A pleasant and mostly straightforward challenge this Friday. Thanks Mudd !!
FF: 8; DD : 7
| Across | ||
| 1 | NUMPTY | Politician punching fanatic, unknown idiot (6) |
| [MP (politician) in NUT (fanatic)] Y (unknown) | ||
| 4 | FRIGID | Cold day, like, looking back (6) |
| FRI (day) GID (reverse of DIG, like) | ||
| 8 | CORRUPT | Sound of contentment lying around in bed that’s crooked (7) |
| PURR (sound of contentment) in COT (bed) | ||
| 9 | IMPASSE | There’s no way out of it, my best days are over? (7) |
| I’M PASSE (~ my best days are over) | ||
| 11 | DEROGATORY | Demeaning to regard you almost entirely in a stupid way (10) |
| Anagram of TO REGARD YOu (almost) | ||
| 12 | IRON | Press neither you —- should back (4) |
| neither you NOR I , reversed. | ||
| 13 | CHINA | Punch a fragile thing (5) |
| CHIN (punch) A | ||
| 14 | GATHERED | Got to gallivant around thither (8) |
| GAD (gallivant) around THERE (thither) | ||
| 16 | LARBOARD | Pig smothered in fat left on ship (8) |
| BOAR (pig) in LARD (fat) – I needed some digital help to crack this one although its straightforward upon solving. | ||
| 18 | ESSAY | Try every size initially, for example (5) |
| ES (Every Size, initially) SAY (for example) | ||
| 20 | BALI | Holiday island where I party, doing a turn (4) |
| Reverse of I LAB (party, labour) | ||
| 21 | THUNDEROUS | So clothing in negative figures is booming (10) |
| THUS (so) containing [UNDER O (negative, under 0)] | ||
| 23 | STATUTE | Something set in stone around government, ultimately, as a rule (7) |
| STATUE (something set in stone) around T (end of governmenT) | ||
| 24 | SIBERIA | Italy in Serbia, foreign country (7) |
| I (italy) in anagram of SERBIA | ||
| 25 | RINGER | Phone twin (6) |
| double def | ||
| 26 | GLUTEN | Wheat protein in full supply, odd bits removed from beans (6) |
| GLUT (full supply) EN (odd bits of bEaNs) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | NOOSE | Snare presently to be hoisted over Ermintrude’s head (5) |
| Reverse of SOON (presently) followed by E (Erminitrude’s first character) | ||
| 2 | MARCONI | Italian physicist has abandoned Minorca (7) |
| Anagram of MINORCA | ||
| 3 | TOP BANANA | Chief exec on hand? (3,6) |
| cryptic clue, second in command | ||
| 5 | RUMMY | Lead lost in lousy card game (5) |
| cRUMMY (lousy, without first character) | ||
| 6 | GRANITE | Rock flew into French holiday home (7) |
| RAN (flew) in GITE (french holiday home) | ||
| 7 | DISCOVERY | Find dance hall jolly (9) |
| DISCO (dance hall) VERY (jolly) | ||
| 10 | BONGO DRUM | Non-governmental organisation entering Turkish city, one getting beaten (5,4) |
| NGO (non-governmental organisation) in BODRUM (turkish city) | ||
| 13 | CHARACTER | Oddball letter (9) |
| double def | ||
| 15 | TREADMILL | Daily grind made difficult through rapidly taken notes (9) |
| Anagram of MADE in TRILL (rapid notes) | ||
| 17 | BRITTEN | Man who scored for his country, say? (7) |
| sounds like BRITAIN (country, from where Benjamin Britten came – composer) | ||
| 19 | SERPENT | Legs gone on this obsolete instrument (7) |
| cryptic clue; ~ snake has no legs. [I thought a double def was weak] | ||
| 21 | TITLE | Name bird has left, when short of paper (5) |
| TIT (bird) LEft (short of paper= FT) | ||
| 22 | UNION | Marriage, something painful afoot, non-starter (5) |
| bUNION (something painful afoot, without first character) | ||
*anagram
I thought this was disappointing by Mudd’s standards — less effulgent. Good fun, though, all the same. Thanks, Mudd, and TL as usual
Siberia is not a country. It is a region of Russia, which is a country.
David@2, Chambers has Country to also mean a Region or a State. The clue is therefore accurate.
Regards,
TL
Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs
Pleasant enough, but more straightforward than is usual from Mudd. Liked the JH-special with IRON and also BALI, which is certainly regarded as a holiday (read over-drinking / party) type island from Australia (and one which I’ve avoided like the plague). It is interesting that it is clued like that from England – am assuming it is similar to some of the Spanish islands over there.
Sorry TL, but I must side (for most part) with David in that Siberia is a region not a state / country. It was most likely regarded as a ‘state’ in the former USSR, but now it covers multiple countries including Russia and Kazakhstan. It would be a long bow to draw to call it a country in any sense.
Finished in the NE corner with GRANITE (where GITE was new), FRIGID (with it’s clever misdirection) and DISCOVERY the last one in.
Hi Bruce,
Not sure if you saw my comment @3, but if you agree that Siberia is a region in Russia, then you are also agreeing to the accuracy of the clue as Chambers does have the definition of Country as Region.
Regards,
TL
Hi TL
If you’re using that context of country, then the clue is at best loose !! That means that you could use the definition of country for the Cotswolds, the Lakes Districts, the Punjab, etc. – which is not how it is traditionally used in crosswords from what I’ve seen.
Cheers … Bruce
Thanks Turbolegs and Mudd.
As so often with Mudd, it took a while to get my first “in” – which was ESSAY. After that, I worked my way back up to the top and finished at 26ac.
I’m staying neutral on the “country” debate. Normal crossword usage is for a nation state but it can equally just mean a relatively unpopulated area – i.e. Escape to the Country.
Brucew’s comment about Bali did remind me of the intro to an episode of the late Douglas Adams series “Last Chance to See” about animals facing extinction. The opening line was something like:
“Bali is thought by many to be the most beautiful place on earth, especially for those who like the sight of thousands of Australians getting drunk on the beach.”