(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 puzzle that’s trickier than the usual start to the FT week, with some nice surfaces. Thanks to Wanderer. And Happy Holidays all! Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Fellow player leaves pitch (2-4)
CO-STAR : COS(a variety of lettuce, or its leaves) + TAR(pitch, as used to pave roads).
4 Nullify threat from doctor as I’m about to perform an amputation? (6)
DISARM : Double wordplay: 1st: Anagram of(… about) [ DR(abbrev. for “doctor”) + AS I’M]; and 2nd: DIS-ARM(whimsically, to take away;amputate an arm from one’s body).
8 Obedient daughter – lovely, but no princess in short (7)
DUTIFUL : D(abbrev. for “daughter”) + “beautiful”(lovely) minus(but no) “Bea”(Beatrice in short, Princess of Yok).
9 In direction of pull, a road south (7)
TOWARDS : TOW(to pull) + A + RD(abbrev. for “road”) + S(abbrev. for “south”).
11 Unruly youngster starts on telescope? (10)
REFRACTORY : The 1st letter of(… starts) “youngster ” placed after(on, in an across clue) REFRACTOR(a telescope that uses refracting lenses).
The clue could have been better with “… youngsters start …” to make the wordplay unambiguous.
12 Necklace of gold kept by the Celts, primarily (4)
TORC : OR(the colour of gold in heraldry) contained in(kept by) the 1st letters, respectively, of(…, primarily) “the Celts “.
Defn: … worn by the ancient Gauls and Celts.
13 Stupid lapse, bit of a bloomer (5)
SEPAL : Anagram of(Stupid) LAPSE.
14 Singers missing parts thrown away by tenor in a state (8)
CASTRATI : CAST(thrown away) plus(by) [ T(abbrev. for “tenor”) contained in(in) RI(abbrev. for Rhode Island, the US state) ]. Edit. note: See comments @1 & 2 for the missing “A”.
Defn: …, those parts required for a donation to 15 down.
16 Cancel comic taking off ‘hard women’ (8)
WITHDRAW : WIT(a comic) + anagram of(taking off) [ HARD + W(abbrev. for “women”) ].
18 Glower as month ends (5)
EMBER : -EMBER(the endings in “September” and “December”).
Defn: Glow-er, something that glows.
20 Computer left in college dining room (4)
HALL : HAL(9000, acronym for the “Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer” in Arthur C. Clarke’s Space Odyssey series) containing(… in) L(abbrev. for “left”).
21 Start to make for port, so potentially protected from bad weather (10)
STORMPROOF : Anagram of(… potentially) [the 1st letter of(Start to) “make ” + FOR PORT, SO].
23 Crikey! In short, that’s some tomgirl (2,2,3)
OH MY GOD : Short;texting version of which is “OMG”, hidden in(that’s some) “tomgirl “.
24 Recipe, first from Italy involving one oval cooking dish (7)
RAVIOLI : [ R(abbrev. for “recipe”, as in medicinal prescriptions) + the 1st letter of(first from) “Italy” ] containing(involving) anagram of(… cooking) [I(Roman numeral for “one”) + OVAL].
Defn: … from an Italian recipe.
25 Footwear available in Boots and Aldi (6)
SANDAL : Hidden in(available in) “Boots and Aldi “.
26 Make last electronic transfer to UK when touring Spain (3,3)
EKE OUT : E(abbrev. for “electronic”, as in e-mail, etc) + anagram of(transfer) TO UK containing(when touring) E(the International Vehicle Registration code for Spain).
Defn: To make a supply of something last by practising strict economy.
Down
1 Manage to negotiate bend in car (5)
COUPE : COPE(to manage;to deal successfully with) containing(to negotiate) U(a 180 degree bend).
2 Agitate around radius bone (7)
STIRRUP : [STIR UP](to agitate) containing(around) R(abbrev. for “radius” in geometry).
Defn: … in your ear.
3 Throbbing uvulas? Not half! Carnal relations can be so described (9)
AVUNCULAR : Anagram of(Throbbing) [ “uvulas ” minus its last 3 letters(Not half) + CARNAL].
Defn: Pertaining to uncles, one’s close relatives.
A Deep Throat imagery.
5 White Welshman last seen in Caerphilly (5)
IVORY : IVOR(a masculine Welsh name) + the last letter of(last seen in) “Caerphilly “.
A nice surface.
6 Partly reveal a story regarding Shelley’s youth (7)
ALASTOR : Hidden in(Partly) “reveal a story “.
Answer: Title of a Percy Shelley poem, the full title of which is “Alastor, or the Spirit of Solitude”, and the poet was reputedly a loner in his youth.
7 Person looking after online discussion upset Romeo? Drat! (9)
MODERATOR : Anagram of(upset) ROMEO? DRAT.
10 Doctor Who crashed into tree, light being made of it? (9)
TORCHWOOD : Anagram of(… crashed) DOCTOR WHO.
Answer: Any of similar trees, whose wood is used for making torches.
“Torchwood” is a TV series spun off from “Doctor Who”, and, apparently, the producers had the same idea of making an anagram out of the latter title.
13 A revolutionary’s supporting PR section of the Greens (9)
SPINACHES : { [ A + CHE(Guevara, Marxist revolutionary) ] placed below( …’s supporting;is supporting, in a down clue) SPIN(PR;public relations practised by spin doctors) } + S(abbrev. for “section”).
Could “section” in the clue be deemed redundant with the “…’S” already in it.
15 Bare bum finally administered with heartless slap outside seed store (5,4)
SPERM BANK : Anagram of(… administered) [BARE + the last letter of(… finally) “bum“] contained in(with … outside) “spank”(a slap on the buttocks) minus its central letter(heartless …).
Picture the scene outside (inside?) a sperm bank.
17 Melancholy? Not me – 50, newly happy and carefree (7)
HALCYON : Anagram of(…, newly) “Melancholy ” minus(Not)[ me + L(Roman numeral for 50) ].
19 Mexican food – donkey eats it (7)
BURRITO : BURRO(a small donkey) containing(eats) IT.
21 Keep mum working at a foreign language (5)
SHONA : SH!(an interjection to keep mum;be silent) + ON(working, as, say, with an electrical appliance) plus(at) A.
Defn: … of the African people of the same name, belonging to the Bantu group of languages.
22 A little bird told me: new wife needed for Dutch male (5)
OWLET : Anagram of(… new) “told me ” with “w”(abbrev. for “wife”) replacing(needed for) [ “D”(abbrev. for “Dutch”) “m”(abbrev. for “male”)].
(Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)
Thanks scchua
Unfortunately 14ac, as given, does not work because the wordplay leads to CASTARTI. The clue should perhaps be “… thrown away by a tenor in a state”.
re 14 ac: cast = thrown, a = away?
Hi Muffyword @2
Yes, that would work so my quibble is unfounded and therefore withdrawn.
Re 14 across. Thanks Gaufrid, for pointing it out. And Muffyword for an explanation that would make the clue, as is, work.
I originally went to Loonapick’s blog of this puzzle (now deleted). Just for the record, there is a nina down the left-and-right hand columns with a related answer down the middle. I agree it was a little bit harder to get going on, but everything fell into place nicely as one would expect from a setter who is very precise in his clueing. The nina did help me with 11 across. Many thanks to Wanderer, Scchua, and let’s not forget the purged Loonapick!
thanks for explaining OMG scchua
And there’s a little more to be seen, hidden across the top and bottom rows.
I found this a complete torture. Too many obscure references.
Thanks Wanderer and scchua (and loonapick, in absentia now)
Quite a good workout as is becoming more common on a Tuesday recently. A good variety of clue devices and a wide range of general knowledge involved.
Alastor, as the Shelley poem, was new learning.
Missed the ninas hidden around the perimeter – don’t normally associate this setter with them.
Thanks scchua and Wanderer and thanks too to Muffyword for spotting the proper parsing of CASTRATI which had me worried by the missing A too.
Missed the Ninas – as usual.
I know that it’s common usage but why do we persist in the use of D for Dutch in crossword-land? Surely German would be more proper and less insulting to our Netherlands friends.