Lorraine: Good morning happy solvers.
Nice flowing crossword this week I thought, particular favourites were
4, 14, 18 and 27ac. 8, 11 and 16dn. There should not have been anything too taxing
although if your not up on The Arts 12ac might have got a few of you.
Thank you Everyman for a fine puzzle.
| Across | |||
| 1. | Fish, after short time, seen in coarse seaweed (6) | ||
| TANGLE | ANGLE after T | ||
| 4. | A bad-tempered moment reportedly caused by puzzle (8) | ||
| ACROSTIC | homophone: A CROSS TICK | ||
| 9. | Coup d’état commits church (6) | ||
| PUTSCH | PUTS+CH | ||
| 10. | Jam in pupil’s first book! (8) | ||
| PRESERVE | P(upil)+RESERVE | ||
| 12. | Right answer grasped by terribly flash Dutch painter (5,4) | ||
| FRANS HALS | (R+ANS) in (FLASH*) | ||
| 13. | Odds nevertheless shortened (5) | ||
| EVENS | EVENS(o) | ||
| 14. | But in Scotland, case is good for a group of political advisers (7,7) | ||
| KITCHEN CABINET | KITCHEN(‘but’ is a Scottish word for ‘kitchen’)+CABINET(case) | ||
| 18. | After a long period of time, head for a London landmark (10,4) | ||
| MILLENNIUM DOME | MILLENNIUM+DOME | ||
| 20. | Write a critique on broadcasted variety show (5) | ||
| REVUE | homophone: REVIEW | ||
| 22. | Form of religious observance in state capital, curtailed (9) | ||
| SACRAMENT | SACRAMENT(o) | ||
| 24. | King boarding vessel results in a bold headline (8) | ||
| STREAMER | R in STEAMER | ||
| 25. | Coming out of restaurant, writer crosses street (6) | ||
| BISTRO | BIRO around ST | ||
| 26. | One acted surreptitiously to get story (8) | ||
| ANECDOTE | (ONE ACTED)* | ||
| 27. | Medical Officer got up and down (6) | ||
| MOROSE | MO+ROSE | ||
| Down | |||
| 1. | What an informant may do is endless? (3,3) | ||
| TIP OFF | cd | ||
| 2. | A ninth ale ordered for boy! (9) | ||
| NATHANIEL | (A NINTH ALE)* | ||
| 3. | Spot tailless insect (5) | ||
| LOCUS | LOCUS(t) | ||
| 5. | Check on topless joint overlooking place of worship in a New Zealand city (12) | ||
| CHRISTCHURCH | CH(eck)+(w)RIST+CHURCH | ||
| 6. | Lowly position for the rest of the natives? (6,3) | ||
| OYSTER BED | heavy cd: a ‘native’ is an oyster raised in a (British) artificial bed; lowly means under(sea); ‘for the rest of…’ implies bed | ||
| 7. | Crisply brief, language used after beginning to taxi (5) | ||
| TERSE | T(axi)+ERSE | ||
| 8. | A wood preservative Rose applied in shelter (8) | ||
| CREOSOTE | (ROSE*) in COTE | ||
| 11. | The Channel Tunnel consortium had to to stay solvent (4,4,4) | ||
| MAKE ENDS MEET | cd | ||
| 15. | US president in uniform, also, after summit in Cairo (9) | ||
| CLEVELAND | (LEVEL(uniform)+AND(also)) after C(airo) | ||
| 16. | Deputy, without feeling, wrote off (6,3) | ||
| NUMBER TWO | NUMB+(WROTE*) | ||
| 17. | First-class fare? (8) | ||
| AMBROSIA | cdd | ||
| 19. | Feed with heavy food (but there’s duck for daughter!) (6) | ||
| STOOGE | STODGE with O for D | ||
| 21. | Poetry from overseas (5) | ||
| VERSE | hidden: oVERSEas | ||
| 23. | Friend, a fighter by ring (5) | ||
| AMIGO | A+MIG(jet fighter)+O | ||
| … | |||
I’m not up on the arts and was left with f?a?s ?a?s and h l n r to fit in. Too many possibilities to be sure.
I couldn’t get oyster in 6d or 15d even with c?e?e?a?d. Never heard of him and couldn’t get the cryptic.
Thanks for the blog.
Thanks Lorraine,
I don’t think you need to be up on the arts to get Frans Hals as he painted The Laughing Cavalier
which is one of the most famous paintings in the world. I don’t know much about art but I do know
the obvious stuff although what is obvious to one person is not obvious to another. There was a
contestant on a quiz show who had never heard of the rand ie South African currency. I think Grover
Cleveland is famous for being the only president to serve two discontinuous terms in office, so there
yer go.
A good puzzle from Everyman as per usual with TIP OFF, NATHANIEL and MAKE ENDS MEET, being favourites.
Thanks E.
Thank you, Lorraine, especially for explaining ‘but’ in 14a. I couldn’t see where the ‘kitchen’ had come from. I didn’t even think of the old ‘but and ben’!
I was not happy with 25a. Why, ‘coming out of’ – why not ‘Writer crosses street to restaurant’?
Thanks, Lorraine. I too was stuck on parsing KITCHEN CABINET, but as you and Jan say, it’s ‘but and ben’, which I had vaguely heard of.
BISTRO just about works for me, although the surface is perhaps a bit clumsy.
Re BISTRO, the ‘to’ in Jan’s suggestion might have irked some people (despite the fact that there are sixteen ounces TO the pound, for example). ‘Finding restaurant’, well, okay then, but the ‘coming out of’ is quite logical, it seems to me, if a little unusual.
Could not get the Kitchen in 14 a. Never heard that expression here in NZ. Had a bit of trouble at first with 3 down as it didn’t fit with Franz Hals, until I realised that Frans must have an s instead of a z.
I had trouble with a few of them this week, but in my defence, it’s been hot here in NZ and it is close to Xmas…..