A pleasing, innovative, puzzle which I found on the easy side. Solving time, 18 mins.
* = anagram < = reversed
ACROSS
1 GUARDIAN (A = American in a drug)*
5 P (EOPL) E (pole)* in PE
10 ZIP-UP Double definition, though the meanings are a bit similar
11 TURBO (t) PROP A type of plane
12 T (RY) ON Pun on ‘gear’ Ton = 100 mph ry = railway i.e. track
13 bREakers SURF ACE
14 (v)ERSE Old name for Irish (language)
16 IN THE PRESS e (earl) in (she prints)*
19 PAPER ROUND As a present would have
20 (n)OTIC(e)
23 OR AL (STAG) E
25 HAIKU “high coo”
27 ENDPAPERS (apprehends)* less h
28 LICHI Hidden
29 RECORD Grocer< with d (old penny) for g
30 EX A MINER
DOWN
1 GAZETTE a small gaze punningly
2 A MP L(ad)Y
3 DOPING Cryptic definition
4 ALTER “Altar”
6 E GO T RIPS
7 PARRAKEET (take rap re)*
8 EX PRESS express = say (to speak)
9 G R O SCH EN Former money in Austria
15 SEPHAR DIC (phrase)* in Roman numbers DIC = 599 (end of sixth century – well very near it anyway – I won’t start the millennium argument again)
17 NEONATES (sane note)* pun on ‘labour’
18 F (RE-SH) AIR Shut up again = re-sh!
19 PIONEER Hidden
21 COUR(t)IER
22 SHALOM if you changed h (hard) to l (left) you’d get slalom
24 ESSE X
26 INCAN film finished = in can I’d some initial doubt about the part of speech here, but I think it’s OK,
A nice puzzle, with subtle references to the press both explicit and implicit (the answers around the grid). Does this qualify as a nina (not sure, because I often miss them)?
It’s definitely Nina. All the outside lights are common newspaper names with PAPER ROUND and IN THE PRESS leading to them. I’m only sorry that Mick left out my favourite, COURANT (Hexham Courant, and no doubt others.)
Excellent puzzle with some superb clues.
3d is a superb &lit. PIN in DOG with ‘say’ working perfectly in both surface readings. Much better than a CD!
Liked this one a lot. 5A, 13A and 26D are cracking clues. I’ve never come across SEPHARDIC, ENDPAPERS and GROSCHEN though, so can’t claim to have finished it entirely unaided.
I also completely missed the Nina and the fact that 3D is (a rather excellent) &lit.
I really liked this too. A couple of small quibbles though:
22D Although “hard” and “left” get mentioned I can’t see anything to indicate that you are supposed to exchange the L and H.
17D Wasn’t sure if “establishing” was justified/necessary
15D 599 arguably ought to be DXCIX
I think in 22d the crucial word is ‘with’, so in ‘Peace with hard left…’ there is an implied ‘as’ between ‘hard’ and ‘left’ that I have come across in normal speech.
nmsindy hinted at the arguableness of DIC by choosing to avoid the debate! The form you give is only deemed ‘proper’ because of mathematicians and historians who came after the Roman era codified the system. There are plenty of examples ancient and modern of the rules being broken.
Actually my point was slightly different – it’s that the last year of the 6th century is 600, not 599. The millennium comment related to whether it should have been celebrated on 1 Jan 2000 or 1 Jan 2001. We all know who won that argument. I agree with Colin on hard left and in 17 dn I think ‘establishing’ is just a link.
I had noticed some newspaper references but missed that they went all around the grid in a Nina. And, yes, 3d as explained is tip-top.
A very fine puzzle, nicely maintaining the Tuesday Nina tradition in Virgilius’ absence. With so much thematic material in the grid (including ENDPAPERS), I can’t believe I didn’t spot what was going on until about three-quarters of the way through.
Agree entirely with the praise for the RESURFACE and DOPING clues, but also share Nmsindy’s doubt about the part of speech used in the wordplay part of INCAN – “South American film finished thus?” would have been a slight improvement, I think.