I found this mostly very easy, with just a few clues preventing a complete walkover. I have quibbles about 12ac, 18ac and 3dn, but generally it was all pretty sound, if not terribly exciting.
dd = double definition
* = anagram
< = reverse
| Across | ||||||||
| 1. | VERTIGO | VERT + I GO. “Turn”=”go” as in board games, for example. | ||||||
| 5. | WEBSTER | ST in WEBER | ||||||
| 9. | LADLE | LAD + LE(a) | ||||||
| 10. | TREATMENT | EAT M(onsieur) in TRENT | ||||||
| 11. | APARTMENT | PART (duty) + ME (Mechanical Engineeer) in ANT | ||||||
| 12. | END ON | EN DON. “Don” is to put on (clothes); surely isn’t the same as “dress”? | ||||||
| 13. | THIEF | I in THE F | ||||||
| 15. | PALESTINE | PALES (fence posts) + TINE (spike) | ||||||
| 18. | SINGLETON | |||||||
| 19. | APPAL | APP(E)AL with “half its heart” removed | ||||||
| 21. | ETHOS | Hidden in “internET HOSting” | ||||||
| 23. | CHAMELEON | (CLEAN HOME)* | ||||||
| 25. | DEODORANT | O DORA in DENT | ||||||
| 26. | ADAGE | AD (bill – as in posters) + AGE. The use of a misleading capital as in “Bill” is sometimes frowned on but accepted by all but the most pedantic. | ||||||
| 27. | REACTOR | RE (touching=”about”) + ACTOR | ||||||
| 28. | RETREAT | R + E + TREAT | ||||||
| Down | ||||||||
| 1. | VALIANT | NAIL< in VAT | ||||||
| 2. | RADIATION | AID< in RATION | ||||||
| 3. | INERT | I think this must be INSERT less S (a newspaper supplement could be an insert), though the dollar sign isn’t really an S. (The most plausible explanation seems to be that it is a monogram of P and S, from “Peso”.) On checking I find that Chambers gives “(in the form $) dollar” as a meaning of S. | ||||||
| 4. | ON THE SPOT | (TEN PHOTOS)* – very easy: “ON THE” was obvious from the enumeration, leaving little choice for the final word. | ||||||
| 5. | WREST | W + REST. I spent far too long trying to use OP H here.. | ||||||
| 6. | BATTERSEA | BAT TERSE A | ||||||
| 7. | TWEED | TWEE + D | ||||||
| 8. | RETINUE | UNITE< in RE | ||||||
| 14. | FALL SHORT | ALL (every single) + SH (“mum”=”quiet”) in FORT | ||||||
| 16. | LANCASTER | ANCESTRAL* | ||||||
| 17. | IMPRECATE | (TRIPE CAME)*. An unfamiliar word – the noun form IMPRECATION is probably better known. | ||||||
| 18. | SLENDER | S (shilling = “bob”) + LENDER (“uncle”=pawnbroker) | ||||||
| 20. | LONGEST | (TEN LOGS)* Another very easy anagram clue | ||||||
| 22. | HOOKA | HOOK + A. More commonly (I think) spelt HOOKAH | ||||||
| 23. | CHAIR | C + HAIR (“shock”) &lit – reference to the electric chair. | ||||||
| 24. | EXACT | EX (former partner) + ACT | ||||||
Many thanks, Andrew, I enjoyed it even though I cam unstuck on 5a and 5d.
So, who is this Webster then?
Surely not Mrs Nesta H Webster?
Noah Webster (October 16, 1758 – May 28, 1843) was an American lexicographer, textbook author, spelling reformer, word enthusiast, and editor. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Webster
Thanks Andrew. I agree, quite an easy puzzle.
Thanks, Andrew. I didn’t enjoy this much at all, I’m afraid, for the reasons you mention. As with Rover, I can’t understand why Chifonie is classified on the site as ‘hard’. [I’m not complaining that it’s ‘too easy’ – just rather lacking in style and humour.]
I think 18ac is a very poor clue: I think ‘wearing’ *is* necessary [and makes a fine clue, which I’ve seen several times before! – 16dn is rather jaded, too] but the ‘in’ is not only superfluous but downright misleading, as it seems to indicate insertion.
5dn: ‘wrest’ doesn’t mean ‘work hard’ [‘wrestle’?] and a dent[25ac] isn’t really a hole.
Eileen, my reading of 18ac was that “one alone” and “a vest” were defintions, leaving “in wearing” unaccounted for, so maybe I’m missing something.
Bryan, sorry, I thought Webster was too well known to need explanation. Maybe I should have added the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby line: “Like Webster’s Dictionary we’re Morocco bound” 😉
Hi again, Andrew
My reading is definition: one alone [singleton]; wordplay: ‘wearing vest’ = ‘singlet on’.
Oops, you’re quite right, I have no idea why I thought a singleton was a vest. In that case I don’t mind the “in” as a linking word.
I know I’ll be accused of pedantry here (what else is new?), but does anyone else have a problem with 25ac.?
Not in the way Eileen does with “dent”, but in the fact that the definition doesn’t work?
“Hides smell” doesn’t define the answer, it just suggests what it does.
(So much for being non-judgmental…)
Ian, I agree with you about 25ac. Likewise in 15ac, neither “Middle East” nor “in Middle East” are accurate definitions of PALESTINE. (I did notice these when I was writing the blog, but there’s only so much nitpicking you can do, and it’s nice to leave some work for the commenters 😉 )
Thanks Andrew, you know me, always willing to help…
(I did notice 15ac. too, but sometimes, you know, I just can’t be bothered).
Fairly easy today – and as per comment #8, in 2dn can waves really define RADIATION? What about gravity~, micro~, tidal~ etc.
Nick
Chifonie is ‘hard’? This was the fastest solve in ages for me. Impeccably clued, not very exciting but there you go. (Give me a good quirky Araucaria every time!)
Andrew,
Were you thinking of ‘singlet’? (18ac)
Chunter, yes I was: see correction in the blog.
Andrew, 12a surely to don and to dress both mean to put on clothes
Lanson – yes they do, but they’re not interchangeable: you don a garment, but dress a person.
Eileen, 5dn. I was amused to see that the on-line Chambers gives one of the defs of “wrest” as “to distort or twist (words) from their true meaning”!
Don doesn’t mean to put on clothes: it means simply to put on, or assume – it could be a role or a personality – whereas ‘dress’ can be used alone, intransitively, meaning to put on clothes.
Hi Cholecyst
… and in the print version, too!
5dn: ‘wrest’ doesn’t mean ‘work hard’ [‘wrestle’?] and a dent[25ac] isn’t really a hole.
Eileen,
Chambers said wrest = “to get by toil (eg a living from an unpromising environment)”
It is acceptable if one can make a sentence with the two words interchangeable without any change in meaning… His lack of shopping savvy resulted in a huge hole/dent in his budget.
Uncle Yap
Like Ian, I sometimes think it isn’t worth the bother! ‘To *get by* toil’ is transitive – as in your own example, it needs an object – and is not the same as to toil.
[Would you rather have a dent or a hole in your car? ;-)]
An OK puzzle, I’m glad “brendan” and “boatman” are out of the way for a while.
I agree with Andrew-the blogger, not particularly something to climax over but never the less a puzzle to break the day up.
A few OK clues, nothing special.
Thanks for the blog Andrew.
To add to all the others:
“A” = American?
“Poor” = SLENDER?
“Shock” = HAIR?
“Correct” = EXACT?
Just because words are interchangeable doesn’t make them synonyms.
And I don’t get “touching” = RE.
I agree with all the comments here. John – “touching” means concerning, as in “an inquest touching the death of…” (which is the formal title for a coroner’s inquest), and “concerning” = RE.
John@21,
Sorry, but all those you mention are reasonable answers/devices.
Respectively, abbreviation in Chambers (I know, I know…),
Both mean “meagre”,
A mass of hair,
Think change or time,
(also all in C.)
Also (and to a certain extent this applies to Nick@10),
Surely all answers don’t need to by synonyms of the definitions; very few are
As long as the answer can be defined as such (eg. chameleon as creature; tweed as material) I can’t see a problem. They certainly don’t all have to be interchangeable.
Actually, just noticed “changeable” in the chameleon clue, so perhaps not a good example…
But, (11ac.) apartments aren’t the only type of accommodation…
My ever knowlegable wife says that END ON is about dressing ranks in military parades. Hope that helps.
Re 5 down, somehow I don’t think telling your boss “I wrested all day today” would improve your promotion prospects.
NealH #26, depends if you are Mick McManus, I guess.
Nick
To #10:
Nick, a simple Collins definition of radiation is:
a. the emission of energy as particles, electromagnetic waves or sound
b. the particles or waves emitted
Microwaves are certainly covered by this as they are part of the EMR spectrum.
I’m not so sure about your other two examples.
People tend ‘radiation’ as meaning ionising radiation, but it covers more than that.
Am I missing something, not being British, but why the heck does “Battersea” = “Daughter”?
maarvarq
It doesn’t, I think you have your clues mixed up. 6d was “Whack pithy American in London” leading to BATTERSEA (a place in London). 7d was “Material for dainty daughter” giving TWEED.