- *=anagram
- [] = removed e.g. char[m]=char
- ()=abbreviation e.g. A(mpere)=a
- Hom. = homophone
I breezed through most of this but then got stuck on a couple of clues, which took me a long while to work out. 8 was an unfamiliar word and took some time to realize it was a simple charade rather than container and contents. 17 also took quite an effort – the “open” for extended just didn’t occur me (and it still seems like an odd synonym, even though it is in the dictionary). 15 was one of those slightly irritating CDs that have never been my favourite type of clue.
| Across | |||
| 1. | Soldier taking r-risk with structure that spells death (6) | ||
| Gibbet | GI + b-bet. | ||
| 4. | Food aboard ship for breaks (6) | ||
| Starts | Tart in SS. | ||
| 8. | Version of Bible is in another tongue, a new language (7) | ||
| Avestan | AV (Authorised Version) + est (is in French) + a n(ew). | ||
| 10. | Bit of food that is producing disease in sheep (7) | ||
| Scrapie | Scrap + i.e. | ||
| 11. | Where one may stay very warm — the bowels of hell! (5) | ||
| Hotel | Hot + [h]el[l]. | ||
| 12. | Garden lad laid out adorned with flowers (9) | ||
| Garlanded | (Garden lad)*. | ||
| 13. | I notice her at work — someone who figures things out on paper? (12) | ||
| Theoretician | (I notice her at)*. | ||
| 17. | Extended shed possessed by this writer — building material may have come from here (8,4) | ||
| Opencast mine | Extended(=open, as in an open newspaper) + shed(=cast in the sense of shedding skin) + mine (possessed by this writer). | ||
| 20. | Delay food that’s kept on the menu wanted by everyone (9) | ||
| Stonewall | Seems to be stew around on + all, “the menu” part just being there to help the surface reading. | ||
| 21. | Problem in hospital — bit of a pain (5) | ||
| Hitch | H(ospital) + itch. | ||
| 22. | Good person, one in hovel that’s unfriendly (7) | ||
| Hostile | St (Saint) + i in hole. | ||
| 23. | Staked money in pay packet — subsequently embarrassed (7) | ||
| Wagered | Wage + red. | ||
| 24. | Quarrel over your esteemed dignitary (6) | ||
| Worthy | Row< + thy. | ||
| 25. | Garment boy wrapped around neck (4-2) | ||
| Slip on. | Son around lip (neck in the sense of cheek, if you get my drift). | ||
| … Down |
|||
| 1. | Damage in fruit — there’s black stuff (8) | ||
| Graphite | Hit in grape. | ||
| 2. | Swimmer crossing river with little energy must get a rest (8) | ||
| Breather | Bather round r(iver) + e[nergy]. | ||
| 3. | Praise from former sweetheart upset man with backward-looking wife(5) | ||
| Extol | Ex (=former sweetheart) + Lot<. Lot's wife was turned to a pillar of salt because she looked back at Sodom. | ||
| 5. | Awful female manager nastily engaged in heart of battle (9) | ||
| Termagant | Manager* in [ba]tt[le]. | ||
| 6. | Power limited in attacks on account of fast-flowing water (6) | ||
| Rapids | P in raids. | ||
| 7. | Maybe ‘staid’ could be confused with ‘stayed’ (6) | ||
| Steady | Stayed*. | ||
| 9. | Bird‘s extremely blustery experience after sunset (11) | ||
| Nightingale | Not totally sure here – maybe “in gale” after night. | ||
| 10. | Adversely affected vehicle having power reduced going into pig (6,1,4) | ||
| Struck a blow | Truck + abl[e] in sow. | ||
| 14. | Top up Pilsner and he will get drunk (9) | ||
| Replenish | (Pilsner he)*. | ||
| 15. | Cover that will soon be found under a tree? (4,4) | ||
| Gift wrap | CD (Xmas trees, presumably). | ||
| 16. | Not all fishermen had enough fish (8) | ||
| Menhaden | Hidden in firsherMEN HAD ENough. | ||
| 18. | Steer clear of explosive wife, wanting escape at the outset (6) | ||
| Eschew | HE (high explosive) + w(ife) after esc (abbreviation for the escape key). | ||
| 19. | Cat doctor — one having lots of drugs (6) | ||
| Mouser | Mo + user. | ||
| 21. | Philosopher offering cant, good at heart (5) | ||
| Hegel | Heel around g. The heel/cant puzzled me, but I eventually found out they could both mean to lean. | ||
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I found this a little harder than some of Quixote’s Monday puzzles but it was a good challenge.
AVESTAN and MENHADEN both went in from the wordplay rather than the definition, and the GIBBET/GRAPHITE crossers held me up. My LOI was GIFT WRAP and it took a while to see, although I would probably have seen it sooner had I not convinced myself that the second word was “drop”.