It’s absolutely perishingly cold in Yorkshire this morning and I have run out of coffee – so thank goodness for Sleuth, who at least got my brain-cells humming (even if I can no longer feel my toes).
Nothing here to frighten the horses or bring people out cheering into the streets, but an enjoyable, grumble-free solve (save for a minor difficulty with 16dn.). Thanks, Sleuth.
ACROSS
1. WHATNOT Sounds like Watt [James, engineer] + knot [difficulty]
5. SHIFTY Shift [group of workers] + y [yard]
8. DOMINANCE OM [Order of Merit, prestigious award] + in [favoured] within dance [social event]
9. DUNCE C [caught] within dune [sandy area]
11. OVETT Ove(r) [completed] + TT [motorcycle races]
12. CATEGORIC Cat [jazz fan, in jive-speak] + go [energy] within Eric [man’s name, male]
13. TITIVATE It [object] + IV [four in Roman numerals] within Tate [art gallery]
15. PAELLA Reversal of A + l [lot] + leap [bound]
17. EASILY Reversal of Lisa [woman’s name] within ey(e) [observer]
19. FOOTSLOG Reversal of s [son] + too [also] within golf [sport]
22. AS YOU WERE Double definition
23. SCRUB Double definition
24. KNIFE Hidden in reversal of beEF IN Kitchen
25. PISTACHIO A + chi [Greek letter, foreign character] within anagram of top is
26. WHITEN Whip [political party organiser] minus P [pressure] + ten [figure]
27. T-SHIRTS Anagram of this st(a)r
DOWN
1. WIDE OF THE MARK Anagram of F(ellow) work the media
2. ARMREST M [Malta] within arrest [stop]
3. NONET Reads like no net, which would be a problem on a tennis court
4. TENACITY Anagram of neat + city [built-up area]
5. SIESTA Anagram of seat is
6. INDIGNANT In [at] + dig [excavation] + N [Northern] + ant [worker] (with “first” re-jigging the order of the elements)
7. TENDRIL Tend [nurse] + ril(e) [bother]
10. EXCHANGE BLOWS Exchange [business area] + low [depressed] within BS [Bahamas]
14. VOL-AU-VENT Anagram of value on TV
16. SOMERSET Merse(y) [river] within so [very (good?)] + t [time]
18. STYLISH Sty [part of farm] + l [lake] + is + (churc)h
20. LURCHER Lur(e) [an enticing thing] + Cher [singer]
23. STASH St [street, road] + ash [remains]
“Nothing here to frighten the horses” -well I can usually have a good stab at Crux, Cincinnus & Dante but I solved 14d,23d & 27a and came to a grinding halt.Should have got 5d but thought the rest very hard and I’m including 24a in that.
Spent ages trying to work out the anagram fodder in 1d but didn’t realise that f for fellow had to slot in.
1a Thought of every bit of furniture in the house but hadn’t ever come across a whatnot.
12a Male =eric -well only a thousand other possibilties-similar thought on the singer on 20d
25a Tried words starting with un, une, ein, uno but no to avail.
As ever, the more you get the easier it is to get more. Totally out of synch with this setter.
I thought I was going to have difficulty with this, but it got better as it went along. Just didn’t get 1ac.
Much better than yesterday’s FT!
Thanks. For the blog.
A very nicely-balanced piece for me. Fave most definitely WIDE OF THE MARK, which was great.
many thanks.
Rowly.
Thanks Ringo. I’ve a little problem with 3d……whilst you can have an issue IN a squash court (albeit not the lack of a net), any problems occur ON a tennis court.
Equally bamboozled by the “good” in 16d?
Thanks Sleuth for an enjoyable puzzle and Ringo for the blog.
24ac: This is the one about which I wish to quibble. Unless you can make “in” part of the definition, the cryptic grammar does not work for me. The point is that if “in” is a linking word, then the cryptic part should really be a noun phrase not a verb phrase. Possibly “Cut in turned portion …”?
3dn: Speaking from partial ignorance, but might one say “in” a Real Tennis court?
16dn: Chambers 2008 gives so¹ “very good” (among other meanings).
‘In turn, portion of beef in kitchen’ gives KNIFE. There’s no link word, just a transitive verb for the definition. I must admit I am having trouble seeing anything wrong with that at the moment!
Paul B@6: Thanks, that makes sense. I was just taking “turn” as the reversal indicator. I am always happy to be corrected when I have misunderstood a clue.