thursday of the month ;-)

Across

1. Had arranged to cross region, briefly meeting Greek: it’s for high-level talks? (8)
Dzongkha - ZON(e) (region briefly) + GK (Greek) in *(HAD). The official language of Bhutan
6. Local pro’s drive and enthusiasm, ace going forward (6)
drazel - DR (drive, as per a gazetteer) + ZEAL, with the A at the front. A slightly harsh def. for a lady of doubtful morals, a slut
9. Male cross, on reflection, he departed Australia (4)
zobo - OB(it.) + OZ, rev. This is one of a vast number of similar words meaning a bovine cross .. in this case, between a male yak and a common cow
10. Twanging of harp in all pop I played, never piano (10)
rhinolalia - *(HARP IN ALL POP I) - but without the three Ps
11. Help to chew? It would be rude to blow hard (10)
cheektooth - CHEEK (rude) + TOOT (blow) + H(ard)
13. Hear this old couple completing series of letters, full of energy (4)
oyez - O(ld) + YZ, with E(nergy) in. What town criers say
14. Infuriated, having no new vitality — terrifying for the old (8)
agryzing - A(n)GRY (infuriated) + ZING (vitality)
16. One far from adept when performing services (6)
ibadat - I + BAD AT (far from adept)
18. Tin slimy and likely to drop off? (6)
snoozy - SN (tin, ie Sn) + OOZY (slimy). A rare easy one!
20. Norwegian plays champion in tie: best short game (8)
Ibsenite - I think it's *(IN TIE BES(t)) .. don't remember "game" as an anagram indicator before
22. End of strike curtailed anxious state of mind about tubes (4)
zite - (strik)E + TIZ(z), (curtailed anxious state), both rev.
24. Maybe return planes to engineers, to stern outside warnings (10)
reafforest - RE (Royal engineers) + FORES (warnings) in AFT (to stern)
26. Perhaps Estonian ventures, dispatching diamonds in bottles (10)
balthazars - BALT (perhaps Estonian) + HAZARDS (ventures) without the D(iamonds). One of a series of large wine bottles, in this case containing 16 normal bottles worth. Ideal for Christmas..
28. No doubt disused slipway’s uneven parts withdrawn (4)
ywis - the odd parts, rev., of SlIpWaY
29. Feed dry, disgusting sandwiches (6)
vittle - TT (dry, ie teetotal) in VILE (disgusting)
30. Nothing about Velazquez, Pissarro, ultimately recalled by grand art film (8)
ozacling - G(rand) + NIL (nothing) + CA (circa, about) + (Velazque)Z + (Pissarr)O, all rev.

Down

2. Irishman, eating prudently at first, has a little weight put on, turning carnivore (9)
zoophagan - so, I think the Irishman is O'HAGAN, containing P(rudently), after OZ (little weight) rev.
3. Innovation’s ending — yet one strangely is retaining early features (7)
neoteny - *((innovatio)N + YET ONE)
4. Rough terrain, eroded at the edges, gets raked over (5)
karst - hidden, rev., in geTS RAKed. I have inserted at the bottom of this blog a photo I took last year of a karst landscape, high in the Spanish Pyrenees, near the Col d'Anaye. Wild, magnificent scenery (though spending the night there was more tricky; quite cold .. all water frozen, and flat bits for a tent scarce)
5. Tuna’s welcome after starter of anchovy (3)
ahi - A(nchovy) + HI (welcome)
6. Rubbish, including empty haversack, that is in carriages (9)
droshkies - H(aversac)K + IE in DROSS (rubbish)
7. Powder from a regiment of gunners used to smother a rifle (7)
araroba - A ROB (rifle) in A RA (Royal Artillery)
8. Unknown amount in German for a modern publication (1-4)
e-zine - Z (unknown amount) in EINE (German for A, as in "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik)
12. Tough, quiz banning outsiders, indeed, turning up for money from Africa (7)
ouguiya - (t)OUG(h) + (q)UI(z) + AY (indeed) rev. The currency of Mauretania, the current rate is roughly 450 = £1
15. Point of meeting with Yankee for time becoming aggressive (2-3-4)
in-yer-face - INTERFACE (point of meeting) with the T becoming Y. Surely it should be in-one's-face? :-)
17. “Shadowy” counterpart in satanic manoeuvres (9)
antiscian - *(IN SATANIC)
19. Flier from group in circulation opening appeal (4-3)
oven-tit - O + VENT (opening) + IT (appeal, as in the "It Girl"). The O is a blood group.. that took me a while to spot!
21. Indian coconut plant I managed to lift (7)
nariyal - LAY (plant) + I RAN, all rev.
23. Ruin two cups, porcelain (5)
imari - MAR (ruin) in II (two)
25. Depression of young Arab, say, losing large drinking vessel (5)
fossa - another tricky one to parse: SS (vessel) in FOA(l), a young horse
27. Voting system once rejected, nothing brings change in Asia? (3)
avo - AV (alternative vote) + O (nothing). Didn't we have a referendum about that once? Our flawed voting system will never be changed for the simple reason that everyone currently in power will prefer the status quo. Avos are 1/100 pataca, the currency of Macao. £1 gets you roughly 1000 avos


See 4dn!