Gosh, has it really been two weeks since Christmas Eve? This took well under an hour with distractions – I was expecting something a bit chewier for the festive season.
First in was OBSTREPEROUS but I forgot to note down my LOI and I can’t remember what it was.
Happy 2017 to all both my readers.
Across | |
1 | MOTHBALLED - MO then BALL in THE D(uke) |
6 | OBSTREPEROUS - O(utside) B(roadcast) then (superstore)*. My late father-in-law used to pronounce this OBSTROPOLOUS. He probably wasn’t alone. |
14 | TURPITUDE - T(rade) U(nion) then RUDE around PIT. One of those words you know exists but might struggle to define if put on the spot, especially as it kinda looks similar to TORPOR |
15 | INDIE - {d}I{d}N{t}d{r}I{v}E. True story. I used to think the term “indie” referred to Bhangra and the like. So for years I missed out on indie music as if the radio announcer said summat like “coming up, an hour of the latest indie tunes…” I’d switch off / over. |
16 | ITERATE - {l}ITERATE |
19 | Y-FRONTS - R(epublican) in Y FONTS (faces as in typefaces) |
21 | LONELY - LELY around ON (working), with “by himself as the definition. Peter Lely was portrait artist to Charles I and later Charles II's Principal Painter in Ordinary |
22 | SCENARIO - S for small followed by IRAN reversed in C.E.O. |
24 | ILLICIT - IMPLICIT with MP replaced by L(iberal) |
26 | TEST TUBE - reversal of E(nergy) BUTT SET |
27 | UGLIER - UGLI (fruit) + ER for her Maj, with whom I appear to have shared the common cold virus this festive season |
30 | SOVEREIGNTY - (generosity)* with V(anuatu) tossed into the mix in an appropriate place |
32 | CANDELABRUM - (balanced)* with engineer as the anagram indicator then RUM. One of those words that is often mistakenly used in the plural to mean the singular, like data and phenomena |
33 | SUNNY-SIDE UP - three synonyms bunged together for the way normal people have their fried eggs cooked |
35 | TOTALISATOR - TOTAL (as in to write off a car) + TO {banke}R with ISA (Individual Savings Account) squidged in the middle. It’s basically what we know as The Tote, a system of betting in which dividends are calculated according to the amount staked rather than odds offered |
38 | POLITICO - TIC in POLO |
39 | ROAD BED - {b}ROAD + BED and if you’re still puzzled it’s sleepers as in railway |
48 | HAVOC - HAV{e} O(ld) C(old) |
51 | OXONIAN - OX (steer as in cow-type-thing) + O for round + NAN around I for one |
53 | EGOMANIAC - OMANI in CAGE reversed with “person up himself” as the witty definition |
54 | STAINED GLASS - G in STAINED LASS |
55 | PRETENSION - PENSION (foreign bed & breakfast) around RET (crosswordy word for soaking something or other in some textile-related process or summat) |
Down | |
1 | METAPHYSICS - (shy)* in (campsite)* with bats and abroad as the anagrinds |
3 | BRITANNIC - B(ritish) R(ail) + IT ANN IC, the def being OF THIS LAND |
4 | LAURELS - LAS around U REL. I didn’t know rel was an “acceptable” abbreviation for relative |
5 | ETERNAL - EXTERNAL with the X “stolen” |
7 | BODY POLITIC - BODY (stiff as in ex-parrot) then IT in POLIC{e} |
8 | THESIS - HE’S in SIT reversed |
9 | EXIGENCY - TA removed from EXIT AGENCY. An exigency is a pressing demand or urgent requirement |
10 | ELEPHANT GRASS - GR ASS burdened with (i.e. supporting) ELEPHANT. How does a male elephant find a female elephant in long grass? |
11 | OPAQUER - QU in (opera)* |
12 | SPECTROGRAM - E CT in S PROGRAM. Ready? A spectrogram is a visual representation of the spectrum of frequencies in a sound or other signal as they vary with time or some other variable |
13 | VIDEO NASTY - (advise Tony)*. I’m sure we’ve had video nasty a couple of times elsewhere recently. Driller Killer and I spit on Your Grave come to mind |
20 | RELEVANCE - NAVEL reversed in RE CE. Navel can mean the central point of a place as well as your belly button |
23 | AB INITIO - IO for 10 after AB IN IT. Why do bloody lawyers have to use Latin when there are perfectly good English equivalents? |
25 | TRIVIA - VI in TRIA{l} |
26 | TANGELOS TANG + SOLE “revolting” (rising up). What's in the bag Angelos, tell us what's in your bag… |
28 | IRRITABLE - in IR(ish) R(epublican) TABLE |
29 | PEDLAR - PEAR around (lan)DL(ady) |
31 | RHYTHM SECTION - (test choir hymn)* |
33 | SISTERHOODS - female orders is the def and it’s HOOD in SISTERS |
34 | PRIMA DONNAS - (or pre-Madonnas to the actual people who riddle cyberspace with escape goats and damp squids) PR followed by MADONNA in IS |
36 | RADIO BEACON - RADIO BACON around E(uropean) |
40 | APPERTAIN - APP + {c}ERTAIN |
41 | ARACHNID - (china)* in A RD, def is tick for one |
43 | PAVLOVA - PAVLOV + A. Barbara Woodhouse didn’t fit. |
45 | LOW GEAR - DD |
46 | SEA PORT - EA IN SPORT with “access to drink” being the rather elegant definition |
50 | ALIBI - ALI B(oxing) I(nstinctively) |