Easier than some of Loroso’s puzzles, but still no pushover. I like the way that Loroso doesn’t go for the obvious definitions or tenses, lateral thinking is required to make progress. I find Loroso to be one of those setters who’s clues seem contrived and obscure until you get into his way of thinking, when suddenly all becomes clear. Thank you Loroso for another entertaining puzzle.
| Across | ||
| 1 | GRUMPY OLD MEN | German behind refined melody given to new film (6,3,3) |
| G (German) RUMP (behind) MELODY* with (given to) N (new) – 1993 film with Jack Lemon and Walter Matthau | ||
| 10 | INCURVE | Empty vehicle on run up to bend (7) |
| VehiclE (empty, no middle letters) on INCUR (run up) – to bend inwards | ||
| 11 | VENISON | Meat we’re ready to cook? Leave the starter (7) |
| oVEN IS ON (we are ready to cook) missing starting letter | ||
| 12 | NUTTY | Bolt’s partner initially two yards round the bend (5) |
| NUT (partner of bolt) T (initial letter of two) |
||
| 13 | GRIMALDI | House in Monaco next to ghastly supermarket (8) |
| GRIM (ghastly) ALDI (supermarket) – The House of Grimaldi is the family of the rulers of Monaco | ||
| 15 | INADEQUATE | Wanting one bent and parallel (10) |
| I (one) AND* bent=anagram EQUATE (parallel, as a verb?) – definition is wanting | ||
| 16 | HYPE | A promoter of mushy peas? (4) |
| found in musHY PEas – I’m not sure about the definition. Obviously a promoters hypes, but I can’t finish this to my satisfaction. | ||
| 18 | EASY | Oriental, say, out for a walk in the park (4) |
| E (oriental) SAY* anagram=out | ||
| 20 | EGG FOO YONG | Chinese food for one? No – kids about to tuck into horse (3,3,4) |
| EG (for one, for example) NO YOOF (no youth?, no kids) reversed (about) inside (to tuck into) GG (horse) – a chinese dish. I’m not sure about YOOF=youth, there is no indication of slang or homphone I can see. Have I missed something more obvious? | ||
| 22 | SHIPMENT | A load of fashionable pieces in stone (8) |
| HIP (fashionable) MEN (pieces, chess) in ST (stone) | ||
| 24 | SPAIN | F1 circuit in location of Estoril (5) |
| SPA (F1 circuit in Belgium) IN – Estoril is a city in |
||
| 26 | CADAVER | Corpse in one rotten state (7) |
| CAD (one rotten) AVER (state) | ||
| 27 | RHUBARB | River with pub in the middle? Nonsense! (7) |
| R (river) with BAR (pub) in HUB (the middle) | ||
| 28 | WHEEL AND DEAL | Engineer making cycle with wood (5,3,4) |
| WHEEL (cycle) AND (with) DEAL (wood) – to engineer is cause to come about. | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | RICOTTA | One soft cheese and one firm in flaky tart (7) |
| I (one) CO (company, firm) in TART* anagram=flaky – definition is ‘One soft cheese’ | ||
| 3 | MORAY EEL | Fish certainly found in another lake (5,3) |
| AYE (certainly) in MORE (another) L (lake) | ||
| 4 | YVES | One girl said he may be French (4) |
| YVE sounds like ‘Eve’ (girl, number one=the first?) – a French man’s name | ||
| 5 | LOVERS TIFF | Words, perhaps 50 more than 26 (6,4) |
| L (fifty) OVER (more than) STIFF (26) – definition is ‘words’ | ||
| 6 | MINIM | Note, note, note, note – put that up (5) |
| MI (note) N (note) MI (note) reversed (put that up) – definition is ‘Note’, the first of the four. | ||
| 7 | NASALLY | “Repelled an attack” pronounced in a certain way (7) |
| AN reversed (repelled) SALLY (an attack) | ||
| 8 | GIANNI VERSACE | Private celebrations? House has gone for top fashion designer (6,7) |
| GI (private, soldier) ANNIVERSaries (celebrations) missing ARIES (house, of the zodiac) with (for) ACE (top) – Italian fashion designer | ||
| 9 | IN TIMES GONE BY | Once ninety, some big changes (2,5,4,2) |
| (NINETY SOME BIG)* anagram=changes | ||
| 14 | OUTGENERAL | Old Elgar tune’s enigmatic beat? (10) |
| anagram (enigmatic) of O (old) ELAGR TUNE – definition is ‘beat’. | ||
| 17 | GOD SQUAD | Religious group’s work extremely dubious, supported by muscle (3,5) |
| GO (work) then DubiouS (extremes of) in (supported by) QUAD (muscle) | ||
| 19 | SKIDDAW | Roll over after small child fell (7) |
| WAD (roll) reversed (over) after S (small) KID (child) – a fell (hill) in Cumbria | ||
| 21 | O CANADA | National anthem is nothing about nothing (1,6) |
| O (nothing) CA (circa, about) NADA (nothing) – the Canadian national anthem | ||
| 23 | MOVIE | Doctor’s struggle to produce film (5) |
| MO (doctor) VIE (struggle) | ||
| 25 | GRIN | Mostly smooth beam (4) |
| GRINd (smooth, mostly) – definition is beam. I’m not 100% sure of this, there could be other words that fit? | ||
*anagram.
Thanks, PeeDee. I’m glad you found this easy! I can usually get on Loroso’s wavelength but this one beat me and I had to give up. Now that I see the answers, I know that I would never have got some of them, however long I’d stared at it.
One of those I did get was 12ac, which is NUT + T[wo] Y[ards].
Re 24ac: surely Estoril is in Portugal!
Thanks, Loroso – I can see this was very clever and I enjoyed the blog but you win hands down today. 😉
Hi Eileen,
I stared at a half empty grid for quite a while too, wondering how I was going to finish. Then I thought back to Loroso puzzles from the past and remembered how the solutions are not to be found right front of your eyes but somewhere off in the side vision. It sounds corny, but I stopped trying so hard and just read the clues and then closed my eyes and let my mind wander. Answers started popping up all over the place!
Re Estoril: oops, what was I thinking there? What I have written is nonsense. Obviously the mind-wander technique does not work all of the time! I will have another look.
Thanks PeeDee
Your parsing of 20ac is spot on. Chambers confirms yoof=youth (informal; usu derogatory) so no need for a homophone indicator.
In 25dn, I can find no alternative to ‘grind’. A wildcard search of Chambers using grin? only brings up grind or grins and grin?? adds grinds and gringo.
Hi PeeDee
Yes, your technique usually works for me, too – but not today!
Re Estoril – I think the mistake may be Loroso’s. 😉
Thanks Gaufrid, I was fixated on IRON for a while, being ‘to smooth’ and related to beam (girder), but I couldn’t make it work.
And to think – I’m a fan of F1! That’s my booboo, for which I apologise unreservedly.
Apology gladly accepted Loroso. I can’t believe even after spending a few minutes researching Estoril, it being close to Lisbon the Portuguese capital, it being one of the most expensive places to live in Portugal etc… I then happily wrote SPAIN in the grid!
I found that hard. I went at first for DREARY OLD MEN, which also more or less parses. Either way, this movie doesn’t sound like much fun!
Unlike yesterday i finished this in under thirty minutes give or take the qualms over Spain. Thanks PD and Loroso. Seen Anax use yoof before.
Agree, Flash, much ‘easier’ than yesterday’s Anax.
Still, a difficult puzzle that took me about three times as long as you [that said, I was also looking at Swansea against Newcastle while solving, so perhaps take my solving time for granted].
Lots of inventive stuff and as ever a fantastic, original anagram clue (9d).
I think 8d (G.V.) was also quite brilliant as was the smelly surface of 26ac.
The Estoril mistake? Ah well.
Ronaldo, is he Portuguese or Spanish? 🙂
Fine puzzle for which many thanks to our cryptic magician [or is that Rufus/Dante?].
Thx PeeDee.