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HERE’S nothing in this month’s
competition puzzle to drastically hold up solvers, with only one literary reference
and one piece of German required from beyond the realm of Chambers Dictionary.
Dr Watson motored through it, which, given the fuel crisis, was about the only
motoring possible last week. The competition word HANDS-ON looks to offer a
good variety of non-anagram wordplay, but maybe less in the way of interesting
or misleading definitions.
7. Seed
covering ball is there? He belts it possibly ARIL (comp. anag.) The wordplay with
its tennis surface can be hard to see, though you might guess that ‘seed
covering’ is the definition. ‘Ball is there’ gives an anagram of ‘he belts
aril’.
10. Delayed
receiving a present sent back – unusually smooth LAEVIGATE (a + give, rev., all in late) Ximenes set the
alternative spelling LEVIGATE as an early competition word in puzzle
no 110 in 1949. Some of the language in the published clues might be
considered troublesome nowadays.
11. Positive
German football team making money PELF (P +
elf (Ger.)) Dr Watson spent some time looking for a
German team with a three letter name (Ulm?) or
acronym, before the simpler ‘elf’ for ‘eleven’ dawned.
28. It’s a tight
fit in the dressing room – stars almost late LEOTARD (Leo tard(y)) A fine surface from Azed, and Dr Watson’s
favourite clue of the puzzle. The constellation Leo also turns up in an
astrological context at 9 down.
29. Republicans
having a bit of a knees-up in lively dance GOPAK (GOP + a k) GOP for ‘Grand
Old Party’ is more familiar than it was in the UK, thanks to the continuous
coverage of the Trump years.
32. Sex symbol
that is given leading part in India YONI (yon + I) The clue turns
out to be less Bollywood and more Kama Sutra than it first apperars.
2. King Cole in
a bad way? Soon one’s out at the elbows OLECRANON (anag.
incl. R + anon) The ‘anon’ part is worked neatly into the wordplay. The
solution is a bony protrusion of the ulna.
9. Sun rising
round East? Many of us enjoy summer birthdays LEOS
(E in Sol, rev.) The nice definition refers to Leos in
general, but not to Azed in person, whose 79th birthday has just
passed in September.
18. Writer
I put up in disorderly inn, one of several in alley? NINEPIN (pen I, rev., in anag.) The three N’s and two I’s make the anagram
harder to place. Ninepins are found in a bowling alley.
22. Not strictly a Mohican cut
for harvest celebration HAWKEY (Hawk-ey(e)) Solvers familiar with The Last of the
Mohicans will know that Natty
Bumppo or Hawk-eye is a white man who lives among
the Mohicans. Hawkey is another name for a Harvest
supper, sometimes exploited by crossword setters for its other spelling
‘hockey’.
25. Region of SW
France suggested by the French? LANDE
(i.e. L and E) ‘Suggested’
should alert the solver to a wordplay trick, in this case that ‘L and E’ gives
‘le’. The word ‘lande’ refers to a type of terrain
more than to a specific region in France.
26. Such a face
suggests one foolish cracksman, first to last EGGY (yegg with y to end) More
suggestion here as someone looking foolish could be described as having ‘egg on
their face’. A yegg is a US safe-cracker, and a setter’s gift on occasion for
an awkward grid fill.
Other solutions:
Across: 1. POP-UNDER (P in pounder;
ref. computing); 13.
GATSO (first letters); 14. SCALADO (i.e.
Scala do); 16. SPINDLE OIL (anag. + l); 17. CANID (can(d)id); 19. ELENCH (L in e’en Ch); 21. KNIGHT (K night); 23. FESTA ((Brie)fest a); 24. CONNATURAL (a in anag.); 30. INNS (in + N/S; ref. bridge); 31. GUIDEPOST (anag.); 33. YESTREEN (yes tree N).
Down: 1. POP-SOCK (pop sock); 3. PALAS (a for m in palms); 4.
NAVAID (a in divan, rev.); 5.
DEAD-NETTLE (anag.);
6. RIGOLL (go in rill); 8.
RATIONS (anag.);
12. BODEGUEROS (bode + anag.); 15. PICTARNIE (pic tarn i.e.); 20. HANDS-ON;
23. FROWST (w in frost); 27. WADI
(hidden).
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