* = anag
< = reversed
[] = letters removed
There was a Quentin Tarantino theme to this puzzle, although no knowledge of the films was required. I found it fairly tough, with some unfamiliar words making progress difficult.
| Across | |||
| 1. | Non-physical position, mostly – no, it involved being hugged(8) | ||
| Platonic | Plac[e] around (no it)* | ||
| 5. | Throwing up name hidden from unbeatable rival(6) | ||
| Emesis | [N]emesis | ||
| 9. | Jambazi’s dashed second off having made mark(9) | ||
| Imprinted | I’m + [s]printed. | ||
| 11. | Saw special one, Jose ultimately, with director(5) | ||
| Spied | Sp(ecial) + i + [Jos]e + d. Ref to Jose Mourinho, self-styled “special one”. | ||
| 12. | Diss second character in True Romance‘s sad moves — they might need hankies?(6,6) | ||
| Morris Dances | (Diss + [t]r[ue] + Romance)*. This held me up for a long time because I kept trying to use the “sad” in the anagram, but it just seems to be there for the surface reading. | ||
| 15. | Expression of disapproval from cashier oddly missing money(4) | ||
| Ahem | Even letters of cashier + m(oney) | ||
| 16. | One investigating hit left to regret coming back(10) | ||
| Rapporteur | Rap + port(=nautical left) + rue<. | ||
| 18. | Papers backing intern, Lewinksy gutted about personal problems (like the infamous dress?)(5,5) | ||
| Dirty Linen | Id< + (intern L[ewinksk]y)*. | ||
| 19. | Rings in middle of Jackie Brown?(4) | ||
| Cook. | OO n [Ja]ck[ie]. Def=brown, one form of cooking. | ||
| 21. | Where to change bandage, tie up back(8,4) | ||
| Dressing room. | Dressing(=bandage) + moor<. Def =where to change. | ||
| 24. | The thank you letter from Argos?(5) | ||
| Theta | The + ta. | ||
| 25. | Want to take out daughter — having more than fifteen years before redemption(4-5) | ||
| Long-Dated. | Long(=want) + date(=take out) + d(aughter). | ||
| 26. | First in series of the same origin(6) | ||
| Sister. | Ist in ser(ies). | ||
| 27. | Game is off top inventor and poet(8) | ||
| Tennyson. | Tenn[is] (tennis with is off) + [D]yson. | ||
| Down | |||
| 1. | Dance move from end of Pulp Fiction(4) | ||
| Plie | [Pul]p + lie | ||
| 2. | Range of American records(4) | ||
| Alps | A(merican) + LPs | ||
| 3. | Crying singer’s forgotten book of prayer(6) | ||
| Orison | Or[b]ison – Crying was a Roy Orbison song. | ||
| 4. | Final bit of Quentin Tarantino lie damages Universal(13) | ||
| International | ([Quenti]n Tarantino lie)* | ||
| 6. | Kill Bill following mob about(8) | ||
| Massacre | Ac(=bill) + re(=about) after mass(=mob) | ||
| 7. | Informal US variation in kinky erotic show(10) | ||
| Switcheroo | (Erotic show)* | ||
| 8. | Technique for pools: mark with pen next to team(10) | ||
| Sidestroke | Side(=team) + stroke(=mark with pen) | ||
| 10. | Princess’s image fading(13) | ||
| Disappearance | Di’s (usual reference to the late Diana Spencer) + appearance | ||
| 13. | Entrants open an exam, finishing early(10) | ||
| Candidates | Candid(=open) + tes[t] | ||
| 17. | Some abuse? Yes – had editors screen for lookers in The Sun(8) | ||
| Eyeshade | Hidden in “abusE YES – HAD Editors”. | ||
| 20/14. | Gent led criminal having joined Reservoir Dogs(6,10) | ||
| Golden Retriever | (Gent led + reservoir)* | ||
| 22. | Regularly contains lift?(4) | ||
| Otis | Even letters of contains. Otis are a company who make lifts. | ||
| 23. | European borders haunt PM(4) | ||
| Eden | E(uropean) next to (borders) den(=haunt). Ref to Anthony Eden. | ||
Thanks for blog and crossword.
In 12a, I think “sad” is the anagrind, and the definition is “moves — they might need hankies”.
I always thought Morris Dancers were sad, but that a different matter š Slightly topical that Tarantino won an Oscar last night.
Nice stuff thanks Jambazi and Neal
Thanks for the blog, Neal, and especially for pointing out the ‘special one’ reference [which I’m not ashamed to say I would have no means of knowing].
That’s one of the great things about our wandering setter: there’s always that bit [or lot] more going on in the slues / solutions, if you know to look for it. There’s probably more than I realise here about Quentin Tarantino but I know enough to be mightily impressed by the terrific anagrams in 4dn and 20/14dn. [SWITCHEROO is amazing, too.]
Another thing is those great story-telling surfaces that I love so much, notably, here, the misleading 12ac [I agree with Ian’s parsing] and the audacious 18ac – and many more.
I can’t see a Nina but, of course, that doesn’t mean there isn’t one.
Huge thanks, as ever, Jambazi, for all the fun.
Thanks for the blog NealH and thanks to those that have taken the trouble to comment.
This puzzle had a strange conception. I planned to do a puzzle themed around dogs so I wrote down a few species that sprang to mind and looked for clueing potential. GOLDEN RETRIEVER was proving very difficult and most of my other clues weren’t great so the idea didn’t get very far. I can’t remember exactly how, but, with the dog-themed puzzle still reasonably fresh in my mind, RESERVOIR DOGS came into my head and I thought I could revisit the dogs puzzle and get that film in somewhere. I looked at my list of dogs and RESERVOIR and GOLDEN RETRIEVER don’t seem that disimilar. I realised that if I added an S to GOLDEN RETRIEVER, I could make RESERVOIR, with some padding, and use DOGS as a definition. Knocking out the letters left GLDENTE which seemed to have potential and so I was off. I ditched the dogs idea and thought about Tarantino films. This was written long before I’d heard of Django Unchained so that’s why that doesn’t feature in the puzzle. I think it’s a decent effort and I was pleased how the clue described above fell into place.
Mike scheduled it knowing that it was the Oscars last night.
Thanks, Neal. Definitely a tough one for a Monday, but the timing with the Oscars explains that. I didn’t spot the Tarantino theme, but I’m not a big film fan, and especially not of the violent stuff that this director seems to keep serving up.
But a good puzzle, which with a bit of perseverance I finally managed. GOLDEN RETRIEVERS is indeed a good clue, as is TENNYSON; I also liked PLATONIC and the nicely constructed THETA. I was less keen on SWITCHEROO (is that really a word?) and DIRTY LINEN is just, well, dirty. Setters’ minds work in strange ways. I’m glad I’m just an ‘umble solver.
Thanks to Jambazi for this one.
Definitely tough for a Monday – for me the NE corner put up quite a fight. Very enjoyable thank you Jambazi and Neal too
Definitely no knowledge of the theme needed to solve this one – fortunately for me. Like crypticsue I struggled a bit with the NE corner but got there in the end.
Thanks, Jambazi and Neal.
Got everything except SISTER (26ac). Didn’t see the construction and even with hindsight I find the definition a bit too loose.
Just like Eileen (and unlike Kathryn’s Dad) I admired the SWITCHEROO anagram.
Another favourite was the Big O’s 3d.
In post #4 Jambazi spends a lot of words on GOLDEN RETRIEVER, which was indeed a nice find.
I also appreciate Jambazi to share his thoughts of his change of mind with us. Interesting.
Unfortunately, it was for me the only clue I was not completely happy with.
IMO, the clue tells me to take an anagram of “gent led” which should then (yes, in that order) join “reservoir”. I do not see why I should anagrammise “reservoir”.
Perhaps, it’s just me (again).
Nice puzzle, toughish.
A fellow NE corner struggler, quite tough and quite a distinctive setter’s style.
Excellent puzzle – great use of the theme. Wasn’t familiar with SWITCHEROO but easy enough to deduce from the anagram.
We were also held up in NE corner but not because of SWITCHEROO. Enjoyable puzzle, thought about Tarantino but somehow missed all the relevant references in the clues. We wondered whether it’s because we’re not reading clues as sentences – just looking at the word play and working as a pair we don’t always read all the clues!
Anyway, all good fun and didn’t take too long – we started VERY late!
Thanks Jambazi and NealH.
In the blog the “s” has been left off the end of “retriever” (20D/14A) and apparently not noticed, certainly not commented on, by contributors.