A new(ish?) setter – Styx seems to be very fastidious about the surface reading of the clues, as these are universally “natural” and concise. However, this flawlessness is almost to a fault in places, where the wordplay (e.g. 18A, 22A) or difficulty (11A, 23A, 6D) ends up slightly compromised as a result. So (with an eye to the Winter Olympics just around the corner) I’d score this as 5.9 for Style and 5.4 for Technical Merit.
Across
1 SOFTENING – often in sing.
6 ABASE – a base.
9 EXTRA – (taxpayer)* – pay.
10 THE STICKS – thes{e} + ticks. As in the phrase “Out in the sticks”. Our setter resisted the temptation to go with an egotistical homophone here.
11 OVERTURN – overt + urn.
12 FRAMER – cryptic/punning def’n. I was originally plumping for PRIMER here, before realising that goes on “underneath” rather than “outside”. Never was a dab hand at decorating.
14 CONFINED – con + fined.
15 PLAN – plan{t}.
18 PART – trap<. A sand trap, aka a bunker, in golf.
19 TEACHERS – ache in ters{e}.
22 INSERT – {pres}s in inert.
23 INFORMER – in + former.
25 TOMBSTONE – to + MB’s + tone.
26 DUNCE – dun + CE. A fantastically harvested and processed definition!
27 RISEN – hidden. The definition “above the horizon” needs to be taken in a solar context.
28 NOTARISED – no + (trade is)*.
Down
1 STEP ON – pet< in son.
2 FATHER CHRISTMAS – (This charmer’s fat)*. An &lit, although “Unnaturally” does seem to imply some sort of “Santa on Steroids”tabloid scandal.
3 EXACTING – ex + acting.
4 INTERMIXED – (term + I) in (index)*.
5 GOES – double def’n.
6 ASTERN – a + stern.
7 ACCOMPLISHMENTS – a C + (sh) in compliments.
8 ENSHRINE – (the sinner)* -t.
13 DESCENDENT – (esc + end) in dent.
16 SPRINTER – S[mall] + printer. Unfortunately, most of the racecourse sprinters that I’ve thrown money at over the years have been anything but “fast to finish”!
17 SECONDER – (censored)*.
20 ORISON – {f}O{u}R + is on.
21 FRIEND – r in fiend.
24 HORN – (rhino)* – i. &lit. A clever and economical note on which to finish.
Thanks for the blog, smiffy.
This is the kind of crossword puzzle that really appeals to me.
At first it felt as though it was going to be a difficult one.
However, with a little help from letters entered, it all seemed
to get easier and easier towards the end!
I agree with your comments, but overall I thought the clues were
fair and well-constructed. In my opinion (ignoring the rather sad picture painted)
24dn was clue of the day!
I’m a bit of an &lit. fan.
FATHER CHRISTMAS & RHINO are two classic clues.
I’ll have to start some sort of “&lit Hall of Fame” – There’s two nominations straight way…
‘fastidious’, ‘concise’, ‘economical’ and ‘flawless’ sound like a pretty good puzzle to me.
No need to scratch the head and wonder what the setter may have been thinking.
I enjoyed all this puzzle, particularly 25ac and 24dn.
usual disclaimer – new to this game.
In 7D, where is the definition for “accomplishments”? It’s hardly the same as “tributes”. Or am I missing something?
Flex, the definition in 7d is “exploits”. Exploits and accomplishments can both mean achievements.
@Flex: in 7d “Exploits” is the defn for “accomplishments”