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1. Confines leather strap to haul back fight
in front of HM GUT-SCRAPER
(A; gates crupper; tug, rev. + scap + ER) Many of the type A solutions are portmanteau
words. Solvers need to look, or listen, out for Spoonerisms that are more than
just the same two words with vowels or consonants swapped. Here the S of
‘scraper’ is moved phonically to the end of ‘gut’ as well.
11. What bucks, after sighting, will be bagged
by rifle aimed? FLEA (B; sucks … biting; hidden) One of the more easily spotted and solved of
the type B clues that will likely have got many solvers off the blocks.
12. Later course in long meal, sea food dip
perhaps? FISH-DIVE (A; dish five; fish
dive) Along
with 22ac, the best of the type A’s to be clued as a single phrase.
13. Pack fizz – not a word! – in upper deck POST-OP
(A; stow pop; st! in poop).
14. Where sea wind first died, even on the fringes EDEN (B; we
sinned; d in e’en) A delightfully Spoonerised
definition.
16. Without Latin one must stay outside area of
ecumenical council
SINAEAN (A; Nicaean; a in sine (L.) an) Spoonerisms that convert the solution to another
single word are always harder to spot. The definition is a reference to the
first Council of
Nicaea in AD 325 that produced the Nicene creed.
17. Clan chief writing if hand etc guided THIN-FACED (A; thane fist; anag.).
19. Tree sap to soften by boiling, then left CREEL (B; sea
trap; cree + l).
20. Feature of bill as pace modified cost,
reverse of ideal
SCOTIA (B; pillar’s base; anag. + A1, rev.) You need to speak the clue fairly rapidly,
and not roll your R’s, to generate a satisfactory Spoonerism.
22. Part of Tommy’s kit bashed? Number cheers having
it for protection HINT
AT (A; tin hat; n ta in hit) Another single phrase opportunity eagerly
grasped by Azed.
25. Alto, soft, cut short as one bawls keys APIAN (B; calls
bees; a + pian(o)).
26. Mount showy performance: switch round work STILL-HUNT (A;
hill stunt; till in shunt).
28. Cheerful Cockney, slack, e.g. I brought in
to sing last in programme CARIOLE (A; ’Arry coal; I in carol + e) The cheery and vulgar ’Arry
used to drop his aitches all over crossword clues once, but isn’t seen or heard
so much these days. It’s fitting to include him in a puzzle that relies on
pronunciation.
31. Ma left off preparing cart cord KING (B; court
card; (ma)king).
32. Down tame summons involving minimum of sin CITESS (B; town
dame; s in cites).
33. Shoot out like light ERADIATE The competition word, requiring a type B
clue.
34. Bit of cold ash mate’s left by close friend INTI (B; old
cash; inti(mate)).
35. Polish patsy warmed vandal SANDSUCKER (A; sunned sacker; sand sucker) Dr Watson found the last few letters early
on, and then spent too much thought on trying to Spoonerise
‘wrecker’.
DOWN
2. Some wee seeds: wife has potted large
number, even ones for Charlie
ULOTHRIX (B; seaweeds; lot + alt. letters, all in ux) Azed makes the most of an unpromising word.
3. See me catch half of team, the other half
being stumped TEST
(B; key match; te(am) + st.).
4. Dapper coterie, a point accepted by street SATINET (A;
natty set; a tine in St) A
Spoonerism that may not suit everyone’s choice of pronunciation.
5. Inferior horse cut to taste uncooked RIP-SAW (A;
sip raw; rip3 saw) Azed does very
little, well, nothing in fact, to disguise the meaning of ‘saw’ in the charade.
6. Like informal photo, say, it may be sold
for mammon ASPIC
(B; mould for salmon; as pic).
7. Pub once shattered the whole solid sink PHONE CALL (A;
cone fall; PH + anag. + all) As the notes after the clues indicate, PH,
that most welcome of the Ordnance Survey’s abbreviations, doesn’t appear in
modern editions of Chambers.
8. Long to let out private room? Scratch around RIDENT (A; die
rent; den in rit).
9. Centre of round, mostly meat, pie’s art UVEA (B; eye’s
part; (ro)u(nd) + vea(l)).
10. See nanny steep muddied girl’s underwear,
no matter which PENNY
ANTES (A; any panties; anag.) In defining the Spoonerism as a phrase Azed cheekily swaps round the indications of the component
words.
13. As pet poorly, log in songbird disease (the
pip) PATCHOCKES
(A; chat pox; chock in anag.) Here Dr Watson was misled by the listing
of ‘patchocke’
as a variant of ‘patchcocke’ into looking for a
Spoonerism of ‘patch’ and ‘ox’, i.e. ‘atch pox’. It
took several days and some help to see that ‘pat’ and ‘chocks’ are Spooner’s
intended victims. It’s uncertain whether Spenser’s contemporaries would have
sounded the final E or not, especially in the plural form, but we must assume a
modern reading.
15. Been in some mate’s ace apartment, neat, trendy AFLATOXIN (B;
bane … meats; A flat ox in) The best hidden of the type B’s. Many solvers
will doubtless have given some thought to ‘seen in bum …’.
18. Close to ski run, it’s alpine, wild but
short of length
PIANISTE (A; near piste; anag. less l) Another one that benefits from less than perfect
enunciation.
21. Dodgy sound from ticker? Operation a big
success, I see OPHITIC
(A; iffy tock; op hit I C).
23. Leo determining Trots, disheartened Russian
when following drama
NORNAS (B; trio … lots; no4 R(ussia)n
as) A
lovely penny-drop, more likely to occur after the solution is deduced.
24. Six for Pete maybe, hoisting handle,
century bagged ELECTS
(B; picks for seat; C in stele, rev.) The clue is especially apposite with a UK
General Election coming in the week between the puzzle and this review.
27. Large marble fish, wide bones, little depth ILIAD (A; ally2
id; ilia + d).
29. Whacking late enchantress needing no introduction AIRY (B;
lacking weight; (f)airy).
30. Piny tar, this serves as lining for open keel PENK (B; tiny parr; hidden) Scanning through all the clues at the start
will get you this quick hit.