This Tuesday has brought my latest encounter with Radian, of which there have been many over the last six months or so.
I found that I made fairly swift progress through this one, although the originality of the wordplay meant that there were very few write-ins; in other words, each and every answer had to be teased out of its respective wordplay.
I spotted the four seasons early on and wondered if the theme of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons would be developed further in either the clues or the grid, as it had in a recent Listener, although I haven’t spotted any other references. Has anyone else?
My personal favourites today were 8 and 21, both for their smooth surface and/or well-hidden definitions. Incidentally, I hadn’t come across “shepherd” in 28 as an anagram indicator before, which I suppose works in much the same way as “husband” – a good find!
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in double-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01/29 | THE FOUR SEASONS | 12,24,6,22
The entries at 12, 24, 6 and 22 give SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN and WINTER, in calendar order |
| 05 | WAR BABY | He’s now in his 70s, cautious about bed and breakfast at first
(B<ed> A<nd> B<reafast>; “firstly” means first letters only) in WARY (=cautious) |
| 10 | SIGN | Symbol of government beset by sleaze?
G (=government) in SIN (=sleaze) |
| 11 | ROISTERERS | Fun-lovers disperse rioters at Queens
*(RIOTERS) + ERs (=Queens); “disperse” is anagram indicator |
| 12 | SPRING | It’s bound to be windy
Cryptically, “to bound” is “to spring” and a (bed) spring is windy, spiral; & lit-tish |
| 13 | ENMITIES | Poor relations? Mine broke links
*(MINE) + TIES (=links); “broke” is anagram indicator |
| 14 | ANCESTRAL | Dissolution of Lancaster’s hereditary
*(LANCASTER); “dissolution of” is anagram indicator |
| 16 | EBONY | Timber order returned nearly empty
EBO (OBE=order (of British Empire); “returned” indicates reversal) + N<earl>Y (“empty” means all but first and last letters are dropped) |
| 17 | WASPS | London 15 used to be an afterthought
WAS (=used to be) + PS (=an afterthought, e.g. at end of letter); London Wasps is a professional Rugby Union team, i.e. with 15 players, hence “London 15” |
| 19 | E-COMMERCE | Recommence after leader ousts national on-line trade
R (“leader” means first letter) replaces (“ousts”) N (=national) in “recommence” |
| 23 | SOLSTICE | Turning points in star’s career in 22 and 24
22 and 24 are WINTER and SUMMER respectively; cryptically, the clue refers to the sun (=star) and its position in relation to Earth |
| 24 | SUMMER | When adder appears?
Cryptically, an adder, i.e. one who adds (up), is a “summer”; & lit-tish |
| 26 | MIGRATIONS | Martins go off, I gathered, in them
I in *(MARTINS GO); “off” is anagram indicator; & lit-tish |
| 27 | JUMP | Magistrate tours UK borders in 12
U<nited kingdo>M (“borders” means first and last letters only) in JP (=magistrate, i.e. Justice of the Peace); “to jump” is “(to) spring”, i.e. entry at 12 |
| 28 | LEISURE | Shepherd lies beside river enjoying this
*(LIES) + URE (=river); “shepherd”, as verb, is anagram indicator |
| Down | ||
| 02 | HAIRPIN | Lock-keeper’s not unlike you, say
Cryptically, a hairpin is a lock-keeper, i.e. holding locks (=hair) in place; a hairpin bend is U-shaped, i.e. “not unlike U”, i.e. homophone (“say”) of “you” |
| 03 | FUNGI | He’s avoiding feng shui after cooking shiitake perhaps
F<e>NG <SH>UI; “he’s avoiding” means letters “hes” are dropped from anagram, indicated by “after cooking”; shiitake is an Oriental mushroom, hence “fungi” |
| 04 | UPRIGHT | It’s just // Joanna
A joanna is a piano in rhyming slang |
| 06 | AUTUMN | Northwestern Mutual partly reversed fall
Reversed and hidden (“partly”) in “NorthwesterN MUTUAl” |
| 07 | BIRD TABLE | Time story about blackcap – its food depends on it
B<lack> (“cap” means first letter only) + [BIRD (=time, i.e. prison sentence) + TALE (=story)] |
| 08 | BURGEON | A bit of bacon, egg and mushroom
B<acon> (“a bit of” means first letter only) + URGE ON (=to egg); “to burgeon” is to mushroom, to spread |
| 09 | TIME MARCHES ON | Cameron is furious with them: “I can’t stop the clock!”
*(CAMERON IS + THEM); “furious” is anagram indicator |
| 15 | EXPOSURES | Heartless attitude stops illicit sex revelations
POS<t>URE (=attitude; “heartless” means middle letter dropped) in *(SEX); “illicit” is anagram indicator |
| 18 | ACONITE | It flowers in 22 and it’s guarded by a bollard
IT in [A + CONE (=bollard)]; some varieties of aconite, or wolf’s bane, flower in winter (=entry at 22) |
| 20 | MUST-SEE | Ponder over fly half that has to be watched
TSE<tse> (=fly; “half” means only half of letters are used) in MUSE (=ponder) |
| 21 | CREWMAN | Hand cream somehow protects wife close to oven
[W (=wife) in *(CREAM)] + <ove>N |
| 22 | WINTER | When Bury’s under white?
W (=white) + INTER (=Bury, i.e. as verb) |
| 25 | MOJOS | Low around start of June with primarily sunny spells
J<une> (“start of” means first letter only) in MOO (=low, i.e. of cattle) + S<unny> (“primarily” means first letter only); “mojos” are magic spells or charms |
Thanks RR Quite a quick solve for me too with aconite holding out for a few minutes. Guessed 1/29 from just the f from fungi and the seasons just flew past…
Thanks, RR. I thought this was a delightful puzzle (there’s an equally delightful one by the same setter in Another Place today, btw). Once I’d got AUTUMN and SUMMER then 1/29 became apparent and I had two write-ins; but we (by which I mean I) moan when themed clues are too obscure, so no complaints today.
My favourites this morning were the cleverly-clued SOLSTICE, the misleading WASPS, and MIGRATIONS. My last in was WAR BABY, after I’d realised that Uncle Remus’/Br’er Rabbit’s TAR BABY was a bit more than 70 years old.
Well done to Radian.
Too many delights here to nominate a CoD
Interestingly, 17ac made me look at 15dn which then gave me P as the crossing letter and the penny suddenly dropped. So although the ’15’ was a misdirection it helped indirectly. Good to see the oval ball making an appearance here and in the clue to 20dn.
‘Government beset by sleaze’ and ‘Cameron is furious with them’ in the clues today – topical, eh?
K’sD @2: I too thought of ‘Tar Baby’ for 5ac at first, although it didn’t fit the wordplay, then I realised the answer was a description of me!
Thanks, Radian and RatkojaRiku
I found this to be an enjoyable puzzle that was a little easier than some recent Tuesday Indy puzzles, but that’s fine with me. ACONITE was also my LOI, after LEISURE. In the latter I thought “shepherd” as an anagrind was unusual and it took me a while to see it.
Sitting back after solving this I can’t help but admire the depths not only in the clues but in the subtle links across the solutions.
Thank you Radian. The first puzzle of your that I’ve solved. I had to use my aids though (Sorta & Crosswordsolver).
Fine puzzle from Radian whose alter ego (for the Guardian) provided a equally enjoyable crossword today.
Both with that light touch that I like so much about Radian’s other alter ego (for the FT).
What I especially appreciated was the placing of THE FOUR SEASONS as well as the four seasons in the grid – (kind of) symmetrical.
Many thanks RR for the excellent blog.
Duh – I think I must have fallen for every misdirection, and possibly created a few of my own! Very enjoyable puzzle, many thanks to Radian and RR for the blog. My favourite was 4d, maybe because it had a convoluted quality (to me anyway, what with the brain not working too well for a Wednesday…… )
Enjoyable puzzle with some ingenious anagram indicators. Had trouble with ACONITE.
Minor query with RR – 7D I think it is strictly speaking BIRD + B in TALE, rather than two +s.
Thanks to Radian and RatkojaRiku.
I agree; a very enjoyable puzzle. At 2d, I suspect that there may be a suggestion that a hairpin bend in a road is not unlike a ‘U’ bend. It worked for me anyway.
A delightful puzzle despite guessing THE FOUR SEASONS straight away from the number count after solving 24ac right at the start!
Lost of subtle clues as others have already mentioned.
Thanks Radian and RatkojaRiku.
I thought this was very good, on the easy side for Radian, who usually gives problems.
Not quite happy with 3dn: Surely shiitakes (if such a word exists) are fungi, not the singular, which is a fungus. If Radian had given up on the Chinese connection and just said ‘mushrooms’ then it would have been fine.
As usual — does this guy ever shut up on this subject? — I’m not at all happy with the 2/5 checking. The only thing you can say in its favour is that it’s better than yesterday’s 2/6.
I found this a bit on the tough side, although I got the theme quickly, but having to go out before finishing it delayed matters.
You wouldn’t believe how long it took me to get 26ac. I knew it was an anagram, knew the letters, and guessed it ended -tions, and still it was nearly my last one in.
Some masterful things here. I liked “fly half” = TSE a lot!
Plus MIGRATIONS, ‘Bacon & Egg’, FUNGI, the shepherd…and many more.
Worth waiting for!
Many thanks to both.