Gentle, pleasing, puzzle from Quixote, solved very fast for me, 16 mins. A few words that I did not know or had forgotten but was able to get them quite quickly from the clear wordplay.
* = anagram
ACROSS
1 SHABBY Two Bs (bishops) shay (carriage) Defn: run-down
4 ATTACHES (heat cast)*
9 MARACAS new to me – South American musical instrument (maraca) mar (have a detrimental effect on) ACAS (negotiators)
11 ECOCIDE Umberto Eco “sighed”
12 ROCK GARDEN In crossword language, this phrase could be saying “make a anagram of garden” which could give you ‘danger’.
13 STET From Latin, instruction in printing, meaning ‘let it stand’ ie ignore the change and go back to the original. Odd bits = alternate letters ie those in odd-numbered positions in ‘set text’.
15 IN WORKING ORDER Straight definition and cryptic one referring to religious order
16 FLYING BEDSTEAD (fiddles by agent)* It’s used in testing in aviation
19 AINU Hidden in “Spain unlikely” Surface suggesting you’d not hear it in Spain (as it’s a Japanese language)
20 JEROME KERN (no mere jerk)* Composer of musicals eg Show Boat
23 CHINOOK Chi (character in Athens = Greek letter) nook (refuge)
24 SALIENT alien (stranger) in St (saint = person regarded as holy). Defn: noteworthy
25 SAGAMORE a gam (leg) in sore (aching) Indian chief
26 BRASSY My joint favourite clue today (with 3 down) bras (items of underwear) sy = sexy but without padding ie outer letters only. Defn: audacious
DOWN
1 SUMER sum (problem) ER (Queen)
2 AFRICAN A Fr (Father) I (one) can (vessel) Liberia = African country
3 BACKGROUND Great surface here. back (support) g (good) round (cycle). Defn: environment
5 THE PENNY DROPS In the world of Listener puzzles for example, the ‘penny-dropping moment’ is used to refer to when the key to the puzzle or the last step is seen by the solver
6 AMOS o = introduction to old ie 1st letter in A MS (script = manuscript). Book of the Old Testament.
7 HOISTED ho (house) (tides)* Defn: raised
8 SHELTER Lt (lieutenant) in sheer (complete) Defn: protection
10 STRIKEBREAKER Defn: One won’t come out (on strike) hit (strike) vandal (breaker)
14 ROTTWEILER Composer Kurt Weill briefly = take last letter off = weil in rotter (nasty person)
16 FRANCIS (in scarf)*
17 YANKING no upstanding = nay (going upwards) king (ruler)
18 AGELESS Hidden (reversed ie contrarily) in ‘dress elegantly’
21 NUTTY Ref Brazil nuts Defn: passionate
22 ZOOM zoo (lots of different animals) m (miles)
Thanks nmsindy for the blog, and Quixote for a nice puzzle that I managed to solve despite my appalling ignorance in not knowing what a flying bedstead is (thanks for clearing that one up), not having heard of Kurt Weill, Sagamore or Ainu, not knowing Amos was a book in the OT and not knowing that gam was an archaic term for leg (obvious perhaps from gammon) and trying to fit in “ham” until I got 17 d and had a 5d moment.
Favourite was 12a
I know the expression having a gammy leg as being an injured leg which 25 implies a leggy leg hmm. yes was quite easy thanks Don & NMS, I say easy but sagamore had me thinking for a while.
Thanks Quixote for an enjoyable puzzle and nms for the blog.
A few obscure words and components, but I always found enough information to infer the answer.
flashling @2: From Chambers 1998 and Collins 2000, it looks as though gammy (injured) and gam (leg) have completely different origins.
Thanks nms and Quixote.
There was plenty to check in Wiki here, but as you say, the wordplay was clear and, on occasions, amusing.
I’m glad there was a ? at the end of 14d, as I object to any breed of dog being described as “vicious”. This adjective should only be used for particular dogs, or more appropriately to irresponsible or ill-meaning owners who bring them up to be so.
Thanks for the blog.
There is an interesting definition for – ainu – in Chambers. It mentions that their abundance of bodily hair has often been the subject of remark.
I’d heard of ainu before (probably encountered the word in another crossword) but sagamore was new to me and needed a word finder. Otherwise a straightforward solve.
A possible quibble with 5d in that I doubt if any slot machines these days take pennies, unless you count the old ones in working museums where you can buy an old penny for rather more than its face value.
Thanks, Quixote and nmsindy.
Fine puzzle, with IN WORKING ORDER and BRASSY my favourites. Still can’t quite see how we get to NUTTY at 21dn though …
I think it’s ‘passionate’ = ‘nutty’ ie having a great interest eg football nut. The other part of it is, I think, just saying Brazil is so ie an adjective describing it ie nutty from ‘Brazil nut’, a dict phrase.
Re 21dn: I took this the same way as nms, but Chambers 2008 gives us nutty foolishly amorous (sl), which does just as well.