Fine fare from Paul as we have come to expect. A medium level of difficulty and a varied set of clues, nowhere did I get the feeling that Paul is repeating himself. Quite a few little grins and sniggers in here too. Thank you Paul.
| Across | ||
| 1 | WAISTBAND | Sound warning to fly-tippers in central strip (9) |
| sound like “waste banned” (warning to fly tippers) | ||
| 6 | TABOO | A shoe back to front, unacceptable (5) |
| A BOOT (shoe) with back letter at the front | ||
| 9 | NO USE | Pointless northern river (2,3) |
| N (northern) OUSE (river) | ||
| 10 | See 26 | |
| 11 | AIRBRUSHED | Was implausibly perfect individual wearing underwear backwards charged? (10) |
| I (one, individual) in (wearing) BRA (underwear) reversed (backwards) then RUSHED (charged) | ||
| 12 | EDIT | Change, as turner turns (4) |
| TIDE (a turner, something that turns) reversed (turns) | ||
| 14 | REFRAIN | Stop the music (7) |
| double definition | ||
| 15 | STORAGE | Space rock — sensible to pass round it (7) |
| SAGE (sensible) around TOR (rock) – definition is ‘space’ | ||
| 17 | BONKERS | Crazy lovers? (7) |
| double definition! | ||
| 19 | PALETTE | Variety of techniques allowed in head (7) |
| LET (allowed) in PATE (head) | ||
| 20 | NOSE | One’s overlooked one’s ground (4) |
| ONES* ground=anagram | ||
| 22 | RACECOURSE | People are rude about nothing — you can bet on it! (10) |
| RACE (people) CURSE (are rude) about O (nothing) | ||
| 25 | ORIGINATE | Start cycling to Nigeria (9) |
| (TO NIGERIA)* cycling=anagram | ||
| 26,10,24 | A NAME TO CONJURE WITH | Tommy Cooper? (1,4,2,7,4) |
| Cryptic definition – Tommy Cooper was a comedian and magician. I checked and it seems that Thomas Cooper was indeed his real name, a shame as if it were merely a stage name then it would have fitted the clue even better. | ||
| 27 | DITCH | Desert channel (5) |
| double definition | ||
| 28 | SPEEDWELL | Plant drug effectively (9) |
| SPEED (drug) WELL (effectively) – blue-flowering plant | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | WONGA | Moneylender protected by law on gambling (5) |
| found in (protetced by) laW ON GAmbling – an Internet ‘payday lender’ in the UK | ||
| 2 | IBUPROFEN | Hangover cure, medicine for pub, if somewhat contrary? (9) |
| found inside (somewhat) mediciNE FOR PUB If reversed (contrary) – a medicine and a hangover cure | ||
| 3 | TIEBREAKER | Final point speaks of wave crashing on a Phuket beach? (10) |
| sounds like (speaks of) “Thai breaker” (wave on Phuket beach) | ||
| 4 | ARTISAN | Someone initially abducted by alien, heading off to see the master (7) |
| S (initial letter of someone) in (abducted by) mARTIAN (alien) missing head | ||
| 5 | DUCHESS | Noblewoman expected short game (7) |
| DUe (expected, short) CHESS (game) | ||
| 6 | TUNA | 252 gallons for a fish (4) |
| TUN (a wine cask measure, holding 252 gallons) wtih A | ||
| 7 | BOUND | Sure to jump (5) |
| double defiition – ‘sure to’ and ‘jump’ | ||
| 8 | OVER THERE | Open present where I’m pointing? (4,5) |
| OVERT (open) HERE (present) | ||
| 13 | NOEL COWARD | Author, a turkey playing chicken? (4,6) |
| definition and cryptic definition | ||
| 14 | ROBIN HOOD | Thug overcome by bird, his men drunk? (5,4) |
| HOOD (thug) behind (overcome by) ROBIN (bird) – Robin Hood’s men were ‘merry’, drunk | ||
| 16 | ALTERNATE | Take turns to make neat? (9) |
| if you ALTER NATE you get ‘neat’ | ||
| 18 | SEA BASS | Great Olympian catching leader in aquatics, American behind swimmer (3,4) |
| SEB (Sebastian Coe, multiple Olympic medallist) containing (catching) A (leading letter of aquatics) with ASS (behind, American) | ||
| 19 | PRECEDE | Come before partner only starting to withdraw (7) |
| P (partner, only first letter of) with RECEDE (withdraw) | ||
| 21 | SWIFT | Author like Usain Bolt? (5) |
| Jonathan Swift author, whodse name suggests a fast runner. | ||
| 23 | EWELL | Top author in part of Surrey (5) |
| sEWELL (author, one of several) missing top letter – a borough in Surrey | ||
| 24 | See 26 | |
*anagram
Thanks PeeDee, and for explaining 4d. Yes, Paul at his normal excellence. The “somewhat” anagram in 2d didn’t hold me up, though it made me consult the dictionary. Other minor hitches included a fixation that ‘sane’ was sensible in 15a, guesswork for WONGA and that 26 etc might be a conjurer. No definition for 14d: an &Lit?
Brilliant!
I enjoyed this – 19 d was a surface to conjure with! – but was stuck for a long time in the NW corner, where I got ‘no use’ on the first pass and then spent ages with nothing in that corner except for that one irritating answer which did indeed seem to be ‘no use’ ! I’d not heard of wonga – did I leave the UK too long ago? – and have always had a blind spot for ‘sounds like’ clues. I finally stabbed at bania for 1d, which fortuitously ended in the right letter to give me airbrushed and I staggered home from there. But it was fun and it was clever in lots of places, so thanks, Paul, and thanks for the blog, PeeDee.
Perhaps I’m obtuse, but I don’t get the “turkey playing” part of 13d.
Apparently, Spurius clued BONKERS as “Mad, passionate lovers?” in the Independent some time ago. I wouldn’t have had an inkling of that, but The Guardian recently re-posted the 13 Oct 2011 “Meet the Setter” with Enigmatist, who cited it as his favourite clue of all time.
A turkey is Christmas = Noel fare.
This was on the easy side for a Saturday but fun nevertheless (so ideal for a shortish train journey). LOI was Noel Coward but in retrospect there’s no excuse for not seeing that earlier. As a gout sufferer I would never use ibuprofen as a hangover cure, but that couldn’t have been anything else once the first two crossers were in. 26 10 24 was my favourite…
Hi keeper, I can’t exactly pin down “turkey playing chicken” either. What is a brave turkey supposed to do at Christmas? Anyway, I enjoyed the clue and I do get the general picture so have absolutely no intention of quibbling with Paul here!
Mongolo – I took ‘his men drunk’ to be the definition in 14dn.
I was surprised to see Wonga as a solution, generally one does not see brand names in solutions unless they are long established ‘household names’. I thought of Wonga as a very recent brand name, or maybe I just lead a sheltered life.
I don’t recall this puzzle being difficult but it was certainly fun, particularly the Tommy Cooper clue.
THanks Peedee and Paul
Very enjoyable indeed.
I ticked 1a, 11a, 17a, 2d, 3d, 8d, 16d and 19d (a quite precocious clue!).
A good puzzle, with no particular talking points, and either that or hangovers perhaps explains the few comments so far.
AIRBRUSHED was my favourite.
Thanks everyone.
Many thanks PeeDee & Paul.
Very enjoyable!
I remember seeing TOMMY COOPER in person and also on the occasion when he died on television on 15 April 1984. He was 63.
WONGA – the British Payday Company – was founded in 2006. I remember thinking that could be difficult for those Solvers who reside outside the UK.
Merry Christmas to Everyone!
Wonga has been a slang term for money since at least the 1970s so didn’t really need cluing as the firm of usurers.
Sidey “usurers” – excellent!
Too much fun! I could get used to this, Thanks all!
Ah Tommy Cooper, rest him.
“How much is a haircut?”
“A quid”
“How much is a shave?”
“Ten bob”
“Shave my head”
My favourite TC joke: “I got a watch for Christmas. It was shockproof, waterproof and antimagnetic. It caught fire”.
I went to see my doctor. He said, ‘Get on
the couch’. I said, ‘Why?’. He said, ‘I wanna sweep up’.