Apologies for not writing this up before disappearing for the Bank Holiday weekend. This was a challenging but not too difficult puzzle, taking me 13:50. A fine set of varied answers and plenty of the elegant clue-writing you expect from this setter.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | APPLES AND PEARS – double def exploiting the ‘stairs’ Cockney rhyming slang meaning |
| 10 | LE(W)IS – “part of island” as Lewis and Harris are two parts of the same one |
| 11 | RAST=tsar rev.,AFAR,I |
| 12 | PE(STILE)NCE |
| 13 | NEVA = ‘aven rev. The Neva flows from Lake Ladoga to the Gulf of Finland, through St Petersburg |
| 15 | ALAR,MS. |
| 17 | UNWEANED = (a new dune)* |
| 19 | OLD FRUIT – double def cross-referencing 1A |
| 20 | GUINEA = (EU gain)* |
| 22 | NOOB = boon rev. – geeky slang for a beginner, from “newbie” |
| 23 | W(E(L)LVERS)ED |
| 26 | BRICK WALL – two defs, one punning on “pointing” = mortar |
| 27 | EBLIS = fEw BuLlIeS – a Muslim name for the Devil which I vaguely recognised |
| 28 | SOCRATIC METHOD – M in (doctors I teach)* |
| Down | |
| 2 | POWYS = Y in rev. of SWOP |
| 3 | L(ESSISM=misses*)ORE |
| 4 | SOR=”sore”,BET=horse |
| 5 | NO(SEC)ONE |
| 6 | P(L)AY |
| 7 | AGAMEMNON – if you write MAN/EGO/MAN, as the rows of a three by three square, this is columns 2,1,3. |
| 8 | SPIT AND SAWDUST = (wants stupid ads)* |
| 9 | CLAP HAM,OMNIBUS |
| 14 | B(E,MUSE(u)M)ENT |
| 16 | AU,DIOD(e),IS,C |
| 18 | DIG,ERA,TI=I.T. rev. |
| 21 | SLA(LoOm)M |
| 24 | SAL(V)O(n) |
| 25 | SKU(ll),A(ll) – ll. = lines |
As an Indy cryptic solver since the start in the 1980s, I thought this was one of the best puzzles ever to appear there.
I missed this one. How did the APPLES AND PEARS clue compare to today’s from Dac?
Colin
The clue was: “Take these for a healthy diet and exercise (6,3,5)”