Those that followed a thread elsewhere in cruciverbal cyberspace a few weeks ago will have seen an opinion expressed about bloggers being sycophantic, and blogs here and elsewhere being unhealthy blogger and setter love-ins. I trust this blog is neither of those things.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) missing
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Ghosts in Hell beyond blessedness ultimately?
SHADES
A charade of S for the last letter of blessednesS and HADES.
5 Accident with brewing mixture going into drink
SMASH-UP
An insertion of MASH in SUP.
9 Like a style of garment he should forfeit – out of style one not needed
OFF THE SHOULDER
(HE SHOULD FORFE[I]T)* ‘Out of style’ is the anagrind and ‘not needed’ is the removal indicator.
10 Make untidy female in club start to listen
DISHEVEL
An insertion of SHE in DIVE followed by L.
11 Woman wasn’t successful, female not wanted back
DELIA
A reversal of [F]AILED.
13 Heavenly place is not be be given a row of shops
PARADE
PARAD[IS]E.
15 Pale bone possibly visible in tall skinny person
BEANPOLE
(PALE BONE)*
17 Engineers about to embrace leader who makes an outstanding contribution to art?
EMBOSSER
An insertion of BOSS in REME reversed.
19 Newspaperman picks up report of journalist finally
HEARST
A charade of HEARS and T for the last letter of journalisT.
22 Originator of dreadful wickedness?
DEVIL
A charade of D for the first letter of Dreadful and EVIL. An &lit, or ‘all-in-one’ clue.
23 It’s about arousing feelings of sympathy
TOUCHING
A dd.
25 Ring my gardener about shifting boundaries in plot?
GERRYMANDERING
(RING MY GARDENER)*
26 Substitute starts to seem trustworthy and will get elected
STAND-IN
A charade of S and T for the first letters of Seem and Trustworthy, AND and IN.
27 Actress as someone to get you in stitches in the auditorium?
TAYLOR
A homophone of TAILOR, and referring to Elizabeth TAYLOR.
Down
2 The fellow’s getting loud and the row more vigorous
HEFTIER
A charade of HE, F and TIER.
3 Wife‘s responsibility never ending with children
DUTCH
A charade of DUT[Y] and CH for the cockney word for ‘wife’.
4 Put off horrible vehicles, I start to cycle out
SHELVE
(VEH[IC]LES)*
5 German writer is calmer, having spent time going round church
SCHILLER
You need to take T out of STILLER, then insert CH.
6 Heaps of food supplied during a social event
ABUNDANCE
An insertion of BUN in A DANCE.
7 Spanish gentleman and I, happy when set up in small house
HIDALGO
An insertion of I and DALG, a reversal of GLAD, in HO.
8 Style of singing with which top tenor somehow enthrals a maiden
PORTAMENTO
An insertion of AM in (TOP TENOR)*
12 A very quiet death taking a long time with things going on
APPENDAGES
A charade of A, PP, END and AGES.
14 Drama in Home Counties will get performed outside, it’s revealed
DISPLAYED
A double insertion: of PLAY in SE, all in DID.
16 Stop taking break – weather not so good?
RESTRAIN
A charade of REST and RAIN.
18 Travelling via Arab state
BAVARIA
(VIA ARAB)*
20 Met on train accidentally
RAN INTO
(ON TRAIN)*
21 Learned person Spooner’s made bed
PUNDIT
A Spoonerism of DONE PIT.
24 Nasty woman‘s way of speaking in dance
HARPY
An insertion of RP for Received Pronunciation in HAY.
Pierre, I think this is the thread you mean.
http://www.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?action=read&id=1372069739.28601&user=dharrison
I think the comments from other setters are the most interesting.
This place is certainly not sycophantic – some quite trenchant criticisma are often made. But we always start from a position of according respect to the setters.
Thanks for the blog, Pierre,
I had a comment written and then, as usual, ‘refreshed’ to see if there had been any intervening response. I’m very glad that I did, and found Conrad’s link, for which many thanks. I occasionally drop into the Crossword Centre site but haven’t for some time, so had missed that thread. As you say, Conrad, the setters’ comments are particularly interesting.
I just wanted to say that I particularly liked 25ac for its surface and 20dn for its succinctness. Thank you, Mr Manley.
I enjoyed this puzzle even though I failed to solve 19a. I liked 10a, 6d, 7d, 12d, 18d, 26a & 27a (last in).
New words for me were PORTAMENTO, and HAY = ‘dance’.
Thanks for the blog, Pierre. I needed your help to parse 22a.
Most of this one went in fairly easily but I ground to a halt in the SE corner for a while before solving my last four, which were HARPY, TAYLOR, PUNDIT and TOUCHING. I found this one on a par with the usual enjoyable Quixote Monday offerings.
Thanks for the link Pierre. The thread actually starts one entry back but it’s easy to find, despite the clunkiness of the site, via the date. But I did enjoy – from the linked one:
“airing of views by people who often don’t know a bad clue from a good one”
which says so much about the writer as does (a while back on the G blog)
“However, there is a danger that, for all their good, blogs may breed cliques who try to take ownership of cruciverbalism.”
… the current owner no doubt being?
In your case Swagman, re ignorant persons he’d be absolutely right: you’ve proved on several occasions, as far as I’m concerned, that you hardly know one end of a clue from the other. So shut up, you and other IDs you use, or learn properly how to parse.
An excellent puzzle, foil as it might be to the also brilliant Indy Nina-ers and themers, but difference, as all ex-Derrideans will know, is what counts in discourse. Oh but you’re stuck on Leavis, aren’t you.
Get a life, moron.
Ignoring its failed attempt to sound clever I’m reading #6 as another one of those setter love-ins.
Our experience was the same as AndyB @4.
We are trying to ignore the comments 5,6 and 7 which in our opinion would deter any comments from new visitors to the site.
Thanks Pierre and Quixote.
B&J @8: Hear! Hear!