I don’t think I’ve blogged a Gurney puzzle before (though I’ve come across him as Raich in the Indie). This turned out to be a speedy, enjoyable solve. At the very easiest end of the FT difficulty spectrum, I think, but fairly-clued, varied and good fun.
ACROSS
1. DIVINE Vin [wine, as it would be said in Dieppe] within Die(ppe)
4. TRESPASS Anagram of pert sass(y)
9. STREAK Cryptic definition: streak as in run naked (bare) across, e.g., a sports field
10. FORESTER Forecaster [one making predictions] minus ca [circa, about]
12. SHOT Double definition
13. ENTER (C)enter [American/New York spelling of ‘centre’, middle]
14. ANTE Within nANTEs
17. EXTERMINATOR Ex [former] + anagram of metro train
20. COUNTER TENOR Count [noble] + ER [Elizabeth Regina, queen] + tenor [sounds like tenner, money]
23. OILS Il [Italian for ‘the’] within OS [Over Size, very large]
24. SPARE Spar [pole] + (voyag)e
25. TRUE T(ranslator) + rue [French for ‘street’]
28. SUITABLE A + B [bishop] + (idea)l within suite [set of rooms]
29. CREATE A(ssembly) within Crete [Greek island]
30. NEEDLESS Needle [intense rivalry] + s(ulkines)s
31. SLEEPY Lee [shelter] within spy [agent]
DOWN
1. DESISTED Sis [sister, relative] + t [tense] within deed [performance]
2. VERMOUTH Reversal of rev [reverend, cleric] + mouth [grimace]
3. NEAT Alternative (‘regular’) letters of iNtErAcT
5. RIO DE JANEIRO Anagram of jeer radio icon minus c(ivility)
6. STEP Reversal of pets [dogs, say]
7. ANTONY A + N [new] + Tony [theatre award]
8. SHRIEK Anagram of irks E(nglish) h(unt)
11. INDIANAPOLIS In [home] + anagram of loan is paid
15. ARROW (N)arrow [without breadth of vision]
16. LOOTS Sounds like lutes [old instruments]
18. INCREASE In [popular] + cr [credit] + ease [facility]
19. GREENERY Greene [writer Graham] + RY [railway, lines]
21. COUSIN Hidden in rauCOUS INsults
22. ALPINE (M)al(i) + pine [wood]
26. MAIL Reversal of Liam [man’s name]
27. ORAL Initial letters of Our Rules And Laws
Thanks Gurney and Ringo.
In 26d, MAIL, I read ‘man picked up’ as ‘sounds like male’, although your ‘man’s name reversed’ works just as well.
I agree that this was not the hardest, but a very enjoyable solve.
@ Wanderer: Yes, that’s much more straightforward – I’d imagine your version is what the setter had in mind. Thanks.
Thanks, Ringo.
I, too, went for Liam, without thinking – Gurney is Irish! – but, Wanderer’s right, ‘picked up’ usually indicates a homophone.
Talking of which, I had to question LOOTS / lutes [which I would pronounce as ‘lewts’] but was amazed to see that Chambers gives ‘loot’ as the first of the alternative pronunciations – so, apologies, Gurney, and many thanks for a quick but very enjoyable solve.
Thanks, Gurney and Ringo.
I was interested in your comment about the vowel sound in the word ‘LUTE’, Eileen.
Here, north of Hadrian’s Wall, I think I’m right in saying that the word is normally pronounced so as to rhyme with the word ‘BOOT’. So local dialect must play a part.
The pronunciation must also depend on other factors though; a diphthong would be difficult to insert in, say, RUDE, but unavoidable in, say, JUTE.
There’s an interesting article about the letter U here: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/6411/when-and-why-did-the-letter-u-begin-being-called-ju
Mike
Many thanks for the blog, Ringo, and to those who commented. Yes, I can confirm that a homophone of ‘male’ was what was intended but, if two experienced solvers independently arrived at the answer the other way, it probably works just fine! Liam is the Irish version of William and I must admit I’d not have used it as not being familiar enough. Re LOOTS (also a homophone issue!), I approach homophones with great caution as the same words are pronounced so differently in different places. So I’d looked in Collins which gives exactly the same pronunciation for both words and I took it from there.
thanks Gurney and Ringo
Enter defeated me and I hadn’t parsed Forester completely