An enjoyable, not too difficult puzzle today. There seems to be a word missing in 22 across. Laughed at 23 down, which is risque to American ears, at least. My favorite clue of the day is probably 28 across.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | METAPHYSICAL *(A CHEAT SIMPLY) |
| 10 | PIERCES R[uns] in PIECES (articles) an &lit. clue, and a nice one. |
| 11 | TORNADO TORN (rent) A DO (fleece, as a verb). |
| 12 | LIT UP PUT (suggest) IL (“the,” Italian), all reversed. |
| 13 | WRETCHED W[ife] RETCHED (was sick) |
| 15 | PERIPHERAL PERI (fairy) + HERA (goddess) in PL[ace] |
| 16 | IRIS dd |
| 18 | EASE LEASE (rental) minus the initial letter |
| 20 | STRIPTEASE STRIP (band) TEAS (drinks) E[cstasy] |
| 22 | RAINCOAT A (unaccounted for in the clue) IN (popular) CO (firm) in RAT (scoundrel). Surely the clue was meant to read “Scoundrel acquires a popular firm making clothing.” |
| 24 | PILED P[ennies] I LED (spent). Led = spent as in the phrase “how I led my life…” |
| 26 | ENDOWED END (objective) OWED (unsettled) |
| 27 | UNCLEAN UNCLE (relative) AN (article) |
| 28 | DISCONSOLATE DISC (record) ON SO LATE (playing well into the night). A clever pun! |
| Down | |
| 2 | ERECTOR E[nglish] RECTOR (clergyman) |
| 3 | ALCOPOPS A L (trainee) COP (policeman) OPS (operations) |
| 4 | HOSE S[eedlings] in HOE (weed, as a verb) |
| 5 | SATURNALIA *(AUSTRALIA) |
| 6 | COROT CO (firm) ROT (bunk) |
| 7 | LEATHER THE (article) in LEAR (king) |
| 8 | APPLE-PIE ORDER d&cd |
| 9 | CONDESCENDING CON (prisoner) DESCENDING (going down) |
| 14 | WESTWARD HO *(WHO + STEWARD) |
| 17 | ATYPICAL *(ACT I PLAY) |
| 19 | SKIDDED S[on] + KIDDED (joked) |
| 21 | AILMENT *(LIME) in ANT (worker) |
| 23 | COWLS C[ollege] OWLS (hooters) Interesting surface reading! |
| 25 | NUTS dd |
Thanks Agentzero. This was only a little harder than the puzzle by Armonie’s alter ego Chifonie in the Guardian today. I agree about the missing A in 22ac – I originally thought it must be the incorrectly-spelt RAINMENT (for RAIMENT), with firm = MEN.
10a was the last one I got. It was just about the only word which would fit, but it still took me a while to understand the clue. Unusual for words in the clue to do double duty like that.
Yes, a good, cohesive puzzle with a consistent ‘feel’ (it seems that Armonie tries, in the spirit of economy, to work with a self-imposed limit of eight words per clue max; and a much lower overall average).
I don’t recall encountering the anagram at 5D before, which raised a smile. And I assume that 23D is an intentional innuendo, rather than “lost in translation” (I can’t really figure a viable alternative for the surface). Have to concur with your pick of the bunch being 28A.
Thanks Agentzero.
After some early progress, had to use an anagram solver to get 1a & 5d which got me going.
Would never have got 6d -why does crosswordland always have obscure poets and painters rather than scientists and mathematicians?
8d couldn’t get order.
19d decided slipped was the answer as I without conviction decided joked =being lippy
Failed also on 14d & 26a
As seasoned Eye solver I got and enjoyed 20a.