This seemed to be a relatively manageable week, which was welcome as I didn’t have access to Chambers at the time of solving.
There were just one or two minor points to check once I did, and I remain uncertain whether I’ve identified the correct writer at 3dn, but all in all a very pleasant Sunday solve.
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | ECOSYSTEM – E + COSY + STEM. |
| 10 | CACHOU – ACH[e] in COU[p]. |
| 11 | INJERA – J in (IN + ERA). |
| 12 | LANDLOPER – OP in LÄNDLER. |
| 13 | DINER – DIN[gi]ER. |
| 14 | BRAVERY – RAVER in BY. |
| 17 | DRY ROT – (TORY + RD)<. |
| 18 | EMOTER – MOTE in [h]ER[e]. |
| 19 | SAGO – S + AGO. |
| 21 | SIRE – (ER + IS)<. |
| 22 | SEAMAN – SEAM + AN. |
| 23 | UNREST – RES in [h]UNT. |
| 26 | POETIZE – ZITE< in Edgar Allan POE. |
| 27 | RETIE – RETI[r]E. |
| 29 | PRECOCIAL – (POLICE CAR)*. |
| 30 | LIVING – VIN in LIG. |
| 31 | SILOED – I in (SLOE + D). |
| 32 | REFERENDA – (FERE in END) in RA. |
| Down | |
| 1 | ECAD – DACE<. |
| 2 | CANIS MINORIS – INSOMNIAC* + SIR<. |
| 3 | O’CONNOR – O + CONN + OR. Thankfully the wordplay was clear here, because I admit I had to google “US writer O’Connor” to find this lady. |
| 4 | SHLEP – L in (SHE + P). |
| 5 | SUNBURNT – (UN + BURN) in ST. |
| 6 | ENLARGED – (GENERAL + D)*. |
| 7 | LEPER – LE[a]PER. |
| 8 | PREROGATIVED – (PROVIDE GREAT)*. I think this is having stage rightsas it’s tagged as a Shakespeare word in Chambers. |
| 9 | BARYTONE – YT in BAR ONE. I spent a while assuming the opening of musicwas M, so spotting BAR ONE was a nice drop of the penny. |
| 15 | RESUPPLY – SUP in REPLY. |
| 16 | PENSIONE – I in (PENS + ONE). |
| 17 | DISSEISE – DISS + (I SEE)*. |
| 20 | AMATION – A[ni]MATION. |
| 24 | REEVE – ([cas]E in EVER)<. |
| 25 | BELLE – (L + L) in BEE. |
| 28 | EDDA – ED + DA’. |
This word referenda (32ac) is a source of much angst. I have always felt that it was a howler and that it wasn’t a plural of referendum since that word is not a noun but a gerund/gerundive, something of that sort about which I’m a bit vague. Yet it came up in another crossword recently and it was pointed out that it’s in Chambers so there you are. But dictionaries just report how the language is used … so if everyone started to call it a crosswerd then we’d have to go along with it. Or would we?
Yes, Flannery is the intended O’Connor. A distinctly greater paucity of sufficiently famous O’Connors than I’d expected.
The English language is full of abuses of the words it’s nicked over the centuries, and we all use them. I’m sure that as each misuse drifted into the parlance, someone or several someones, agonised over it, yet still it came, and now we don’t notice.