I must admit to finding this one relatively tough for a Sunday. That isn’t a complaint since it was terribly good, but it did take a little longer than usual and one or two escaped me right up until blogging day.
There are a couple of band names among the answers. This may well be coincidence rather than a theme as I don’t see any others, and it’s one of the few areas of general knowledge where I feel relatively confident. Still, who knows what the youngsters listen to these days. Maybe there’s a happening new combo named EASTER EGG OSMOSIS.
Enough of my nonsense, and many thanks to Crosophile for a challenging but enjoyable puzzle.
| Across | ||
| 1 | SOMEWHERE | Irritated about catcall, fellow’s uncertain regarding place (9) |
| (MEW + HE) in SORE | ||
| 6 | ATTIC | 28 garret (5) |
| dd. | ||
| 9 | RURAL | Country right by Russian river (5) |
| Right + URAL | ||
| 10 | IN-BETWEEN | In pub small wager at first is within limits (2-7) |
| (BET + WEE) in INN | ||
| 11 | NOISOME | Unpleasant feeling returns for second time? On the contrary (7) |
| Some very complex wordplay here. This is from EMOTION< but with S instead of T (so “for time, second”) | ||
| 12 | WRAPPER | With 50 Cent say Hershey Bar comes included in this (7) |
| With + RAPPER | ||
| 13 | SERIF | Character’s decorative foot brings passions back (5) |
| FIRES< | ||
| 15 | TALKING TO | Becoming fond of nursing student in lecture (7,2) |
| Learner in TAKING TO | ||
| 18 | EASTER EGG | Seasonal treat, like gathering Michaelmas daisy for instance (6,3) |
| (ASTER + E.G.) in E.G. Again this is quite complex, as you need to find the EG twice | ||
| 19 | LEITH | Scottish port is part of isle, I think (5) |
| [is]LE I TH[ink] | ||
| 21 | OSMOSIS | Becoming absorbed by large flowerless plant seen around island (7) |
| Island in (OS + MOSS) | ||
| 24 | TRAMPLE | Public transport? Please, that’s not half a squash (7) |
| TRAM + PLE[ase] | ||
| 26 | IMPROMPTU | I mark concert, put out by unrehearsed piece (9) |
| I + Mark + PROM + OUT* | ||
| 27 | RAITA | An Indian dish from e.g. Madhur Jaffrey broadcast? (5) |
| hom. of “writer”, as in the old “Paperback Raita” pun | ||
| 28 | GREEK | Bad odour following Grand National? (5) |
| Grand + REEK | ||
| 29 | SUBMERGES | Dunks beer mugs washed up with last of slops (9) |
| (BEER MUGS)* + [slop]S | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SPRINTS | Son makes a mark in careers (7) |
| Son + PRINTS | ||
| 2 | MARDI GRAS | The lead up to fast runs in sporting diagrams (5,4) |
| DIAGRAMS*. The definition, “The lead up to fast”, is nicely hidden here, I thought | ||
| 3 | WILCO | When originally I left company it indicated acquiescence (5) |
| W[hen] + ILeft + COmpany. A new term to me, though I’m familiar with a very good band by this name | ||
| 4 | EPICENTRE | Disaster area on grand scale – go in but there’s a final twist (9) |
| EPICENTRE, being ENTER but with the final two letters “twisted” | ||
| 5 | ELBOW | Jeff Lynne’s band touring Belgium with another one (5) |
| (Belgium in Electric Light Orchestra) + With. Another band, best known for winning Mercury music prizes and covering Beyoncé songs | ||
| 6 | ACTUARIAL | It’s substantial taking recurrent strain of a risky business (9) |
| AIR< in ACTUAL | ||
| 7 | TIE UP | Tether ram that is brought in (3,2) |
| I.E. in TUP | ||
| 8 | CON BRIO | Caught old Robin dancing vivaciously (3,4) |
| Caught + Old + ROBIN* | ||
| 14 | FEEDSTOCK | Raw material for manufacture of iron and dockets with slips (9) |
| Fe + DOCKETS* | ||
| 16 | LIGHTBULB | Glower as gentle sob rises up? (9) |
| LIGHT + BLUB<. Again, a very nicely hidden definition | ||
| 17 | GLIMPSING | Seeing head of government tired with cough (9) |
| G[overnment] + LIMP + SING | ||
| 18 | EVOKING | Magician’s bird flies up but with court card for head – that’s conjuring (7) |
| [d]OVE< + KING | ||
| 20 | HEEHAWS | This man initially experiments with fruit – sounds like an ass … (7) |
| HE + E[xperiments] + HAWS | ||
| 22 | MAPLE | … – tree’s first of modified fruit with no core (5) |
| M[odified] + AP[p]LE | ||
| 23 | SEPTS | One short month with Southern clans (5) |
| SEPTember + Southern | ||
| 25 | AURAE | Haloes are beaten gold on top (5) |
| Au + ARE* | ||
*=anagram; <=reversed; []=removed; hom.=sounds like; dd.=double definition
Thanks, Simon.
Couple of tiny points: in 26, you need PUT* at the end of your parsing and you’ve left the runs out of MARDI GRAS.
Doesn’t 18dn actually clue “EVOGNIK”?
Anyone explain the Aerial and Kate Bush nina elements in the across unchecked lines?
Hi Flashling. According to Wiki, Aerial was the title of her comeback album in 2005. One of the tracks is “Somewhere In-between” – 1ac + 10ac.
Many thanks for the blog, Simon – and for the suggestion I might know what the young are listening to these days!
I am indeed a huge fan of Elbow [Seldom Seen Kid is a flawless album, I reckon] but most of my listening is stuck in the 60s/70s.
Having said which, the second CD of Aerial by Kate Bush is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever heard [though it took me about three listens before I really got into it, after which there was something new to notice each time I put it on]. So it amused me to reference the track ‘Something In Between’ (good detective work, Flashling and NeilW) with the nina indeed appearing somewhere in between.
A most enjoyable and relatively quick (circa 25 minutes) solve with no external assistance. The band references were vaguely familiar so could be guessed at and turned out to be correct. The only clue to hold me up for a bit was WRAPPER – I was looking for a letter sequence DOL or LAR (half a dollar = 50 cents), then with some of the crossing letters I was trying to make the clue fit ‘whisper’ – hom. of ‘Wispa’, brand of chocolate bar.
The theme/nina passed me by, but (obviously) wasn’t necessary to solve the crossword.
Thanks, Crosophile and Simon.
3D: “Wilco” is WWII military jargon – probably a contraction of “WIll COmply”.
Still puzzled about 12 ac; if anyone could kindly explain it
pennes at #7 50 Cent is a rapper (musician) – Hershey bar refers to chocolate company. w = with