Lohengrin has established himself as an Indy setter now: his first puzzle was in August last year, and he’s had a more or less monthly puzzle since. He’s had to put up with me blogging all but one of them. We must stop meeting like this. I thought that this was a good crossword, light-hearted and witty. I have a couple of niggles, but nothing that I’d call the SFO about.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) missing
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Competitive rider who’s off at present for festive season?
SHOW JUMPER
This made me smile because it reminded me of the silly reindeer jumper that Colin Firth’s character wore in Bridget Jones. A charade of (WHO’S)* and JUMPER.
6 Crack cut by drug dealer’s equipment
SHOE
I’ve never done drugs or gambling, so this was my last one in. SHO[T] plus E, and a SHOE is what casino dealers use to distribute the cards on the table.
9 Preacher sent via potentially captivating setter?
EVANGELIST
No, ‘setter’ this time wasn’t ME or I. It’s GEL in (SENT VIA)*
10 Brought back beer for drinks on the house
FREE
Hidden (‘drinks’) reversed (‘brought back’) in bEER For.
12 Bird out at sea ahead of vessel
TOUCAN
Excellent. A chance for the obligatory Pierre bird link. A bird designed by committee, if ever there was one. But you can’t deny it’s colourful. (OUT)* plus CAN.
13 Welcomes European writing about support
EMBRACES
A charade of E and BRACE in MS for manuscript or ‘writing’.
15 Second best with likely winners back in trim
SPICK AND SPAN
A bit convoluted, but it’s S plus PICK (the PICK or ‘best’ of the bunch), AND for ‘with’ plus SPAN for NAPS reversed. It’s a strange expression, isn’t it?
18 Disappointment with cement mixer
SWIZZLE-STICK
A charade of SWIZZLE for ‘disappointment’ and STICK for ‘cement’. A stick used for frothing up drinks, apparently.
21 Full coverage of dazed boxing champion?
TOTALITY
I’m guessing that this is (Mohammed) ALI in TOTTY, but I can’t quite see how it works. Perhaps if ALI were surrounded by TOTTY, he’d be dazed?
22 Alarm seen in Tardis, maybe
DISMAY
Hidden in TarDIS MAYbe.
24 One offering pork pies around bar
RAIL
A reversal of LIAR.
25 Booze home worker hides for times in charge
INTOXICANT
This appears to be a charade of IN and ANT with the insertion of TO, X and IC, but I can’t see how ‘for’ becomes TO.
26 Boasted about shipping company
CREW
It’s a dd. I’d always write CROWED for ‘boasted’, but dictionaries also give CREW, so like when we’re talking about the weather, we mustn’t grumble.
27 After which head of supermarket belatedly flogged
SELL-BY-DATE
(S BELATEDLY)* I’d always write SELL-BY DATE, so the enumeration with two hyphens put me off and in this case I will grumble. An extended definition, with ‘flogged’ as the anagrind.
Down
1 Nap that is taken on board with thanks
SIESTA
An insertion of IE in SS followed by TA.
2 Dark film has length cut after Oscar
OPAQUE
I couldn’t see this for the longest time, but it’s O for ‘Oscar’ in the phonetic alphabet followed by P[L]AQUE. The ‘film’ bit is referring, for example, to the PLAQUE that coats your teeth if you don’t brush regularly.
3 Game lure was set up on gravel
JIGSAW PUZZLE
JIG: ‘angling any of various spinning lures that wobble when drawn through the water.’ Gravel: ‘ to counfound or confuse’ which are synonyms for PUZZLE. Reverse WAS and stick it between the two and you’ve got your answer. Is a JIGSAW PUZZLE a game? Are two of the three elements in this clue rather obscure synonyms? Is there life on Mars?
4 Spy and his boss, say, getting Spanish approval
MOLE
M is the boss of James Bond, who is a spy, or MOLE, in the Ian Fleming novels; and ¡OLÉ! is a Spanish shout of approval.
5 Those assisting passage of sailors following course
EPSOM SALTS
A charade of EPSOM for the race ‘course’ and SALTS for ‘sailors’. EPSOM SALTS are a rather old-fashioned remedy for constipation, whose active ingredient is magnesium sulphate.
7 Printout from PC in bold
HARD COPY
An insertion of COP in HARDY. Nice surface reading.
8 Prayers, for example, describing meat one put out
EVENSONG
A less elegant surface reading, but it’s VEN[I]SON in EG with ‘describing’ as the insertion indicator.
11 City proud to work with ITV’s output
PRODUCTIVITY
(CITY PROUD ITV)*
14 Resignation from catholic church in fit over topless ball?
ACCEPTANCE
Lohengrin is asking you to insert C and CE in APT and follow it with [D]ANCE.
16 Secret coteries disbanded
ESOTERIC
(COTERIES)*
17 Attack community undermining foreign aid
DIATRIBE
Since it’s a down clue, it’s (AID)* followed by TRIBE.
19 Little devil-like creatures
IMPALA
Lift and separate … IMP for ‘little devil’ followed by À LA for ‘like’, as in à la française.
20 Test wood frames for climbing plant
MYRTLE
A reversal of TRY in ELM. The reversal indicator is ‘climbing’ because it’s a down clue.
23 Fan clubs of old league
COOL
I’ll have a stab at this and say that it’s C for ‘clubs’, O for ‘of’ as in John O’Groats or Will o’the Wisp, O for ‘old’ and L for ‘league’. As always, I am never embarrassed to have my ignorance hung out to dry, so if someone has a better idea …
Many thanks to Lohengrin for this one.
Thanks, Pierre. How does ‘for’ become ‘to’? To me, it’s obvious. But I agree about ‘Sell-by date.’ Chambers gives ‘dazed’ for totty. I’ve just recorded a song with ‘crew’ as the PT of crow & but I too think it’s a bit of a reach & yr right: there were a few such arcanities today.
And – sorry to bang on, but it’s a real irritation – the setter’s name STILL doesn’t appear in the on-line daily so today I thought for a bit that we must have a new compiler called GEL. Only now do I know that this was a Lohengrin, to whom much thanks for a quietly witty puzzle.
Oh, and it’s a pangram. Played, Lohengrin.
Thank you for spotting the pangram, Grant.
3 is no more of a game than this-which is a puzzle (trichological maybe).
Most challenging of todays offerings but thought Rufus’ was the neatest.
thanks to Lohengrin and Pierre; an amusing combo.
It’s lovely to see the esoteric/coteries back…I might print that bit out and bung it in my etui
9ac – Does anyone know where the ‘n’ comes from?
Thanks Pierre for the blog.
I’m not sure what clue the Indy’s app has for 9a, but the clue on the website is correct – it has ‘sent via’ as the fodder – however, Pierre’s version shows me that I should have used ‘potentially captivating new setter’.
Lohengrin
Sorry – just looked at crossword again. That’s the trouble when there’s no 7d ??
My mistake with EVANGELIST – apologies. The clue actually reads ‘preacher seNt via potentially captivating setter, which works fine. I’ve amended the blog.
Just noticed that 4dn in Another Place today is a variation in reverse, as it were, of 24ac here.
Sorry but we are very late to the party. We started this as usual late in the evening but could not keep our eyes open. We have been busy all day so have only just finished the puzzle.
Enjoyable and all good fun. Bert spotted the pangram while Joyce was logging on here.
No stand-out clues but thanks to Lohengrin for a good start to the week. Thanks to Pierre as well.
Please Indy, can you let us know who the setter is?