I hope you’ve all been having a good time in York. Here is Major’s contribution to the puzzle collection.
Lots to enjoy here. I liked our setter’s sneaky definitions that require a bit of lateral thinking – particularly 15a, 26a, 6d and 14d. I also liked the very concise 20a with its misleading suggestion of floristry (though I’ve been doing crosswords long enough to recognise an “Italian flower” when I see it) and the letter-swapping construction of 30a. Oh, and it’s a pangram for those who like such things. Thanks Major for the fun.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | WOULD-BE |
Potential club gathering for announcement (5-2)
|
| Sound-alike (for announcement) of WOOD (a type of golf club) + BEE (a gathering for a particular activity, such as a sewing bee or spelling bee). | ||
| 5 | PYJAMAS |
Wear skins of predatory animals outside preserve (7)
|
| Outer letters (skins) of P[redator]Y A[nimal]S, around JAM (a preserve made with fruit and sugar).
Wear, as a noun = clothing, in this case nightwear. |
||
| 9 | ON TAP |
Available to use short recorded (2,3)
|
| ON TAP[e] (recorded) without the last letter (short). | ||
| 10 | VELODROME |
Harry loved capital city arena (9)
|
| Anagram (harry, as a verb = harass) of LOVED, then ROME (capital city).
An arena for cycle racing. |
||
| 11 | SQUARE |
Group forgetting definition at first on 225? (6)
|
| SQUA[d] (a group, especially of soldiers) without the D which is the first letter of D[efinition], then RE (on = on the subject of).
Definition by example: 225 = 15 squared. For the surface, it’s being used as an abbreviation for the name of our crossword blog site. |
||
| 12 | ADDENDUM |
Notice remote place deserted you mark as extra information (8)
|
| AD (short for advertisement = notice) + DEN (a private hideaway = remote place?) + D (abbreviation for deserted, used to identify disused buildings on maps) + U (text-message abbreviation for “you”) + M (abbreviation for mark = old German currency).
Information attached at the end of a document, or provided as an update to an earlier version. |
||
| 15 | THOU |
Second person in Romeo and Juliet without clothes (4)
|
| Hidden answer (. . . clothes, as a verb = wraps around) in [wi]THOU[t].
Word for “you”, grammatically the second person singular, in 16th-century English as used in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. |
||
| 16 | TRIATHLON |
Challenging event involving exhausted triumph without a break? (9)
|
| TRIAL (challenging event) containing T[riump]H (exhausted = inner letters emptied out), then ON (without a break, as in “If music be the food of love, play on” = keep playing).
Clue-as-definition: sporting event involving swimming, cycling and running one after the other. |
||
| 19 | TABLE WINE |
Cheap drink that I appreciate wasted in ecstasy (5,4)
|
| TA (slang for thank you = that I appreciate) + BLEW (wasted, as in “you blew your chance”) + IN + E (slang abbreviation for the drug ecstasy).
Term for basic ordinary wine. |
||
| 20 | EXPO |
One-time Italian flower display (4)
|
| EX (prefix meaning one-time = no longer, as in ex-employee) + PO (an Italian river = something that flows).
Short for exposition. |
||
| 22 | EYE DROPS |
English doctor does pry seeing treatment (3,5)
|
| E (abbreviation for English) + anagram (doctor, as a verb = to alter) of DOES PRY.
Treatment for the eyes, therefore for seeing better. |
||
| 24 | TENDER |
Proposal needing a delicate touch (6)
|
| Double definition. A proposal to carry out an agreed schedule of work for a specified cost; or (describing an area of the body) bruised or swollen and therefore sensitive to touch. | ||
| 26 | ESCAPE KEY |
Exposed best sea feature blocked by another window shutter? (6,3)
|
| [b]ES[t] (exposed = outer letters removed) + KEY (island = sea feature), containing (blocked by) CAPE (headland = another sea feature).
Computer key used to close a screen window. |
||
| 28 | OFTEN |
A great deal from football team missing player (5)
|
| OF TEN (from ten people, for example an 11-a-side football team with one player missing).
As in “I read a great deal” = a lot. |
||
| 29 | LAMINAR |
Back uncivilised character Shrek essentially having layers (7)
|
| ANIMAL (slang for an uncivilised character) reversed (back), then the middle letter (essentially) of [sh]R[ek]. | ||
| 30 | OVERDUE |
Late constantly, couple has mixed-up start with end (7)
|
| EVER (constantly) + DUO (couple), with the start and end letters E and O swapped (mixed up). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | WHOOSH |
What you hear of sudden passing? (6)
|
| Cryptic definition: the sound of something going past very quickly. | ||
| 2 | UNTOUCHABLE |
Anagram clue, but a NHO impossible to get (11)
|
| Anagram of CLUE BUT A NHO. (And on this site, NHO = abbreviation for “never heard of” = an unfamiliar word used in wordplay or solution.) | ||
| 3 | DEPARTURE |
Consequence of notice reader put out (9)
|
| Anagram (out) of READER PUT.
Notice = a declaration to an employer that you will leave your job at a specified date. I’m not sure departure is exactly a “consequence” of giving notice, but one happens after the other. |
||
| 4 | ENVY |
Name 5 from podcast to be jealous of (4)
|
| Sound-alike (from podcast = in audio) of the letters N (abbreviation for name) + V (5 in Roman numerals). | ||
| 5 | PILE-DRIVER |
Big shot‘s fortune beginning to dwarf Amazon? (4-6)
|
| PILE (a fortune = slang for a lot of money) + first letter of D[warf] + RIVER (definition by example: the Amazon in South America).
Slang for a forceful hit or kick, for example a footballer’s powerful shot at goal that the keeper has no chance of saving. |
||
| 6 | JUDGE |
Hearing expert say “D, U, and J” in a Northern way (5)
|
| EG (e.g. = say = for example) + D U J, all reversed (in a Northern way = upwards in a down clue).
A professional in a court case (a hearing). |
||
| 7 | MOO |
Maybe Io concedes new low (3)
|
| MOO[n] (maybe Io, one of the moons of Jupiter) without N (abbreviation for new).
Low, as a verb = moo = to make the sound of a cow. |
||
| 8 | STEAMING |
Small drink served in China former rulers there pickled (8)
|
| S (abbreviation for small) + TEA (drink served in china = porcelain cups) + MING (historical ruling dynasty in China).
The English language has a vast range of slang words for being drunk: pickled and steaming are two examples. |
||
| 13 | DILAPIDATED |
Cover up a detective out in ruins (11)
|
| LID (cover) reversed (up, in a down clue), then A PI (abbreviation for a private investigator = detective) + DATED (out = old-fashioned). | ||
| 14 | STRIP POKER |
Southern tourist accepts fine in which losses are uncovered? (5,5)
|
| S (abbreviation for southern) + TRIPPER (tourist), containing OK (fine = satisfactory).
Card game in which a losing player has to remove an item of clothing (become uncovered) to continue playing. |
||
| 17 | THEREFORE |
Read out possible description of quartet accordingly (9)
|
| Sound-alike (read out, in the past tense = spoken aloud) of THEY’RE FOUR (a description of a quartet). | ||
| 18 | ETHEREAL |
Like spirits with others drinking in this place (8)
|
| ET AL (abbreviation for Latin et alii = and other people = with others), containing (drinking in) HERE (this place).
Ethereal = ghostly = like a spirit. |
||
| 21 | BRONZE |
Copper evacuated busier zone to arrest criminal with tip off (6)
|
| B[usie]R Z[on]E (evacuated = inner letters removed), containing (to arrest . . .) [c]ON (slang for a criminal) with the first letter (tip) removed.
Bronze is an alloy consisting of mainly copper with other metals, but “bronze” and “copper” can both mean a reddish-brown colour, and “copper” coins are generally made from bronze. |
||
| 23 | RIPEN |
Run home bored by childish activities to mature (5)
|
| R (abbreviation for run, in cricket scoring) + IN (home = at home, as in “I’ve been in all day”), with PE (abbreviation for physical education = sports activities for schoolchildren) inserted (bored = made a hole in). | ||
| 25 | TYRO |
Novice in ivory tower shown up (4)
|
| Hidden answer (in . . .), reversed (shown up = upwards in a down clue), in [iv]ORY T[ower]. | ||
| 27 | CAM |
Revolutionary Apple device for streamer (3)
|
| MAC (abbreviation for an Apple Macintosh personal computer), reversed (revolutionary).
Short for webcam = a computer-based camera used for streaming video. I’ve taken “streamer” as the person using the device, but perhaps the definition is just “streamer” meaning the camera that streams video, with “Apple device” for the computer. It could work either way. |