Mudd seems to have taken a leaf out of Dante’s book today with a third of the clues being double/cryptic definitions. This is too high a percentage for my liking but it may suit others. Apart from that, the cluing was straightforward and fair though for me it seemed to lack some of Mudd’s usual wit and sparkle.
| Across | ||
| 1 | HORNPIPE | RN (navy) PI (good) in HOPE (expect) |
| 5 | PROMPT | ROMP (easy run) in PT (exercises) |
| 9 | PECULIAR | PE[ople] CU (copper) LIAR (perjurer) |
| 10 | GUINEA | double def. |
| 11 | EMULSION | S[tallions) in EMU (bird) LION (beast) |
| 12 | CHARGE | double def. |
| 14 | COR ANGLAIS | *(OCARINA’S L[on]G) |
| 18 | FOR CERTAIN | FORCE (drive) *(TRAIN) |
| 22 | APPEAR | A P PEAR (a f-fruit) |
| 23 | DYNAMITE | double def. |
| 24 | DOODLE | OD (overdrawn) in DOLE (social security) |
| 25 | CRACKPOT | CRACK (break) POT (pocket {snooker}) |
| 26 | NARROW | [catamara]N ARROW (missile) |
| 27 | RESTORER | *(ERROR SET) |
| Down | ||
| 1 | HOPPER | double def. |
| 2 | RECOUP | O (round) in RE (on) CUP (competition) |
| 3 | POLISH | double def. |
| 4 | PIANOFORTE | F (fine) in *(OPERATION) |
| 6 | ROUGHAGE | HAG (witch) in ROUGE (make-up) |
| 7 | MONTREAL | MON (a day) *(LATER) |
| 8 | TRAVERSE | TRAVERS (farceur) [disput]E – Ben Travers |
| 13 | FAMILY TREE | cryptic def. |
| 15 | OFF AND ON | double def. |
| 16 | TRAPDOOR | ROOD (cross) PART (role) reversed |
| 17 | SERAGLIO | *(ALGIERS) O (love) |
| 19 | MASCOT | M[ain] ASCOT (course) |
| 20 | KIPPER | double def. |
| 21 | SETTER | double def. |
Many thanks Gaufrid & Mudd
I did enjoy this but I was made to struggle in the NE corner where for 7d my mind was at first focused on the 2012 Olympics. This was my last entry.
I did like ROUGHAGE which is my COD.
Thanks Gaufrid, and Mudd.
Liked 14A COR ANGLAIS, 6D ROUGHAGE and 9A PECULIAR, where I was held up with interpreting “odd” as the usual odd-positioned letters. As you say, a bit leaner than usual on wordplay.
LHS was ok except for 2d & 11a but made no headway in Tyneside and not much in Kent.
Shouldn’t 10a “Country with little money” be Greece?
14a Spotted the anagram material but try as I might, I never thought of “cor” for the three letter word.
8d Didn’t know what farceur meant and never heard of Ben Travers so not much chance of getting that one.