Was it just me being tired from having stayed up late watching The Wire last night, or was some of this quite hard for a Dac puzzle? The middle of the grid didn’t cause me too much bother, but I spent a fair while trying to fill out the bottom corners. Nevertheless, reliably excellent clueing from Dac.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | SUPERB – REP in BUS, all rev. |
| 4 | GRAINGER – GRAIN,GER |
| 9 | OLIVER – Double def. |
| 10 | BLACKOUT – Cryptic def. |
| 12 | BILL – Double def. |
| 13 | DESIGNATOR – (DOG’S TRAINE[-r])* |
| 15 | LOSE ONES GRIP – (REGIONS POLES)* |
| 18 | BREAKTHROUGH – BREAK,TH[-e],ROUGH |
| 21 | LEAF INSECT – LEAF + C in INSET |
| 22 | SKIP – Double def. |
| 24 | BUNGALOW – Un,GAL in BOW |
| 25 | CUP – C[-ity],UP,TIE |
| 26 | LAMPETER – LAM,PETER – A tough clue I thought |
| 27 | BARDOT – BAR,DOT |
| Down | |
| 1 | SHOP BELL – Cryptic def. |
| 2 | PAINLESS – (SPANIELS)* |
| 3 | REEL – LEER rev. |
| 5 | ROLLING STOCK – Double def. |
| 6 | INCENDIARY – [-v]INCEN[-t],DIARY – Fantastic. Clue of the day for me. |
| 7 | GHOSTS – G,HOSTS |
| 8 | RETORT – RE: TORT |
| 11 | GENERAL STORE – (LOR! TEENAGERS)* |
| 14 | COORDINATE – (DECORATION)* |
| 16 | JUNKETED – K in JUNE + TED – A great clue, but hard in Dac terms I’d say, with a crafty definition (‘organised jolly’) which wouldn’t be out of place in a Bannsider puzzle! |
| 17 | SHIPMENT – HIP,MEN in ST. |
| 19 | GLOBAL – LO[-w] in GB + AL[-l] |
| 20 | MAGNUM – GNU in MAM |
| 23 | AURA – Former First Lady [-l]AURA |
Dac on a Tuesday? I bet that means Eimi has a big one up his sleeve for tomorrow, it being All Fools’ Day.
A little tougher than usual for Dac for me today too. Excellent as ever and the clue to 1 ac was just as the answer suggested – my favourite today.
Incidentally, re 25 ac, not sure, if in these of the Prem League and all its riches, those cup ties are important matches any more.
I read 10ac. not just as a cryptic definition, but as LACK in BOUT.
Yes indeed. In fact I think it’s one of the best &lits I’ve seen.
I went wrong at 1 down, having filled in door bell, and consequently could not get 1 across. I have some problems with 3 down, as, although, I guessed correctly, I don’t think it’s sufficiently clear from the clue that the answer is “reel” rather than “leer”. Otherwise, I thought it was a very good tough puzzle.
I found this mostly fairly easy but had to resort to looking up a list of Welsh towns to find Lampeter. The “originally” threw me a bit as it more often seems to mean first letter rather than goes before and Peter for rock is a bit too biblical for me.
Yes, definitely harder than usual for Dac, but as good as ever, if not better.
Yes, great puzzle.
It took me from the moment I bought the paper at West Dulwich station at 8.52am until one minute before I left work to finish it. No reference materials were needed, but plenty of brain-racking was. The perfect crossword for me 🙂
More of this sort of thing!