I found this unusually difficult — the two-word clues were a problem and one or two short answers are even now not totally clear. But apart from one or two quibbles, a typically pleasant crossword from Phi
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1/8 | BACKGROUND RADIATION — (Radiocarbon-dating UK)*, not an anagram that came quickly, partly because I couldn’t believe that ‘radi’ would be in both clue and answer |
| 9 | SURF{ace} |
| 10 | FL(I’M S)Y |
| 11 | CRESSIDA — (is scared)* |
| 13 | ICE BAG — reserve in two senses — I had to look this up, it not being a familiar term |
| 14 | ANTS EGGS — (gag nests)* |
| 17/19 | JOHANNES BRAHMS — (manners hash job)* |
| 21 | MARS HG AS |
| 23 | E(PONY)M |
| 25 | STUN{t} |
| 26/27 | COALITION GOVERNMENT — CD |
| Down | |
| 1 | B(O)AT SWAIN — this took a while and it seemed to me that the ‘with a’ was misleading and only there for the surface, but possibly I have it wrong: perhaps (just) the ‘with’ refers back to the two previous words and attaches them to the end. But in neither case does this seem very good. |
| 2 | C {s}HIP I think — although whether this refers to chips used in board games, or chipboard, or even computer chips on a motherboard, I’m not sure |
| 3 | GANG RENE{w} |
| 4 | O AS IS |
| 5 | NURSING — (run)rev. sing |
| 6 | TRAFFIC JAM — a play on the two senses of ‘jam’ |
| 7 | A D(M)IRE |
| 12 | ASSES S(MEN)T |
| 15 | SORE POINT — (prose)* (into)* |
| 16 | BE(SAN)CON |
| 18 | H ORATIO{n} |
| 20 | HANK I.E. |
| 22 | HEN G{ranit}E |
| 24 | {fruit}CAKE |
Good puzzle, if a little difficult to get 26/27 as they were so close together. In 1 down I read the definition as “one with a mate?”. I read 2 as a casino.
Although I found this fairly straightforward, I thought some of the clues were a bit iffy.
24d – LUMP is not really a definition of CAKE
21a – MARSH GAS is METHANE which is not poisonous.
What is the definition in 6d ? It cannot be FOOD, which would define STRAWBERRY JAM, but not TRAFFIC JAM. If the definition is ‘the preserve of motorists’, what part does ‘food’ play in the clue ?
I think 6 is just a cryptic definition, playing on ‘jam’ as John says.
Rayfolwell: LUMP (verb) is to clump together, or CAKE
26/7 took me an absurd amount of time too – but just managed to get them before 16D. Nice to see Brahms without Liszt for once!
I must have been just lucky in seeing the association between ‘house’ and ‘parties’ at once to guess 26/27. 1/8 took a little longer to figure out but after that it was all plain sailing and I finished the puzzle quite quickly, thinking it was a nice easy one.
Rayfolwell, methane may not be poisonous in the sense of acutely toxic, but it doesn’t do you any good!