It is Wednesday, and since it is not the last one of the month, it must be Dac.
I made rather swift and even progress through this puzzle, which seemed easier than the average Dac to me. This does not mean to say that there was not much to admire here: on the contrary, a set of perfectly sound clues with some silky smooth surfaces, e.g. at 14 and 9, which were my favourite clues, together with 7 for its construction.
The last ones in were the geographical references at 11 and 7 (which I realised I had been misspelling all my life!)
(…) indicates an anagram
| Across | ||||
| 1 | BENEFACTOR | N (=new) in [BEEF (=complaint) + ACTOR (=player)] | ||
| 6 | CHOP | CH (=companion, i.e. Companion of Honour) + OP (=work, i.e. opus) | ||
| 10 | UNCERTAIN | *(ANCIENT UR); “to be rebuilt” is anagram indicator | ||
| 11 | TIREE | <re>TIREE (=OAP); “about (=re) to leave” means the letters “re” are dropped”; Tiree is the most westerly island in the Inner Hebrides | ||
| 12 | CROUTON | ROUT (=defeat) in CON (=Tory) | ||
| 13 | BAILEYS | B<uilder> (“at the front” means first letter only) + *(EASILY); “repaired” is anagram indicator; a bailey is the outer wall of a feudal castle | ||
| 14 | ACHILLES’ TENDON | A + CHILL (=cold) + [TEND (=take care of) in *(NOSE)]; “suffering” is anagram indicator | ||
| 17 | AN IDEAL HUSBAND | A + *(DANIEL) + H (=hot) + US (=American) + BAND (=group); An Ideal Husband is an 1895 stage play by Oscar Wilde | ||
| 21 | DRACULA | CAR (=estate, say) in [A + LUD (=lord)]; “proceeding in wrong direction” indicates reversal | ||
| 22 | THROWER | T<oug>H (“extremely” means first and last letters only) + ROWER (=sportsman) | ||
| 24 | GRACE | G (=good) + RACE (=people); & lit. | ||
| 25 | D’ARTAGNAN | DART (=weapon) + AG (=silver, i.e. chemical formula) + N (=point, i.e. of compass) + A + N (=knight, i.e. in chess); the reference is to Charles Ogier de Batz de Castelmore (1611-73), Comte d’Artagnan, who served Louis XIV as captain of the Musketeers of the Guard and was immortalised by Alexandre Dumas in The Three Musketeers | ||
| 26 | DREW | Double definition: DREW is American actress Drew “Barrymore” (1975-) AND “depicted”, portrayed | ||
| 27 | PRESENT-DAY | [RESENT (=feel peeved about) + D (=dollar)] in PAY (=salary) | ||
| Down | ||||
| 1 | BOUNCE | B (=black) + OUNCE (=cat) | ||
| 2 | NACHO | Hidden (“portion of”) in “spiNACH Omelette” | ||
| 3 | FIRST-TIME BUYER | [IM in *(FITTERS)] + BUYER (homophone – “sound” – of “byre” – building); “working” is anagram indicator | ||
| 4 | CHANNEL | [ANNE (=girl) in CH (=church)] + <social>L (“at last” means last letter only) | ||
| 5 | OMNIBUS | OM (=order, i.e. Order of Merit) + [U (=university) in NIB’S (=writer’s)] | ||
| 7 | HARPENDEN | PEN (=a pound, i.e. enclosure) in HARDEN (=cake, as verb) | ||
| 8 | PLEASANT | [A + SA<le> (“50% off” means half of letters dropped)] in PLENT<y> (=large store; “almost finished” means last letter dropped) | ||
| 9 | STRIKE A BARGAIN | STRIKE (=industrial action) + [BAR (=lawyers) in AGAIN (=once more)] | ||
| 15 | CHINAWARE | CHIN (=a facial feature) + AWARE (=conscious of); the cryptic definition is “potty, i.e. of pottery, group” | ||
| 16 | BANDAGED | *(DAD BEGAN); “stirring” is anagram indicator; the definition is “dressed”, i.e. of a wound | ||
| 18 | LEANDER | N (=name) in LEADER (=newspaper article) | ||
| 19 | UPTURNS | P<arty> (“leader” means first letter only) in U-TURNS (=policy changes) | ||
| 20 | CRANKY | RANK (=sergeant, say) in CY (=Cyprus, i.e. IVR) | ||
| 23 | WINED | IN (=at home) in WED (=day, i.e. Wednesday) | ||
A bit less of a swift solve in chilly Derbyshire this morning, but as always a delight from Dac. NW corner, where I habitually start, went in quickly enough, but the last few took a bit of working out. ACHILLES TENDON is a great clue, as was BAILEYS once I’d twigged the definition. Couldn’t parse HARPENDEN, so thanks for that. CHINAWARE was a bit cheeky …
Nice one! Thanks RR and Dac.
Hi RR
Great blog, and as you say a puzzle full of goodness, smoothness, and perhaps a good example of ‘non-bittiness’ with reference to my unpopular comments about yesterday’s Guardian. I apologise for upsetting those concerned, but Dac makes my poiunt far better than I ever could!
Well done all,
Rowly.
Thanks for the blog (and before that, the puzzle).
I’d have loved to find a way to make CONSOMME fit at 12 (always find it very distracting, when a clearly-impossible answer keeps pushing itself forward, yelling, “Me, Miss!”). The stand-out clue, for me, was 15; though 14 and 17 were also great fun.
I’m pretty sure the Musketeer would have insisted on being called a Gascon, rather than a Frenchman 🙂
I’m still glad, yvains at #4, that Dac did define him as a Frenchman…
Also I guess, ‘French hero’ could also be seen as ‘hero of the French’
I agree with the comments – excellent puzzle just a shade on the easy side of how I find Dac normally. Favourite clues GRACE, CHINAWARE and WINED.
@nmsindy – just to be clear, I certainly wasn’t suggesting that ‘French’ was wrong, or that there was anything remotely wrong with the clue – just that D’Artagnan is described as being very proud of being Gascon, and so would probably have self-identified as such, more than as French. In France, national (as opposed to regional) identity is a surprisingly recent invention, and even now doesn’t hold total sway…
Was not doubting you at all – yvains at #6 – and interesting to learn that. It was just that, in the context of the crossword, I’d have been thrown by seeing ‘Gascon’ in the clue and was just making a light-hearted point to illustrate that.
Going back to the serious point, yes, I think the word ‘nationalism’ and, I guess therefore to some extent the idea, was not known before C19.
As others have said, not a difficult puzzle, but not an easy one either. I completed it without any external help, not even an atlas for the two place names. 13ac was the last in. I could see what it was an anagram of, but I just couldn’t see the word until I had all the cross letters.
Much to enjoy here from Dac. Last one in was 14 ac after having some electronic help (well it is late again!) with 15d but an excellent clue!
Thanks RR for the blog and many thanks to Dac!
Hello all. I’m smiling because after 3 months of trying to solve an Inde Crossword when being an australian and not understanding many of your UK references I finally, FINALLY solved one. Either DAC should try harder or I’m getting better at this. Thanks for the blog tho, because it has, over time, helped me to recognise clue indicators done the pommy way. Cheerio cobbers.