First time I have tried a Peto puzzle. Very smooth with good surface readings is what I thought. Thank you Peto.
| Across | ||
| 1 | WHITECAP |
Cate composed in defeat gives a wave (8)
CATE* anagram=composed in WHIP (defeat) |
| 6 | SUPPER |
Penny tucked into exceptionally good meal (6)
P (penny) in SUPER (exceptionally good) |
| 9 | FRANCE |
Country girl without a hint of sophistication (6)
FRANCEs (girl’s name) missing Sophistication (hint, first letter of) |
| 10 | ESOTERIC |
Mysterious man clutching note found by well (8)
ERIC man containing TE (note, of scale) following (found by) SO (well) |
| 11 | CONTRADICT |
Deny girl’s entering a formal agreement (10)
DI (girl) in CONTRACT (formal agreement) |
| 12 | APSE |
Discovered in collapsed part of church (4)
found in collAPSEd |
| 13 | DIWALI |
Artist receives one at Welsh festival (6)
DALI (artist) contains I (one) and W (Wales) |
| 15 | TRAVERSE |
Reluctant to pursue right back’s cross (8)
AVERSE (reluctant) following RT (right) reversed (back) |
| 18 | BALMORAL |
Soldiers introduced to mother during dance in Scottish castle (8)
OR (other ranks, soldiers) inside (introduced to) MA (mother) all inside (during) BALL (dance) |
| 20 | COTTON |
Against including over the top material (6)
CON (against) containing OTT (over the top) |
| 21 | OPTS |
Chooses to behead old Egyptians (4)
cOPTS (old Egyptians) beheaded |
| 23 | TANTALISED |
Details released after Brown is teased (10)
DETAILS* anagram=released following TAN (brown) |
| 25 | BADINAGE |
Gained converts with graduate’s witty conversation (8)
GAINED* anagram=converts following BA (graduate) |
| 26 | GALWAY |
City finding goalscorer’s head almost every time (6)
Goalscorer (head, first letter) then ALWAYs (very time, almost) |
| 27 | GLANCE |
Catch a glimpse of German weapon (6)
G (German) LANCE (weapon) |
| 28 | TELLTALE |
Count on story being revealing (8)
TELL (count) on TLE (story) |
| Down | ||
| 2 | HARMONICA |
An instrument of oppression primarily employed by corrupt chairman (9)
Opression (first letter of) in CHAIRMAN* anagram=corrupt |
| 3 | TENET |
Essential to refute Netanyahu’s dogma (5)
found inside (essential to) refuTE NETanyahu |
| 4 | CHEVALIER |
Not entirely reasonable to interrupt Joy’s gallant (9)
VALId (reasonable, not entirely) inside (to inerrupt) CHEER (joy) |
| 5 | PREDICT |
Reportedly chose to accept socialist’s forecast (7)
RED (socialist) in PICT sounds like picked (chose to) |
| 6 | SPORT |
Class set about Pinter’s first play (5)
SORT (class) containing Pinter (first letter of) |
| 7 | PREVALENT |
Common fellow found in bar (9)
AL (fellow, man’s name) in PREVENT (bar) |
| 8 | EMITS |
Throws out section on English university (5)
S (section) following E (English) MIT (university) |
| 14 | ADMISSION |
Right of access for lawyer overturned by embassy (9)
DA (lawyer) reversed by MISSION (embassy) |
| 16 | ARCHANGEL |
Left after artist turned up needing money for port (9)
L (left) following RA (Royal Academician, artist) reversed (turned up) with CHANGE (money) |
| 17 | STONEWALL |
One with an interest in drawing may choose to do it (9)
cryptic definition – drawing, not trying to win or lose |
| 19 | LENIENT |
Merciful earl nurses injured linnet? Just the opposite (7)
E (earl) in LINNET* anagram=injured |
| 22 | PEARL |
Prized example of a decorative border by the sound of it (5)
sounds like “purl” (decorative border) |
| 23 | TRACE |
Discover vehicle upside-down at end of lane (5)
CART reversed then lanE (end letter) |
| 24 | INLET |
Small bay mare’s tail is wrapped in lint after surgery (5)
marE (tail of) in LINT* anagram=after surgery |
definitions are underlined
In crossword clueing, A on B usually gives BA, I think.
In a Down clue, A on B gives AB.
My question: is the wordplay in Clue 8dn OK? Does it lead to E MIT S?
What you say, Rishi, is indeed the convention.
However, on some occasions, setters break this rule (e.g. if the surface asks for it).
In an Across clue both BA and AB can be seen frequently.
‘A on B’ in a Down clue is most of the time: A+B.
But B+A is acceptable too.
One may see A being ‘attached to’ or ‘supporting’ or ‘hanging from’ B.
‘A picture on the wall’ or ‘a painting on the ceiling’.
Hi Rishi, I think 8dn is fine. It may be common for setters to use ‘on’ the indicate ‘in front of’ but I don’t think there is any rule that it always has to be that way.
A hat goes on a head, a shoe goes on a foot. Under or over – whichever way the setter wants it.
Thanks Peto and PeeDee
Have only done a few by Peto and they have all been good – this one felt like it was a little easier to crack than his previous ones.
Finished in the NW with CHEVALIER, DIWALI and FRANCE as the last few in.
No real standouts, just consistant silky smooth clues.