I was expecting to see Dac occupying his regular Wednesday slot this morning, and there he was with his latest offering.
I found this a harder-than-average Dac. Despite having solved a handful of clues on first perusal, I struggled to finish this one, with the SW quadrant proving the most stubborn. 22D held me up for far longer than it should have. 16 was the last one in and is a word I only vaguely know; for ages I was working on the basis of lie rather than fib.
Although I believe that I have arrived at a correct solution, I am not sure that I have correctly interpreted the wordplay of a number of clues, so feedback from other solvers would be welcome on at least the following: 19, 27 and 28.
Incidentally, the solution appears to be a pangram – since when did Dac concern himself with such things?!
My clues of the day are 4A for its semi- & lit. element, 4D for its smooth surface and concision, and 9 for its smooth surface
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in double-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | NICKS | Catches cold, wearing fleece when going about
C (=cold) in NIKS (SKIN=fleece; “going round” indicates reversal |
| 04 | LAP DANCER | Seedy place with mostly randy entertainer
*(PLACE + RAND<y>); “seedy” is anagram indicator; “mostly” means last letter dropped; semi- & lit |
| 09 | AMERICANO | Coffee morning near Morecambe perhaps, attended by a small number
AM (=morning) + ERIC (=Morecambe perhaps, i.e. British comedian Eric Morecambe) + A + NO (=small number, i.e. abbreviation) |
| 10 | REALM | Collection of papers around sovereign’s domain
L (=sovereign, as in LSD) in REAM (=papers) |
| 11 | TYPIST | Office worker’s very good, taking place in meeting right away
PI (=very good) in T<r>YST (=meeting: “right (=R) away” means letter “r” is dropped) |
| 12 | PRO FORMA | Document by top academic or one less qualified?
PROF (=top academic) + OR + MA (=one less qualified, i.e. than professor) |
| 14 | IN THE FRAME | Wanted by police, thief ran off pursued by setter
*(THIEF RAN) + ME (=setter, i.e. Dac!); “off” is anagram indicator |
| 16 | BIFF | False report about fellow going on strike
BIF (FIB=false report; “about” indicates reversal) + F (=fellow) |
| 19 | GRAZ | Brief snack in Austrian location
GRAZ<e> (=snack, as verb; “brief” means last letter dropped) |
| 20 | MALEFACTOR | Not against covering up deed done by fellow criminal
MALE (=fellow) + [ACT (=deed) in FOR (=not against)] |
| 22 | GASLIGHT | Note a faint source of illumination
G (=note, i.e. in music) + A + SLIGHT (=faint) |
| 23 | SHOGUN | Commander said to reveal weapon
Homophone (“said”) of “show” (=reveal) + GUN (=weapon) |
| 26 | OVOLO | Decrepit loo fitted with very old moulding
[V (=very) in *(LOO)] + O (=old); “decrepit” is anagram indicator; in architecture, an ovolo is a moulding with the rounded part composed of a quarter of a circle |
| 27 | SQUARE LEG | Cricketer out, say, after a half-century
SQUARE (=OUT, i.e. not with it) + L (=a half-century, i.e. fifty) + E.G. (=say) |
| 28 | FEEL FUNNY | Be off, as comedian naturally might?
Cryptic definition: a comedian might naturally feel funny, i.e. humorous |
| 29 | EXPAT | Former countryman having trouble installing version of Windows
XP (=version of Windows) in EAT (=trouble, i.e. as verb) |
| Down | ||
| 01 | NEAR THING | Almost a nasty incident, digging up missing head
<u>NEARTHING (=digging up; “missing head” means first letter missing) |
| 02 | CHEEP | Make contribution to Twitter? That sounds vulgar
Homophone (“that sounds”) of “cheap” (=vulgar); the cryptic definition alludes to bird noises rather than to social media |
| 03 | SPINSTER | Turn back shortly, finding matchless female
SPIN (=spin) + STER<n> (=back, i.e. of boat; “shortly” means last letter dropped); a “match-less” female is an unmarried woman |
| 04 | LEAS | Fields in pleasant setting
Hidden (“in … setting”) in “pLEASant” |
| 05 | PROGRAMMER | Computer expert supporting correct linguistic usage in speech
PRO (=supporting) + homophone (“in speech” ) of “grammar” (=correct linguistic usage) |
| 06 | ADRIFT | I’d raft if in trouble at sea
*(I’D RAFT); “if in trouble” is anagram indicator |
| 07 | CHAIRLIFT | Assistance for the upwardly mobile creating shock in Montgomery
HAIR (=shock) in CLIFT (=Montgomery, i.e. US actor Montgomery Clift) |
| 08 | RUMBA | Polish maiden joining in a dance
[M (=maiden, i.e. in cricket) in RUB (=polish)] + A |
| 13 | BREATHES IN | Is inspiring British food popular around centre of Athens?
<at>HE<ns> (“centre of” means middle letters only) in [BR (=British) + EATS (=food) + IN (=popular)] |
| 15 | TRANSPOSE | Switch one’s parts around
*(ONE’S PARTS); “around” is anagram indicator |
| 17 | FORTNIGHT | In battle soldiers finally left within a short period
[OR (=soldiers, i.e. Other Ranks) + <lef>T <withi>N (“finally” means last letters only)] in FIGHT (=battle) |
| 18 | WAR HORSE | West End production, sort of rare show
*(RARE SHOW); “sort of” is anagram indicator; the reference is to the play based on the book by Michael Morpugo |
| 21 | TIP-OFF | During argument officer’s given warning
PO (=office, i.e. Petty Officer) in TIFF (=argument) |
| 22 | GEOFF | Fellow in charge of finance
Hidden (“in”) in “charGE OF Finance” |
| 24 | GALOP | Prisoner worked up over piano music
GAL (LAG=prisoner; “worked up” indicates vertical reversal) + O (=over, i.e. in cricket) + P (=piano) |
| 25 | JULY | Fairly disheartened for several weeks
JU<st>LY (=fairly; “disheartened” means middle letters are dropped) |
Thanks, Dac, for the puzzle and RatkojaRiku, for the blog. Your parsings of 19, 27 and 28 look spot on to me. I needed your help to deconstruct 17.
I think 28ac is a double definition. “Off” can mean to feel ill, as can FEEL FUNNY, and the reference to the comedian is the other definition.
I agree that this seemed slightly harder than the average Dac puzzle, although I had more problems in the NE than the SW. I thought the hidden GEOFF was excellent. RUMBA was my LOI after I got PRO FORMA because until then I had thought “polish” was the definition rather than “dance”.
Held up in SW corner by putting in “seem funny” for 28A, so took an age to see the hidden GEOFF in 22D.
Doesn’t matter which, but I had V[ery] O[ld] in LOO* in mind, which works as well. Thanks to Dac and RatkojaRiku, with whose parsing of 19, 27 and 28 I also agree, though would add SQUARE in the sense of “dated”, so not “in” [fashion etc].
I do mot see why there is a problem with these clues. They are written very well, and are all accurate. 4 ascross would not be &lit as the subject is ‘place’, it would not work. This ‘extended definiton’ thing is not right either, it is just a good clue!!
We also had difficulty with the SW corner. Couldn’t believe that we took so long to find GEOFF!
We noticed the pangram although it didn’t actually help us solve any of the clues.
Thanks Dac and RR!
Thanks, RR. You can put me in the harder-than-usual category as well. Pangram? Dac will be giving us a theme next.
Anyone else tempted by LES DAWSON at 4ac? No, thought not.
I thought of both Les Dawson and Les Dennis for 4ac, but sadly it was neither. I thought Geoff was brilliantly hidden and it really stumped me until I got 28. 28 was the only one I didn’t like – the funny was obvious enough but I felt the first word could have been anything (I thought it might be “seem funny”). Feel funny also seems like an odd description for a comedian – I know some of them do strange acts but I don’t think many of them get the audience to come up and start prodding them.
I agree – a harder than average Dac with 22d and 28a being my last ones in. For a long time I also thought it must be SEEM FUNNY which prevented my spotting the hidden GEOFF.
No one has remarked on the definition of FORTNIGHT being a short period. I held off entering it until I solved BIFF (which also took some time)as I regard it is a rather long period. I was looking for something on the scale of a minute or less for the solution.
You go for pretty short battles, Howard. OTOH they don’t generally last two weeks, and that for me was the Dacian legerdemain at 17.