IoS 1,152/Crosophile – Fifteensquared

Having moved from blogging the daily puzzle to the Sunday one, I seem to be landing all the setters I rarely saw during the week. No complaints though, as this was good stuff from Crosophile. I found this tough in parts, with the penny dropping on many clues only after I’d got the answer. Any help with 27A 15D will be appreciated.

Across
1	FLOODLIT – LO(ok) in (IF TOLD)*
5	SHRIMP – SH + R(eading) + IMP
9	OVERSTEP – OVER PETS, i.e. PETS rev.
10	PRISON – PRI[-m] + SON
12	EVOKE – OK in EVE
13	PTARMIGAN – PT (exercises) + + ARM (gun) + ([-a]GAIN)*
14	HANDKERCHIEF – K(ing) + ER (queen) in HAND (worker) + CHIEF(boss)
18	RHODODENDRON – (DODDER + [-t]HORN[-s])*
21	SHOELACES – Cryptic def.
23	SHADY – SHY about A D[-eal]
24	BLEACH – L(ake) in BEACH
25	COMEDIAN – CO (firm)+ MEDIAN (in the middle)
26	WASHER – WAS HER
27	SENTIENT – This seems to be SENT (transported) around I + E[-xpected], but not sure where the ‘not on vacation’ part comes in
Down
1	FROZEN – (ZERO)* in F(ar) N(orth)
2	OCELOT – O (love) for LAN[-d] in LANCELOT
3	DESPERADO – (SPED)* + E[-cuado]R + ADO (trouble)
4	INEXPEDIENCY – PE in (INDEX NICE)* + [-da]Y
6	HAREM – HARE + M(alta)
7	INSIGNIA – INSIGNI[-ficance] + A(dvanced)
8	PENKNIFE – PEN + K + NI + FE
11	KALEIDOSCOPE – (I O DALEKS)* + COPE
15	C?O?S ?E?T – Not sure on this one – “I’m high on waves taking in nothing to most directions”
16	CROSSBOW – CROSS + “Beau”
17	COLONELS – “Kernels”
19	FACILE – I L(eft) in FACE
20	CYGNET – “Signet”
22	LUCRE – (CRUEL)*

Across

1 FLOODLIT – LO(ok) in (IF TOLD)*

5 SHRIMP – SH + R(eading) + IMP

9 OVERSTEP – OVER PETS, i.e. PETS rev.

10 PRISON – PRI[-m] + SON

12 EVOKE – OK in EVE

13 PTARMIGAN – PT (exercises) + + ARM (gun) + ([-a]GAIN)*

14 HANDKERCHIEF – K(ing) + ER (queen) in HAND (worker) + CHIEF(boss)

18 RHODODENDRON – (DODDER + [-t]HORN[-s])*

21 SHOELACES – Cryptic def.

23 SHADY – SHY about A D[-eal]

24 BLEACH – L(ake) in BEACH

25 COMEDIAN – CO (firm)+ MEDIAN (in the middle)

26 WASHER – WAS HER

27 SENTIENT – This seems to be SENT (transported) around I + E[-xpected], but not sure where the ‘not on vacation’ part comes in

Down

1 FROZEN – (ZERO)* in F(ar) N(orth)

2 OCELOT – O (love) for LAN[-d] in LANCELOT

3 DESPERADO – (SPED)* + E[-cuado]R + ADO (trouble)

4 INEXPEDIENCY – PE in (INDEX NICE)* + [-da]Y

6 HAREM – HARE + M(alta)

7 INSIGNIA – INSIGNI[-ficance] + A(dvanced)

8 PENKNIFE – PEN + K + NI + FE

11 KALEIDOSCOPE – (I O DALEKS)* + COPE

15 C?O?S ?E?T – Not sure on this one – “I’m high on waves taking in nothing to most directions”

16 CROSSBOW – CROSS + “Beau”

17 COLONELS – “Kernels”

19 FACILE – I L(eft) in FACE

20 CYGNET – “Signet”

22 LUCRE – (CRUEL)*

5 comments on “IoS 1,152/Crosophile”

Thanks Ali
27ac is N[o]T (not on vacation) I E[xpected] in SENT (transported)

15dn is CROWS NEST – CREST (waves) around O (nothing) WSN (most directions)

Thoroughly enjoyed this. Big ticks for SHOELACES and the three metals in PENKNIFE.

Held myself up by entering NIPPER instead of PRISON for a while. My thinking was NIP as a verb may be a synonym for NICK as a verb, + PERt for mostly demure, def child. But pert seems to be the opposite of demure, so no wonder I couldn’t make it work…

I puzzled over RHODODENDRON as (DODDER+tHORNs)* doesn’t have enough letters. I think it needs ‘beside’ to give the final ON.

Many thanks to Ali and Crosophile.

Yes, this was very good, thanks Crosophile and Ali. Favourite clue PENKNIFE.

Thanks Ali, and Crosophile.

Favourites were PENKNIFE, HANDKERCHIEF and COMEDIAN. Completed it and parsed as setter intended, but nagging question as to:
15D CROW’S NEST: “crest” doesn’t seem to be compatible with “waves”, neither as a noun nor a verb (in any case, as a noun, crest is the top of a wave, not the whole wave).
And in INSIGNIA, I guess A=advanced as in A-level exams?