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11. Tender stuff, porcelain leaving port COAL (Coal(port)) A very misleading
surface, not to do with tenderness, but with the tender that follows a steam loco.
The Coalport porcelain brand still survives from the 18c.,
but is less familiar these days.
12. We are accepting rise a pound short as
formerly (but no more)
WHILERE (hil(l) in we’re) A rather confusing definition in a rather
confusing surface leading to an unusual adverb. The idea is that the solution
formerly meant ‘formerly’.
15. Mountain region, ergo on for tramping about OROGEN (anag.) Solvers who, like Dr Watson, have visited
Oregon and know it to be mountainous, at least in part, may also be have been kicking
themselves as they reached for the correcting fluid.
21. A VIP Positano
diverted, having little energy A TOP NOISE (anag.
+ e; see noise in C.)
Solvers who, like Dr Watson, have visited
Positano
and know it to be beautifully situated on the Amalfi
coast, may also have been distracted by their reverie, but probably not for
long.
26. It’s grand in W. African state, enjoying
mild climate BENIGN
(g in Benin) Solvers
who, unlike Dr Watson, have visited Benin,
may be able to vouch or otherwise for this description of its climate, and will
not have wasted any time trying to fit Ghana into the solution.
32. Precocious chit married first male to
appear MADAM (m. + Adam)
A
great surface that might have benefited from a more contemporary definition.
4. Once having skill, injecting bit of
cladode into old graft
SCIENT (c in sient) You
don’t need to know that a cladode is a leaf-like stem to solve the clue, but it
helps to understand the surface from an arboricultural
point of view. ‘Sient’ is an old spelling of ‘scion’.
6. Letter from Scotland penned in Ayrshire
region HIRER (hidden) The alternative meanings
of ‘letter’ and ‘penned’ will be familiar enough to most solvers, but are very
neatly deployed together here.
23. Such as George one’s found digging in
allotments? PILOTS (I in plots) It’s the time of year
when thoughts turn to spadework, and some might wish that they had a device to take
on the workload, as aviators do with George the autopilot.
25. Lord and Lady opening central part of fair ADONAI (Doña in (f)ai(r)) The key here is
understanding the role of ‘opening’, more commonly used to indicate an initial
letter.
27. Co-star of Dana A. and others seen in fur GENET (Gene
T.) Solvers will need long
memories and/or a qualification in film-buffery to recall
that Dana A. is (actor) Dana
Andrews, who co-starred with (actress) Gene Tierney in Where the Sidewalk Ends in 1950, and
nothing to do with Eurovision (though that would also need a long memory).
Other solutions:
Across: 1. UPCAST-SHAFT (anag.);
13. HORNIE (‘horny’); 14. CRURAL (C + rural); 17. COLON (col on; colon4); 18. PRENTS (s to
end in sprent); 19. STYLELESS (anag.
in sess; see cess); 30. TYLOTE (lot in tye); 31. OOLONG (hidden); 32. IRON-ON (I + n
in roon); 33. CRATERS (anag
incl. r(o)s(é));
34. KART (tra(c)k,
rev.); 35. SYSTEMATIST (anag.).
Down: 2. POOR-OOT (poor +
too, rev.); 3.
CAROLI (car + anag.); 5. TWENTY-ONE (2 mngs.); 7. ALUDEL (anag. in all); 8. FERINE (in in anag.); 9.
TRAD ((S)trad); 10. DÉLASSEMENT (lass + e, all in dement); 11. CHOCK-A-BLOCK; 16. SPLITTISM (anag.);
20. STATORS (St a(C)tors); 22. ON A LAY (nala
in (b)oy; see lay in C.); 24. SMYRNA (comp. anag.
& lit.); 29.
HORS (hidden).