A nice outing from Neo, with his usual twists and turns. I especially liked 5 and 22 across, 6 and 24 down.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | TARIFF A R[upee] in TIFF (argument) |
| 5 | SACK RACE d&cd |
| 9 | BRETHREN *(HERBERT) + N[ew] |
| 10 | ROBERT ROBBER (“one aggressively taking”), losing a B (because he is “half-hearted”) + T[roy] |
| 11 | CROUCH CR[edit] OUCH (“that was painful!”). The one and only robot-dancing, goal-scoring praying mantis. |
| 12 | TWO-TIMER REMIT (send) OWT (anything), all reversed |
| 14 | IMITATION FUR U (acceptable) in I (one) + *(FROM TITIAN) |
| 18 | CRUEL HEARTED *(CREATURE HELD) |
| 22 | AIRSTRIP STRIP (take off) on AIR (breeze) Liked this! |
| 25 | RAPTOR RAP (knock) TOR (hill) |
| 26 | CARING CAR (vehicle) IN (at home) G[ood] |
| 27 | ABRASION ABRA[ham] (patriach denied meat) + SION (ancient Israelites) |
| 28 | RELEASED LEAS (fields) in REED (grass) |
| 29 | TATTOO TAT (rubbish) TOO (as well) |
| Down | |
| 2 | AURORA AU (gold) + OR (gold) in RA (artist) |
| 3 | INTRUSIVE *(SIN + VIRTUE) |
| 4 | FORTHWITH FORTH (river) + WITCH (charming woman) minus C for caught |
| 5 | SINATRA hidden in personS IN A TRAin |
| 6 | CARGO C (origin in Colchis) + ARGO (appropriate ship). This is very nice, as Colchis was where Jason sought the Golden Fleece |
| 7 | RABBI RABBIT (chatter) cut short |
| 8 | CERBERUS cd |
| 13 | TAO T[ime] + A[bsolute] + o (nothing) |
| 15 | INTERPRET IN (popular) + TERPRET (a palindromic series of letters). Collins has a palindrome as a “word or phrase” that reads the same backwards and forwards. This was clever, and very nearly redeemed by the quality of the surface, but a step too far for a pedant like me at the end of the day. Your mileage may vary, as they say. |
| 16 | NO-DEPOSIT *(POSEIDON) + [conten]T |
| 17 | IRRITATE I (one) + *(RATTIER) |
| 19 | LOT dd |
| 20 | APPLAUD DUAL (matched) P (money) PA, all reversed |
| 21 | ROCOCO R[uns] O[ld] CO, CO (companies) |
| 23 | SMILE *(MEL IS) |
| 24 | RAGES E (engineer) “in RAGS” (maybe poorly attired) Nice! I’ve always liked clues that incorporate wordplay indicators into definitions. |
Thank you for the blog agentzero, and of course thanks to neo for a smooth drive out. 23 was obvious but made me smile too. But how I missed 5D for so long I don’t believe…
A couple of questions maybe someone could answer for me please:
1. Is it common to have ‘E’ for engineer rather than RE? I’ve not come across this before (maybe I’m used to too many Telegraph xwords, where they never seem to do that…).
2. Is ‘T’ a common abbreviation for Troy? Again I’ve never seen it and it stopped me completing, despite Robert being the only feasible answer!
The ideal crossword to wake up with this morning.
It took me just over half an hour (which is an equivalent of probably 2 minutes on the rightback-scale) to solve this friendly crossword.
Immaculately clued, no quibbles whatsoever.
Full of smooth surfaces, too.
Nothing too fiendish, perhaps only 24d (RAGES) for which I needed the blog to fully understand the solution.
Yes, agentzero, I like these ‘devices’ too (from time to time, when offered in measured doses), but I know people who are not so very keen on them.
Hard to single out one clue, as it is such an evenly written crossword.
That said, I especially liked the complete aptness of 3d (INTRUSIVE).
Thanks Neo, for another good one!
Hi dreadnought, to answer both your questions:
“e” is in Collins for “engineer(ing)”, though nót in Chambers.
“T” may stand for “Troy”: a system of weights with pounds (5760 grains each), ounces and pennyweights, not in use anymore. All this according to Chambers.
The third puzzle I have been able to complete on what has been an unusually lax day between the shafts. This one as good as any, and well written as ever by this consistent compiler. I liked the IMITATION FUR one best!
TWO-TIMER was my favorite. Like dreadnought I have trouble with those abbreviations.
Many thanks for blog and comments. Cheers, and a very merry one to you all.