No big surprises here and nothing very difficult. There do seem to be a lot of word or part word reversals in this one. The main point of note is a rare but welcome quadruple definition in 19dn and actually quite a liberal spread of double definitions too.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | DIVERS – dd |
| 4 | TENNYSON – “TENNIS” + NO< |
| 10 | SURE THING – dd |
| 11 | GAMIN – GAMIN(g) |
| 12 | ROOST – ROOT around S |
| 14 | BAGATELLE – BELLE around A GAT = a piece as in a gun |
| 15 | BITTER LEMON – LEMON after BITTER |
| 18 | LAMENTATION – LAMENTATION(s) |
| 21 | ESTATE CAR – STATE in RACE< |
| 22 | ERNIE – I in ERNE |
| 23 | OBESE – O.B.E.S as in more than one O.B.E. + E |
| 24 | INNKEEPER – KEEP in INNER |
| 26 | DISASTER – DI’S + ASTER |
| 27 | BRIGHT – BRIGHT(on) |
| Down | |
| 1 | DESCRIBE – SCRIBE after ED< |
| 2 | VERMOUTH – REV< + MOUTH |
| 3 | RAT – TAR< |
| 5 | ENGAGEMENT RING – cd |
| 6 | NIGHTINGALE – IN GALE after NIGHT. Reference to Florence Nightingale. |
| 7 | SAMPLE – S(herry) + AMPLE |
| 8 | NANTES – ANTE in N(otoriou)S |
| 9 | PINBALL MACHINE – NIMBLECHAPLAIN* |
| 13 | THE PLATTERS – THREATSPELT*. I’m afraid I’d never heard of the vocal grow The Platters, but after a few checking letters, there weren’t many possible options. |
| 16 | WINNIPEG – WIPE around INN + (bi)G |
| 17 | IN SECRET – NICEREST* |
| 19 | SECOND – Quadruple definition |
| 20 | STRESS – S(tate) + RESTS* |
| 25 | ERR – Hidden in PetER Rabbit |
Common crossword abbreviations this week:
small = S
one = I
European = E
Sailor = TAR [as well as AB, SALT…]
19 was last in. I’d never heard of a GAMIN. Didn’t know until checked in Chambers that DIVERSE could be spelt without an ‘E’
Oh, Arthur!
If you’ve never heard of The Platters, may I suggest that you get acquainted with them? You won’t regret it. Perhaps the finest of the 1950s doo-wop ensembles. Notable for The Great Pretender, Only You, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, Red Sails In The Sunset, and many others.