Always a little smile when I see that it’s Raich for my Monday Indy blog. Enjoyed this one, but there were some that I struggled to see and parse. It yielded in the end.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) missing
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Promote shoe from East so plugging slogan
BACK TO BASICS
Well, if you’re going to give us a complicated one, Mr Setter, then let’s get it out of the way at 1 across. This is – I think – BACK for ‘promote’ followed by SIC for ‘so’ in a reversal (‘from East’) of SABOT for ‘shoe’. I seem to remember that John Major’s Tory government of the 1990s had this as a slogan to promote family values. And then it turned out that he was shagging Edwina Curry.
8 Guy in the end ignored smile causing vexation
CHAGRIN
CHA[P] plus GRIN.
9 Tendency to find instruction lacking rigour at first
LEANING
LEA[R]NING
11 Am avoiding name Dundee strangely finds otiose
UNNEEDED
An anagram of N[AM]E and DUNDEE.
12 Supposed way to easy money King and Queen linked to Prohibition?
BANKER
I might question the use of ‘supposed’ in this clue, but don’t get me started. It’s a charade of BAN, K and ER for Elizabeth Regina, our current Queen, for those who believe in that kind of stuff.
13 Ring after month in county
MAYO
A county in our Irish compiler’s home country: it’s MAY and O. Next stop westwards is America.
14 Home, alone, by chance, half-cut, stroppiness results
INSOLENCE
A charade of IN for ‘home’, SOLE and half of chaNCE. Nice surface reading.
17 Relic misused in ultimately godless era?
SACRILEGE
It took me the longest time to see what was going on here. As usual with Raich, it’s precisely clued. It’s (RELIC)* in S for the last letter of ‘godless’ and AGE. And it’s &lit, since the whole clue leads to the answer.
19 Group heads off to Rome in October
TRIO
The first letters of To Rome In and October.
22 Speaks highly of former allotted place after reflection
EXTOLS
EX for ‘former’ and a reversal of SLOT.
23 Greatly value Minister almost fully confident
TREASURE
A charade of TREA[T] for ‘Minister almost’ and SURE.
25 Senior embraces another, one working diligently
SOLDIER
An insertion of OLDIE in SR for ‘senior’.
26 Together bring some decent wines?
ENTWINE
Hidden in decENT WINEs.
27 In freedom recollected nice deed associated with Penn
INDEPENDENCE
(NICE DEED PENN)* with ‘recollected’ as the anagram. But there’s an added element to the clue, since John Penn was one of the co-signatories on the American Declaration of Independence. Clever stuff.
Down
1 Flattering talk in past about Latin composer
BLARNEY
Raich is inviting you to insert L and Thomas ARNE in BY to give another Irish reference.
2 Restrictive regulation – copper meets resistance? Hardly any?
CURFEW
A charade of CU for element number 29, R and FEW.
3 Colour of money, English, suppressing wrath
TANGERINE
An insertion of ANGER in TIN for ‘money’ and E.
4 Call beautiful girl, say
BELL
A homophone (‘say’) of BELLE. As in Michelle, ma belle … for those of us old enough to remember it. And as in ‘I’ll give you a call/bell.’
5 Southern ranch finally productive can be split
SHARABLE
A charade of S, H for the last letter of ‘ranch’ and ARABLE. I think I’d spell this SHAREABLE, but this is no doubt given as an alternative. Let’s not go there, otherwise we’ll be having a long and ultimately fruitless debate about whether it’s CLUING or CLUEING.
6 Fashionable range in yellow
CHICKEN
A charade of CHIC and KEN. KEN as in ‘beyond my ken’, I guess.
7 Coarsest smut foreign for these?
SCOUTMASTERS
(COARSEST SMUT)* One would certainly hope so.
10 Place of relaxation for PM once – or distant forebears?
GARDEN OF EDEN
A dd cum cd, referring to the British PM Anthony Eden and the Genesis story. Adam and Eve were indeed pretty relaxed in the Garden until that chuffing snake turned up. Serpents have had a bad press ever since.
15 Extremely delicious fruit man features on poster campaign as lead
SPEARHEAD
A charade of S for the final letter of ‘delicious’, PEAR, HE and AD.
16 New shield to protect the Italian high point
HILLSIDE
An insertion of IL for one of the Italian words for ‘the’ in (SHIELD)*
18 American thanks welcomed by family group from European region
CATALAN
An insertion of A and TA in CLAN. 27 across for Catalonia? Who knows?
20 Way to incorporate fashionable dance steps
ROUTINE
Another insertion: of IN for ‘fashionable’ in ROUTE.
21 Rule about time in Chinese port
CANTON
And another: of T in CANON.
24 Tips from teacher, usable, genuine
TRUE
‘Tips’ here means the first and last letters, so it’s TeacheR UsablE.
Many thanks to our redoubtable Irish Setter for this morning’s puzzle.
I do like the Raich puzzles. They are nicely free of obscurities and archaisms without being overly easy. I didn’t quite parse Blarney correctly – I had it as bar + Ney around l, which didn’t really work but I could just about convince myself that bar might be a word for past in some context and Ney might be an obscure composer. Should have tried harder.
Re 1a – there’s nothing more basic than shagging Edwina Curry.
Favourite was 17a.
Thanks Raich
12A I think the “supposed” is there as the word “banker” here refers to a gambler’s staking heavily on a particular outcome in eg horse racing, especially as one of the winners of a multi-leg bet, ie to cut the outlay required to cover the multiple permutations he picks only one horse in one of the legs, as he’s so sure it will be the winner. It is his “banker”; or so he hopes, thus “supposed”. I really must stop spending so much time reading the form guide.
Can we take it as read from now on that all Indy bloggers are republicans, thus obviating the need for gratuitous and/or facetious digs every time a reference to royalty is made?
Thanks to Raich and Pierre.
Isn’t it just Anthony Eden’s garden as his relaxing place, plus an outrageous assumption, i.e. that the Bible gets it right? I though that one was a bit tame really, but it’s a good puzzle just about everywhere else.
Couldn’t be bothered to go on the Rufus thread. Rufus rocks they say over there usually.
Many thanks, Pierre, for the excellent blog, and to those who have commented.
Gwep’s interpretation of ‘banker’ at #3 is what was intended.
Re hh comment at #4, I can assure him I was making no assumptions whatsoever just clueing a well-known phrase which is in all the dicts and putting a “?” at the end. I never actually checked if Sir Anthony Eden had a garden either…
Thanks to S & B. Enjoyed this one – usual precision from Raich (and republicanism from Pierre?). No problem pour moi (tendance Groucho, if anyone remembers that 1968 slogan).
Why is the answer for “these” in 7d scoutmasters?
It’s an anagram of ‘coarsest smut’ with the implication that it would be foreign to those of the answer ie scoutmasters.
Also, I gather that the ‘ken’ of 6d,meaning range, is an accepted abbreviation for ‘kenning’ which is apparently a nautical range.