- *=anagram
- [] = removed e.g. char[m]=char
- ()=abbreviation e.g. A(mpere)=a
- Hom. = homophone
I found the top half of this somewhat harder than the bottom, with 5 particularly holding me up (mainly because I interpreted the device of “money unlimited” as meaning you remove both the front and last letters form the word). There were no real stand-out clues for me but it was all good, workmanlike stuff. I have a feeling of having missed something in 11.
| Across | |||
| 1. | Shell container after soldiers have been and gone? (3,3) | ||
| Egg cup | Cryptic def referring to toast soldiers. | ||
| 5. | Arab quarter with money unlimited, blast! (6) | ||
| Casbah | Cas[h] + bah. | ||
| 10. | Daydreaming? Keep up! (6,2,3,3) | ||
| Castle in the air | CD with keep being a part of a castle. I’m more often seen the expression in the plural, but this seems to be a valid alternative. | ||
| 11. | Note short time needed to produce document (6) | ||
| Brevet | Breve(=note) + t(ime). | ||
| 12. | Hit out at wild cat behind lair (8) | ||
| Denounce | Den + ounce. | ||
| 13. | Some centenarians lying around in the country (4) | ||
| Iran | Hidden,reversed in centeNARIans. | ||
| 14. | Pessimistic old rocker rolling over — somehow fate is sealed (9) | ||
| Defeatist | Ted< around (fate is)*. | ||
| 17. | Who orated freely, offering some hard stuff (9) | ||
| Heartwood | (Who orated)* | ||
| 18. | Wreck international organisation, allowing Germany in (4) | ||
| Undo | UNO around D(=Germany/Deutschland). | ||
| 20. | Best stuff in first half of homily making one hysterical (8) | ||
| Screamer | Cream in ser[mon]. | ||
| 22. | Scottish king invading England uncannily (6) | ||
| Duncan | Hidden in EnglanD UNCANnily. | ||
| 24. | This American in difficulty has imported Italian number-crunchers (14) | ||
| Arithmeticians | (This American)* around It. | ||
| 25. | From what we hear, requires massages (6) | ||
| Kneads | Hom of needs. | ||
| 26. | Aussie university being broadcast in old TV series (6) | ||
| Monash | On in Mash. | ||
| … Down |
|||
| 2. | A crippled boat heading north passing round a republic (9) | ||
| Guatemala | (A lame tug)< around a. | ||
| 3. | Scottish peasant caught animal in river?(6) | ||
| Cotter | C(aught) + otter (river animal). | ||
| 4. | Homework material located at foot of page (4) | ||
| Prep | P(age) + rep. | ||
| 6. | Type of lens — treatment for trachoma (8) | ||
| Achromat | Trachoma* | ||
| 7. | Clever type? Second-rate wet! (5) | ||
| Brain | B + rain | ||
| 8. | Sadly rooms haven’t good light at night in summer? (7,4) | ||
| Harvest Moon | (Rooms haven’t)*. | ||
| 9. | Working for female, journalist is somewhat deprived of basic need (8) | ||
| Underfed. | Under(=working for) f(emale) + ed. | ||
| 11. | Something lit up that nuclear physicist may study as clever person (6,5) | ||
| Bright Spark | Just seems to be a DD unless there’s meant to be some reference to quarks or maybe a scientist called Bright in there. | ||
| 14. | Philosopher has seen God, I fancy (8) | ||
| Diogenes | (Seen God I)* | ||
| 15. | Home with no loose change in Fiji? People leading a simple life maybe(9) | ||
| Innocents | In + no + cents (coins used in Fiji). | ||
| 16. | Married a totally heartless trout and suffered pain (8) | ||
| Attached | A + t[rou]t + ached. | ||
| 19. | Something painful a famous Nonconformist said (6) | ||
| Bunion | Hom of Bunyan | ||
| 21. | Lift given by worship that exudes power (5) | ||
| Raise | [P]raise | ||
| 23. | The old woman is set up in old-style country (4) | ||
| Siam. | (Ma is)<. Old-style country because Siam is an old word for Thailand. | ||
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… |
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A very straightforward solve but enjoyable nonetheless. I also found the bottom half easier that the top half, with the NW corner being the last to fall. PREP was my LOI after EGG CUP and GUATEMALA.
By the way, you have an extra “e” in your answer for 24ac. As far as your comment about 11ac is concerned I don’t see what you can have missed because a BREVET is a document and your analysis of the wordplay is spot on.
D’oh! Just realised you meant 11dn. I saw it as a DD with the first one slightly cryptic.
Typical but enjoyable Monday fare.
In the answers, 9D is missing f(emale)and 19D spelling of nonconformist is (John) Bunyan.
Thanks to Quixote and NealH.
Thanks, probably should have checked Bunyan but didn’t have much time to do the blog.