I enjoyed this Sunday’s offering from Alchemi. Generally a puzzle in the usual accessible IoS style; but that said, there were a number of clues where I had to head-scratch a bit before the answers yielded. Some of this setter’s cluing can border on the elaborate, but from solving and blogging a number of his crosswords now, I think that’s just his style. As long as it’s fair, which it generally is, I don’t think we can complain. There is one clue where I can’t quite put it all together, so help appreciated with that one, please.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) missing
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Teach, perhaps, putting vermin in pastry
PIRATE
Pretty obvious what the answer was – it’s RAT in PIE – but I had to ask a fellow blogger how we get to ‘teach’ from PIRATE. Turns out it’s Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard, the infamous English pirate from the 18th century. So there you go.
4 Vigorous Chelsea regularly imprisoned in upper room
ATHLETIC
An insertion of HLE for the even letters of ‘Chelsea’ in ATTIC. The surface reads better, I think, if you take Chelsea to be a girl’s name rather than a football team.
10 Active Liberal returns and draws one’s talents
ABILITIES
I can’t make this work, so am going into ask the audience mode. The elements are – I think – A for ‘active’, BIL for a reversal of LIB, TIES for ‘draws’ and I for ‘one’. But I can’t see how the cryptic grammar is telling us to put it together to get ABILITIES.
Edit: the reason I couldn’t make it work is that I mistranscribed the clue. The setter has kindly dropped in at comment no 1 to explain.
11 Merkel ignoring last messenger from God
ANGEL
Well, cryptic clues don’t come much more clearly signposted: take the last letter, A, from Angela Merkel, the German Bundeskanzlerin.
12 Satisfied one avoiding beef?
MET
ME[A]T. The question mark is there because ‘beef’ is only one example of MEAT.
13 Cooking appliance heiress I tore back to see unclothed
ROTISSERIE
Hidden reversed in hEIRESS I TORe.
15 Secret societies take some time to form crowds
THRONGS
A new one on me in terms of the ‘secret society’, but it’s TONG (‘a Chinese association or secret society, frequently associated with organized crime’) with an insertion of HR for hour or ‘some time’.
16 American solvers back then surrounded joint which had no lager initially
YANKEE
YE for YOU, ‘solvers’ in an archaic form (‘back then’) with ANK[L]E inserted gives you a common word for ‘American’.
19 I make tea for sheep kept by bishops
BREWER
Another insertion, of EWE in B for one bishop and RR (‘Right Reverend’) for another.
21 Almost drain a device to attract attention
BLEEPER
A charade of BLEE[D] and PER for ‘a’, as in ‘tuppence a bag’ or ‘tuppence per bag’. We all love Mary Poppins.
23 Part of speech graduate brought back I had to shorten
ABBREVIATE
This is AB BREV for ‘part of speech’ and ‘graduate’ reversed, followed by I ATE for ‘I had’.
25 Young animal somewhat short of power
CUB
The power is a mathematical one: a CUBE is a number multiplied by itself three times or to the power three. If it’s ‘somewhat short’ then you’d end up with CUB[E].
27 Huge soldiers
GIANT
This was my favourite clue today. The two ‘soldiers’ are a GI and an ANT. It’s completely fair, but took me ages to see, which is the sign of a good clue, I think.
28 Quietly sick after bowling an excessive amount
OVERSPILL
A charade of OVERS for ‘bowling’, P for the musical instruction for ‘quietly’ and ILL.
29 Take a turn from surgery, troubled about when to get nutritious food for cattle
RYEGRASS
I suppose that Alchemi is conjuring up an image of a veterinary surgery. This is what I meant when I said this setter’s cluing style is sometimes elaborate: you need to take U for ‘turn’, as in U-TURN, out of ‘surgery’, then make an anagram (‘troubled’) and then insert AS for ‘when’ into all that. RYEGRASS is indeed a pasture grass, but it’s most likely not in everyone’s passive vocabulary. However, that’s what crossing letters are for, and ‘food for cattle’ is likely to contain GRASS, innit?
30 Roger, possibly by the grace of God, captured by man of action
DODGER
This surface and clue I did like. ROGER THE DODGER is the comic book character; put DG for Dei Gratia, the Latin phrase for ‘by the grace of God’ in DOER and you’ve got the rascal.
Down
1 Childhood companion to act as husband
PLAYMATE
A dd cum cd. If you had a husband, he might PLAY or ‘act’ as a MATE or ‘companion’. Especially if he wanted to go down the pub.
2 Terrorise appallingly noisy party animal
ROISTERER
(TERRORISE)* with ‘appallingly’ as the anagrind.
3 Sibling betting on the nose loses nothing
TWIN
I know naff all about horseracing, but I think if you ‘bet on the nose’ then you are betting on the the horse TO WIN. Take O out of that and you’ve got a sibling.
5 Bear witness to being irritable about condition
TESTIFY
An insertion of IF for ‘condition’ in TESTY.
6 Mick Jagger, say, has to wait around holding energy bills
LEAD SINGER
Another insertion, of E for ‘energy’ and ADS for ‘bills’ in LINGER. The Rolling Stones member lost his long-term partner in tragic circumstances recently.
7 About to get obnoxious person to turn over fierce animal
TIGER
A reversal of RE GIT.
8 Quieter vehicle fuelled by fruit I discarded
CALMER
An insertion (‘fuelled’) of L[I]ME in CAR.
9 Flies religious groups
PILOTS
I must make an appointment at the optician’s because I was getting really frustrated at trying to find a definition of ‘Files’. It’s PI for ‘religious’ (only ever found in crosswords these days) and LOTS.
14 Be wiser than to report on monarch’s improving health
KNOW BETTER
I spent ages looking for an ancient king or queen that was a homophone of KNOW, but I don’t think there is one. So it must be K NOW BETTER, unless someone else knows better.
17 Cross setter, say, about to get pregnant
EXPECTING
A good clue. The ‘cross’ is X; the ‘setter’ is PECTIN (jam makers will explain it) and you need to put EG for ‘say’ around all that.
18 Doctor over the river one who can keep control of Balls?
DRIBBLER
Ed Balls has been a gift to setters since he became a high-profile politician. Normally he gives us ED; but here the capitalisation is a misdirection. It’s the Yorkshire/Lancashire River RIBBLE in DR.
20 Very expensive seat of learning located in what’s left of medieval castle?
RUINOUS
Another insertion, of OU for Open University, or ‘seat of learning’ in RUINS.
21 Hesitate to pursue the two in trouble
BOTHER
It’s a charade of BOTH and ER. The surface suggests that ER is a verb, which I was going to have a chunter about. But my SOED says ‘verb, intransitive’, so I’ll de-chunter. I er, you er, he/she/it ers? Never trust dictionaries. ‘He was umming and erring’, I suppose.
22 Park official called up engineers
RANGER
A charade of RANG and, since it’s a down clue, RE for ‘Royal Engineers’ reversed (‘up’).
24 Defy leader of Bolshevik party
BRAVE
A charade of B and RAVE. ‘We braved the rain to get to Glastonbury for the weekend.’ Where it rained even more, no doubt.
26 Several disheartened ducks go outside in northern city
OSLO
If you ‘dishearten’ ‘several’ you’ll end up with SL. Put two letter Os outside that and you’ve got a city with a latitude of 59.50 degrees north. Which qualifies it to be northern, I think.
Many thanks to Alchemi for this Sunday’s puzzle.
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