Solving Time: 19 minutes
When you are under the weather, the last thing you need is a nasty ferocious puzzle to make you feel worse. Phi’s puzzle breezed in and contained lots of nice make-you-smile clues, which left me relaxed in my sickbed. When I first saw the grid, I hoped to find a nice messsage round the perimeter, but sadly this was not to be. However this has left me feeling comfortable and relaxed for the weekend, until I find out what the Listener looks like later, and a relapse will set in.
ACROSS:
5 OVAL – Nothing – O Against – V (versus), A large – AL
6 HEATHROW – Argument (ROW) linked to open country (HEATH)
8 SEARCHER – Hunter = definition. In position = SE(T) – cut down. Bowman = ARCHER
10 INGEST – TINGES with the first letter shifted “front to back”
11 SCANDAL SHEET – an image to make you smile from the clue – Anag of DEAN & THE CLASS.
15 AGENCY – AC – Account with GEN – information inside and followed by and unknown – Y from your maths days at school.
16 BROADCASTING – General – BROAD Provision of acting work = CASTING
21 ARSONIST – Lad is – SON IS inside ART – skill. My only tiny grumble with the puzzle is the definition “one’s fired” OK for ARSONIST?
22 PLAYROOM – Double defintion, though one is probably more likely to be in the Uxbridge English Dictionary, hence the question-mark!
23 FUSS – Joins without hint of extravagant – FUSES minus E
DOWN
1 MATRON – I liked this a lot too! Married a lot M A TON with seventh of partners = R inside.
2 DES RES – DESIRES minus I = One
3 STAINED GLASS – Nice anagram
7 WISH – NOWISH minus NO
9 HEART TO HEART – The suit ref is of course – HEARTS
12 HYPNOSIS – Anag of phony + SIS = gir l. Hmmm.
14 TABLE MAT – The last one I solved – ABLE + M inside TAT
17 DEACON – another nice clue CO inside DEAN
18 TONGUE – Say = EG plus NOT all reversed with U inside.
19 WHIP – W – Women + HIP = trendy.
Thank you Phi!
Nice crossword but what a strange grid – only 24 clues. Surely this isn’t enough, although I can’t recall ever being told what is enough.
I think it’s the really black edge that’s odd rather than the clue count in particular. Still half-expecting to hear about some special aspect of the grid that I’ve failed to notice.
I enjoyed this too – and found it relatively easy. My one doubt was WISH because NOWISH (though I thought of it and it sounds right) is not is any of my dicts.
THis grid actually dates back to a former editor’s allowing setters to devise new grids as long as there were no fewer than 12 answers across and down. So I did one with 12 each way, and I trot it out now and then when I want a quiet week.
-ISH is in C as a living suffix, so it’s reasonable to claim NOWISH is there – or thereish anyway.