Lorraine: Good morning to you all.
Fairly straight forward Everyman this week, a few clues made me think harder than usual. First clues in, 3 and 8dn, and 18ac. Favourites were, 18,21 and 24ac.
I did not see 1dn until the very end, never thought of sauce being a relish!
Big thank you to Everyman, enjoyable as always.
| Across | |||
| 1. | Fight fire in Bergen? (8) | ||
| RUCKSACK | RUCK+SACK a bergen is a framed rucksack |
||
| 5. | Briefly visit doctor, at home after work (4,2) | ||
| DROP IN | DR+(IN after OP) | ||
| 9. | 10 intercepted by the French in game (8) | ||
| LACROSSE | ACROSS(10ac.) in LE(Fr. ‘the’) | ||
| 10. | A bad-tempered over (6) | ||
| ACROSS | A+CROSS | ||
| 12. | Impassive, one cutting incomplete pile of cards after a deal (5) | ||
| STOIC | I in STOC(k) a ‘stock’ is the cards left in the pack after a deal |
||
| 13. | Without thinking, I slump lazily in one (2,7) | ||
| ON IMPULSE | (I SLUMP*) in ONE | ||
| 14. | Substitute in back row (6,6) | ||
| SECOND STRING | SECOND(back, support)+STRING | ||
| 18. | Actor offering beer (cold), and stout (4,8) | ||
| ALEC GUINNESS | ALE+C+GUINNESS intended to make one think of the film ‘Ice cold in Alex’:
|
||
| 21. | The oldest service provider? (5,4) | ||
| PRESS GANG | pun on SENIOR SERVICE (Royal Navy) and the press gangs of yore | ||
| 23. | Girl from fine Hebridean island (5) | ||
| FIONA | F+IONA | ||
| 24. | Fashionable elsewhere, to some extent (2,1,3) | ||
| IN A WAY | IN+AWAY | ||
| 25. | Cast a spell on the way in (8) | ||
| ENTRANCE | dd both pronouced differently; ‘en trance’ and ‘en trunce’ |
||
| 26. | Deal with Italy, ultimately establishing alliance (6) | ||
| TREATY | TREAT+(ital)Y | ||
| 27. | Wall hanging records experiment (8) | ||
| TAPESTRY | TAPES+TRY | ||
| … | |||
| Down | |||
| 1. | Portion of mackerel – is hollandaise sauce required? (6) | ||
| RELISH | hidden: mackeREL – IS Hollandaise ‘sauce required’ is the definition |
||
| 2. | Protect famous clown willing to participate (6) | ||
| COCOON | COCO[the clown]+ON(willing… etc) | ||
| 3. | Take whisky, for example, before good savoury item (6,3) | ||
| SCOTCH EGG | SCOTCH+E.G.+G | ||
| 4. | In a magazine, a cocktail for a man of the world (12) | ||
| COSMOPOLITAN | three definitions | ||
| 6. | Step right up and one may get run over (5) | ||
| RECAP | (PACE+R)< | ||
| 7. | Make a public announcement in favour of demand (8) | ||
| PROCLAIM | PRO+CLAIM | ||
| 8. | Gets gen off about Society and savings (4,4) | ||
| NEST EGGS | (GETS GEN*) around S | ||
| 11. | Deed Ghandi forged with an ulterior motive (6,6) | ||
| HIDDEN AGENDA | (DEED GHANDI+AN)* | ||
| 15. | Little time to request Church of England to form a working party (4,5) | ||
| TASK FORCE | T+ASK FOR+CE | ||
| 16. | Trouble concealing blemish? Just the opposite with cosmetics (3,5) | ||
| WAR PAINT | PAIN in WART (opposite of WART in PAIN, i.e. ‘blemish concealing trouble’) | ||
| 17. | Demote king’s English envoy (8) | ||
| RELEGATE | R+E+LEGATE(ambassador, envoy) | ||
| 19. | American hood seen in German city, and in Paris (6) | ||
| BONNET | BONN+ET(Fr. and) | ||
| 20. | Only just see under counter (6) | ||
| BARELY | BAR+ELY(see=office of a Bishop, or the cathedral city, hence ‘Ely’) | ||
| 22. | Small market, well-kept (5) | ||
| SMART | S+MART | ||
| … | |||
Good crossword with characteristic smooth surfaces.
Thanks Lorraine; I didn’t know Bergen as a rucksack or stock as pile of cards. I got caught at the beginning by see=Ely in BARELY – nice clue. I also liked the American hood=BONNET.
My favourites in this puzzle were 10a, 1a, 18a, 16d & 21a (last in).
New word was ‘bergen’ = ‘rucksack.
Re 11a, what is the meaning of ‘Ghandi’? Is it an alternative spelling for Mahatma Gandhi?
Thanks for the blog, Lorraine.
Thanks, Lorraine.
Good puzzle as always on a Sunday morning. I didn’t know BERGEN either, but as I’ve said before, you learn some stuff from crosswords.
What did you mean by the reference to the film in 18ac, Lorraine?
Michelle, you are right, there is a spelling error in 11ac. It should of course be GANDHI, although it shouldn’t have troubled anyone getting the answer, and I didn’t spot it, so well done. I sympathise with Everyman (and the editor): I consider myself a good speller, but there are three words I always have to look up (and they are common in cryptics). LIECHTENSTEIN, MASSACHUSETTS, and GANDHI.
Sorry about Ghandi for Gandhi. I don’t how I managed that, considering I’ve clued Gandhi enough times!
Everyman@4
It never occurred to me that it was a typo as your clues are always written so perfectly. I am a big fan of your puzzles.
Thanks, Lorraine.
I don’t think there was a reference to the Film Ice Cold in Alex in 18a. The word “cold” was needed for the C after ALE.