Smashing puzzle with shed loads of wit and ingenuity
ACROSS
1 GENDARME low-down GEN (DREAM)*
5 DECAMP de Camptown ladies sing this ..
9 UNDERAGE too tender (U GRANDEE)*
10 MIMOSA flower MOS medics in AIM< back end
11 BALDNESS honesty SEND post in SLAB chunk all reversed
12 FRIEND companion [lu]N[ch] in FRIED
14 PROPENSITY inclination ROPE pearls NS poles all in PITY sympathise
18 STOCK-STILL replenishes STOCKS float TILL
22 HIKING rambling HI KING
23 HAIR LOSS ref to clue 11a IR S[etter] in HALOS signs of sanctity
24 DROVER herdsman R rex in DOVER port
25 VIGNETTE sketch (GENT)* in VITE inVITE
26 LAMBDA Greek letter LAMB become parent DA parent
27 INTERMIT stop IN TERMIT[e]
DOWN
1 GRUBBY soiled G[reen] B black in RUBY
2 NODDLE bonce turn over LD lord in NODE lump
3 ARRANT complete [w]ARRANT authorisation
4 MAGISTRATE beak GIST thrust RA middle letters of 3d in MATE 12a
6 EMIGRANT one on way out GRAN in TIME<
7 ALOPECIA clue 23a A LOPE run CIA spooks
8 PLAY DAYS free time (LADY)* in PAYS shells out
13 SPOLIATION plunder (I TAIL)< in SPOON kiss
15 ASPHODEL flower (L SHAPED O)*
16 BOOKWORM keen reader (WORK)* workout in BOOM
17 SKINHEAD ! SKIN hide HEAD noddle
19 CRINGE shrink RING call in CE church
20 BOTTOM bed B book MOTTO<
21 ASPECT look P quiet in A SECT a faction
( )* = anagram < = reverse [ ] = omit
Thanks, Jed, for the blog [I appreciated the ‘shed loads’ 😉 ] and Dogberry for an excellent puzzle.
Favourite clue: 25ac.
Thanks, Jed.
A superb puzzle from Dogberry, one of my favourite setters in the FT stable.
DECAMP was a nice touch. Do you remember when every crossword had a Quotation Clue?
I liked VIGNETTE too, Eileen. It seemed to be part of a minitheme:
INvite, OVERlord and workOUT. Not to everyone’s taste – but the device appeals to me!
Me too, mike04!
May I join the choir who thought this was a great crossword?
Also one that – I thought – was much harder than recent Sheds (which added to the/my/our fun).
Maybe it was also because of these cross-references that it felt a bit like that other Biggle :).
Never heard of SPOLIATION or APHODEL (quite a clever anagram) but perfectly gettable.
A very evenly clued crossword in which, perhaps, 25ac was my/our favourite too.
Thumbs up for Dogberry.
Thank you, Jed, for your blog.
May I join the choir of those who thought this was a great crossword? [was what I meant to say] 🙂
Thanks all. The pile-up of prepositions noted by mike04 was purely fortuitous, I hadn’t noticed it myself. I was rather expecting to get accused of racism for 5ac but everyone seems to have taken it in the spirit in which it was intended.