Lorraine: Good morning one and all,
I truly enjoyed this crossword, so many favourites. 3, 14 ,17 and 21ac; 23ac comes up all the time, a bit of an old favourite. My favourite down clues were 1, 4, 6, 8 and 15.
Big thank you to Everyman for a smooth Sunday morning solve.
| Across | |||
| 1. | Dance after quiet game (8) | ||
| SOFTBALL | BALL after SOFT | ||
| 5. | Hack holding page showing prominent headline (6) | ||
| SPLASH | P in SLASH | ||
| 9. | One local person, about 100, is resting (8) | ||
| INACTIVE | I+(NATIVE around C) | ||
| 10. | Briefly express American position (6) | ||
| STATUS | STAT(e)+US | ||
| 12. | Flower standing in row, cut (5) | ||
| LUPIN | UP[standing] in LIN(e) | ||
| 13. | Repulsive, smooth ale if off (9) | ||
| LOATHSOME | (SMOOTH ALE)* | ||
| 14. | Film barrister attending meeting (5,9) | ||
| BRIEF ENCOUNTER | BRIEF+ENCOUNTER | ||
| 17. | Money available for use by company run in Surrey town and London, perhaps (7,7) | ||
| WORKING CAPITAL | (R in WOKING)+CAPITAL | ||
| 21. | In New Zealand, adult inhaling pipe gets a respiratory ailment (9) | ||
| INFLUENZA | FLUE in IN+NZ+A | ||
| 22. | Consider carefully course announced (5) | ||
| WEIGH | homophone: WAY | ||
| 23. | Got the shakes in deprived area (6) | ||
| GHETTO | (GOT THE)* | ||
| 24. | Sheriff’s officer upset employees (8) | ||
| TIPSTAFF | TIP+STAFF | ||
| 25. | President’s first to speak in golf club (6) | ||
| PUTTER | P+UTTER | ||
| 26. | Popular batting order (2,6) | ||
| IN DEMAND | IN(batting)+DEMAND | ||
| Down | |||
| 1. | Protect novice in cast (6) | ||
| SHIELD | L[learner, novice) in SHIED[fling, toss] | ||
| 2. | She was a flighty young thing, and one likely to panic? (7) | ||
| FLAPPER | cdd | ||
| 3. | Staff may make racket, working (5) | ||
| BATON | BAT+ON | ||
| 4. | Even scores at cribbage? (5,7) | ||
| LEVEL PEGGING | cd ref. cribbage board | ||
| 6. | Essential oil, oil university refined under cover (9) | ||
| PATCHOULI | (OIL U*) after PATCH[cover] | ||
| 7. | Performs in a play abroad attached to different cast (4,3) | ||
| ACTS OUT | OUT after (CAST*) | ||
| 8. | Inn shortly to be refurbished to accommodate engineers, initially (8) | ||
| HOSTELRY | E(ngineers) in (SHORTLY*) | ||
| 11. | Support an outsider, reportedly a drunken reveller (12) | ||
| BACCHANALIAN | homophone: BACK AN ALIEN | ||
| 15. | Protocol quite absurd – letter required to dismiss banks (9) | ||
| ETIQUETTE | (QUITE*)+(l)ETTE(r)[dismiss banks, i.e. sides) | ||
| 16. | Admitting having spell of prosperity (6,2) | ||
| OWNING UP | cd | ||
| 18. | Display mirror (7) | ||
| REFLECT | dd | ||
| 19. | Bail out a bishop, a hero of pantomime (3,4) | ||
| ALI BABA | (BAIL*)+A+B+A | ||
| 20. | Irritated husband in snack bar close to Anfield (6) | ||
| CHAFED | (H in CAFE)+(anfiel)D | ||
| 22. | Refuse to kill (5) | ||
| WASTE | dd | ||
| … | |||
Thanks for the blog Lorraine.
I enjoyed this too – a pleasant workout while digesting Sunday lunch. My favourite was 11d, which I don’t remember seeing before.
My only reservation is about 4d – which is hardly a cryptic clue, given that the term ‘level pegging’ seems to derive from the system of pegs and holes used on a cribbage board to record the scores.
Thank you Lorraine and Everyman.
Another enjoyable Sunday morning solve. I laughed at BACCHANALIAN. I’m sure it’s been done before, but it’s a new one on me.
I think LEVEL PEGGING has two meanings: in sport, for example, two teams can be said to be ‘level pegging’ if they are drawing or have equal points, or are ‘even’.
Hi Kathryn’s Dad,
I also loved 11dn. I am still telling people who do not understand cryptics about this clue!