Eleven minutes this morning, which is just outside my new target time, but this was a nice puzzle from Hurley. I spent an extra minute or so trying to parse SPENDER for 18a after falling for the mis-direction of ‘one advancing money’ being a spender. However, having definitions in the middle of a clue is a no-no, so I had to rethink (also because I couldn’t satisfactorily parse it).
Other than that little adventure, it all went in fairly straightforwardly, although SQUASH RACKETS took a moment to reveal itself. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.
Across
1 Petty Officer’s time with Jack maybe? Write home about it on this? (8)
POSTCARD– P{etty} O{fficer}’S and T{ime} with CARD (Jack maybe). The question mark in the definition indicates that other forms of writing material are also available.
5 Return of transport system? He’s not to be believed (4)
LIAR– RAIL (our most reliable railway system?) reversed (returned)
8 Once more avail oneself of second half of Chartreuse (5)
REUSE– Simply follow the instructions and REUSE the second half of chartreuse. Chartreuse, incidentally, is the herbal liqueur made by monks since 1737. If you have never tried it – don’t!
9 Inquisitive making cold female angry (7)
FURIOUS– Inquisitive would be CURIOUS. If one swaps the C{old} for an F{emale} (making Cold Female), the answer pops up as if by magic
11 Southern shops check television (5,6)
SMALL SCREEN– S{outhern} MALL (shops) SCREEN (check, as in to screen applications). These days, televisions seem not to be so small!
13 Oddly after wins, King vulnerable (2,4)
AT RISK– Odd letters of A{f}T{e}R {w}I{n}S followed by K{ing}
14 Earnings once I’m working (6)
INCOME– Anagram (working) of [ONCE I’M]
16 Movement of pendulum affected at collision (11)
OSCILLATION– Anagram (affected) of [AT COLLISION]. There is a lovely page on Wikipedia on pendulums, worth a look if you can spare the time.
18 Society, one advancing money, very small (7)
SLENDER–The S is from S{ociety}, and one advancing money would be a LENDER. Equating SLENDER with ‘very small’ might be considered a bit of a push, but seem to work fine, for example, when I assess my chances of winning the lottery – i.e. I have a slender / very small chance.
19 Combine having some fun, it entertains (5)
UNITE– Hidden (some) in {f}UN, IT E{ntertains}
20 Were defeated, upsetting lots (4)
LOST– Anagram (upsetting) of [LOTS] – surely today’s easiest clue!
21 Stuck in mud maybe, need to have reflective look around (4,4)
KNEE-DEEP– NEED (need) inside PEEK reversed (reflected look around)
Down
1 In proper kit – a benefit from work (4)
PERK– Hidden in {pro}PER K{it}. PERK is short for perquisite (lovely old word!) and is most commonly found in British English, so may not be as obvious to some of our solvers as it was to me.
2 Game, suppress scams (6,7)
SQUASH RACKETS – SQUASH (suppress) and RACKETS (scams). More often referred to these days as simply SQUASH
3 Roman emperor’s brought over a fellow’s cold dish (6,5)
CAESAR SALAD– CAESAR’S (Roman emperor’s) over A LAD (a fellow). Hands up if you wanted to spell it CEASAR like I did!
4 Soccer official with complaint gets second drink (6)
REFILL– REF{eree} (soccer official) with ILL (with complaint)
6 We note minions relaxed outside working hours (2,4,3,4)
IN ONE’S OWN TIME– Anagram of [WE NOTE MINIONS]
7 Was indignant about unopened gift at end with no name (8)
RESENTED– Unopened gift is {p}RESENT and end with no N{ame} is E{n}D. It makes a change to calling up the newspaper person again for ED
10 Change arrangements in relation to Conservative personality (11)
RECONFIGURE– RE (in relation to) and CON{servative} followed by FIGURE (personality)
12 Come to life in California merry-go-round (8)
CAROUSEL– ROUSE (come to life) inside CAL{ifornia}.
15 Engineers accommodated in farm building, dull (6)
BARREN – RE (engineers, from Royal Engineeers) ‘accommodated’ in BARN (farm building)
17 Old car of poor quality, roof coming off (4)
HEAP– First letter dropped (roof coming off) from {c}HEAP (poor quality)
Other than that little adventure, it all went in fairly straightforwardly, although SQUASH RACKETS took a moment to reveal itself. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.
Across
1 Petty Officer’s time with Jack maybe? Write home about it on this? (8)
POSTCARD– P{etty} O{fficer}’S and T{ime} with CARD (Jack maybe). The question mark in the definition indicates that other forms of writing material are also available.
5 Return of transport system? He’s not to be believed (4)
LIAR– RAIL (our most reliable railway system?) reversed (returned)
8 Once more avail oneself of second half of Chartreuse (5)
REUSE– Simply follow the instructions and REUSE the second half of chartreuse. Chartreuse, incidentally, is the herbal liqueur made by monks since 1737. If you have never tried it – don’t!
9 Inquisitive making cold female angry (7)
FURIOUS– Inquisitive would be CURIOUS. If one swaps the C{old} for an F{emale} (making Cold Female), the answer pops up as if by magic
11 Southern shops check television (5,6)
SMALL SCREEN– S{outhern} MALL (shops) SCREEN (check, as in to screen applications). These days, televisions seem not to be so small!
13 Oddly after wins, King vulnerable (2,4)
AT RISK– Odd letters of A{f}T{e}R {w}I{n}S followed by K{ing}
14 Earnings once I’m working (6)
INCOME– Anagram (working) of [ONCE I’M]
16 Movement of pendulum affected at collision (11)
OSCILLATION– Anagram (affected) of [AT COLLISION]. There is a lovely page on Wikipedia on pendulums, worth a look if you can spare the time.
18 Society, one advancing money, very small (7)
SLENDER–The S is from S{ociety}, and one advancing money would be a LENDER. Equating SLENDER with ‘very small’ might be considered a bit of a push, but seem to work fine, for example, when I assess my chances of winning the lottery – i.e. I have a slender / very small chance.
19 Combine having some fun, it entertains (5)
UNITE– Hidden (some) in {f}UN, IT E{ntertains}
20 Were defeated, upsetting lots (4)
LOST– Anagram (upsetting) of [LOTS] – surely today’s easiest clue!
21 Stuck in mud maybe, need to have reflective look around (4,4)
KNEE-DEEP– NEED (need) inside PEEK reversed (reflected look around)
Down
1 In proper kit – a benefit from work (4)
PERK– Hidden in {pro}PER K{it}. PERK is short for perquisite (lovely old word!) and is most commonly found in British English, so may not be as obvious to some of our solvers as it was to me.
2 Game, suppress scams (6,7)
SQUASH RACKETS – SQUASH (suppress) and RACKETS (scams). More often referred to these days as simply SQUASH
3 Roman emperor’s brought over a fellow’s cold dish (6,5)
CAESAR SALAD– CAESAR’S (Roman emperor’s) over A LAD (a fellow). Hands up if you wanted to spell it CEASAR like I did!
4 Soccer official with complaint gets second drink (6)
REFILL– REF{eree} (soccer official) with ILL (with complaint)
6 We note minions relaxed outside working hours (2,4,3,4)
IN ONE’S OWN TIME– Anagram of [WE NOTE MINIONS]
7 Was indignant about unopened gift at end with no name (8)
RESENTED– Unopened gift is {p}RESENT and end with no N{ame} is E{n}D. It makes a change to calling up the newspaper person again for ED
10 Change arrangements in relation to Conservative personality (11)
RECONFIGURE– RE (in relation to) and CON{servative} followed by FIGURE (personality)
12 Come to life in California merry-go-round (8)
CAROUSEL– ROUSE (come to life) inside CAL{ifornia}.
15 Engineers accommodated in farm building, dull (6)
BARREN – RE (engineers, from Royal Engineeers) ‘accommodated’ in BARN (farm building)
17 Old car of poor quality, roof coming off (4)
HEAP– First letter dropped (roof coming off) from {c}HEAP (poor quality)