An outstanding puzzle today from Alberich, by turns fiendish, witty, inventive and fun. The glut of highbrow allusions – Gerontius? Idomeneo? Borodin? – did make me blanch at first, but once I made a start I found nothing to complain about, and plenty to enjoy. Thanks, Alberich.
ACROSS
1. SERAPH Reversal of pares [shaves] + H(ell)
4. ASSORTED Anagram of stores within AD [Anno Domini, modern times]
9. ASSISI S [soprano] within as is [unaltered] + I(domeneo)
10. COMEDIAN Media [the press] within con [against]
12. BORDELLO Anagram of doorbell
13. VIOLIN V [versus, against] + I [international] + o(ptimal)l + in [batting, in cricket]
15. EVIL Reversal of live [as it happens]
16. DREAMER (Perfome)d + ream [quantity of paper, lots of quires [sounds like choirs]] + E(lga)r – the allusion is to Elgar’s The Dream Of Gerontius
20. MISSILE Miss [fauil to see] + (f)ile [document]
21. BAIT A [are, a musical note] within bit [unit of computer data]
25. HEADER Cryptic definition
26. COLANDER Double definition – one who is with you at the end of a flight might be a co-lander
28. CLINCHER N [new] within cliché [such as ‘at the end of the day’] + r(ule)
29. FILIAL Reversal of ail [trouble] + if [prividing] + l [left]
30. OPERETTA E [European] within anagram of a potter – the allusion is to Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience
31. INTEND In + tend [mind], with in mind doing double duty as part of the definition, I think
DOWN
1. SHAMBLES Amble [stroll] within sh [quiet] + E [east, quarter]
2. RESTRAIN REs [Royal Engineers] train, an allusion to the Royal School of Military Engineering at Chatham
3. POSTER Posterns [gates] minus NS [North and South, partners in bridge]
5. SCOW Scowl [lower] minus l [line]
6. ONE SIDED Anagram of indeed so, with off-balance doing double duty as the anagram indicator
7. TRIPLE (Tai)l within tripe [poor stuff]; one has to triple 20 [a score] to make 60
8. DINING Hidden in boroDIN IN Gala
11. FLORIST Reversal of I [one] + Rolf [man’s name, chap] + st [street, way]
14. TALLBOY Double definition
17. WISEACRE Wise [Ernie, the late comedian (see 10ac.)] + ac [account, bill] + re [about]
18. HARDLINE (Taoiseac)h + anagram of ireland
19. STARTLED Reversal of rats [traitors] + (frigh)t + (f)led [ran away]
22. THICKO Hick [bumpkin] within (s)to(p)
23. DATIVE A + T [little time] within dive [joint]
24. MALIGN M [maiden] + align [dress]
27. HEFT (T)heft [crime]
Since no one has seen fit to comment on this superb puzzle, can I just say thanks to Alberich for a really tough workout and to Ringo for an exemplary blog.
I tried to comment earlier but whatever. Tough could not see why poster was right. Thanks Ringo and klingsor cum Alberich.
Thanks both. A toughie, I agree, but a goodie.
I nearly put in valise instead of DATIVE, before the penny dropped.
Thanks to Alberich and Ringo – great crossword and blog.
Great puzzle but really needed this blog for 13d, 23d and 30a. Loads of favourite clues. 10am, 12a, 28a, 31a, 6d, 22d ….. I could go on! Fabulous!
After my PinC and I successfully tackled today’s Araucaria after work, I gave this crossword a go while having my dinner.
Araucaria is a setter beyond whatever, but the Man from Prague showed us once more why he is so good.
Three musical clues (9ac, 16ac, 30 ac) were brilliant, also typical of Alberich’s love for classical music.
6d (ONE-SIDED) was a cracking clue, but 3d (POSTER) was really a gem!
I liked 31ac and 1d as separate clues, but didn’t see a reason to combine them into an ellipsis (other than for linguistic reasons).
Great crossword with only one weak spot: HEADER (25ac).
Many thanks to Ringo for blogging, and of course Alberich for setting.
In 21A does ‘are’ not refer to a metric land measure rather than a musical note?