Pip Kirby (pipkirby) wrote in times_xwd_times,
Pip Kirby
pipkirby
times_xwd_times

Times 27771 - Bally dancing

17a is not a place to be seen wearing green. It's Liam Neeson's home town; he was offered the freedom of the borough but the charming DUP blocked that and gave it to Ian Paisley instead. Anyway, I'd prefer to be in the Swedish university city at 10a, the fourth largest in the country. [enough politics - Ed]. This was a pleasant exercise in wordplay, sprinkled with a few interesting words; a fruit, a plant, a Greek monster, an instrument. I'm not sure I fully understand 26a, and I wasn't convinced about CO for the peace protester in 15d, but for me the rest was fine. How did you like it?


Across
1 Ben follows drunk sailor, but not literally (2,2,5)
SO TO SPEAK - SOT (drunk) OS (ordinary seaman) PEAK (ben).
6 Blimp maybe one caught by wind condition (5)
COLIC - COL (Colonel Blimp?) I, C(aught).
9 Recalled letter by queen and one by king bearing fruit (7)
KUMQUAT - All reversed (recalled): TAU (letter) Q (queen) MU (letter) K (king).
10 Heightened pressure sadly set back Swedish university (7)
UPPSALA - UP (heightened) P (pressure) ALAS reversed (sadly, set back). Pleasant university city north of Stockholm.
11 Instrument’s one needed earlier during part of flight (5)
SITAR - STAIR being part of flight, move the I forward. Indian stringed instrument.
12 Sodium and potassium — deadly mixture — in plant (5,4)
NAKED LADY - NA (Na, sodium) K (potassium), (DEADLY)*. The Belladonna Lily plant.
13 Beds, for example, or large, heavy drawer (5)
SHIRE - double definition, a county or a shire horse.
14 Issue of spouse of Liberal visiting rebuked: should have rung earlier (9)
STEPCHILD - STEP (rung, before) CHID (rebuked) insert L.
17 Woman chasing my large dog back in Irish town (9)
BALLYMENA - MY L LAB = my large dog, reverse that and add ENA a woman. Town of 30,000 people in Northern Ireland.
18 Females opening have to cut mistakes (5)
MUFFS - MUS(T) = have to, cut; insert FF females.
19 Sort of water supply perhaps not encountered before near delta (9)
UNMETERED - UNMET (not encountered) ERE (before) D(elta).
22 Bound to be fired after penning note (5)
LIMIT - LIT (fired) has MI (note) inserted.
24 Possibly using medium of culture noire, short ITV broadcast (2,5)
IN VITRO - (NOIR ITV)*, where NOIRE loses its E (short).
25 Enrage local feeling with speech (7)
INCENSE - Sounds like (with speech) IN SENSE = feeling.
26 What keeps drawing animal home (5)
EARTH - double definition, one an animal home, and the Earth draws because of gravity? EDIT thanks to pootle73 being first to explain it, it's ART = drawing, inside EH = what?
27 Paintings have captured a horse race on island (9)
TAHITIANS - TITIANS (paintings by him) has A H(orse) inserted.
Down
1 Lavish kisses somewhat revolting, they believe (5)
SIKHS - hidden reversed in LAVI(SH KIS)SES. "They believe" seems an odd definition for these people, lots of religious people believe in something.
2 Miler at it, for a change? (4,5)
TIME TRIAL - (MILER AT IT)*.
3 A saver by nature, gentleman shortly arrives at bank (9)
SQUIRRELY - SQUIR(E), RELY (bank).
4 European pays to listen to solicitor brood (3,4,5,3)
EAT ONES HEART OUT - E(uropean), ATONES (pays) HEAR (listen) TOUT (solicitor).
5 Punch with a couple of slices of bread? (7,8)
KNUCKLE SANDWICH - cryptic definition, slang for a punch in the mouth.
6 Prize presented to aforementioned boy with a bow (5)
CUPID - CUP (prize) ID (idem, the same as above, Latin).
7 Climber in a fix on the ascent (5)
LIANA -  A NAIL reversed up. One of those jungle creepers you might see Tarzan using.
8 Big Eddy’s cautious, beady eyes (listening to me) (9)
CHARYBDIS - CHARY (cautious), B D I'S (sounds like beady eyes). Charybdis in Greek legend was a monster who created a whirlpool in the Straits of Messina with another monster Scylla on the opposite side. A bit like being caught between a rock and a hard place, today.
13 Being considered in case daughter must tap into reserve energy (3,6)
SUB JUDICE - SUB (reserve) JUICE (energy) has D for daughter inserted.
15 Peace protester and politician allowed in bed together (9)
COMPLICIT - CO (conscientious objector? pacifist) MP, LICIT (allowed).
16 The latest thing? Fashionable aim of an eccentric (9)
INFOMANIA - IN (fashionable) (AIM OF AN)*.
20 One advancing with month remaining (5)
MOVER - M (month) OVER (remaining). Movers and shakers, perhaps.
21 Little one originally trained in technology can’t handle (5)
TITCH - Initial letters of T rained I n T echnology C an't H andle.
23 Lock head of state away after uprising (5)
TRESS - ASSERT (state) is reversed and then loses its head A.
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