Apologies for the late blog…
…I got my days mixed up (advancing senility and losing track of time due to football being played at odd times of night are my only excuses). This was a generally straightforward Gemelo that had me reaching for the BRB less often than normal. The parsing for CYBERPET held me up for ages.
Thanks, Gemelo
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | COMPACTIFIED |
Short story ending happily, sealing deal if one’s squeezed (12)
|
| [short] COMED(y) (“story ending happily”) sealing (PACT (“deal) + IF + I (one)) | ||
| 10 | ABNORMALLY |
Unusually liberal May Ball adopting vote against king (10)
|
| *(may ball) [anag:liberal] adopting NO R (“vote against king” where R = Rex (King)) | ||
| 11 | BYRE |
Last traces of club rivalry for Steve Bull’s position? (4)
|
| [last traces of] (clu)B (rivalr)Y (of)R (Stev)E | ||
| 12 | SPINA |
Play with a quill (5)
|
| SPIN (“play” as in a record) with A | ||
| 13 | MINKSTONE |
Concrete pitch needing more than one coat to begin with (9)
|
| TONE (“pitch”) needing MINKS (“more than one coat”) to begin with | ||
| 15 | RENIN |
Issue of kidney bean ultimately kept in check (5)
|
| (bea)N [ultimately] kept in REIN (“check”) | ||
| 16 | CEP |
Penny-bun collected by receptionist (3)
|
| Hidden in [collected by] “reCEPtionist” | ||
| 18 | PLATO |
Amateur record going back as far as ancient thinker (5)
|
| <=(A (amateur) + LP (long-playing “record”), going back) + TO (“as far as”) | ||
| 19 | CNIDA |
Stinger caught North American without driving licence? (5)
|
| C (caught, in cricket) + NA (North American) without ID (“driving licence?”)
Cnida is a sting, such as that on a jellyfish or sea anemone. |
||
| 21 | DIVOT |
Half-cut ex-wife, maybe hostile at heart, dug up dirt (5)
|
| [half-cut] DIVO(rcee) (“ex-wife, maybe”) + (hos)T(ile) [at heart] | ||
| 22 | SERIC |
Rare Chinese style of print mostly used by college (5)
|
| SERI(f) (“style of printing”, mostly) used by C (college)
Seric is a rare word for Chinese based on the Greek word for silk (sērikos) |
||
| 24 | TOE |
Part of Iron Man originally taken from book (3)
|
| M(an) [originally] taken from TO(m)E (“book”) | ||
| 26 | CREME |
Conservative engineers application (5)
|
| C (Conservative) + REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical “Engineers”) | ||
| 27 | LOOP-LIGHT |
Small window can jam (9)
|
| LOO (“can”, as in toilet) + PLIGHT (“jam”)
A loop-light is a vertical slit in a castle wall used by archers or just to let light in. |
||
| 28 | HAOMA |
Amateur drinking nothing before Australian ritual drink (5)
|
| HAM (“amateur”) drinking O (nothing) before A (Australian)
Hoama (made from an eponymous vine) is a ritual drink in Zoroastrianism. |
||
| 30 | ORRA |
Odd highland lizard shedding skin (4)
|
| (w)ORRA(l) (monitor “lizard”, shedding skin)
Orra is a Scots word meaning odd, although when I was growing up in Eastern Scotland, I thought it meant rough or dishevelled. |
||
| 31 | MARCH-STONE |
What indicates boundary runs during matches on broadcast (10)
|
| R (run, in cricket) during *(matches on) [anag:broadcast] | ||
| 32 | BISHOP SLEEVE |
Cover for member‘s blunder over Solicitor at Law wearing incense (12, 2 words)
|
| BISH (“blunder”) + O (over, in cricket) SL (Solicitor at Law) wearing PEEVE (“incense”) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | CYBERPET |
Bloodhound biting before (not after) rolling domestic animal that’s been chipped? (8)
|
| <=(TEC (detective, so “bloodhound”) biting PRE (before) + BY (“not after”), rolling) | ||
| 2 | OXYMEL |
Vinegar and honey reversed possible myxomatosis to an extent (6)
|
| Hidden backwards in [reversed…to an extent] “possibLE MYXOmatosis | ||
| 3 | MARINADE |
Forced to install Republican, in a pickle? (8)
|
| MADE (“forced”) to install (R (Republican) + IN A) | ||
| 4 | ANTI-NOVEL |
Book that’s reactionary? (9)
|
| Cryptic(ish) definition | ||
| 5 | CORNUCOPIA |
Couple leading Costa Rica upon cracking source of abundance (10)
|
| [couple leading] CO(sta) + *(rica upon) [anag:cracking] | ||
| 6 | IMP |
Coward losing head in terror (3)
|
| (w)IMP (“coward”) [losing head] | ||
| 7 | FAITH |
Quarter using e.g. ChatGPT instead of our trust (5)
|
| F(our)TH (“quarter”) using AI (“e.g. ChatGPT”) instead of OUR becomes F(AI)TH | ||
| 8 | ELANET |
Barely talented, flying kite (6)
|
| *(alente) [anag:flying] where ALENTE is [barely] (t)ALENTE(d) | ||
| 9 | DYNE |
Force unit to eat in earshot (4)
|
| Homophone/pun/aural wordplay [in earshot] of DINE (“to eat”)
The dyne is the CGS unit of force. |
||
| 12 | SKINTIGHTS |
Restricting gear broke this government somehow (10)
|
| SKINT (“broke”) + *(this g) [anag:somehow] where G = Government | ||
| 14 | SKI SCHOOL |
Where pupils learn on snow is cold – stop in hail! (9, 2 words)
|
| IS + C (cold) + HO (“stop”) in SKOL (“hail”) | ||
| 16 | CAREFREE |
Not worried about judge losing energy (8)
|
| Ca. (circa, so “about”) + REF(e)REE (“judge”, losing E (energy)) | ||
| 17 | PUCELAGE |
Virginity lost after raising e.g. beer mug? (8)
|
| [after raising] <=(e.g. + ALE (“beer”) + CUP (“mug”)) | ||
| 20 | BOOHAI |
I don’t like this unfinished shower in remote part of New Zealand (6)
|
| BOO (“I don’t like this”) + [unfinished] HAI(l)
A New Zealand word for a remote rural place. |
||
| 23 | IMPROV |
6 in King Lear perhaps warn about acting without a plan (6)
|
| IMP (solution to “6” down) + <=VOR (“warn in King Lear perhaps”, about)
Vor appears in Act 4 of King Lear as a dialect word for “warn”. |
||
| 25 | EPOCH |
Priest’s covering up husband’s age (5)
|
| <=COPE (“priest covering”) + H (husband) | ||
| 27 | LAMB |
Batter British meat (4)
|
| LAM (“batter”) + B (British) | ||
| 29 | MHO |
Siemens once deposing leader, briefly for me (3)
|
| (i)MHO (in my humble option, so “briefly, for me”) deposing leader |
Once again, I read through several clues with increasing bewilderment, but found it not so bad once I got going. ORRA went straight in on the basis of “Odd highland”, though I’d never heard of worral. Like loonapick, I found the parsing of CYBERPET convoluted and I’m not sure about the definition; my dog has been microchipped, but he’s not a cyberpet! It also took a while for the penny to drop on (I)MHO; due to the limitations of my ancient Chambers, BOOHAI and HAOMA were my LOIs and I wasn’t sure till then that MHO was correct (although I knew it fitted “Siemens once”). I initially thought 20dn might be BOORAI and was excited to discover that it was a word – but in Australia and it meant a baby, which didn’t fit! Thanks for the blog.
Thanks for the blog , another very good solid puzzle , I am ready for a Special now . MHO I knew immediately but did not know the wordplay . TOE I presume is the golf club for Iron ?
MINKSTONE was a gift for me , I grew up near to the Minkstone Works in Longton , they have an old bottle kiln , few have survived . BOOHAI not in Chambers93 , thought it could be the name of a place but not in my atlas .
MunroMaiden @1 , a CYBERPET also known as a Tamagotchi .
Hi Roz@2 , this is from the Chambers app …
booay, booai or boohai /booˈī/ (NZ)
noun
A remote rural place
ORIGIN: Poss from Puhoi in the North Auckland district, once considered remote
For toe , I agree re the golfing iron .
ps . I have adopted your punctuation spacing convention .
Thanks Jay@3 an interesting word .
I type with one finger and have taught myself to press the spacebar with my thumb after each word so I do it without thinking . This site is the only place I have ever typed .
Roz@2, I’m familiar with the tamagotchi (from tamago, the Japanese for egg, and watch), but I thought it was a stretch to call it an “animal that’s been chipped”!
I’m not sure if I’m ready for another special, but why not, as long as they’re not like London buses. Just to say that I appreciate the non-special puzzles much more.