Lorraine: Good Morning to you all,
Typical Everyman, nice clues, all concise as usual.
Thanks to Everyman for another good crossword.
| Across | |||
| 1. | Corresponding with uncle, say (8) | ||
| RELATIVE | indirect dd | ||
| 5. | Spoil one married couple (6) | ||
| IMPAIR | I+M+PAIR | ||
| 10. | Barge carrying less weight (7) | ||
| LIGHTER | dd | ||
| 11. | Soldiers beheaded and left in hollow in surrounded area (7) | ||
| ENCLAVE | (m)EN+(L in CAVE) | ||
| 12. | Former examiner, reportedly in old government office (9) | ||
| EXCHEQUER | EX+homophone: CHECKER | ||
| 13. | Slow speech, live, shown after tie (5) | ||
| DRAWL | L after DRAW ‘live’ here is the L for live wire on a plug |
||
| 14. | Failed attempt on hill in English resort town (13) | ||
| LITTLEHAMPTON | (ATTEMPT ON HILL)* just a few miles from me, so quite easy |
||
| 17. | Shambles follows quickly after interval (4,9) | ||
| DOG’S BREAKFAST | DOGS+(FAST after BREAK) | ||
| 21. | What’s as good as a mile? Wrong (5) | ||
| AMISS | pun on the saying “A miss is as good as a mile” | ||
| 22. | Braggart has look round inside crude mud hut (9) | ||
| LOUDMOUTH | LO+(O in (MUD HUT*)) | ||
| 24. | Stately vehicle coming from church with a flourish (7) | ||
| CHARIOT | CH+A+RIOT | ||
| 25. | Wise guy in clink, now, allegedly (4-3) | ||
| KNOW-ALL | hidden: clinK, NOW, ALLegedly | ||
| 26. | Female leaving small party with rest (6) | ||
| SIESTA | S+(f)IESTA | ||
| 27. | Social outcast, before ‘L’ in concise dictionary (8) | ||
| DERELICT | (ERE+L) in DICT | ||
| … Down |
|||
| 1. | Help whistle-blower to pen story (6) | ||
| RELIEF | LIE in REF very topical surface reading |
||
| 2. | Sound of US soldier in boozer (7) | ||
| LOGICAL | GI in LOCAL | ||
| 3. | Name of book lieutenant raised during match (5) | ||
| TITLE | (LT<) in TIE | ||
| 4. | Simulation: learner driver put through it – rarity value worked (7,7) | ||
| VIRTUAL REALITY | L in (IT – RARITY VALUE*) | ||
| 6. | Precocious little girl’s taken in about one, a nut (9) | ||
| MACADAMIA | (MADAM around CA)+I+A | ||
| 7. | Resolute, a worker crossing barrier (7) | ||
| ADAMANT | (A+ANT) around DAM | ||
| 8. | One within about to chuck wine (8) | ||
| REISLING | I in (RE+SLING) | ||
| 9. | A stone’s throw from the joint that’s on the verge of the indecent (4,3,7) | ||
| NEAR THE KNUCKLE | NEAR+THE+KNUCKLE | ||
| 15. | Use the Circle Line, perhaps – go round wearing this? (4,5) | ||
| TUBE SKIRT | TUBE+SKIRT | ||
| 16. | Proceeds with loans (8) | ||
| ADVANCES | dd | ||
| 18. | I’m in favour, so pull a face (7) | ||
| GRIMACE | I’M in GRACE | ||
| 19. | Elevated man in grey suit pointing to destructive wave (7) | ||
| TSUNAMI | (MAN<) in (SUIT*) | ||
| 20. | Bloke almost rented wooden villa (6) | ||
| CHALET | CHA(p)+LET | ||
| 23. | Animal lows close to milking-time (5) | ||
| MOOSE | MOOS+(milking-tim)E | ||
| … | |||
19d – Haven’t seen grey as an anagram indicator before. Is that what it’s doing?
26a – As clued, I don’t see how you get to switch the ‘f’ with the ‘s’.
John at 1,
Yes, ‘grey’ is a new one on me for an anagram indicicator.
Regarding 26. Female leaving small party with rest (6)
F (female) leaves SFIESTA (small party) = SIESTA
I thought the clue to ENCLAVE was great.
I had also never seen “grey” as an anagram indicator, but it had to be.
SIESTA was my LOI and it took me a couple of minutes to see what the wordplay was telling me. Very cunning for an Everyman puzzle.
Really good stuff.
Having looked in Collins only, I would like to know more about the sense in which ‘grey’ is being used here.
The only way I can justify it is using ‘grey’ as in “grey area”.
Unclear, doubtful, debatable etc.
Indeed, perhaps debatable for some.
That said, I like setters who try new things every now and then.
Sil’s hit it. Grey, as in grey area, was the way I was thinking. I still believe it to be acceptable.
Enjoyable crossword, was in today’s New Zealand Herald. I’m fine with Grey as anag indicator and got it immediately. Conversely, got SIESTA but had to look up why it was correct – didn’t get the s f swap unaided.
Pleasant 45 minute jaunt down under.