On the whole, typical Dante stuff – although the first Cryptic Definition appeared rather late.
Any new insights re 20ac will be much appreciated.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | PLIANT | One in factory producing plastic (6) |
| I (one) inside PLANT (factory) | ||
| 4 | OFFICIAL | One in post bearing stamp of credibility (8) |
| Double definition | ||
| 9 | UNSAFE | Use fan wrongly – risky (6) |
| (USE FAN)* [* = wrongly] | ||
| 10 | TOMMY GUN | US weapon is an appropriate one for British soldier (5,3) |
| Tommy is a name for a British soldier, hence the link with this sub-machine gun (named after its American inventor J.T Thompson) | ||
| 12 | ELEVATOR | Lift to reveal switch (8) |
| (TO REVEAL)* [* = switch] | ||
| 13 | WRITHE | Squirm and wither away (6) |
| (WITHER)* [* = away] | ||
| 15 | SETT | Place, we hear, for a badger to live (4) |
| Homophone, indicated by ‘we hear’ of: SET (place) | ||
| 16 | ROUNDABOUT | Where the snow lay? More or less (10) |
| Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the Feast of Stephen, When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even. These are the first two lines of ‘Good King Wenceslas’, a Christmas carol by John Mason Neale (1853). |
||
| 19 | FIRST CLASS | Original form of travel (5,5) |
| FIRST (original) + CLASS (form) | ||
| 20 | UFOS | They are initially thought to come from outer space (4) |
| Clue as a whole is the definition. As there is the word ‘initially’ in this clue and seeing the starting letters of F[rom] O[uter] S[pace], I cannot help feeling that something went wrong here. It looks like, perhaps accidentally, a word beginning with U was deleted and/or replaced by something else. |
||
| 23 | ELIJAH | A prophet, he is involved with jail-break (6) |
| (HE + JAIL)* [* = break] Only last Monday, in the Guardian, Rufus had a more or less identical clue with our prophet then being a miracle-man. And btw, the jail/break there was unhyphened. |
||
| 25 | DECREPIT | Antiquated form of pride etc (8) |
| (PRIDE ETC)* [* = form of] | ||
| 27 | SHANGHAI | Take-away in Chinese port? (8) |
| Double definition, the first somewhat cryptic | ||
| 28 | LEGION | Many a charge put on a member (6) |
| LEG (a member) + ION (a charge) | ||
| 29 | ACCURATE | Reliable account given by a priest (8) |
| AC (account) + CURATE (a priest) | ||
| 30 | PLIGHT | Engagement is in a mess (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | PAUPERS | A supper set out for down-and- outs (7) |
| (A SUPPER)* [* = set out] | ||
| 2 | INSPECTOR | Script one created for TV’s Morse? (9) |
| (SCRIPT ONE)* [* = created] | ||
| 3 | NO FEAR | Always brave? Not likely! (2,4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 5 | FLOE | Frozen field left in the grip of the enemy (4) |
| L (left) inside FOE (the enemy) | ||
| 6 | IMMORTAL | It’s dishonest to hold time as lasting forever (8) |
| IMMORAL (dishonest) around T (time) | ||
| 7 | INGOT | Used in transporting other metals besides gold (5) |
| Hidden solution, indicated by ‘used in’, in: [tranport]ING OT[her metals besides] Strictly speaking, the solution is indeed included but some might say that there’s a lot of padding going on. |
||
| 8 | LENIENT | Mid-evening in days before Easter can be quite mild (7) |
| [ev]ENI[ng] inside LENT (days before Easter) | ||
| 11 | MONOCLE | A single spectacle (7) |
| Cryptic definition We are already at 11d and this is only the first full-blooded cryptic definition. |
||
| 14 | ONE-STEP | Dance all beginners should take at a time (3-4) |
| Inexperienced people should always take ‘one step’ at a time | ||
| 17 | OFFSPRING | Children away for three months (9) |
| OFF (away) + SPRING (three months) | ||
| 18 | STRANGER | More curious intruder spotted in the House (8) |
| Double definition, or even a Triple perhaps if we split the second one in two | ||
| 19 | FREESIA | Flower familiar to one in S. Africa (7) |
| FREE (familiar) + {I (one) in SA (S. Africa)} I am happy to learn something about free = familiar. Also, I find S. Africa leading to SA a bit clumsy. Why not South Africa in full? |
||
| 21 | SIT ON IT | Delay decision for what bishop does with his throne (3,2,2) |
| A bishop may sit on his throne, just like other people may sit on something else – who knows | ||
| 22 | ORDEAL | French preposition in oral test (6) |
| DE (French proposition, meaning of) inside ORAL | ||
| 24 | ISAAC | Is a short account for a patriarch (5) |
| IS + A + AC (account, shortened) | ||
| 26 | BAHT | Pick up the bill, a case for hard foreign currency (4) |
| BAT (reversal, indicated by ‘pick up’, of TAB (the bill)) around H (hard) | ||
*anagram
Thanks Sil and Dante.
12ac – this is almost identical to 18dn in the Rufus published on the same day which had “Resort to a lever…..”
16ac – you quote the Carol as I know it, but Dante has “where” – not “when”
20ac – I don’t think there’s anything more to it than that the answer is an acronym – a pluralised TLA in this case. I thought “from outer space” was coincidental
18dn – I think that this is just a double definition. The second relating to the cry of “I Spy Strangers” when an intruder is seen in the House of Commons.
30ac – is PLIGHT really equivalent to “engagement”? This being Dante, I couldn’t bring myself to enter that in the grid – but what else could it be?
20a Unidentified flying objects are usually just known by their initials UFOs
Thanks Dante and Sil
Found this a much looser puzzle than usual from Dante and one that was finished much quicker than normal. Prime example is the UFO clue which I am sure never intended to have a U-word included and was indeed his first cd of the puzzle – also think that most other setters would have included the U-word.
Didn’t even see the hidden answer in 7d, just thought that it was a rambling crypticish definition. Didn’t make the connection to the lines from King Wencelas at 16a either – makes it a better clue now I understand it. Don’t thnk that he was trying to quote from it, rather to allude to where the snow was. The dictionaries that I looked in had ROUND ABOUT for approximately separated into two words though.
Can’t say that I didn’t enjoy it, but it left a strange aftertaste.
For me a typical Dante solve -rattle through about 75% and then have a handful left which I’ll probably never get. This time it was 19d and 30a. I did not know free =familiar or plight =engagement.
I think that the context of FAMILIAR as ‘taking undue liberties’ is fair enough for FREE. As an example when someone helps themselves to something of yours without asking as they got to know you better. Alternatively, the behaviour as one gets more familiar with someone in a relationship and becomes more free and less stressed with situations.