Times 27676 - where a factotum meets a teetotaller
Time taken: 12:58, but with one very silly typo.
What a difference a day makes? Yesterday was a biff-fest that led to my fastest time ever, today was a day where many of the answers had to be pieced together from the wordplay, and there was misdirection and some clever hiding of the definition. I really enjoyed this puzzle (even though I got the dreaded pink square).
I hope everyone is keeping safe and sane. We just entered "phase 2" here and I sat at an outside table at a brewery on Monday and had a beer from a tap for the first time in nearly three months! Wearing a mask of course.
Away we go...
Across | |
1 | Buddy maybe sharing a lift in a sort of tunnel? (6) |
CARPAL - the buddy sharing a lift could be a CAR PAL - an anatomical tunnel | |
4 | Vehicles going head to head at game (8) |
BACCARAT - CAB and CAR (vehicles), the first one reversed, then AT | |
10 | Runs away at bedtime? (6,3) |
LIGHTS OUT - double definition | |
11 | Run across traveller (5) |
ROVER - R(run), OVER(across) | |
12 | Helpful-sounding woman (3) |
ADA - sounds like AIDER(someone who helps) | |
13 | Fortune-telling character, fantastic (11) |
CHIROMANTIC - CHI(character), ROMANTIC(fantastic) - got this one from wordplay alone | |
14 | Manager retains old craftsman (6) |
COOPER - COPER(manager) containing O(old) | |
16 | Box female soldiers, with police car outside (7) |
PANDORA - OR(soliders) with PANDA(police car) surrounding - by far my favorite clue for the definition | |
19 | Find a description of each other planet? (7) |
UNEARTH - other planets would be UN-EARTH | |
20 | Finish off better stand-up routine (6) |
IMPROV - remove the last letter from IMPROVE(better). There's a legion of actors that will tell you improv is not stand-up, but plenty of stand-ups don't do rehearsed material and rely on audience cues. | |
22 | Endlessly fooling around in fun, I admit (2,9) |
AD INFINITUM - anagram of IN,FUN,I,ADMIT | |
25 | Computer obsessive’s good to go — that’s scary! (3) |
EEK - GEEK(computer obsessive) with the G(good) removed | |
26 | One’s under canvas to relax at length (5) |
EASEL - EASE(relax), L(length) | |
27 | Very simply, the opposite of a surrender demand? (5,4) |
HANDS DOWN - the surrender demand would be HANDS UP so this is the reverse. Silly me didn't check properly and had HANDS SOWN | |
28 | Top driver’s support to corporation (8) |
TEETOTUM - TEE(driver's support in golf), TO, TUM(corporation) - another one from the wordplay. A spinning top | |
29 | Inducement to serve in unhappy ship (6) |
BOUNTY - double definition, the second referring to a mutiny |
Down | |
1 | Wine collection merchant picked up (6) |
CELLAR - sounds like SELLER(merchant) | |
2 | Fix function for parent that’s boringly complicated (9) |
RIGMAROLE - RIG(fix), and the function for a parent could be a MA ROLE | |
3 | Room’s window having no frame (5) |
ATTIC - LATTICE(window) missing the outer letters | |
5 | Drippy work of war artist? (6,8) |
ACTION PAINTING - a war artist could produce an ACTION PAINTING, but it is best known as the Jackson Pollock style | |
6 | From rudely impatient indigenous people, pressure for start of entertainment (7,2) |
CURTAIN UP - CURT(rudely impatient), AINU (indigneous people of Japan), P(pressure). A close second in favorite clue | |
7 | Firmly fix hedge, trimming the top (5) |
RIVET - a PRIVET hedge missing the start | |
8 | Move round bed to corner a rat (8) |
TURNCOAT - TURN(move round), COT(bed) containing A | |
9 | Patronising houri, health not suffering (6-4-4) |
HOLIER-THAN-THOU - anagram of HOURI,HEALTH,NOT | |
15 | Extent of responsibility left one fool struggling (9) |
PORTFOLIO - PORT(left) then an anagram of I(one),FOOL | |
17 | Working at the double, circle in all directions unaided (2,4,3) |
ON ONES OWN - ON and ON(double working) then O(circle) in the directions E,S,W,N | |
18 | Call up to have a trial for City (8) |
BUDAPEST - DUB(call, name), reversed, then A, PEST(trial, annoyance) | |
21 | Hotel where there may be pie? But without fat (6) |
SKINNY - INN(hotel) inside the pie in the SKY | |
23 | Can woman be producing children? (5) |
ISSUE - IS(can), SUE(woman) | |
24 | Do wrong, offering paste, pocketing diamonds (5) |
MISDO - MISO paste containing D(diamonds) |