*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, CD=cryptic def, DD=double def, sp=spoonerism
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Perusal: (Pleasur[e])*. |
| 5 | Cypress: Hom of Cyprus. |
| 9 | Tudor: D[e]tour*. |
| 10 | Appetiser: Pet in praise*. |
| 11 | Good Will Hunting: CD referring to Will Shakespeare. |
| 12 | No doubt: CD (Doubting Thomas). |
| 14 | Placebo: Lace in Pb + o[rder]. |
| 16 | Ariadne: Aria + end<. |
| 19 | Stewart: Steward with D replaced by t. CD referring to motor racer Jackie Stewart. |
| 21 | Somerset Maugham: (Rummest home saga)*. |
| 23 | Torpidity: I’d in pit in tory. |
| 24 | Trent: T[or]rent. |
| 25 | Delight: CD (de-light). |
| 26 | Drapery: (Rep in yard)<. |
| Down | |
| 1 | Patagonia: A tag in Po + (in a)*. |
| 2 | Redford: Hom of read + Ford. Referring to Robert Redford and the director John Ford. |
| 3 | Shrew: She (novel by H Rider Haggard) around r (royal) + w (wife). |
| 4 | Leaflet: LEA (Local Education Authority) + (felt)*. |
| 5 | Cop Shop: CD. |
| 6 | Potentate: Note* in pt + ate. |
| 7 | En suite: (Itunes + e)* (echo = e in phonetic alphabet). |
| 8 | Shrug: Sh + ru[n]g. |
| 13 | Underling: Un + der + l in [ba]g. |
| 15 | Optometry: CD. |
| 17 | Immoral: MM (two marrieds) + OR + a (are = unit of measurement) in il. |
| 18 | Elegist: Leg (=on in cricket) + Is in ET. |
| 19 | Samoyed: Someday*. |
| 20 | Achieve: A c + hive around [gam]e. |
| 21 | Sited: S + diet*. |
| 22 | Ultra: Hidden in awful traditions. |
In 4dn LEA is more probably Local Education Authority.
I failed on 19ac, missed the definition completely.
Enjoyable puzzle, which I found on the easy side. Favourite clue, NO DOUBT.
Got a lot of pleasure from finishing this one, although it took me ages to get started. A few that I didn’t understand the wordplay on, so thanks to Neal for the explanations. NO DOUBT was indeed clever, and I liked the Shakespeare clue as well.
Thanks for the post, NealH. I really enjoyed this one – I thought it had that nice balance where one could guess the answers fairly easily but the wordplay was quite tough to work out. (At least there were a few clues where common crossword indicators were used in slightly surprising ways, e.g. LACE = “Doctor” (rather than MO, MB, DR), BAR = “rung” (rather than INN, PUB, LOCAL), etc.)
In 17d, I wondered where IL is used for “Italian”?
In 17d I think it’s more that IL is “the Italian”, i.e. the Italian definite article.
Was pleasantly surprised to get through this relatively swiftly – I usually struggle quite shamefully with Hypnos puzzles.
Finished this with a little help from Chambers etc but happy with my achievement.17d I got with letters I had but what was immoral definition?
Base = immoral, in a slightly Shakespearean sort of a way. Very enjoyable puzzle!