It looks like the IoS rota has been shaken up a little, as I get to do battle with a third setter in as many posts, after months of poor old Poins being lumbered with me.
This was pretty challenging, with plenty of fun, inventive wordplay, some of which required a little mental gymnastics to grasp fully. Which is no bad thing, of course.
Spotting the Nina helped. The perimeter reads WELCOME INTO THIS WORLD MAISIE. I’m not party to the details, but the puzzle obviously commemorates a happy occasion of personal significance for Kairos, and without doubt readers will join with me in offering our warmest congratulations.
Favourite clue was probably 7 down, for its flawless surface, well-hidden definition, and rather fun “just chuck loads of letters in there” insouciance.
| Across | ||
| 8 | HINGE | Key principle used in teaching English (5) |
| Hidden in [teac]HING E[nglish]. | ||
| 9 | LINGUINI | Heather meets head of institute in college for food (8) |
| LING + (I[nstitute] in UNI). It may look like a bit of a clanger, but it’s in the dictionary. | ||
| 10 | EDAM | Revolutionary took home cheese (4) |
| MADE<. | ||
| 11 | ABSOLUTION | Awful lout in Bosnia mistakenly gets pardon (10) |
| (LOUT IN BOSNIA*. | ||
| 12 | INFLATES | Exaggerates smart apartment with ease oddly (8) |
| IN + FLAT + E[a]S[e]. | ||
| 13 | NUDIST | Letter to the Corinthians beginning to describe first Adam? (6) |
| NU + D[escribe] + 1ST. | ||
| 15 | STEARIN | Unfortunately retains a fatty compound (7) |
| RETAINS*. | ||
| 17 | ORLANDO | Soldiers secure old US resort (7) |
| OR + LAND + O. | ||
| 20 | INVEST | Admit playfully judge has fallen for Victor (6) |
| From IN JEST, with V in place of J. | ||
| 22 | MORALIST | Righteous person‘s spoken wearing veil (8) |
| ORAL in MIST. | ||
| 24 | AIDE-DE-CAMP | Decide a map needs re-plotting for adjutant (4-2-4) |
| (DECIDE A MAP)*. | ||
| 26 | SHAH | Quiet expression of scepticism about leader (4) |
| SH + HA<. | ||
| 27 | MERITING | Justifying virgin Queen’s time imprisoned by evil emperor (8) |
| ERI in MING. The latter being the chap of “the Merciless” fame. ERI is in Chambers as as Edwardus Rex Imperator, clearly a different monarch, but I think ER for Queen Elizabeth and I for “the First” are quite unambiguous. | ||
| 28 | ANNUL | Cancel circular without a right (5) |
| Down | ||
| 1 | WHODUNIT | Mystery of hydrogen bond regularly seen in white element (8) |
| (H + [b]O[n]D) in (W + UNIT). The single N surprised me, but in fact two forms of the word are in Chambers. | ||
| 2 | ENAMELWARE | A new meal is cooked with soldiers’ kitchen equipment perhaps (10) |
| (A NEW MEAL)*. | ||
| 3 | LEVANT | Even the Spanish left a worker in the eastern Mediterranean (6) |
| LEV[el] + ANT. | ||
| 4 | CLOSEST | Most devoted son found in privy (7) |
| S in CLOSET. | ||
| 5 | ONE-LINER | Surfing king swallows drug for a joke (3-5) |
| E in (ONLINE + R). | ||
| 6 | MUTT | Dog ripping side from meat (4) |
| MUTT[on]. The “on” side from cricket. | ||
| 7 | ENDOWS | Gives lots of directions about party (6) |
| DO in (E + N + W + S). Nice clue. | ||
| 14 | DEADLY SINS | What may be unpardonable in Disney – lads rioting (6,4) |
| (DISNEY LADS)*. | ||
| 16 | IN THE AIR | Where a bird may be on everyone’s mind (2,3,3) |
| Two definitions: the sky/on everyone’s mind. | ||
| 18 | DISRAELI | Statesman – one supporting the return of King James? (8) |
| (King LEAR + SID James)< + I. | ||
| 19 | EMBARGO | Stop European doctor on ship (7) |
| E + MB + ARGO. | ||
| 21 | NAILED | Exposed North American shop-lifting! (6) |
| NA + DELI<. | ||
| 23 | RIPSAW | Crew aspires to cover up hand tool (6) |
| Hidden and reversed (“up”) in [cre]W ASPIR[es]. | ||
| 25 | EVIL | Harmful pest we eradicated (4) |
| [we]EVIL. | ||
* = anagram; < = reversed; [] = removed; underlined = definition; Hover to expand abbreviations
Oh dear, another Nina left unspotted. Lovely puzzle, not too hard, but I had to guess at 6D Mutt, and I failed to understand 20A Invest at all. And still don’t really. Why is “admit” synonymous with “invest”? My favourite clue is 18D Disraeli, which I did not understand until I’d pencilled it in. The intimate juxtaposition of Shakespeare and Carry On is a great idea! Thanks Kairos and thanks Simon Harris too.
Fine blog, Simon, thank you.
I thought that this was the usual, enjoyable Sunday puzzle from Kairos, so I’ll just say thank you to him and add my congratulations for what sounds like the new arrival to the family.
Thanks, Simon – I join the list of those who missed the Nina.
Regarding 28A, I took it to be ANNUL[ar] – being ‘ring shaped’ but losing the a and r(ight)
Congratulations to the Kairos family. Having said that, I didn’t spot the nina. If I had done I’d have been much more confident about my LOI, IN THE AIR, which followed STEARIN. Count me as another who thought the clue for DISRAELI was a belter.
I parsed ANNUL the same way as GregN@3.
Thanks, chaps, I think you’re right about ANNUL.
Emrys, I think it’s the sense of being invested into a club or institution. The cub scouts used that term when I joined, though that’s a good few years ago now!
My thanks to Simon for the review and to all who have commented.
The crossword celebrates the birth of my first grandchild, Maisie, who is now 2 months old and a bundle of joy.
If I may offer a couple of other comments on the wordplay. 11a is an anagram (awful) of lout inside an anagram (mistakenly) of Bosnia. 2d is an anagram (cooked) of a new meal followed by RE – Royal Engineers / soldiers.
Excellent Sunday puzzle, realised I hadn’t parsed DISRAELI when I came here. Liked MERITING, last one in, because although spotting the Nina about half way through, didn’t work out MAISIE.
2D I don’t think “soldiers'” is part of the definition and saw it as (A NEW MEAL)* + RE.
Thanks to Kairos (and congratulations) and to Simon Harris.
Beaten by a whisker.
Missed this as on holiday last week and so didn’t get the paper.
However, congratulations to Kairos and family