It may well be a new year, but some things just don’t change, such as a Dac puzzle appearing in the Independent on a Wednesday.
I found this a tad tougher than the average Dac, in that some of the entries, essentially proper nouns, were unfamiliar to me – 4, 6, the musician at 16, etc. I was also struck by that fact that it is unusual in my experience for Dac to split longer expressions across two grid entries, let alone to do it twice, as is the case here at both 12/13 and 19/22.
My favourites today were 12/13 and the triple definition at 24, both for their surface reading. Perhaps I am being pedantic, but I was wondering if “virtually worthless” in 2 really defines “dirt cheap”, which for me refers to price and not necessarily to worth or value. Similarly, I wasn’t aware that “ushered in” necessarily implied something/someone being introduced quickly. Any thoughts?
(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | ADONIS | Handsome fellow found among bald mounties every now and then
<b>A<l>D <m>O<u>N<t>I<e>S; “every now and then” means alternate letters only are used |
| 05 | BENGALI | Asian girl one accompanies on mountain
BEN (=mountain) + GAL (=girl) + I (=one) |
| 09 | GRIN | Jewellery item displayed back to front makes you smile
RIN-G (=jewellery item); “displayed back to front” means the last letter is moved from the back of the word to the front |
| 10 | SWINGBOATS | More than one fairground ride wasn’t so big after reconstruction
*(WASN’T SO BIG); “after reconstruction” is anagram indicator |
| 11 | SCYLLA | Going round cape, friend’s repulsed sea monster
C (=cape) in SYLLA (ALLY’S=friend’s; “repulsed” indicates reversal) |
| 12/13 | HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU | Broadcast e.g. favourite show on telly finally – this one?
*(E.G. FAVOURITE SHOW ON + <tell>Y); “finally’ means last letter only; “broadcast” is anagram indicator |
| 15 | HEFT | Carry explosive a short distance
HE (=high explosive) + FT (=short distance, i.e. abbreviation of “foot”) |
| 17 | EPIC | Executive producer principally in charge of film
E<xercise> P<roducer> (“principally” means first letter only) + IC (=in charge) |
| 19/22 | NOT THE FULL SHILLING | Around eleven old pennies for crackers?
Cryptically, 11 pennies would be not the full shilling, which was worth 12 old pence |
| 25 | RUN-INS | Fights knight in what’s left of old castle?
N (=knight, in chess notation) + RUINS (=what’s left of old castle) |
| 26 | FRUIT SALAD | Healthy dessert? Foreign frau’s boy will consume it
IT in [*(FRAU’S) + LAD]; “foreign” is anagram indicator |
| 27 | TOOL | Excessively large wrench, maybe
TOO (=excessively) + L (=large) |
| 28 | NEST EGG | Teens collected a couple of grand in savings for the future
*(TEENS) + G G (=a couple of grand, i.e. 2 x G=grand) |
| 29 | NICEST | Most attractive aspect of Venice’s trattorias
Hidden (“aspect of”) in “VeNICE’S Trattorias” |
| Down | ||
| 02 | DIRT CHEAP | Virtually worthless chap tried reforming
*(CHAP TRIED); “reforming” is anagram indicator |
| 03 | NONPLUS | Puzzle bringing no new benefit
NO + N (=new) + PLUS (=benefit, as noun) |
| 04 | SASKATOON | Canadian city presently welcomes a runner in winter (not European)
[A + SKAT<e> (=a “runner” in winter; “not European (=E)” means letter “e” is dropped)] in SOON (=presently); Saskatoon is a city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan |
| 05 | BLIGHTY | Britain beset by ugly landscapes?
Cryptically, an ugly, blighted landscape could be described as being “blighty” |
| 06 | NEGEV | Extremely valuable information about Israeli territory
V<aluabl>E (“extremely” means first and last letters only) + GEN (=information); “about” indicates reversal; the Negev is a desert region in southern Israel |
| 07 | ABOLISH | Stop sailor heading off from Gdansk perhaps?
AB (=sailor, i.e. able-bodied seaman) + <p>OLISH (=from Gdansk; “heading off” means first letter dropped) |
| 08 | INTRO | Music welcomed by certain trombonists
Hidden (“welcomed by”) in “certaIN TROmbonists” |
| 14 | USHERED IN | Quickly introduced us in this place, with lots of noise
US + HERE (=in this place) + DIN (=lots of noise) |
| 16 | FELONIOUS | Monk, some people mistakenly say, showing criminal tendencies
Mispronunciation (“some people mistakenly say”) of the name of US jazz pianist Thelonious Monk (1917-82) |
| 18 | COLLINS | Two pounds in change for a dictionary?
L L (=two pounds, i.e. 2 x L=pound) in COINS (=change, as opposed to notes) |
| 20 | TAGALOG | A record label first appearing in Filipino language
TAG (=label) + A + LOG (=record) |
| 21 | FANATIC | In fact, a terrible bigot
*(IN FACT A): “terrible” is anagram indicator |
| 23 | HERON | Bird – male – appearing south of river
HE (=male) + R (=river) + ON (=appearing, e.g. on stage) |
| 24 | ISSUE | Edition of magazine // Children // Matter
Triple definition, where “matter” is a noun meaning business, question |
I found this pretty easy, with a solve time of about 10 minutes, but, then, I was familiar with the proper nouns referred to. The only unknown was Tagalog, but this was easily gettable from the wordplay.
I think the definition in 2d is just about OK, but agree that there is not necessarily any element of haste in”ushered in”.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
A few hold-ups on the way, such as 19/22 where the clue suggested something on the lines of being a few pence short of a shilling but the actual phrase took a while to occur to me. I thought the clue to 9ac was ambiguous – could have been either GRIN or RING; fortunately NONPLUS at 3dn made it obvious which was correct. I thought of SASKATOON early on for 4dn but didn’t put it in till near the end, partly because I was thinking of ‘ski’ for the runner in winter and partly because I was thinking 11ac had to end in ‘lap’ (‘pal’ reversed) until I realised it was SCYLLA.
I think USHERED IN can imply ‘quickly’ in that one might be ushered in to a meeting, performance, etc that has already started, rather than being there in good time and properly settled. But, in the words of the song, it ain’t necessarily so.
Thanks, Dac and RatkojaRiku
Yes, pretty gentle, though I enjoyed some of the clues eg BENGALI, ISSUE and FELONIOUS. I agree with your reservations about USHERED and also couldn’t see what ‘landscapes’ was doing in 5d. Oxford dictionaries online gives one meaning of ‘blight’ as ‘the degeneration of a landscape or urban area as a result of neglect’ (sorry, I’m sure you all know this!) with the corresponding adjectival sense in Chambers, so the clue seems to work better.
Thank you to Dac and RatkojaRiku.
One of those Goldilocks puzzles for me. Went if fairly smoothly, but not too easy.
I think it was Terry Pratchett who described a character in one of his books as a felonious monk.