(Please click here for this same blog but with a picture quiz added. Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.) A little tricky, with a nina that did help me with the last one in. Thanks to Neo. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
8 Emperor has trouble with king on north-south road (6)
MIKADO : [ ADO(trouble;fuss) placed after(with, an in across clue) K(abbrev. for “king”, as in chess notation) ]placed after(on, in an across clue) MI(M1, the English motorway that runs north-south, with the Roman numeral substitution).
Defn: … of Japan.
9 Study island – it’s quite interesting (8)
READABLE : READ(to study, say, at university) + reversal of(revolutionary) ELBA(the Mediterranean island).
10 Garment Gershwin brother returned (4)
SARI : Reversal of(… returned) [ IRA(Gershwin, lyricist brother of composer, George)‘S ].
11 Cricket side needing every boundary’s crawling along (2,3,5)
ON ALL FOURS : ON(the leg side of the cricket field, to the left of a right-handed batsman as he faces the bowler) plus(needing) ALL(every single one) + FOUR(a boundary, the number of runs scored by hitting the ball past the boundary after hitting the ground)‘S .
12 Airlines association has origins in Italy and the Adriatic (4)
IATA : The 1st letter of(origins in) “Italy and the Adriatic “.
Answer: Abbrev. for the International Air Transport Association.
13 Finally cobbling size seventeens? (2,4,4)
AT LONG LAST : Cryptic defn: If one were cobbling size 17 shoes, he or she would be working at a long last.
17 Some Canadian in Fijian town (4)
NADI : Hidden in(Some) “Canadian “.
18 Authorisation to turn clock back (5)
REMIT : Reversal of(to turn … back) TIMER(a clock).
Defn: A mandate.
19 Lion in Narnia, disheartened after rejection, creates massive agency (4)
NASA : Reversal of(… after rejection) “Aslan”(the Lion in the Narnia Chronicles) minus its inner letters(disheartened).
Answer: Abbrev. for the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
21 Reason to do broadcast just outside? (2,4,4)
AT ONE’S DOOR : Anagram of(… broadcast) REASON TO DO.
23 Algerian say right to access Alcoholics Anonymous book (4)
ARAB : R(abbrev. for “right”) contained in(to access) [AA(abbrev. for Alcoholics Anonymous) B(abbrev. for “book”) ].
Answer: An example of which;say, is an Algerian.
24 Might we find such rumbling ain’t silent? (10)
INTESTINAL : Anagram of(rumbling) AIN’T SILENT.
Answer: The type of bodily rumbling that may be heard, perhaps, or perhaps not, to one’s embarrassment.
28 Discerned working animal’s feeble cry (4)
MEWL : Homophone of(Discerned, with the sense of hearing rather than sight) “mule”(a work animal).
29 Strict person is in Berlin, to which I travel posh car (8)
RIGORIST : IST(German, as spoken in Berlin, for “is”) placed below(to which, in a down clue) { [ I + GO(to travel) ] contained in(in) RR(abbrev. for the Rolls Royce;posh car) }
30 Sudden enlightenment when retired Conservative’s heard (6)
SATORI : Reversal of(… retired) AS(when, as in “… as you walk into the room”) + homophone of(…’s heard) “Tory”(short for a member of the Conservative Party).
Defn: …, sought in Zen Buddhism.
Down
1 Mayan beheaded an old man round island resort (4,4)
AIYA NAPA: [“Mayan” minus its 1st letter(beheaded) + A(the equivalent of “an” for nouns not beginning with a vowel sound) + PA(informal term for one’s old man;father) ] containing(round) I(abbrev. for “island”).
Answer: Resort on the island of Cyprus. Is “Aiya” an alternative to “Ayia”, which is the name given in the online references I’ve checked?
2 Sex game dumps me in country canal (10)
NAVIGATION : [ VI(Roman numeral for “six”;sex in Latin) + “game” minus(dumps) “me” ] contained in(in) NATION(a country).
Defn: …, in Midlands English dialect.
3 Soldiers thus on retreat stop Roman bull, that ancient creature (10)
TOROSAURUS : [ O.R.(abbrev. for “other ranks”;non-commissioned soldiers) + reversal of(… on retreat) SO(thus;hence)] contained in(stop) TAURUS(Latin, the language of the ancient Romans, for “bull”, the creature).
Defn: …, one of the dinosaurs.
4 Girl at the start – arm dislocated (4)
IRMA : The 1st letter of(… at the start) “injured ” + anagram of(… dislocated) ARM.
5 Writer Bloom dismisses hollow idea (4)
DAHL : “dahlia”(a bloom;flower) minus(dismisses) [“idea” minus its inner letters(hollow …)].
Answer: Roald, writer of children’s stories.
6 Emilia’s man gets one back (4)
IAGO : I(Roman numeral for “one”) + AGO(back;past, as in “a long time back”).
Defn: … ie. husband, in Shakespeare’s Othello.
7 First in pub beset by insults drinks noisily (6)
SLURPS : The 1st letter of(First in) “pub ” contained in(beset by) SLURS(insults;slights).
14 Unknown state car a follower enters? (5)
LIMBO : LIMO(short for “limousine”;a large luxurious car, usually chauffeur-driven) containing(… enters) B(the letter immediately following “a” in the English alphabet).
15 Movement that of animals circling track from the south? (10)
NATURALISM : Anagram of(that ie. movement of) ANIMALS containing(circling) reversal of(… from the south, in a down clue) RUT(a sunken track or groove).
Answer: A movement in art and literature advocating detailed and factual representation and description.
16 Line in this funny with mad British comedienne (5,5)
LINDA SMITH : L(abbrev. for “line”) IN + anagram of(… funny …) [ THIS plus(with) MAD].
20 Sailor bitter about boarding ship in film (4,4)
STAR WARS : [ TAR(informal term for a sailor) + reversal of(… about) RAW(bitter;harshly cold and damp, as in “raw weather”) ] contained in(boarding) S.S(abbrev. for “steamship”).
22 Reservoir excellent – that lifts Cantonese boat-people (6)
TANKIA : TANK(a reservoir) + reversal of(… – that lifts, in a down clue) AI(excellent;A1, with the Roman numeral substitution).
25 Grey otter holds land in river (4)
EYOT : Hidden in(… holds) “Grey otter “.
Defn: A small island in a river or lake.
26 Wife at home after time finds couple (4)
TWIN : [ W(abbrev. for “wife”) + IN(at home) ] placed below(after, in a down clue) T(abbrev. for “time”).
Defn: To pair together or couple, as in “Bristol is twinned with Guangzhou (Canton with its boat-people and all).
27 See school’s over (4)
NOTE : Reversal of(…’s over, in a down clue) ETON(the British public school).
(Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)
And there is a nina!
Antidisestablishmentarianism.
What a word.
1d was my last one in.
Never heard of it, so I had to google.
And yes, scchua, a rare mistake by Neo?
Good puzzle, all in all.
And one more question for Neo.
What’s the difference between ‘a follower’ and ‘Labour leader’?
I like it, by the way, but is it hedgehoggy-proof?
Ha, Sil! It should be a’s follower. And I have not seen AIYA spelled that way.
I got a bit stuck in the northeast corner. I hadn’t written in TOROSAURUS as it wasn’t in the dictionary I had to hand, but I had put in AYIA NAPA, having made sure I was spelling it correctly (the wordplay works for both spellings). All of which scuppered me on 8 across. I suppose if I’d seen the nina… (but then I rarely do).
Thanks Neo and scchua.
Having my granddaughter of 16 living with me, I find myself at the moment parsing trouble, fuss etc as ADOlescent.
I did like AIYA NAPA having stayed there over 30 years ago before it was too spoilt, I remember swimming each day into a cave I found where a brightly coloured roller bird used to rest on the little sandy beach at the end.
ON ALL FOURS, AT LONG LAST and AT ONE’S DOOR were also fun.
Great fun. Made a lot easier by spotting the nina from …TIDISESTA…
Thanks scchua.
Hmm yes sorry about that error. To an extent I’m the victim of that proper second-rate dictionary in Crossword Compiler, namely WordWebPlus or whatever it is, though I am believe it or not in the habit of checking (almost) everything it throws up if I’m not sure about it, i.e. when looking for reasonable grid-fills in themed puzzles, precisely due to the fact that I don’t trust it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it.
Re ‘a follower’ = B, yes, I accept that it is technically faulty, but at least I included it wilfully.
Many thanks,
Neo.
Commiserations N. Thanks to the same thing I blithely wrote a rather nice clue the other week for NEVIL CHUTE.
Yup. Bummer. I hate that dictionary.
Is there anything wrong with “a follower”? Th e “a” is here used as a modifying noun, just as you would say “cow dung” and not “cow’s dung”.
Actually, you may have a point there. That may be okay!
If I remember rightly, even Alec Robbins sanctioned it in his Teach Yerself Crozzers tome from way back. With both apologies to and support for my esteemed drumming chum, the device has a long history of acceptance.
Perhaps it’s a “device” when it comes to clueing crosswords, but I’d argue that it’s simple grammar.
I am confused now.
Is ‘Labour leader’ right or wrong?
And if it’s wrong, why is ‘a follower’ acceptable?
What’s the difference?
I am curious now.
I wasn’t involved in that labour dispute. But here’s my take on it. Whereas, in the real world, “b” actually follows “a”, “l” is not a Labour leader … unless perhaps it’s somebody with a name that has an initial “L” . As such, it is a device in crosswordland, and one whose merits and acceptability you could argue about (but I personally wouldn’t, recognising that it is only a device afer all, just as I wouldn’t argue over “hollowed idea” et al).
Thanks scchua.
I always thought the ‘real world’ (and/or the surface reading) and ‘cryptic grammar’ are two completely different things, things that should be separated.
Therefore I am not convinced yet.
The lonesome ‘a’ (in ‘a follower’) is just lucky to have one (letter) following.
To stay in line, ‘Re follower’ (whatever that is), is that all right for ‘Mi’?
I agree with the scchua. B is literally (the) ‘a follower’ whereas L is clearly not ‘Labour leader’.
‘End of sunbathing’ is TAN.
Private Eye “Lookalike”? Identical Nina (word and letter locations) and almost-identical grid structure in this old FT. Coincidence, or homage? 🙂
The top left-hand corner: not the most unpopular place from which to start our perimetrical, I think we can say. And following on from that, is there a certain inevitability about ‘word AND letter locations’? Again, I think we can agree.
As to your somewhat provocative enquiry, you mischievous little imp, you, that this was anything other than a coincidence, I’m afraid I must disappoint you. Apologies to those aware of the duplication, all the same.
😀
I didn’t enjoy this at all.
Only managed half of it.
I don’t understand 13ac at all.
It appears that the setter was more interested in putting in a clever nina than in producing an enjoyable solve.
Thanks scchua and Neo.
Thank heavens for the Nina. I normally approach this grid with dread. Too many four letter words – from both me and the Setter – and often not much to go on – I’ll leave out the joke about the detectives and the broken WC pan.
Needed your help parsing 15d but otherwise went in smoothly.
Thanks Neo and schuaa
For a change was able to spot the outside nina in time for it to help out with the pesky NW corner.
It took an age to finally find the misspelt AYIA NAPA – thanks to a swag of different Google combinations of letter combinations and resort – was able to find the place in Cyprus and the cryptic confirmed the intention of the setter.
Always good to finally get a long struggle finished.
Some good clue devices in the mix – I do like the clever tricks such as ‘a follower’ = B – it keeps one on one’s toes!