Garry Gillard > crosswords > solutions > 4838
It is noticeable that all of Anax's clues fit on one line. Despite this economy, however, all of his surfaces are pleasant and meaningful.
ACROSS
1 Chemist quick to bandage injury (8) PHARMACY - PACY outside HARM
5 One third of twelve still an odd number (6) ELEVEN - EL is one third of the letters in the word 'twelve' + EVEN (still)
10 "Town" planes try to bomb (4,7) PORT STANLEY (planestryto)* where 'bomb' is an anagind - capital of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
11 See how business starts to yield high return (3) LOB - LO (see) + B(usiness) - where a ball thrown or hit back high would be a high return
12 Alcoholic spirit? (5,7) DUTCH COURAGE - dd
15 Sweep area, say, as for cigars (10) PANATELLAS - PAN (sweep with a camera) + A + TELL + AS
16 Liking one, and possibly not (4) INTO - I (1) + (not)*
18 Hands clapped themselves? (4) CREW (hands on a ship) who not only clapped after their own performance but perhaps also crew (crowed, expressed pride orally)
19 In French, France, for example (3,2,5) NOM DE PLUME - Anatole France was the nom de plume (pseudonym) of the (French) writer François-Anatole Thibault - &lit - brilliant clue, imo
21 Equine business, large one, super-secure (6,6) LIVERY STABLE - L(arge) + I (1) + VERY + STABLE
24 Very good English dish (3) PIE - PI(ous) is apparently an acceptable slang abbreviation + E(nglish)
25 Corn and peanuts (7,4) CHICKEN FEED - dd
26 Mock workers at Zurich houses (6) ERSATZ - 'mock' in the sense of 'not real', as in mock turtle soup - 'hidden word'/incl. - brilliant that this answer crosses ECHT, its exact opposite in the same language.
27 Expedition finding that thing in green (8) - CELERITY (speediness) - IT inside CELERY, which is an example of a 'green' (vegetable)
DOWN
1 A young creature growing up? (4) PUPA - 'a pup' rev.
2 It’s a pity lines are asymmetrical (4) AWRY - AW (oh, woe is me) + RY - railway lines
3 Fly low across southern desert (8) S + QUIT inside MOSQUITO - 'low' is often 'moo' in these puzzles - it's the sound a cow makes ('the lowing herd wind slowly o'er the lea') - where QUIT means 'desert'
4 Essays about to turn up in university office (14) CHANCELLORSHIP - ROLL rev. inside CHANCES (essays, tries, has a go) + HIP ('in', current)
6 Floor plan (3,3) LAY OUT - dd
7 Bad seat among house’s contents (10) VILLAINOUS - where VILLA is some rich dude's country 'seat' (bit of a stretch) + IN + OUS - the 'contents' of the word 'house'
8 No screwed up sign for ladies? (10) NOBLEWOMEN - simple charade of NO + BLEW + OMEN
9 Weightlifter’s bar with handle (5,3,6) BLOCK AND TACKLE - (not a human) weightlifter
13 Dance back to front? Take off clothes in the end (10) APOCALYPSE - APE (take off, imitate) inside CALYPSO with the O at the front instead of the back
14 Steve Irwin staggered audiences (10) INTERVIEWS (steveirwin)*
17 Plenty of blubber to cut at one time (8) OPULENCE - PULE, an archaic word for 'cry querulously' - inside ONCE
20 Playwright from Britain, the real thing (6) BR-ECHT (see 26a)
22 Truck is holding me up (4) SEMI - what it says
23 Golf director always welcome in Australia (4) GDAY - G(olf) + D(irector) + AY = COD
KEY
to abbreviations/terms/symbols which may have been used
(raga man)* = anagram of 'anagram'
cd = cryptic definition
dd = double definition
incl. = inclusive (hidden word)
def. = definition (synonym, literal)
rev. = reversed
anagind = anagram indicator
homophind = homophone indicator
surface - the apparent meaning of the clue, disguising what's really going on
&lit. - a clue in which the whole clue is the 'definition'
COD = clue of the day (imo); FOI, LOI, first/last one written in
Garry Gillard | New: 17 February, 2019 | Now: 17 February, 2019