A straightforward puzzle today from Neo, nothing too difficult. 18 down made me smile and I liked 24 down, among others.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | FIRST-CLASS MAIL *(RACIST SAM FILLS) |
| 10 | AMUSE AM (morning) USE (service) |
| 11 | IRON CROSS IRON (press) CROSS (angry) |
| 12 | BARONET R[ight] ONE in BAT (club) |
| 13 | FEELING E, E (similar notes) in FLING (chuck) |
| 14 | REFER def & palindrome indicator |
| 16 | ANGEL CAKE cd |
| 19 | SINGLE OUT SINGLE (record) OUT (on the shelves) |
| 20 | UGRIC hidden in DoUG RIChmond |
| 22 | ILLNESS I[nternational] L, L (students) NESS (head) |
| 25 | IMPALER MP (politician) ALE (drink) in IR (Ireland) |
| 27 | DECAMPING *(PANDEMIC) by G[erman] |
| 28 | ALONE AL (boy) ON E (vibraphone at last) |
| 29 | GRASP THE NETTLE *(PESTER AT LENGTH) A nice anagram find! |
| Down | |
| 2 | IBUPROFEN *(PUB ON FIRE) |
| 3 | STERN dd |
| 4 | CRISTIANO SIR (man respected) reversed in *(ACTION). The Portugese star and ex Man U player, in case anyone does not follow football |
| 5 | ALOOF ALOO (Indian potato) F[ellow] |
| 6 | SACRE BLEU cd |
| 7 | AIOLI A-I (excellent) + *(OIL) |
| 8 | LASAGNE SAG (bend) in LANE (road) |
| 9 | BARBER BAR (tavern) + BE[e]R (beer “somewhat exhausted”). This must be American composer Samuel Barber |
| 15 | RELIEF MAP cd |
| 17 | GETTING ON dd |
| 18 | APRIL FOOL cd; “May” is too late for April Fools |
| 19 | SHINDIG H[ard] in SIN (crime) + DIG (understand) |
| 21 | CAREER E (Engineering) in CARER (one looking after sick) |
| 23 | LYCRA C (see) in LYRA (constellation) |
| 24 | SMITH *(THIS + M); an &lit. |
| 26 | PLANT dd; Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin. |
Thanks Agentzero, thanks – and I agree with you, rather straightforward.
Surprisingly so, as I find Neo normally quite demanding or at least a bit more inventive.
Not today though, which doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good crossword.
The clueing was remarkably to the point – a complete lack of superfluous words or dodginess.
That said, I had to think about the wording in 12ac.
[“Nobleman gets right one club admission”]
Does it really say that “right one” has to be put into “club”?
Well, just about – probably, the only construction that I didn’t find very elegant.
As one with no particular antenna for cd’s, I must admit that 16ac (ANGEL CAKE) still eludes me.
And quite amusing to see that the boy in 28ac (ALONE) plays the ‘vibraphone’, where it could have been the more obvious ‘saxophone’, for example. 🙂
I find it hard to 19ac my Clue of the Day as it was a very even crossword.
Therefore I won’t do it today [but I like your pick of the day].
Thanks, Sil.
A financial backer of a theatrical production is often referred to as an “angel,” and angel cake is a dessert.
Not many comments for the boy Neo today – must’ve been the excitement of impending, or even ongoing footie – but most grateful, as ever, for the blog and replies.
Cheers to all concerned.