What can one say? As we get on most Wednesdays, a perfectly-formed creation. The structure of the clues is always deceptively simple, which leaves little room for argument. There are one or two here that I’m not absolutely comfortable with, but my doubts are so slight that they hardly invite comment.
Definitions in italics.
Across
1 Famous player responsible for graffiti in the gents? (6)
BOGART
Humphrey Bogart was a famous actor = player — bog art
4 Swimmer crossing river with little energy … needing this? (8)
BREATHER
b(r e)ather
9 Pour wine to accompany an Italian food selection (9)
ANTIPASTI
an tip [= pour] asti [= wine]
11 Cruel king – chief character in story – died (5)
HEROD
hero [= chief character in story] d
12 No cut of beef’s good for eating (7)
NOSHING
No shin [= cut of beef] g
13 Scale back limit on velocity (7)
VERNIER
(rein re v)rev. — the Vernier scale
14 Fantastic new deal – single attachment for camera (4-5,4)
WIDE-ANGLE LENS
(new deal single)*
16 Not all the barracks will accommodate sappers? (5,8)
THREE QUARTERS
th(RE)e quarters
20 Word for short, tight-fisted type (7)
PROMISE
pro [= for] mise{r}
21 Portion of money putting husband in ecstatic state (7)
TRANCHE
tranc(h)e
23 Standard /golf score (5)
EAGLE
2 defs — a military standard carrying the figure of an eagle, and a score of two below par in golf
24 Not working? Local church will collect money to help those affected (9)
INDOLENCE
in(dole)n CE — inn = local, dole = money
25 Prison sentence a year? Of variable length, perhaps (8)
STRETCHY
stretch [= prison sentence] y
26 Clever, being a doctor? There’s nothing to it (6)
ADROIT
a dr. 0 it
Down
1 Bright at first but showery later (6)
BRAINY
b{ut} rainy — a quite brilliant clue, which reads even more naturally than Dac’s usual, which is saying something
2 Rich American worried when kidnapped by heartless gangsters (5)
GATES
ate [= worried] in g{angster}s — ref Bill Gates
3 Travelled again and came back (7)
REPLIED
re-plied — ply = travel
5 Overtired? A gin is enough to get you full of energy again (13)
REINVIGORATED
(overtired a gin)* — I think here the anagram indicator is simply ‘is enough’, which to some might seem a bit thin, and the answer is an adjective not a verb
6 He rates new source of timber (3,4)
ASH TREE
(he rates)*
7 Courage shown by police officer in control (9)
HARDINESS
Har(DI)ness — it seems that ‘courage’ is at the very edge of, but just about covered by, the meaning of ‘hardiness’
8 International team broke records at start of season (3,5)
RED CROSS
(records)* s{eason}
10 Sound bored, eating kind girl’s special food? (9,4)
SIGNATURE DISH
sig(nature Di’s)h
14 Aggressor getting close to target over Gulf (9)
WARMONGER
warm on(g)er presumably — if you’re getting warm you’re getting closer, and presumably an oner is a target, although I can’t find this meaning
15 Surprisingly assert there’s place within for stationery items (8)
STAPLERS
pl in (assert)*
17 Distinguished English artist linked to Ernst, oddly (7)
EMINENT
Emin E{r}n{s}t — I suspect Tracey Emin will live on in crosswords long after her artistic fame has diminished
18 Contacted me over deal I struck (7)
EMAILED
(me)rev. (deal I)* — ‘struck’ the anagram indicator
19 Extract from Leone western most recently released? (6)
NEWEST
LeoNE WESTern
22 Dishonest person getting work in African country (5)
CONGO
con [= dishonest person, short for confidence trickster] go [= work]
I particularly liked 9a, 26a, 24a, 8d and my favourites were 1a BOGART, 1d BRAINY, 20a PROMISE, 16a THREE QUARTERS & 10d SIGNATURE DISH (last in).
New word for me was VERNIER.
I could not fully parse 14d (apart from WARM = close, and G = gulf). Oxford Online Dictionary defines ONER as “archaic, a remarkable person or thing”, so I didn’t really understand this clue.
Thanks Dac and John.
Could 14d be WARMER surrounding ON G(ermany)? I can’t make it parse with the words available, but perhaps someone else can.
Thanks Dac and John.
Sorry, meant G(ulf) of course.
Sorry about warmonger. I read ‘getting close to target’ as warmer rather than warm which is why I changed Dac’s Germany to Gulf. Some setters have in the past tried to use G for Germany, but I should have known Dac wouldn’t.
The first two sentences of the introduction to this blog sum up the solving experience today perfectly.
Can I just ask – is BREATHER word of the week at the Indy? Raich had it yesterday!!
Thanks to Dac and John.
Thanks John and Dac.
What I said last week, and the week before, and the week before that. That’s not meant to be condescending; just that you run out of stuff to say about such consistently good midweek puzzles.
Fine stuff from Dac despite Eimi’s meddling 🙂 Quite a quick run through over lunch after my desertion this morning over to another place.
Vernier (scale) was only got from the wordplay, been many a year since I used that.
Thanks John for the blog.
Flashling@7 Mr CS, when asked by me if he has measured something properly, always answers by saying that he used his ‘Vernier-scale eye’ so that one was a write in for me!
Another excellent Dac puzzle.
I’m glad Eimi ‘fessed up to WARMONGER because I couldn’t parse it for the life of me even though the answer was obvious enough. VERNIER was my LOI from the wordplay once I realised the definition was “scale”, not “scale back” or “velocity”.
All good stuff as usual from this setter. Only one minor quibble re 18dn; I woud have enumerated it as (1-6), as I always write e-mail rather than email, but I know both forms are widely used. Btw, the spelling as one word is the same as the French for ‘enamel’; has any setter tried working that into a clue?
Anyway, thanks to Dac and John
Perfect fodder for a Wednesday as usual with Dac – discounting eimi’s intervention of course!
Loved 1ac.
Thanks Dac and John.