Gentle but fun, with a couple of really neat clues. Thanks, Bradman
| Across | ||
| 1 | GAGSTERS |
Nameless criminals, funny guys (8)
Gangsters with N (for name) removed. |
| 5 | DOCILE |
Compliant priest, having returned to GP? (6)
A reversal of Eli, the Biblical priest, appended to DOC, a familiar term for a doctor |
| 8 | NUN |
Religious father of Joshua (3)
Double definition. Religious may be used as a noun to denote a person bound by monastic vows such as a monk or a nun. Nun was the father of Joshua in the Old Testament. |
| 9 | MANGOSTEEN |
Some gannet munched fruit (10)
An anagram (munched) of SOME GANNET. For an instant the word “some” had us wondering if there was a fruit called an annetmunch |
| 10 | TARTARUS |
Someone ferocious to you and me, creating hell (8)
TARTAR (ferocious persion) plus US (you and me). Tartarus was a section of Hades. |
| 11 | RATTAN |
Cane to beat rotten fellow earlier (6)
Rattan is a type of cane also known as malacca. TAN, or beat, preceded by RAT, or rotten fellow. Coincidentally, a homophone of malacca is used as a term of abuse in Greek. |
| 12 | PACT |
Agreement will make president do something (4)
P for president plus ACT (do something) |
| 14 | ICING SUGAR |
Initially cook is arguing about cake ingredient (5,5)
An anagram (about) of C, the first letter (initially) of cook, IS and ARGUING |
| 17 | TROUBADOUR |
Our tour goes awry with the introduction of terrible singer (10)
An anagram (goes awry) of OUR TOUR, with BAD (terrible) inserted. |
| 20 | SHAG |
Bird protected by English agriculturalists (4)
Included in the final two words of the clue |
| 23 | LUTHER |
One reformer or another ignoring King (6)
The other, of course, is Martin Luther King |
| 24 | VIVARIUM |
Test drink – one put in animals’ enclosure (8)
A VIVA (a contraction of viva voce, the Latin for “by, with or from living voice”) is an oral test. RUM is the drink. Insert I, the Roman numeral for one. A vivarium is a place for keeping live animals. |
| 25 | DROP ANCHOR |
Go to bed at the seaside? (4,6)
A cryptic definition (we think that’s the right term). Mr Logic might object to this, because if one were literally at the seaside there would be insufficient water to float the boat. But we got the setter’s drift. |
| 26 | CON |
Prisoner to trick politician briefly (3)
A triple definition. The last one is an abbreviation of Conservative. |
| 27 | SPONGE |
Drunk creating a stink in the Home Counties (6)
“Sponge” is a slang term for someone who drinks copious amounts. SE (for south-east) is crosswordese for the Home Counties. Insert PONG (stink) and you have the answer. |
| 28 | ADENITIS |
Port – it is creating a type of inflammation (8)
ADEN, a port in Yemen (and usually a safe-ish bet, along with Rio) plus IT plus IS. Adenititis is inflammation of a gland. |
| Down | ||
| 1 | GONE TO POT |
Maybe a tea bag will have become ruined (4,2,3)
A cryptic definition or double definition or something like that. We can’t get excited about the difference, so no need to bother letting us know. The clue is clear – a teabag may have gone into a teapot. |
| 2 | GENERIC |
Sort of drug information given to man (7)
GEN is the information, and Eric the recipient. |
| 3 | TIMBAL |
Old drum makes little boy dance endlessly (6)
An archaic term for a kettledrum. TIM is the little boy, add BAL (ball minus its final letter) |
| 4 | RENOUNCED |
Get torn apart about imperial measure being given up (9)
REND with OUNCE inserted. We initially had some doubts over rend in this sense, but it can be used to denote what happens to the object – eg heart-rending |
| 5 | DISHRAG |
Is Henry appearing in transvestite attire? Just a bit of cloth (7)
DRAG (transvestite attire) with IS and H (for Henry) inserted. |
| 6 | CHESTNUTS |
Box with bitd of food – they may seem stale (9)
CHEST is the box and NUTS are bits of food (we decided bitd was merely a typo). Chestnut can be used as a term for an old, hackneyed joke. |
| 7 | LANTANA |
Shrub worker found in wood (7)
ANT is the worker (like Aden and Rio with ports, always a safe-ish bet). It is inserted into LANA Wood, an actress who is best known for playing the role of Plenty O’Toole in the James Bond film Diamonds are forever. Finbarr Saunders would have loved this one. |
| 13 | TOUCHDOWN |
Cry of pain with daughter in built-up area coming to ground (9)
TOWN is the built-up area. Insert OUCH, a cry of pain, and D for daughter. |
| 15 | NOURISHED |
His rude son, shunning Society, badly brought up (9)
An anagram (badly) of his rude son, minus one of the esses (for society) |
| 16 | REGIMENTS |
Groups of soldiers organised meetings after end of war (9)
R, the final letter of war, followed by an anagram of (organised) MEETINGS |
| 18 | ROUND UP |
A clue to OUP’s gathering in of information, say? (5-2)
O a circle or ROUND, plus UP, makes ROUND UP, or gather in. Like 1 down, a cryptic or double definition or whatever. |
| 19 | ACREAGE |
Land area needing care having got churned up over time (7)
An anagram (churned up) of CARE plus AGE (time). |
| 21 | HAIRCUT |
A “distressing” operation (7)
Another cryptic definition. |
| 22 | PATRON |
Sponsor a couple of boys? (6)
The boys concerned are Patrick and Ronald. |
Thanks Bradman and David and Linda
7dn: I think the LANA here is more likely to be lana n the wood of the genipap tree. As I understand it, the rules by which Bradman plays would require a capital W in the clue if the actress were intended, but he is not averse to using a wide vocabulary.
Thanks for explaining NUN – I wasn’t able to see ‘religious’ as a noun.
I wasn’t convinced about DROP ANCHOR either.
Thanks D&L and Bradman.
I found this harder than the usual Bradman with 3 new (for me) words in solutions – TARTARUS, ADENITIS, LANTANA – and another 2 – LANA and VIVA – in the solution make-up.
I also had to contend with a typo in the pdf version – 6 read “Box with bitd of ….” Just to confuse things further.
I’m not convinced about 23ac since both are MARTIN – shouldn’t that be instructed for removal too?
On the plus side, I thought 21dn was clever.
Got there in the end despite man flu so thanks again.
Thanks Bradman and D&L
Started this one off with my favourite fruit in the MANGOSTEEN the first one in. A reasonably typical offering from the Don which needed to be just chipped away at. A few new terms as expected in NUN (as the father of Joshua), ‘religious’ (as a noun for a member of a religious order), VIVARIUM and TARTARUS.
Finished mainly in the SW corner with the clever ROUND-UP, DROP ANCHOR and the new term VIVARIUM the last in.
I don’t understand the double definition of 21D. Can anyone explain?
Also, when I got GENERIC I thought the information was GENE (seemed to sort of fit with ‘given to man’ in a secondary way too) and the man was RIC. I guess the unusual spelling of the name would have required a question mark or something!