Solving time: 6:55
Easier than usual for this setter, I thought, but perhaps harder if you hadn’t heard of the book referenced at 1dn, which connected most of the other long phrases.
* = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | B(R)EECH |
| 4 | UP-BEAT (double definition) |
| 9 | FLOG; rev. of GOLF (= ‘a good walk spoiled’) |
| 10 | I(SOME + TRIC[k])S |
| 11 | BOO + T.E.S. – a constellation which contains the star Arcturus, the third brightest star (excluding the Sun) behind Sirius and Canopus. |
| 12 | BIT BY BIT – ‘by’ in the sense of ‘multiplied by’, hence ‘squared’. A ‘bit’ is short for ‘binary digit’ in computer-speak, hence can take one of the values 0 and 1. |
| 13 | PRESENT (= ‘now’) + [h]ER[e] |
| 17/2/25 | BEHIND THE EIGHT BALL; (HEIGHTENED BATH BILL)* |
| 22/5 | NONE-SO-PRETTY (double definition) – as well as a beer, London Pride is a perennial plant also known as none-so-pretty. |
| 24 | UNDERLINGS; E swapped for G in UNDERLINES |
| 26 | AL(PINERO)SE – the playwright is Miguel Piñero. [Edit: More likely is Sir Arthur Wing Pinero (see comments).] |
| 27 | P(RAY)ER |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | BALFOUR – a reference to former PM Arthur Balfour, and to Sandy Balfour who wrote the crossword-themed book ‘Pretty Girl in Crimson Rose’ which materialises from the clue. See this article for more. |
| 3 | CRIMSON TIDE – fantastic anagram. |
| 6 | EARLY BIRD; (BARELY)* + I + RD – this just about works cryptically if you take the definition as ‘Up before most others, he’ with ‘barely’ being the first word of the wordplay. |
| 7 | T(ACT)ILE |
| 8 | DOUBLE MEANING; (BELGIUM AND ONE)* |
| 14 | SIS + AL(HEM)P |
| 16 | R(O + MAN)IA – ‘ria’ being crosswordese for ‘drowned valley’. |
| 18 | IONISER; I, + IS in ONER – last one to go in. |
| 19 | HUSTLER; (SLEUTH)* + R |
| 20/21 | GIRL IN A MILLION; MILL in (IN ORIGINAL)* |
| 23 | N(OB + B)Y |
I’ve been really looking forward to the blog of this excellent puzzle, a great tribute to the Divine [chocolate] Sandy. 1dn was the last clue I got [naturally, I suppose] and then it all fell into place. Brilliant! [You should also read Sandy’s other crossword-themed book, ‘I say nothing [3]’ – superb clue!]
18dn: I read this as ONEIS* inside IR, which seems to have something to do with continuous motion – but I couldn’t understand it! [clue: one is engaged in continuous motion, making air cleaner.]
PS: should have said ‘Divine [FAIRTRADE] chocolate’!
26ac – I assumed the setter meant Arthur Wing Pinero. Can’t say I’ve heard of Miguel of that ilk! Still, it works either way – and it definitely wasn’t Harold Pinter, which was my first guess.
Yes, I think you’re right – thanks.