Times 27487 - A Picasso in the works!
Time: 66 minutes
Music: Oliver Nelson, Blues and the Abstract Truth
I don't know about you, but I found this very clever and very tough. If you don't pay careful attention to the cryptics, you won't get anywhere, because the literals are pretty well concealed. I might have been a little tired from today's golf, but even if I were fresh and rested I don't think I would have done very well. The SNITCH shows that most solvers found this pretty difficult. My main problem was getting started, and after twenty minutes I had only a few answers. Once you have a few crossers, then you may be able to pick up steam - which I did, only to get stuck again in all four corners. In the end, I had only one answer I couldn't parse, and I may discover how that one works as I write the blog.
| Across | |
| 1 | Spring tax returns for Picasso? (8) |
| SPANIARD - SPA + DRAIN backwards. | |
| 5 | Reproductive organ of fish feels oddly deficient (6) |
| CARPEL - CARP + [f]E[e]L[s], not to be confused with carpal. | |
| 9 | Small ducks ruined patch of ground (3) |
| LOT - LO[s]T, as a building lot. | |
| 10 | Splendidly accoutred drunk embracing mean one thus (11) |
| CAPARISONED - CA(PAR I SO)NED. 'Caned' is evidently an obscure UK slang expression, as I had supposed. | |
| 12 | Ultimately frantic perhaps as jockeys refuse to go on these (10) |
| SCRAPHEAPS - Anagram of [franti]C PERHAPS AS. I spotted the defintion early on, but had a hard time finding the cryptic. | |
| 13 | Master mariner wearing breeches inside out (4) |
| BOSS - B(O.S)S, where the inside of breeches is 'out', so don't use it! | |
| 15 | Leaders of party salute your revolutionary spirit (6) |
| PSYCHE - P[arty] S[alute] Y[our] + CHE, a straight translation of Latin into Greek. | |
| 16 | Drop unbounded passion for EU nation (7) |
| ROMANIA - [d]RO[p] + MANIA. I was afraid 'EU' was part of the cryptic, and it would turn out to be a country from some other continent. | |
| 18 | One's favourite American drive (7) |
| IMPETUS - I'M + PET + US, my FOI. | |
| 20 | Without a pair of spectacles, kiss and cuddle something wicked! (6) |
| CANDLE - CAN[oo]DLE, a simple letter-removal clue for a literal using a chestnutty concealment technique. | |
| 23 | Complaint coming from Isaac Newton (4) |
| ACNE - hidden in [Isa]AC NE[wton]. | |
| 24 | Jumping beans, a meal for Jack (4,6) |
| ABLE SEAMAN - anagram of BEANS, A MEAL to give us the full version of AB! | |
| 26 | Treated Uncle Tom, being doctor (5,6) |
| LOCUM TENENS - anagram of UNCLE TOM + ENS, a Latin word meaning 'being', widely used in philosophy. A 'locum tenens' just means a substitute, but has come to be associated with the medical profession, since doctors can't very well go on vacation and tell their patients to wait until they return. | |
| 27 | Join old man, heading some way back (3) |
| ADD - DAD, with the initial letter moved to the middle, as it would be 'all the way back' if the end was meant. | |
| 28 | Fury engulfing English crown (6) |
| WREATH - WR(E)ATH. | |
| 29 | Lug instrument and books round room (8) |
| OTOSCOPE - OT + O + SCOPE. I suspected early that 'lug' would turn out to be 'ear', but not in so literal a sense. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Climbing southern mountains with husband in plaster (6) |
| SPLASH - S ALPS upside-down + H. | |
| 2 | Star of panto was leaving wings with resolution (7) |
| ANTARES - [p]ANT[o] [w]A[s] + RES. I saw early on that Antares would fit, but only discovered it was in fact the answer much later. | |
| 3 | Weakness of urban housing control (10) |
| INCAPACITY - IN (CAPA) CITY. I'm not sure of this one, but CAPA is a control point in QMS. I'm sure glad I'm retired and don't have to go to management training seminars any more. | |
| 4 | Deplorable fellow stops fermenting Pilsner beer (13) |
| REPREHENSIBLE - HE inside an anagram of PILSNER BEER. | |
| 6 | Too early? Stop regularly (4) |
| ALSO - [e]A[r]L[y] S[t]O[p]. | |
| 7 | Buccaneer less angry aboard working barge (7) |
| PONTOON - P[irate] + ONTO + ON. | |
| 8 | Albatross heard above head of superstitious sailor and his guide (8) |
| LODESTAR - sounds like LOAD + S[uperstitious] TAR. | |
| 11 | Criminal charge for tough guys in court is getting closer (13) |
| RAPPROCHEMENT - RAP + PRO + C(HE-MEN)T. | |
| 14 | Supply insane sum to retain a literary assistant (10) |
| AMANUENSIS - Anagram of INSANE SUM, the closest we're going to get to a chestnut today. | |
| 17 | Refuse to sanction pallid policeman at first (8) |
| DISALLOW - D.I. + SALLOW, our old friend the Detective Inspector. | |
| 19 | Flamboyant style long crushed by censure (7) |
| PANACHE - PAN + ACHE. | |
| 21 | Delay arresting university doctor over complaint (7) |
| LUMBAGO - L(U M.B.)AG + O, one I biffed and then analyzed. | |
| 22 | Third of troopers, say, retreat, upset and nervous (2,4) |
| ON EDGE - [tr]O[opers] + E.G. DEN upside down. | |
| 25 | Belch while keeling over (4) |
| EMIT - TIME upside down, where belch has a metaphorical sense, as in 'belching smoke'. | |