An excellent start to the week from SLORMGORM…
A very enjoyable solve with some great clues.
3d was particularly neat, as was 21a, and the triple definition in 12a made up a lovely surface.
I hadn’t seen the definition of 13d before, so had to take a punt at the answer and Google it (it’s not in the Chambers on my phone).
Thanks SLORMGORM!
CABBY (taxi driver) collects R (queen)
BEAT (tired) + IT (relations)
VIOLA (music producer) + T[ense] E[ncounter] (leads to)
A + “stare” (hard look, “to the audience”)
(SOUL ON A RUG)* (*needs sorting out)
Triple definition, I think, the middle part referring to a coordinate system.
(SLOOP (sailing vessel))< (<goes over)
(ARGUE and LET)* (*loose)
BIG (popular) + APPLE (jazz, for example)
[w]ELDER (joiner, must lose W (bit of weight))
R (right) + AFT (at the back of a ship)
(FLIRT + AGENT)* (*outrageously) &lit
BEN (mountain) + EA[r]TH (ground, blocking out R (river))
(DRAWER (storage unit))< (<bringing over) + S (son)
A + B[rigade] (leader) + SENT (posted)
BRUT (dry) and (LA (US city))< (<windy)
Double definition
“China” (China plate) being rhyming slang for “mate”
A + L (large) + LEGO (block of building) opened by R (king)
(PUBS MOTTO)* (*new) &lit
[c]EASE (stop, ignoring C (conservative)) + S (southern)
TRAIL (way) to get to grips with (A + V (very))
(TREMOR NOT)* (*around)
(COURT (see) + SAN (hospital)) admits E (European)
(A RIVER MAP)* (*tangled up)
(EAGER BRAT)* (*annoyed)
C (key) goes in (A + TRESS (lock))
(ROD (staff))< (<turned) on MAN (chap) + T[hats] (primarily)
FUN (amusement) that TO[ry] (half cut) gets in
(LAD (boy) with AN (article))< (<written about)
Good start to the week, although I found it a little tougher than Slormgorm’s usual. I liked the anagrams, and have no quibbles. Thanks, Teacow and Slormgorm
Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow
An excellent start to the week here with a mid-week difficulty level. Enjoyed a lot of the subtle word plays and there were a couple that I ended up not seeing – the anagram at 3d (duh! … was thinking along the lines of B (bottom) + UP as a reversal of PUB – not quite sure how ‘motto’ indicated that) and missed the BIG (popular) at 16, thinking that a Jazz might be a variety of a big apple.
Hadn’t seen PRIMAVERA outside of a project management tool, but there it was as ‘white mahogany’.
Finished with BENEATH, REWARDS (surprisingly, since have seen the drawer / reward play numerous times) and NADAL (which I just didn’t see for such an easy play – got whacked by the clever definition).
thanks slormgorm
Liked “Amusement that half-cut Tory gets in bed”, and happy to see the queen is still given a run around
I just read 12a as a cryptic definition, with helicopters in one reading and the answer in another – guess it works at several levels.
many thanks Teacow
This was very enjoyable with some fun word plays. I particularly liked the neat BOTTOMS UP (my FOI), LANGUOROUS and BIG APPLE. PRIMAVERA in this sense was new to me but evident from the cluing. Thanks setter and blogger both.
Tougher than usual for Monday and for
Slormgorm but I’m not complaining. BENEATH, ALLEGRO, and DORMANT were favorites. Missed the BOTTOMS UP anagram and the rhyming slang of CHINA and totally whiffed on VIOLATE which irritates me. Thanks to both for a good start to the week.