It’s one of the first three weeks of the month so Dac presents the Wednesday puzzle.
It gets harder every week to avoid becoming repetitive about Dac’s compiling skills, so I’ll just say this is another well clued puzzle with smooth surfaces and clever misdirection.
I know that when you see a country specified before the word port, that the port in question is very unlikely to be in that country. Even so, I started thinking about French ports at 21 across.
I thought the construction of 25 across REASSESSMENT was very good with two containers and content devices appearing seamlessly in the clue.
Clues that use common words as anagram fodder, as in 3 down with GETS A are always ones I like, as they usually pass me by on first reading.
The surface for the clue to INDUSTRIAL WASTE at 4 down was excellent with its references to river pollution.
However, my favourite clue today was the one for BOURGEOIS, although the one for MISOGYNOUS ran it a close second.
|
Across |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Wordplay |
Entry |
|
1 |
Act to get pet kept by new Times editor house-trained (12) |
DO (act) + (CAT [pet] contained in [kept in] [an anagram of {new} TIMES + ED {editor}]) DO (MESTI* (CAT) ED) |
DOMESTICATED (tamed; house-trained) |
|
8 |
We’ll join crew member leaving east, proceeding thus? (8) |
WE + (STEWARD [crew member] excluding [leaving] E [East]) |
WESTWARD (a direction which one may travel in having left East) |
|
9 |
Someone on board sporting items of clothing… (6) |
BOA ( a long, serpent-like coil of fur, feathers or the like worn round the neck; item of clothing) + TIE (item of clothing) |
BOATIE (a rowing [sport] enthusiast; someone on board sporting) |
|
10 |
…not frequently seen in Oscar ceremony (6) |
SCARCE (hidden word in [in)] OSCAR CEREMONY) |
SCARCE (not frequently seen) |
|
12 |
No large fruits rejected for alcoholic drink (8) |
(NO + L [large] + LIMES [fruits]) all reversed (rejected) (NO L LIMES)< |
SEMILLON ( grape variety grown worldwide, used to produce various wines, including Sauternes) |
|
13 |
Gem of a racehorse runs after odds are revealed (8) |
SP (starting prices; odds) + ARKLE (famous steeplechase horse) + R (runs in cricket notation) |
SPARKLER (diamond or other gem) |
|
14 |
Purchase includes pair of diamonds for friend (5) |
BUY (purchase) containing (includes) (D [diamond] + D [diamond] giving a pair of diamonds) BU (D D) Y |
BUDDY (friend) |
|
15 |
Rival clashes in Yemen (5) |
Anagram of (clashes in) YEMEN |
ENEMY (rival) |
|
17 |
Neighbour and I cut single shrub (8) |
ABUT (adjoin; neighbour) + I + (LONE [single] excluding the final letter [cut] E) |
ABUTILON (a plant of the showy-flowered genus ABUTILON of the mallow family, some species yielding fibres) |
|
19 |
Head for cheap trendy store in Welsh town (8) |
C (first letter of [head for] CHEAP) + HEP (knowing, informed; trendy) + STOW (store) |
CHEPSTOW (*Welsh town) |
|
21 |
Greek drinks in French port (6) |
GK (Greek) containing (drinks) (DANS [French for ‘in’]) G (DANS) K |
GDANSK (port city [in Poland]) |
|
22 |
Before long a learner will sit inside car (6) |
(A + L [learner]) contained in (will sit in) SOON (before long) S (A L) OON |
SALOON (type of car) |
|
23 |
Expressions of surprise about McCartney group’s performances (8) |
(OHS [expressions of surprise]) reversed (about) + WINGS (a band [group] fronted by Paul McCartney, founded in 1971) SHO< WINGS |
SHOWINGS (performances) |
|
25 |
Dunces in scripture class dispatched without marks in extra test? (12) |
ASSES (dunces) contained in (in) (RE [religious education; scripture classes] + [SENT {dispatched} containing {without; outside} M {marks}]) (RE (ASSES) S (M) ENT) |
REASSESSMENT (extra test) |
| Down | |||
|
1 |
Animal seen in droves, oddly (3) |
DOE (letters 1, 3 and 5 [oddly] of DROVES) |
DOE (the female of the smaller deer such as the fallow deer or roe deer; extended to the female of antelope, kangaroo, rabbit, hare, and some other animals) |
|
2 |
Older and wiser, you are said to keep mum? The opposite (7) |
MATER (mother; mum) containing (to keep) UR (sounds like [said to] YOUR) This gives mum keeping you are said – i.e. the opposite of the container and contents set out in the clue. MAT (UR) ER |
MATURER (fully developed; older and wiser) |
|
3 |
Surprisingly, gets a part (though lacking skill) joining amateur dramatic production (5,4) |
Anagram of (surprisingly) GETS A + PART (excluding [lacking] ART [skill]) + LAY (not professional; amateur) STAGE* P LAY |
STAGE PLAY (dramatic production) |
|
4 |
Evidence of pollution was noticed in River Test and Tyne when drained? (10,5) |
WAS contained in (noticed in) (INDUS [major river in Asia] + TRIAL [test] + TE [first and last letters only {when drained} TYNE]) INDUS TRIAL (WAS) TE |
INDUSTRIAL WASTE (evidence of pollution) |
|
5 |
Record book (5) |
ALBUM (long playing disc; record) |
ALBUM (book) double definition |
|
6 |
Greek character set up shop and traded online (1-6) |
ETA (Letter of the Greek alphabet; Greek character) + (DELI [delicatessen; shop] reversed [set up; down clue) ETA ILED< |
E-TAILED (sold goods through the internet; traded online) |
|
7 |
Male is so young, misguidedly chasing after the girls? Hardly (10) |
Anagram of (misguidely) (M [male] and IS SO YOUNG) |
MISOGYNOUS (hates women, hence unlikely to chase after girls) |
|
11 |
Police chief, venomous sort (10) |
COPPER (policeman) + HEAD (chief) |
COPPERHEAD (a venomous reddish-brown snake of the eastern US, similar to the rattlesnake) |
| 14 | Compulsion to invest in economic upturn mostly is middle-class (9) |
URGE (compulsion) contained in (to invest in) (BOOM [economic upturn] excluding the final letter [mostly] + IS) BO (URGE) O IS |
BOURGEOIS (middle-class) |
|
16 |
Carefully survey old place to north of US state (7) |
EX (former, old) + PL (place) + ORE (one of the commonly used abbreviations for Oregon, US state) This is a down clue so the first 5 letters are written above (north) of ORE |
EXPLORE (examine thoroughly; carefully survey) |
|
18 |
Reckon I’ll find silver during excavation (7) |
I + (AG [chemical symbol for silver] contained in [during] MINE [excavation]) I M (AG) INE |
IMAGINE (reckon) |
|
20 |
Airs last of linen during the day (5) |
N (final letter of [last of] LINEN) contained in (during) TUES (Tuesday; day) TU (N) ES |
TUNES (airs) |
|
24 |
Cologne’s good for the stomach (3) |
GUT (German [Cologne] for ‘good’) |
GUT (stomach) double definition – in two different languages |
Thanks, Duncan. Fine blog, puzzle the same. BOATIE and ABUTILON a bit unusual, but otherwise another perfect example of the setter losing gracefully. Thanks to him for today’s offering.
I found this slightly harder than normal for Dac and I needed aids for my last two, GDANSK and BOATIE. I’d convinced myself that the first of the clothing items in 9ac was “bra” and didn’t try to think of an alternative, and for the port I completely missed drinks as a containment indicator, although I hadn’t helped myself by forgetting that “Greek” can be “Gk” as well as “Gr”. ABUTILON went in with fingers crossed from the wordplay.
Thanks d and D. I had to check ABUTILON, as well, but everything was in perfect order, as usual with this setter.
Boatie and abutilon took a bit of teasing out – I’d not heard of either of them. I missed the was in the clue for industrial waste for a long time and was stuck trying to work out why Tyne drained would be waste.
Andy B@2, your comment is almost exactly word for word what I would say, with the exception that I had a copy of Chambers to hand and I could look up ABUTILON.