Another very nice puzzle from Aardvark. I have blogged a few Aardvark puzzles now and he is becoming one of my favourite FT setters. Thank you Aardvark.
| Across | ||
| 1 | TROLLOPE | Work list transposed in margins of the novelist (8) |
| ROLL (list) OP (work) swapping places (transposed) in ThE (margins of) – Anthony Trollope, 19th centrury novelist | ||
| 5 | SKEWER | Pitcher on sink emptied for part of barbecue (6) |
| EWR (pitcher) on SinK (emptied=no middle) | ||
| 9 | MOTORWAY | Second time European country fails to open fast route for drivers (8) |
| MO (second) T (time) nORWAY (not opening letter) | ||
| 10 | UNISON | Reading perhaps by soprano performing concert (6) |
| UNI (univeristy, Reading perhaps) by S (soprano) ON (performing) – definition is ‘concert’ | ||
| 11 | TASMANIA | Devilish animal there causing terrier’s frenzy (8) |
| TA’S (Territorial Army’s, nickname terriers) MANIA (frenzy) – home of the Tasmanian Devil | ||
| 12 | JOSEPH | Joint money abroad returned by hotel chap (6) |
| J (joint, of marijuana) PESO (foreign money) reversed (returned) by H (hotel) – man’s name | ||
| 14 | PATSY CLINE | Female vocalist, minor hits nicely arranged (5,5) |
| PATS (minor hits) NICELY* | ||
| 18 | TAKE A POP AT | Criticise reformed boy band (2 missing) embracing adult music (4,1,3,2) |
| TAKE thAT (boy band, two letters missing) containing (embracing) A (adult) POP (music) | ||
| 22 | REDCAP | Policeman on duty, initially covering (6) |
| RE (on) D (initial letter of duty) CAP (covering) – a military policeman | ||
| 23 | GRUESOME | 51 feeing Limoges building barricade street there – it’s horrifc (8) |
| liMOGES* (missing LI, 51 Roman numerals) anagram=building contain (barricade) RUE (street in Limoges) | ||
| 24 | LOVELY | Beautiful duck by banks of Liffey (6) |
| LOVE (duck, sporting term for zero) by LiffeY (sides, banks of) | ||
| 25 | CLAVICLE | Military offcer nurses John outside to lance part of shoulder (8) |
| CIC (military offficer) contains (nurses) LAV (John, toilet) in LancE (outside letters of) – the shoulder bone | ||
| 26 | STROLL | Constitutional amendment to sort extreme left? (6) |
| SORT* amendment=anagram to LL (left, extreme=doublely so) – definition is ‘constitutional’, an after-dinner stroll maybe | ||
| 27 | TERRAPIN | Creature quietly inhabits ground (8) |
| P (piano, quietly) inside (inhabits) TERRAIN (ground) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | TOMATO | Spot a moth camoufaged around fruit (6) |
| hidden (camouflaged) in spOTA MOTh reversed (around) | ||
| 2 | OBTUSE | Communications company in current accommodation is dim (6) |
| BT (British Telecom) in (accommodated by) OUSE (river, a current) | ||
| 3 | LARVAE | Tiny creatures run inside volcanic rock before start of eruption (6) |
| R (run) in LAVA (volcanic rock) before E (first letter of eruption) | ||
| 4 | PEAS IN A POD | Twins that are seen on the allotment? (4,2,1,3) |
| double/cryptic definition – “as like as two peas in a pod” | ||
| 6 | KEN LOACH | Film director shown appreciation by school member? (3,5) |
| KEN (knowledge, appreciation) by LOACH (a fish, so member of a school?) – British film director known for ‘gritty realism’. | ||
| 7 | WISTERIA | Climber frst comes across a wire that’s dangling (8) |
| IST (1st, first) inside (comes across, splits up) (A WIRE)* anagram=dangling | ||
| 8 | RANCHMEN | Farmers in US altered manner circulating church (8) |
| MANNER* altered=anagram going round (circulating) CH (church) | ||
| 13 | ESPADRILLE | Footwear beginning to encumber digger around stream (10) |
| E (first letter of encumber) SPADE (digger) around RILL (stream) – rope sole sandal | ||
| 15 | STARTLES | Alarms let off in the care of Leo perhaps (8) |
| LET* off=anagram in STARS (constellation of Leo perhaps) | ||
| 16 | SKYDIVER | Aerial operative, one evading duty around yard (8) |
| SKIVER (one evading duty) around YD (yard) | ||
| 17 | PARALLEL | Soldier pounds alongside the Spanish match (8) |
| PARA (soldier) LL (pound, two of) by (along side) EL (the, Spanish) – definition is ‘match’ | ||
| 19 | BEAVER | Work hard to remain a clergyman up north (6) |
| BE (remain, continue to exist) A and REV reversed (going up, northwards) | ||
| 20 | TOECAP | Pilot in grass, lifted part of footwear (6) |
| ACE (pilot) in POT (grass) reversed (lifted) | ||
| 21 | SEVERN | Flower always tethered by poles (6) |
| EVER (always) in (tethered by) S and N (poles) – the River Severn is a flower, something that flows | ||
*anagram
Thanks PeeDee and Aardvark. Good puzzle, which I had to work quite hard at. BEAVER and TOECAP were last in.
Thanks PeeDee. I struggled with Joseph, altough it was quite easy. Since when has a joint been a J? Not complaining, asking for info
Re 6d Loach & Roach are both fish and surnames so if you had not heard of the film director in question you had to make a choice.
Thanks to Aardvark for a clever puzzle to Peedee for a comprehensive blog.
Hi Hornbeam, J=joint of marijuana is in Chambers dictionary. I looked it up while writing the blog just to be on the safe side. I was expecting to find it to be an abbreviation as in “Joint Intelligence Committee” or something.