A smart, neat, enjoyable puzzle that didn’t cause me too many problems – with one exception.
16dn. was an absolute stinker, at least to those of us who aren’t in the least green-fingered. Other than that, I thought this was a good, not-too-tough workout. Thank-you, Aardvark.
| Across | ||
| 1 | BEL PAESE |
Retiring, English commoner grabs the main cheese (3,5)
Sea [main] within E [English] pleb [commoner], all reversed
|
| 5 | HEROES |
Cavaliers primarily hunt a couple of Roundheads in diocese retreating (6)
H(unt) Ro(undheads) within reversal of see [diocese]
|
| 10 | IONIC |
Superhuman removing entrance for Greek school (5)
(B)ionic [superhuman]
|
| 11 | GLADIATOR |
One scrapped good heating equipment, changing hands initially (9)
G [good] radiator [heating equipment] with l [left (hand)] replacing r [right (hand)]
|
| 12 | DISHONOUR |
Charged within sixty minutes after policeman’s reproach (9)
DI [Detective Inspector, policeman] on [charged] within hour [sixty minutes]
|
| 13 | ACT UP |
Current sheep behave badly (3,2)
AC [(Alternating) Current] tup [sheep]
|
| 14 | CINEMA |
Name Nick, when handing over some pictures (6)
Hidden in reversal of nAME NICk
|
| 15 | TREACLE |
Sentimentality Malcolm regularly displayed during date perhaps (7)
Regular letters from mAlCoLm within tree [date, perhaps]
|
| 18 | OVERUSE |
Runner describes very briefly why injury may occur (7)
Ver(y) within Ouse [runner, river]
|
| 20 | SCHOOL |
Where one teaches some bass? (6)
Double definition
|
| 22 | RULER |
One regrets keeping close to criminal overlord (5)
(Crimina)l within ruer [one regrets]
|
| 24 | BARCAROLE |
Woman contributes to unadorned song (9)
Carol [woman] within bare [unadorned]
|
| 25 | DINNER SET |
Daughter playing tennis limits her familiar service (6,3)
D [daughter] ‘er [her, familiarly] within anagram of tennis
|
| 26 | LIMBO |
One’s unsure in this dance (5)
Double definition
|
| 27 | EGRESS |
Everything vacated on ship’s departure (6)
E(verythin)g re [on] SS [ship]
|
| 28 | THIRD AGE |
Irish Lord backed into the elderly group (5,3)
Ir [Irish] reversal of gad [god, lord] within the
|
| Down | ||
| 1 | BLINDS |
British with hats going outside start to need sun-block? (6)
B [British] n(eed) within lids [hats]
|
| 2 | LANDSLIDE |
Extremists in lowlands lie about Democrat victory (9)
L and S [extreme letters in LowlandS] D [Democrat] within lie
|
| 3 | AT CLOSE QUARTERS |
Training pilots cease to have lodging nearby (2,5,8)
ATC [Air Training Corps, training pilots] lose [cease to have] quarters [lodging]
|
| 4 | SIGNORA |
Organist endlessly amazed lady in Milan (7)
Anagram of organis(t)
|
| 6 | ELIZABETH TAYLOR |
Hollywood actress given lily flower, large and golden (9,6)
Elizabeth [lily] Tay [flower, river] l [large] or [golden]
|
| 7 | OCTET |
Musicians etc raised in middle of Bootle (5)
Reversal of etc within (Bo)ot(le)
|
| 8 | STRAPPED |
Son at bay on the rocks (8)
S [son] trapped [at bay]
|
| 9 | CARROT |
Before crumble, perhaps banger and veg (6)
Car [banger] rot [crumble]
|
| 16 | CROCOSMIA |
Plant pot reduced, as mimosa unopened sadly (9)
Croc(k) [pot] anagram of (m)imosa
|
| 17 | PORRIDGE |
Excess fat attracts rooks and one other type of bird (8)
RR [rooks] I [one] within podge [excess fat] – ‘porridge’ and ‘bird’ are slang terms for imprisonment
|
| 19 | EMBOSS |
Money pencilled in European leader’s to raise in relief? (6)
M [money] within E [European] boss [leader]
|
| 20 | SCRATCH |
Slight wound from constant rogue in school (7)
C [speed of light, constant] rat [rogue] within sch [school]
|
| 21 | REHOME |
Find new accommodation for fellow back in capital (6)
Reversal of he [fellow] within Rome [capital]
|
| 23 | LINER |
Cosmetic business heading for recovery (5)
Line [business] r(ecovery)
|
Thank you Ringo for explaining the couple of parsings that defeated me (AT CLOSE QUARTERS and EMBOSS – for the first one, the idea of ATC did not occur to me and for the second I was trying to give more meaning to “pencilled”). I had never heard of CROCOSMIA or BEL PAESE but guessed from the cluing and verified with google.
Thanks Aardvark for the puzzle – I really enjoyed it and was pleased to have been able to work through it. I did not think I was going to but you “lost gracefully” indeed.
Enjoyable puzzle. Thanks to Aardvark and Ringo. Luckily I have a couple of Crocosmias in my garden, and very attractive they are too.
Good crossword from a setter who can be much harder (either in this guise or as Scorpion in the Indy).
I got everything but I couldn’t parse AT CLOSE QUARTERS (3d).
I kept on thinking that it had to be an anagram of ‘pilots cease’ plus something, especially since ‘at close’ is in it.
It wasn’t like that – never heard of ATC, so there you are.
I found it a pity that the L-AND-S in 2d came from ‘lowlands’ as LANDS is already in there.
16d had to be CROCOSMIA but the word ‘as’ in the clue threw me a bit. It feels like it shouldn’t be there (other than for the surface).
All together, a very enjoyable crossword for which thanks to Aardvark.
Also thanks to Ringo, of course.
Thanks Aardvark and Ringo
Another backlog puzzle … and quite a good one where you had to earn every clue entry!
Finished in the NW corner with the unusual BEL PAESE cheese that has made itself a little more well known to me by surfacing in a couple of crosswords now – should actually find it and taste it !
Messed up the parsing of 3d – had used the AT level instead of ATC for training (but of course that left ‘pilot’ unaccounted for). Had never heard of the CROCOSMIA plant or the term THIRD AGE.
Lots to like as always with this setter.