Audreus has picked up Rufus’s Monday gauntlet with panache: a straightforward puzzle as befits Monday but nothing cliched nor run-of-the-mill. In particular, I like her charades (e.g. 8D, 16A) and a couple of nice anagrams (12A, 18A). Personally we could do with more Audreus rather than less.
Across
| 1 | HOSEPIPE – (hippo, see)*. In spite of my accolades above, I wonder about “cramped” as an anagrind — it implies compression not mixture. |
| 5 | P(HOB)IC – One of my last clues: good clue with a couple of red-herrings (brownie cookie and snap has several meanings). But HOB as in hobgoblin I think, where brownie is also an elfin fairy. |
| 9 | SU(BED)ITOR – “On the contrary” indicates the converse in the cryptic reading. I had ????D?T?R and kept looking for ????DATER (since you’re hopeful about ending up in bed on a date presumably — at least that’s what I hear). |
| 11 | BRO(W)N – Ref. Eleanor BRON the actress (I remember her in “Help!”). |
| 12 | STREET-TRADER – (red setter, tar)* |
| 18 | ORANGE PIPS – (Spiro Agne[w],p)*. I think Spiro Agnew’s only legacy is to serve as anagram fodder. |
| 25 | R,HIN(ELAN)D – it’s over there |
| 26 | [h]EALING – ref. EALING comedies. |
| 27 | TE(ARLES)S – good surface and wordplay: ARLES (V. Gogh painted there) in set*. |
Down
| 1 | HOST – quite different two meanings and was my last clue! |
| 2 | SUB,S – this must be right: rev(bus=transport) but not sure why SUBS is “advances”? |
| 6 | H(I,BE,RN)AL – nice word to have worked out (def: “of a winter”). Ref. Prince HAL. |
| 7 | B(LOO,DH)OUND – Ref. DH Lawrence and using the LOO. |
| 8 | CENT,RE,FOLD – def is “Inside spread” (inside not indicating containment for a change). FOLD is a rather religious term for “congregration”. |
| 13 | SH,R(O,VET)IDE – not my forte the Easter season but I’m guessing that there are three holy days that comprise SHROVETIDE. |
| 14 | BREAST WALL – Sadly unrelated to breasts: simply a retaining wall. |
| 17 | AG(RA)R,IAN – IAN’s our man this time: RA in rag* — and def is just “of the land” not “man of the land”. |
| 22 | CAME[o] |
Hi everyone, back in the la-la land of the living again.
Agreed about Audreus, who is I think now the Guardian’s longest serving setter. Her puzzles are a joy to solve and are always fair and contain the right measure of wit and warmth.
However, it usually means that Junior (Shed) is in tomorrow and he’s a different kettle of fish!
A sub is a loan or advance on money owing to you. It can also be used as a verb – as in ‘can you sub me till the end of the week’. I thought it might be related to subvention, but Chambers has it as short for subsistence money.
An enjoyable puzzle, generally straightforward, though 16ac. STROGANOFF (NAG ORTS
Held up by putting down SIBERIAN for 6d when I had a few checking letters – moral: read the clue properly!
I am surprised by Chambers definition for SUBS – I always thought it was short for ‘subscriptions’.
Centre Fold is two words, not one