A solid puzzle from Gurney this morning: nothing over-taxing (though I remain a bit nonplussed by 19dn. – help from you wise folk, as ever, much appreciated), something of a surfeit of anagrams, and a couple of zingers. 7dn. was a new word for me (and 27ac., in its first sense, a new meaning). Thank-you, Gurney.
| Across | ||
| 1 | RECESS | In dire cesspit, break needed! (6) |
| Hidden in diRE CESSpit | ||
| 4 | COUSCOUS | Dish served by firm (American) twice over (8) |
| Co [company, firm] US [American], repeated | ||
| 9 | SERMON | Address child about school period head left (6) |
| (T)erm [school period] within son [child] | ||
| 10 | REPORTER | Extremely reliable one carrying bags for media person (8) |
| R(eliabl)e porter [one carrying bags] | ||
| 12 | RAID | Right to support attack (4) |
| R [right] aid [support] | ||
| 13 | COMPETENCE | Take part in contest at French resort with one lacking ability (10) |
| Compete [take part in contest] Nice [French resort] minus I [one] | ||
| 15 | CHARLES’S WAIN | Plough in-law crashes disastrously (8,4) |
| Anagram of in-law crashes to give an old name for the constellation best known as the Plough | ||
| 18 | ONE-HORSE RACE | Predictable outcome from this here once, oars involved (3-5,4) |
| Anagram of here once oars | ||
| 21 | REHEARSING | Tries again at home – good at practice? (10) |
| Rehears [tries again] in [at home] g [good] | ||
| 22 | PERT | Jaunty Pierrot regularly missing (4) |
| Alternate letters from PiErRoT | ||
| 24 | GERMINAL | Malinger criminally at very early stage (8) |
| Anagram of malinger | ||
| 25 | ORATOR | Speaker some parrot, a Rotarian from the east (6) |
| Hidden in reversal of parROT A ROtarian | ||
| 26 | THRENODY | Lament changes made by trendy host (no Saint!) (8) |
| Anagram of trendy host minus St [saint] | ||
| 27 | TENDER | Ancillary vehicle easily crushed (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | RESTRICT | Put limit on devious trickster when thousand goes missing (8) |
| Anagram of trickster minus K [thousand] | ||
| 2 | CARDINAL | Vehicle noise upsetting the French cleric (8) |
| Car [vehicle] din [noise] reversal of la [‘the’ in French] | ||
| 3 | SHOT | Closed up after quiet drink (4) |
| Sh [quiet] reversal of to [closed] | ||
| 5 | OVERPOWERING | Unbearably intense giver mixed with new poor (12) |
| Anagram of giver new poor | ||
| 6 | SHORT-LIVED | Ephemeral, this love disheartened daughter terribly (5-5) |
| Anagram of this love d(aughte)r | ||
| 7 | OCTANT | Month needed by worker to produce instrument (6) |
| Oct [October, month] ant [worker] | ||
| 8 | SCREEN | Councillor‘s noticed outside shelter (6) |
| Cr [councillor] within seen [noticed] | ||
| 11 | HOUSEHUSBAND | Domestic worker at end of month has bonus due? Ludicrous! (12) |
| Anagram of (mont)h has bonus due | ||
| 14 | PLANTATION | Pursuing idea, state has time for new settlement (10) |
| Plan [idea] nation [state] with T [time] replacing n [new] | ||
| 16 | TALENTED | Accomplished story, famous – nothing lacking (8) |
| Tale [story] noted [famous] minus o [nothing] | ||
| 17 | LECTURER | Education employee, unusually curt, to look sneeringly around (8) |
| Anagram of curt within leer [look sneeringly] | ||
| 19 | BRIGHT | British set up hospital project ultimately full of promise (6) |
| 20 | SHARER | He allots animal cherished by senior (6) |
| Hare [animal] within Sr [senior] | ||
| 23 | TRUE | Genuine cessation of conflict, its start forgotten (4) |
| Truce [cessation of conflict] minus c(onflict) | ||
Thanks Ringo and Gurney – a very enjoyable puzzle and blog.
BRIGHT is B + RIG + H + projec(T)
I was puzzled as to what a charless wain might be – ? an old agricultural device – until I eventually worked out there was an apostrophe involved.
‘Tender’, in the sense of a specialised vehicle, is common in the expression ‘fire tender’ – but we hear less and less of this in India now.
Very enjoyable – I laughed at both the definitions for 17d (I know a few of them like that!) and 11d – domestic worker indeed!
Thanks to Gurney for a fun crossword and Ringo for the blog.
Thanks Ringo for the blog and Gurney for an enjoyable solve.
I had put in 27ac as FEEDER .. which in mind seemed to fit a cryptic definition of a machine that feeds into a bigger/more mainstream machine and which also crushes easily (I was thinking of use in incinerators and road-laying machines).
Also, in 3dn, please help me understand the connection of ‘closed = to’?
Thanks
TL
Hi Turbolegs. Colloquially, ‘to’ means ‘shut’ in the context of a door; you might “push the door to”. Although in our house ‘to’ always meant ‘almost closed, but not on the latch’. Maybe it varies from place to place.
Thanks NMS and Ringo, I’ve done easier crosswords by the setter but 15a hmm looks to me like a desperate what will fit without the excuse of a Nina. Sorry Niall.