27502 Thursday, 7 November 2019 The giddy limit

Author   johninterredPosted on Categories Daily Cryptic
Rather as Sunday’s match between Everton and Tottenham (in truth, a rather dull affair) was overshadowed by a gruesome injury to Everton’s Gomes (one of those where the TV shows no replay), this crossword, a pretty ordinary but pleasant enough offering, is dominated for me (and for a few others, by the look of the leaderboard) by an unkind VARiation and no less than three (light) red cards at 16. I sincerely hope that a subsequent review rescinds the (light) red cards, as the FA did for poor, distraught Heung Min Son whose tackle inadvertently led to the aarrrgh moment and a sending off. I can’t claim to have worked through the rest at any kind of Championship speed, taking 23 minutes and some. Most other early solvers are in the quick bracket, suggesting this is not particularly tough.
I have attempted elucidation of the clues, some digressions, and clues, definitions and SOLUTIONS displayed à la moi.

Across

1 What keeps the old folk mobile? (3,4)
BUS PASS A barely cryptic cryptic definition. In the UK, at least local authorities provide pensioners with a pass for free bus travel.
5 Stay with reactionary American while away (7)
SUSPEND Reactionary American is US backwards, and while away (verbal phrase) SPEND (time, 22 minutes I’ll never get back with a not-mistake mistake)
9 Back with leader moving east in old Portuguese possession (3)
GOA Back as in in the past gives AGO, move the A to the right unntill it won’t go any further. Goa is a state in India still called Goa, which has had many owners including the Portuguese from 1510 -1961
10 Impulsive Yank soon antes up (11)
SPONTANEOUS The Yank here is not American, despite the deceptive capital, but an anagram indicator. Your anagrist: SOON ANTES UP
11 Catch half-decent fish (8)
ENTANGLE Half of decENT plus ANGLE for fish. I lost time trying to plaice haddock or somesuch. Not my COD
12 Almost panic, getting award for way of cooking (6)
FLAMBÉ I take it panic would be FLAP, knock off the P, add the OBE award. Stands for Other Bu**ers’ Efforts, I believe, [Jack correctly points out that should be MBE, which is a shame as my comment doesn’t work]
15 Rebuked in hearing and carried away (4)
RAPT Our first homophone, rapped being rebuked and carried away in the sense of ecstasy
16 Restriction on amphetamine usage? (5,5)
SPEED LIMIT Right, here we go. Chambers gives SPEED as slang for amphetamine, but a simple online search confirms that “amphetamine is an ‘upper’, or stimulant” and both speed and upper have equal representation in lists of slang terms and synonyms. If an UPPER LIMIT is not a restriction I’d like to know how, and I invite the Editor to comment and/or remove my pink squares.
18 Theft by the Tories? It’s a plot! (10)
CONSPIRACY I believe in an election period we should refrain from political jibes, but my oath, it’s tempting. CONS short for Conservatives/Tories, PIRACY for theft.
19 What snooker player does the wrong way round in bar (4)
STOP  A snooker player POTS backwards. So to speak
22 Old man’s attempt to make some dough (6)
PASTRY  Old man PA, keep the ‘S, add TRY for attempt
23 Spot child eating fly (8)
SMIDGEON I’ve been watching Masterchef, and it’s sometimes difficult to see how the spot of gravy in the middle of a dish looking like a squashed fly counts as a meal over which Marcus Waring goes intio raptures. You get the picture conjured up by the literal. The wordplay gives MIDGE (fly) tucked into (by) SON (child)
25 Without money in Tehran, terribly distressed (11)
HEARTBROKEN Without money is BROKE, and you must surround it with an anagram (terribly) of TEHRAN. That the Iranian currency is the Rial is interesting but of no use here, nor, perhaps (being 0.000023 pounds sterling, in Tehran
27 Idiosyncratic member of parliament having name for Liberal (3)
OWN I think idiosyncratic as in “he’s his own man”. Regulars wil know that OWLs gather in Parliaments, change the L(iberal) to N(ame). Another tempting bit of politicking.
28 Paint Hope nursing men brutish at heart (7)
PORTRAY There is a famous painting called Hope by G  F watts, which is apparently Barak Obama’s favourite, but there’s nary a brutish man in sight. Still, if you convert Hope into PRAY, remember that hereabouts men are OR (other ranks) and chuck in the middle T of brutish, you’ll get your verbal paint.
29 Rest of university engaged in lie (7)
RESIDUE I’m a bit iffy about lie as a synonym for reside, but Shakespeare thought lie meant lodge or pass the night (Chambers) so that will do faux de mieux (I guarantee someone will come up with mieux). Anyway, RESIDE, throw in U(niversity)
Down
1 In nightmare perversely argue with two bishops (7)
BUGBEAR An anagram (perversely) of ARGUE with two B(ishops)
2 Put thus St Mary is a very clever person (6-5)
SMARTY PANTS One of those clues which invuites you to make up your own clue to stick in the grid. If SMARTY is PANTS it gives you ST MARY. I think “pants” may well have already reached the point where it only means “rubbish” in crosswords, and will do for ever.
3 Soldier perhaps catching disease far away (6)
ABSENT Where you see “soldier, perhaps” you ought to think ANT straight away. Add in the very horrible Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, which led to 4.4 million cows of the British herd being slaughtered from the mid-nineties, and an UPPER LIMIT (restriction – just saying) of 30 months age on cattle entering the food chain.
4 Loot harbour, causing misery (10)
SPOILSPORT Misery as in a person. SPOILS for loot, PORT for harbour
5 Name of third-born registered in Somerset House (4)
SETH Adam and Eve’s replacement for Abel, found in SomerSET House
6 Ley lines set out in a confused manner? (8)
SENILELY An anagram (set out) of LET LINES which took me so long to work out I wondered if – um -…wossname
7 Novelist recalling old church (3)
ECO Umberto of that lineage here O(ld) CE (church of England) “recalled”
8 Dictator’s parentage in dispute (7)
DISSENT Our second homophone, indicated by “dictator’s”, as in said by.  Parentage is DESCENT
13 Rum methods wife deployed — / (4,3,4)
MUM’S THE WORD An anagram (rum) of METHODS WIFE
Rum methods wife deployed — don’t tell anyone (4,3,4)
MUMS THE WORD Sorry everyone, complete screwup (it was getting late). An anagram (deployed) of RUM METHODS W(ife). Thanks Olivia!
14 Gun manufacturer said to be an honest broker (10)
PEACEMAKER Our third homophone, this time of PIECE (gun) MAKER
17 Wheeler-dealer’s stage performance? Flipping rubbish! (8)
OPERATOR Perhaps the smooth one described by Sade. Your stage performance is OPERA and ROT for rubbish is “flipped”
18 Policemen’s ball held here? (3,4)
COP SHOP One word in Chambers. Differently spaced and punctuated, it’s cops’ hop
20 Amends article skewering coppers (7)
PENANCE Arguably what you might do to make amends. The article “skewering” PENCE for coppers is AN
21 Who’s head of Mafia family? Legendary old Greek (6)
ADONIS You need to give a pithy reply to the question in the first part of the clue and knock out the spaces
24 Mob must be mad, losing billions (4)
ARMY The version of mad you want is BARMY, from which you delete B(illions)
26 Broadcast is just what bald Cockney needs? (3)
AIR It’s at least possible that our follicly-challenged Eastender is perfectly content with his shiny pate, but he still has no ‘air.

79 comments on “27502 Thursday, 7 November 2019 The giddy limit”

  1. Although it sounds plausible, UPPER LIMIT isn’t in Chambers or Collins as a definition (it is in Collins as a word partner and the mathematical term is in as UPPER BOUND) but SPEED LIMIT is in both with a definition. I had bated breath as I wasn’t sure if DISSENT or DESCENT was intended at 8 down but managed to get the correct one in. 12:41 for this one.
    1. Is in several of the online dictionaries, often but not exclusively in the mathematical sense, and as you point out, Collins gives examples of upper limit in use, the most apposite being above from our beloved sister paper, The Sun! I think it’s a bit more than plausible, but then I would, wouldn’t I? It is at least unfortunate that both speed and upper are synonyms for amphetamine, and it’s difficult to see why, if you put in the one, you would even consider the other.
      Maybe I’ll start a campaign to have it included in the next editions!

      Edited at 2019-11-07 06:24 am (UTC)

      1. Upper limit is a phrase in regular use in common parlance, and upper is an equally valid synonym for amphetamine. In a way, upper limit is a better answer. It’s a restriction in a more general sense, whereas speed limit is very specific. If the clue had read “Restriction on the way for amphetamine usage” then there would have been no argument, but it didn’t, and so there is.
        1. In the context of “recreational” drug use Speed specifically refers to amphetamines whereas Uppers is a generic term covering all stimulants (including cocaine, which is not an amphetamine though both are sympathomimetics) in contrast to Downers which are sedating. Most illicit drugs are in one or the other categories.
    2. The phrase “upper limit”, in the sense of “restriction”, is in regular use, and “a stimulating drug, especially amphetamine” is given in my pocket OED as an (informal) definition of “upper”. The referee must surely allow UPPER LIMIT(my choice) as an entirely acceptable alternative solution for 16A. I await the ref’s final verdict with interest.

      I too hesitated between DISSENT and DESCENT at 8D, before eventually plumping for the right one. I haven’t seen the use of “dictator” as a homophone indicator before. Cunning.

      1. We had a dictator e few days ago… time to test google.
        27474 on October 5th, so a month ago not a few days. But not seen by those who don’t do Saturday puzzles.
        1. Thanks for the reminder. I completed Cryptic 27474 but had forgotten the clue using “dictator” as homophone indicator.
  3. Kept plugging away and finished in about 75 mins. Although 1 hr 43 on the clock with interruptions.

    Last few were dissent, smidgeon, residue, adonis, and LOI peacemaker.

    Cod adonis or speed limit.

    Had question mark next to bugbear for nightmare.

  4. DESCENT was my LOI, which is a pity, since there is no DESCENT in the puzzle. I take some comfort from learning of George’s bated breath, but I don’t see the clue as ambiguous. So why did you put in DESCENT, fathead? you may ask. Go ahead, ask, for all the good it will do you.
  5. I ran out of steam around the hour mark with 7 answers outstanding and used aids on 2 of them to get myself going again. These were SENILELY – knew it was an anagram of ‘ley lines’ but just couldn’t see it whilst missing two of its checkers – and SMIDGEON. Having put those in the remaining answers, ADONIS, SUSPEND, ECO, FLAMBE and DISSENT fell easily into place.

    I don’t know whether things have changed now, but I got my bus pass at 60 when I certainly wouldn’t have considered myself to be ‘old folk’.

    Edited at 2019-11-07 05:14 am (UTC)

    1. I am not allowed a bus pass in Shanghai – resident but not native. No taxes only taxis. But the bus into town is only 5p return for a 32 kilometer journey!

      Edited at 2019-11-07 08:10 am (UTC)

    2. I have to wait until I’m 66 years young, the limit keeps moving, 60, 62, now pensionable age….
      1. Born too late Rob ! 1947 here meant that I was too young to do National Service, but got all my age-related stuff at 60 or 65. The bus pass is a real boon !
  6. I was another one who confidently put in UPPER LIMIT for 16ac. Definitely one that would probably be given if it happened in the Championships.
  8. UPPER LIMIT HAS to be acceptable!
    COD to SMARTY-PANTS. Agree, Z, that PANTS means rubbish in crosswordland now and forever.
  9. Most of this fell quickly but then I got stuck on DISSENT and the NW corner. For DISSENT I completely missed ‘Dictator’ as a homophone indicator for a considerable time. The NW featured one of my typical weaknesses, the compound word of BUGBEAR. I must remember that if the anagram fodder is pretty certain but it doesn’t look like making a word then compound words should be considered.
  10. In Lunnon Tarn I am not allowed a bus pass either as I do not own property or pay a utility bill.
    After 17 years one loses ones right to vote back in Blighty. Fortunately for me there is little to vote for these days!
    When in Leighton Buzzard my brother drives me about in his ‘rick-sha’.

    FOI (noted from printer) 26dn AIR

    LOI DESCENT or was it DISSENT!? Hard to say IHMO, so wrote both in!

    COD 15ac SPEED LIMIT surely!

    WOD 2dn SMARTY PANTS

    Methink 6dn SINILELY was like an Escher Staircase.

    Edited at 2019-11-07 08:13 am (UTC)

    1. Au contraire mon brave ! There’s plenty to vote for, but the problem is in implementing the results of that vote. Democracy in the UK is lying on its back with its legs in the air, while the EU tickles its tummy. “Welcome to the Hotel EU…..you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave”.
      1. Phil, I was actually thinking of candidates. I heard Ken Clarke speak a couple of days ago 🙂
  11. 12:29 … only real delays in the northeast, especially with SENILELY, which really doesn’t look like a word (and is almost impossible to pronounce as it is writ).

    COD to ADONIS

  12. 25 mins with yoghurt, etc.
    I liked Heartbroken and Adonis.
    Didn’t think of Upper Limit but, if anything, it sounds a better answer to me.
    Thanks Adonis setter and Heartbroken Z.
  13. 50 minutes here for this odd mixture of clues. My FOI was, in fact, SPEED LIMIT, and I never considered another answer. If I’d thought of UPPER, it’s possible I might’ve gone that way, but SPEED is so synonymous with “amphetamine” my mind strayed no further.

    Carrying on I learned that GOA used to be Portuguese, that SENILELY is a very hard anagram to spot and that “yank” can be an anagram indicator. It was that one and 4d SPOILSPORT that brought me to the finish line.

    Enjoyed 21d ADONIS despite spending quite some time trying to cram “capo” in there somehow.

    1. As with RAITA yesterday my love of curry helped with GOA today. I knew that Vindaloo originated from Goa and the name came from the Portuguese carne de vinha d’alhos.
      1. Hah! And all these years I’ve been eating it in complete ignorance. Though my stomach doesn’t cope with too much spiciness these days, so mine’s normally a milder biryani now…
  14. What an able defence of UPPER. I don’t care what the editor says or does, all I know is that I have now found the second member of the dream team to defend me if I’m ever caught red headed committing a crime. Zed, you will assist Billy Jean King. (Your effort is outstanding, but anyone who can get equal pay for female tennis players is, in my book, unassailable.)

    27 minutes for the puzzle.

  15. … for they shall be called the children of God. Not quite the sentiments of “Masters of War” or the Sermon on the Mount as I remember it, but the times seem to have changed. Only 21 minutes, quick for me, with LOI the strange SENILELY, making me feel picked on today, having had my BUS PASS for 14 years. COD jointly to SMARTY-PANTS and ADONIS, which both raised a smile. Thank you Z and setter.

    Edited at 2019-11-07 08:40 am (UTC)

  16. I thought this a very neat little crossword, not hard but a lot of clever thoughts .. UPPER never occurred to me as a replacement for SPEED, fortunately, although speed limit does sound a little bit more convincing than upper limit to me, as restrictions go. As for the drug usage, no idea as usual. My addictions never did stray much beyond wine.
    Dissent/descent surprised me, as for me at least it turns out to be a near-perfect homophone, which I would not have expected
        1. Does anyone say ‘descent’ like that? The dictionaries don’t seem to think so.
          1. What do the dictionaries seem to think? All I’ve got is ODE, which doesn’t bother to give a pronunciation. I’m pretty sure that my pronunciation is as I suggested (but note my ?). But they’re as near as dammit.
            1. Chambers, Lexico (which is the online ODE) and Collins all show it as an exact homophone of ‘dissent’ with no alternative pronunciation.
              1. As I said, they’re as near as dammit. Barred [i] is a bit higher than schwa, and a bit further back than [I]; I don’t know what vowel Chambers et al. are using. Frequency of use plays a role, with more frequent forms often having schwa. (I see that ODE gives [ae] for the first vowel of ‘(San) Francisco’, where for natives there’s no vowel there at all.)
                1. Lexico: /dɪˈsɛnt/
                  Collins: dɪsent
                  Chambers: doesn’t give specific pronunciation for ‘descent but for ‘descend’ gives /di-send’/ with i as in ‘in’ or ‘busy’.
                  So actually Chambers does offer an alternative, which suggests that some people say ‘descent’ rather in the way some Americans say ‘dee-fence’.
                  By the way I’m not claiming any of this is right!
      2. The initial vowel sounds a teensy bit different.. dissent as in pigment, descent nearly – but not quite – as in descant. Phonetics not my strong suit!
  17. The Peacemaker was a gun made by Samuel Colt’s Company… so not a manufacturer ?
    1. As Z said in his blog the “Gun manufacturer” is a “piece maker”, i.e. nothing to do with a gun called a Peacemaker.
  18. I biffed PEACEMAKER without noticing the homonym – it is after all a rather famous Colt revolver – but clearly Z is right – did I cheat?
  19. Z is right. Didn’t read the blog or ‘said’…must pay more attention ! What about the ‘reactionary American’ being US reversed…when it isn’t ?
  21. Chugged through this in complete oblivion of UPPER for SPEED (amphetamine=SPEED knee jerk for me) or difficulty in spotting SENILELY which I biffed and reverse engineered. Average Times crossword I thought.
  22. A phrase from my youth, concerning drugs, ingrained, so that was FOI. Liked dictator’s parentage, that was LOI. COD to ADONIS. Did not know that SMIDGEON contains an O.

    18’31”, thanks z and setter.

  23. Z it’s TEHRAN not TEHERAN for the anagrist.

    19 minutes, found this easiest of week so far. Liked the irony of 14d.

  24. Sorry to see that Z found himself on his uppers – it never occurred to me luckily because it’s all too plausible. I agree with Rob about SMIDGEON – it looks funny to me with an O in there. 12.20

    Z in 13D the parsing as I see it is that it’s an anagram (deployed) of RUM METHODS W[ife].

    I see they are again issuing invitations to the champs from which it appears the new format may have been less inviting than the old one.

  25. but all the time she was dying ‘cos SPEED kills !” (Canned Heat : “Amphetamine Annie”)

    It was lucky that this particular earworm hit me immediately, or I may well have joined the “upper classes”.

    Practically half of my time was spent in an enlarged NE corner, where I was becalmed for about four minutes searching for a three letter disease that wasn’t flu.

    A two minute alpha-trawl threw up SUSPEND, and the excellent homophone was revealed at last.

    Like Sotira, I couldn’t ever imagine trying to say SENILELY even when sober – I can manage Shibboleth OK though !

    FOI GOA
    LOI and COD DISSENT
    TIME 13:04

  27. I was fortunate not to think of UPPER at 16a, but I see RR has now issued an apology on the Club Forum. Apparently the original clue included”20 or 30, perhaps” but he edited that out as being redundant. He says he would indeed have allowed either in a Championship, but unfortunately only 1 answer can be allowed in the club SW. I managed most of the puzzle without too much trouble, but for some reason the top half caused me major problems, with what now seem simple answers refusing to present themselves. I’m pleased that it wasn’t just me who struggled with SENILELY. DISSENT and SUSPEND also took forever to see. ANGLE for fish took ages too, BSE and SPOILS also eluded me. However, persistence prevailed and SENILELY took me over the line in 46:27. Thanks setter and Z.
  28. Normally I only solve a couple of clues, but I got a few more today, as a snooker fan was 19ac. Thank you setter and blogger.
    1. One day my son, all this will be yaws. An Avatar will help you progress. Cheers!

      Edited at 2019-11-07 12:18 pm (UTC)

  29. 16:52. I thought this a very good puzzle, and quite tricky.
    A shame about UPPER LIMIT (it shouldn’t matter but pink squares are annoying even if the answer is valid) but the question of ‘why, if you put in the one, you would even consider the other’ also applies to setters and editors I guess.
  30. Another UPPER LIMIT here, but otherwise a nice steady solve. Took far too long to get ARMY, my LOI, for some reason. Especially since, given that it probably can also have a B on the front, it had to start with a vowel.
  32. So in at 16’14”, though that included a good three minutes at the end dithering over dissent. Couldn’t parse it, and dictator had me thinking despot. Finally it clicked. Note to self: dictator is also one who dictates. Feel we’ve had variations on entangle and spoilsport very recently. COD to smarty pants, cos I like those reverse cryptic ones.
  33. I fortunately never thought of UPPER LIMIT, which does indeed seem a plausible alternative. My self-inflicted problem was postulating BURBAGE for 1D – I thought I vaguely knew it as a word, but not what it meant. Once I got ENTANGLE the right answer finally came to mind and with it the completion of the NW corner. COD to SMARTY PANTS – a SMARTY PANTS clue if there ever was one, but I liked CONSPIRACY, COP SHOP and DISSENT too. 19:42.

    Edited at 2019-11-07 01:09 pm (UTC)

    1. Burbage was an actor in Shakespeare’s troupe. I suppose he might have been someone’s bugbear.
  34. The dreaded pink square, but unfortunately it was because I fluffed the homophone and went downhill fast with DESCENT. Ah well. Happily, the valid but wrong LIMIT never occurred to me.
  35. A Very Good Day today – 38 minutes here and 7 and a bit on the other side!

    It took a few minutes to get going but then nearly everything flowed well. Never thought of upper (thank goodness), biffed dissent as I missed the homophone indicator (although I’m sure I’ve seen it before) and got in a muddle with SU / US in suspend! I really struggle with reverse anagrams like smarty pants, so biffed that too. Senilely is another candidate for my list of words that shouldn’t be seen – or indeed heard, even if it was possible to pronounce it.

    Nevertheless, I actually finished this one without resorting to aids to fill in the usual recalcitrant two or three 😊

    FOI Flambe
    LOI Absent
    COD Two today – cop shop and Adonis

    On edit: I forgot to say thanks to the setter and to Z8 for the entertaining and enlightening blog. So – thanks!

    Edited at 2019-11-07 02:48 pm (UTC)

    1. Ooo – I was nearly twice your time on the QC, but a minute quicker on this one!
      1. Only just seen this post but that’s brilliant 😊 I’m just about to tackle today’s big one – I wonder what horrors it holds?
  36. Quicker than usual today. Held up at the last by my lack of knowledge of gunmakers, or so I thought….
  37. I’m another Upper Limit – but i got there by the roundabout method of biffing White Lines – which are also both amphetamines and boundaries. Otherwise, I liked Smarty Pants.

    Edited at 2019-11-07 04:53 pm (UTC)

  38. Fortunately, I didn’t think of “upper”, or I’d probably be dithering still. I agree, UPPER LIMIT should be allowed. SENILELY still looks wrong to me, though I can’t think of any better way to adverbialize “senile”. Is a seniloquy a speech where the actor forgets his lines?

    Everything else, though, was straightforward enough to get me through this one in 25 minutes.

  40. This was really easy, except for the three pink squares (solving time about 33 minutes). The UPPER/SPEED variation is one of the very rare situations where both choices fit perfectly and are equally valid. Some solvers seem to have had a similar problem with DESCENT/DISSENT, but it obviously must be the latter, since it is the DICTATOR’s parentage, i.e. a homophone of parentage, which is involved.

    What would be a good upper limit for the number of ambiguities like the problematical one here to be allowed per year? One? Or better none? (well, errare humanum est and all that.)

  41. Richard Rogan, Times Crossword Editor has posted this in the Club Forum

    Morning all.

    The original clue was for 16ac was: Restriction on amphetamine usage. 20 or 30 perhaps (5,5)

    Bizarrely, I put UPPER LIMIT when I solved it, but when I saw the answer was SPEED LIMIT it still didn’t occur to me that 20 or 30 was anything other than unnecessary padding and I removed it, so I messed up there (I’m not sure UPPER LIMIT is entirely precluded by the extra bit anyway).
    AMPHETAMINE is synonymous more or less with SPEED, and UPPER LIMIT is not in the dictionaries, but I don’t think either of those facts can be used as an excuse to disallow it.
    Unfortunately the system can only cope with one correct answer I’m afraid. However if it’s any consolation I would have accepted UPPER LIMIT as an alternative at the championship.

  42. About 20 minutes, LOI SENILELY. Odd word that. I saw SPEED LIMIT and didn’t consider any alternatives, but doubtless that UPPER LIMIT equally valid. I sympathise with those who put it in and were later surprised by pink squares. Just like I would have been taken aback if SPEED LIMIT was wrong. Regards.
  43. It’s ‘FAUTE de mieux’, not Faux. It means ‘for want of anything better’. Faux means false.
  44. Came to this following a tip-off in the QC that transpired to be of better quality than yesterday’s – I actually managed to finish this one. Quite a struggle along the way, and I nearly gave up several times but each time I would see another answer and decide to carry on a bit longer. Luckily I didn’t think of Upper, and biffed loi Dissent on the basis of dispute without really understanding the clue. Likewise the second half of Smarty Pants was unparsed, so thank goodness for the blog. Invariant
  45. 23:59 for a straightforward solve (straightforward at least if like me the first synonym for amphetamine that comes out of your mental, synonym Rolodex is speed). Liked smarty pants. I always find those sorts of clue in reverse ones fun if I manage to spot them. LOI dissent needed a bit of thought and senilely was strangely difficult to derive despite it being a clear anagram and almost certain to end in LY, try as I might the other 6 letters seemed utterly resistant to all plausible arrangements for far too long.
  46. 24’53. Glad to see Richard Rogan’s comment finally – it might have been sent here direct earlier on. Smidgeon seems all wrong, a false wossname – back-formation? – it’s smidgen or smidgin for me. Felt very slow on this but it seems to have drifted a few fog-wisps around to others too. I find the ‘green, not Greene’ novelist pretty impossible to read.
  47. Yay! I finished Big Puzzle! In a satisfying 37 mins. Wot larks, Pip. Thanks setter and blogger.

    Templar

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