The 2nd Hypnos puzzle on the trot for me. This was just as good as the last one, though a bit harder as it took me two attempts to finish it off. Very neat clueing throughout, though I’m completely stumped by 14A and can’t quite piece together all of 16A.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | APEDOM – MODE PA rev. |
| 5 | RESUME – Double def. |
| 10 | HINDSIGHT – S(ection) in HINDI + initial letters of Get Harder Taken |
| 11 | MEDAL – Hidden in esteeMED A Lot |
| 12 | CERAMIC – ERA in C(ollege) + M(aster) I(n) C(harge) |
| 13 | INROADS – IN + (Gary) “Rhodes” |
| 14 | WOMENS INSTITUTE – No idea on this – “Small branch without outsiders shortly in traditional outfit” |
| 16 | RACING CERTAINTY – There’s definitely an anagram here and I’m guessing T for time, but that’s as far as I’ve got – “Anger in City broadcast around time after competition is restricted – it’s seen in banker here” |
| 19 | HYGIENE – “High Gene” |
| 21 | TAVERNA – VAT rev. + R(oyal) N(avy) in EA(ch) |
| 23 | SAMOS – SAMOS[-a] |
| 24 | LIBERTINE – L(eft) + IB. + (TREE IN)* |
| 25 | CATNIP – C(old) + PINTA rev. |
| 26 | EMERGE – G[-uid] in E(nglish) MERE |
| Down | |
| 2 | PANORAMIC – (A MANOR)* in PIC |
| 3 | DUSTMAN – (NAST[-y(ard) MUD)* |
| 4 | MAGIC CIRCLE – A GI in M.C + CIRCLE |
| 5 | RUT – R(ugby) U(nion) + T[-ake] |
| 6 | SAMURAI – RUM AS rev. on A1 |
| 7 | MEDIA – Hidden in tAME DIAlogue |
| 8 | CHIC – CHIC[-ago] |
| 9 | BLUSTERY – BLUR + (SET)* + Y[-obbishness] |
| 13 | INSCRUTABLE – (LET IN CAR + BUS)* |
| 14 | WAR CHEST – ARCH in WEST |
| 15 | UNNERVING – [-g]UNNER + V1 + N(o) G(ood) |
| 17 | NIELSEN – [-op]E[-ra] in N(ew) + (LINES)* |
| 18 | ADVERSE – AD (bill) + VERSE |
| 20 | GAMMA – G(rand) + AMMA[-n(ationalist)] |
| 22 | ABET – A B(ritish) E.T |
| 24 | LIP – PIL[-s] rev. |
I am as bemused as you by the wordplay of 14a but I can explain 16a. RAC[E} (competition restricted) followed by an anagram (broadcast) of ANGER IN CITY with T for time inserted. In betting terminology, a banker is a sure thing to better on.
Hopefully someone else will understand 14a – we can’t all have gone ‘ah Women’s Institute’ can we??
Thanks to Hypnos for a nice Sunday brain teaser and to Ali for the blog.
Thanks Ali and Hypnos. 14 took me forever and drove me mad until the penny finally dropped….’small branch’= TWIG; get rid of the outsiders and you’ve got WI, for the short name for the traditional outfit.
Yes, enjoyable puzzle, esp liked APEDOM and INSCRUTABLE. From reading this, I think I must have been lucky to twig the significance of twig quite quickly. Many thanks, Hypnos, and Ali.
D’oh to the tWIg!!