It wouldn’t be Wednesday without Dac now, would it?
This was another vintage Dac, in my humble opinion, this time one of medium difficulty on a grid that I did not recognise, with four long entries. There are few setters whose clues can be parsed as unambiguously as Dac’s. Although it took a while for the penny to drop regarding the parsing of 5D, rare are the occasions when an understanding of how a Dac clue has been constructed comes only hours after its solution has been entered in the grid.
My only quibbles today are with L for “live” at 10, although it is no doubt listed in a dictionary that I don’t possess; and Cheddar for “gorge” at 22, where perhaps “say” or “for example” could have been added to indicate Cheddar is an example of a gorge and not a synonym for “gorge”.
As for clues of the day, the ones that stand out for me today are 4, 13D, 16A and 17, all of which – surprise, surprise! – for smoothness of surface reading.
(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | ACCRUE | Gather a group discussed …
A + homophone (“discussed”) of “crew” (=group) |
| 05 | CHOIRS | … his endless rock arrangement for singers
*(HIS ROC<k>); “endless” means last letter dropped from anagram, indicated by “arrangement” |
| 08 | FEATHERWEIGHT | Wee heart pounds during boxing match? Mine might
*(WEE HEART) in FIGHT (=boxing match); “pounds” is anagram indicator |
| 10 | SEAL | Aquatic creature and where it can be found, live
SEA (=where it, i.e. aquatic creature, can be found) + L (=live) |
| 11 | BONESETTER | Old hospital worker giving sustenance to dog?
BONE (=sustenance, i.e. to dog) + SETTER (=dog, i.e. breed) |
| 12 | AGITATOR | It’s eaten by a wild beast in Florida, one causing trouble
IT in [A + GATOR (=wild beast in Florida, i.e. US abbreviation of alligator)] |
| 13 | BANISH | Outlaw is reverse of popular, gatecrashing party
NI (IN=popular; “reverse of” indicates reversal) in BASH (=party) |
| 14 | SORTER | Post office worker unsettled by roster
*(ROSTER); “unsettled” is anagram indicator |
| 16 | COWARDLY | Poorly in the end, after concoction of cold raw chicken
*(COLD RAW) + <poorl>Y (“in the end” means last letter only); “concoction of” is anagram indicator |
| 18 | INTIMATION | Hint I’ll come ahead of small boy in race
I + [TIM (=small boy, i.e. abbreviation of Timothy) in NATION (=race, people)] |
| 20 | TINY | Very small quantity of peat in Yorkshire
Hidden (“quantity of”) in “peaT IN Yorkshire” |
| 21 | SOUTH CAROLINA | Scholar worried about Open University test ultimately in a state
{[OU (=Open University) + <tes>T (“ultimately” means last letter only)] in *(SCHOLAR)]} + IN A |
| 22 | GEORGE | Fellow beginning to eat Cheddar sandwiches
E<at> (“beginning to” means first letter only) in GORGE (=Cheddar, i.e. location in Somerset) |
| 23 | THRUST | Drive through American street
THRU (=through American, i.e. US spelling of through) + ST (=street) |
| Down | ||
| 02 | COFFEE GROUNDS | The dregs, say, breaking into strongbox to get money (not pence)
[E.G. (=say) in COFFER (=strongbox)] + <p>OUNDS (=money; “not pence (=P)” means letter “p” is dropped) |
| 03 | REALLOT | Once more apportion substantial amount
REAL (=substantial) + LOT (=amount) |
| 04 | EXHIBITOR | One showing brief urge to consume single portion
[I (=single, i.e. one) + BIT (=portion)] in EXHOR<t> (=urge, as verb; “brief” means last letter dropped) |
| 05 | CORONER | Well I never, finally I’m in charge of inquest
COR (=well, an exclamation) + ONE (=I) + <neve>R (“finally” means last letter only) |
| 06 | OWENS | Former athlete has to conserve energy
E (=energy) in OWNS (=has); the reference is to US athlete Jesse Owens (1913-80), winner of 4 gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics |
| 07 | RIGHTEN | Alarm beginning to go off? Correct
<f>RIGHTEN (=alarm, as verb); “first to go off” means first letter dropped |
| 09 | THESSALONIANS | Article introducing art exhibition in Welsh woman’s book
THE (=article, i.e. in grammar) + [SALON (=art exhibition) in SIAN’S (=Welsh woman’s)] |
| 13 | BOWING OUT | Unsettled during fight, withdrawing
OWING (=unsettled, of debt) in BOUT (=fight) |
| 15 | TRIBUNE | Native group accommodates a French legionary officer
UN (=a French, i.e. the French word for a) in TRIBE (=native group); a tribune was a senior officer in a Roman legion |
| 16 | CLIMATE | Weather generally cold near S American capital, note
C (=cold, e.g. on tap) + LIMA (=S American capital, of Peru) + TE (=note, in music) |
| 17 | RATTIER | Rate cut by bank makes you more bad-tempered
RAT<e> (“cut” means last letter dropped) + TIER (=bank, row) |
| 19 | ABHOR | Hate a house with brown exterior
A + [HO (=house) in BR (=brown)] |
I had “intimation” for 18ac as I thought that small just meant a shortening of a boy’s name.
Pat @1 – Same here – just checked on-line and Tim shows there as well
Dac often has last Wednesday of the month off so nice to see him today
I have amended the blog at 18 in the light of the first two posts and the official answer on the Indy website. I do, however, maintain that INDICATION is a viable alternative answer:
Hint I’ll come ahead of small boy in race
I + [DIC (=boy; “small” means last letter dropped) in NATION (=race, people)]; “indication” appears in the Chambers definition of “hint: a distant or indirect indication or allusion”; of course, I accept that the indirect/distant element comes across more strongly in “intimation”.
I had INDICATION originally for 18ac till the check button showed it to be otherwise. And I too was pleasantly surprised to find Dac on the last Wednesday of the month. Liked the misdirection in 15dn making one think of the French Foreign Legion, but there were too many good clues to nominate a CoD.
Thanks, Dac and RatkojaRiku
Yes, thanks RatkojaRiku and all the bloggers. I only found this site a few weeks ago, and it’s good to find someone who can explain all the clues I don’t get, and frequently some of the clues I have got.
Hello Pat @5, welcome to 15squared, and good to see you contributing. It’s been a big help since I found it a few years ago (by accident, I googled a word that seemed the only answer to a clue but wasn’t in my dictionary and 15squared was the first site that came up!) And if you’re able to get to any of the S&B events you’ll find yourself in good company.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Dac use “small” to indicate dropping the last letter from a word so RR’s alternative “indication” didn’t even occur to me.
Another Goldilocks puzzle from Dac. I had to work to get this one out, and even then didn’t understand all the whys and wherefores. 5D for instance had to be CORONER but as to how it works much thanks to RR. I’m another intimator for 18 A. My last one in was 1A, and I think it’s a perfect example of Dac’s smooth clueing in that the answer is obvious once you see it and then you wonder why you didn’t see it earlier. 25 clues earlier in fact.
Many thanks to Dac and RR.
I downloaded this puzzle to crossword solver this morning before setting out on a ten hour train journey from Hamburg to Stockholm, thinking it would keep me occupied for much of the trip. I finished before the train had reached its first stop. I was so disappointed. 🙂
Incidentally, yesterday I thought I’d downloaded the puzzle for another rail journey and it was only when I came here, I discovered I had downloaded the puzzle for 23rd April, not June. Didn’t recognise any of the clues, though.
i was another indicator … given the usual clarity in the clues of this setter, perhaps “short boy” was an indicator to “tiny tim”
While I agree that (tiny) Tim is more of a “small boy” than “Dic”, I’d say that “indication” is more of a hint than “intimation”, with a hint (!) of vagueness, where “intimation” is just a “telling”.