My second outing with an Alechemi puzzle, but this was just as good as the first. I raced through this one pretty quickly, but that was largely due to the neat clueing which meant there was no doubt about the answers. I particularly enjoyed 1A and 21D.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | WOLFGANG – WOLF GANG |
| 5 | SCOWLS – S(mall) COWLS |
| 10 | ADOPT – DO in APT |
| 11 | MILLICENT – $0.000001 = Milli cent! |
| 12 | LEARNEDLY – LILY (Savage) with EARNED for 1 |
| 13 | KNEEL – NEE in K(uala) L(umpur) |
| 14 | HEROIC – 1 + C (about) after HER O (ring) |
| 15 | RUN OVER – U (posh) + NOVE (Oven with back-to-front) in RR (Rolls Royce) |
| 18 | ENDURES -URE in ENDS |
| 20 | SHAGGY – A GG in SHY |
| 22 | LITRE – LIT (fiery) R.E. (scripture) |
| 24 | EXPEDITED – EX P(riest) EDITED |
| 25 | NASHVILLE – NASH (architect) + L(ine) in VILE |
| 26 | IMBED – I’M BEd |
| 27 | SOREST – SO REST |
| 28 | LOCH NESS – [-s]LO[-w] + N(ame) in CHESS |
| Down | |
| 1 | WEAKLY – I think this is AK (Knight of Australia, or maybe just A Knight) in W(estern) ELY |
| 2 | LOOK AHEAD – [h]OOKAH in LEAD |
| 3 | GET ON YOUR NERVES – (NORSE TONGUE VERY)* |
| 4 | NOMADIC – (MOAN)* + D.I + C(aught) |
| 6 | CHICKEN SANDWICH – CHIC KEN’S AND WI[-t]CH |
| 7 | WHERE – Hidden in hoW HE Resists |
| 8 | SETTLERS – E (key) in L + R, all in SETTS |
| 9 | PLAYER – P(ressure) + LAYER |
| 16 | VEGETABLE – V (5) + E.G. + E[-a]TABLE |
| 17 | FEELINGS – LING in FEES |
| 19 | STEALS – TEAL in S.S |
| 20 | SUPREMO – P (change/penny) in SURE = MO (Farah) |
| 21 | ADIDAS – [-prad]A DID AS |
| 23 | TASER – [-polic]E + [-fan]S in TAR (pitch) |
Thanks Alchemi and Ali.
Re 1D, it’s A(ce) and K(ing) – the two highest honours in a pack of cards – inside W(estern) ELY
Thanks for the kind remarks, Ali.
My personal favourite is 20a. It’s not difficult, but I want to know why Shaggy is retiring, and what Scooby thinks of having to share his affections with Mr Ed (for I cannot imagine Shaggy not wanting a talking horse). It’s all very peculiar.
Alchemi’s first puzzle appeared in the Independent at the time that two other new kids on the block shook the empire (Donk and Rorschach). While I am always on the setter’s side it was perhaps because of that that I took Alchemi’s work a bit for granted.
I didn’t comment to his previous crossword (de dato Feb 17), but I can tell you now that I enjoyed that one tremendously.
The ‘ABBA’ discussion [I am sure Alchemi knows what I am talking about] during the last B&S meeting seemed to be a thing from long ago.
This puzzle was another very neat one – not hard, but just elegantly clued. Also fairly clued.
Thank you, Ali, for the blog and Querulous for explaining the AK in 2d.
While Alchemi has his reasons to single out SHAGGY (20ac), I cannot see how a surface could be much better than the one in 23ac. Oh, those hooligan days.
Also a special plus for 7d’s WHERE.
Keep them coming, Alchemi!
A great puzzle to give to someone getting into cryptics – straightforward but really good fun.
Cheers.