A transportation-themed crossword from Orense, with clues as well as solutions covering the spectrum from airplanes to bicycles. Nice and gentle to solve. No obscure vocabulary – a commendable feat for a themed puzzle.
A couple of clues (1d, 4d) use false capitalization to interesting effect on the surface, and there are some neatly indicated anagrams (2d, 17d) though I’m not too happy with 12a.
Across
1 BATTLE CRUISER (CAREERS BUILT)* around T
9 ADAPTER A D (day) APTER (more suitable)
10 BUFFOON BUFF (polish) O (love) ON (working)
11 BUSES USE (function) in B S (the ‘case’ i.e. outer letters of ‘BreakdownS’). Good clue.
12 AEROPLANE (OPEN A REAL)*. The anagram indication doesn’t work for me here.
13 EVENSONG EVEN (regular) SONG (air). Evensong is a church service. Very nice deceptive surface.
15 EDISON NO (negative) SIDE (spin, as in having a bias), all reversed.
18 HOT AIR BALLOONS cd
22 TRANSPORT dd
24 METRO hidden in ‘extreME TROglodytes’
25 INROADS (ROAD SIGN)* – G
26 RADIANT RADI[o] (set, mainly) ANT (worker)
27 WHEELER DEALER cd
Down
1 BRAMBLE B (born) RAMBLE (to talk at length, without meaning)
2 TRANSIENT (ART)< (TENNIS)*
3 LOTUS LOT (destiny) US (America)
4 CURTAINS cd
5 UNBARS [f]UN BARS (pubs)
6 SOFT PEDAL SOFT (sort of water) PEDAL (cycle)
7 RIOJA RIO (port) JA (German support)
8 INTERN T[h]E[o]R[y] in INN (tavern)
14 SHIPSHAPE SHIP (dispatch) SHAPE (form)
16 SLOW TRAIL cd I think, and if yes a rather tame one. SHORT HAUL dd // Thanks, Andrew.
17 BARTERER (RARE BET)* R[ace]. I like the anagram indicator ‘placing’.
18 HATPIN A devious cd. My last entry into the grid.
20 SHOOTER S (son) HOOTER (warning, as in a siren). A ‘shooter’ is a gun (‘one fired’).
21 CONSUL CONSUL[t]
23 ARROW MARROW (part of bone) – M
24 MIDGE EG (for example) DIM (slow), all reversed
Thanks shuchi. I think 16dn should be SHORT HAUL – it’s (5,4) not (4,5) in my version – and it’s a double definition.
So it is in mine, I had misread the numbers! No wonder the answer wasn’t convincing. Thanks Andrew.
Thanks for the blog, shuchi.
I loved 1dn, which made me laugh, and 2dn, which I thought had a great surface. [You’ve omitted the anagram of TENNIS in the blog.]
By one of those strange coincidences that we keep getting, SOFT PEDAL is also an answer in today’s Indy puzzle.
Thanks Eileen. I’ve included the anagram now.
There’s something about “Bush” clues – whenever there is one in a puzzle, it stands out as the funniest of the day. 1d made me laugh too.
An enjoyable romp today. In some ways it felt reassuringly traditional (the economical concise clues, and the “financial” cryptics in the likes of 18/19A and 18D), but certainly not fusty (thanks to the C21st allusions to Dubya and Microsoft).
One difference of opinion Shuchi: In 15A, I think ‘spin’ is intended to give ‘side’ in the sense of snooker/billiard shots etc. Thanks for the blog.