What a treat from Alberich today!! Unsurprisingly, a delectable mix of clues covering the entire spectrum from easy to seemingly bewildering (frustratingly so at times!). Thanks a lot Alberich for a super challenge. I am not ashamed to admit I had to google a few answers to confirm but the cluing itself was precise enough for me to arrive very close to the solution in these cases.
FF: 10 DD: 10
| Across | ||
| 1 | CUPOLA | Cost ignoring St Paul’s renovated dome (6) |
| anagram of COst (ignoring ST) PAUL | ||
| 4 | HOSPITAL | You’re not fit to stay here (8) |
| cryptic def | ||
| 10 | MAGENTA | A decent chap gets old lady housing – it’s a battle (7) |
| [ A GENT (decent chap) ] in (housed by) MA (old lady) – famous battle of 1859 Napolean lead against Austria. | ||
| 11 | TROTSKY | Revolutionary’s beginning to tackle corruption, by Heaven! (7) |
| T (beginning to Tackle) ROT (corruption) SKY (heaven) – Leon Trotsky | ||
| 12 | BEAR | Sound of empty stomach (4) |
| sounds like BARE (empty) | ||
| 13 | RACECOURSE | Academic requires vacation in resort, Cheltenham perhaps (10) |
| AC (AcademiC, on vacation i.e. without inner characters) in RECOURSE (resort) | ||
| 15 | CLIENT | One employing lawyer is right to appear in court (6) |
| LIEN (right) in CT (court) | ||
| 16 | NOVELLA | Writer of musicals finally abandoned a Death in Venice? (7) |
| NOVELLo (writer of musicals, ivor novello – welsh composer, without last character) A – Death in Venice is a novella by German Author Thomas Mann. | ||
| 20 | TYNWALD | Man’s representatives trashed Walt Disney – is ’e sacked? (7) |
| anagram of WALT DisNeY (is’e sacked – i.e. without these letters) – Legislature of the Isle of Man. | ||
| 21 | VIENNA | Woman retires after struggle to find capital (6) |
| NNA (woman = ANN, reversed) after VIE (struggle) | ||
| 24 | ASPIRATION | Hope and hope at first? (10) |
| cryptic clue; latter part of clue refers to the aspiration required for pronunciation of ‘ho’ . | ||
| 26 | FAIR | Just show pretty blonde (4) |
| quad def – the Alberich touch. | ||
| 28 | LIGNITE | Coal fire’s left to start with (7) |
| L (left) IGNITE (fire) | ||
| 29 | EMINENT | Distinguished nurse features in English coin (7) |
| NE (nurse, Nurse Executive) in [ E (english) MINT (coin) ] / See comments below | ||
| 30 | RESIGNED | Was monarch stuffed by son having abdicated? (8) |
| REIGNED (was monarch) containing S (son) | ||
| 31 | ACCRUE | A company picked up, making increase (6) |
| sounds like A CREW (a company) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | COMEBACK | Order starter of Big Mac and Coke? Recrimination results (8) |
| anagram of B (starter of Big) MAC COKE | ||
| 2 | PUGNACITY | Maybe Nancy follows boxer, reflecting an inclination to fight (9) |
| CITY (nancy, in france) after [ PUG (boxes) NA (reverse of AN) ] | ||
| 3 | LANE | Perhaps Mars bar wrapper shows the way (4) |
| pLANEt (mars, perhaps, without wrapper i.e. first and last characters). I loved this clue. | ||
| 5 | ON THE JOB | A certain book keeps half of them busy (2,3,3) |
| ONE (a certain) JOB ( book) keeps TH (half of THem) / See comments below | ||
| 6 | PHOTOGENIC | Appearing in snapshot one got hearts aflutter, being this? (10) |
| PIC (snapshot) containing anagram of [ ONE GOT H (hearts) ] | ||
| 7 | TASER | Weapon was examined again, having turned up (5) |
| RE SAT (examined again, reversed) | ||
| 8 | LAYMEN | Amateurs bet on National, including me (6) |
| [ LAY (bet) N (national) ] containing ME | ||
| 9 | MAYAN | South American article appears after a month (5) |
| AN (article) after MAY (month) | ||
| 14 | UNSWERVING | Firm’s views run contrary to new government (10) |
| anagram of VIEWS RUN followed by N (new) G (government) | ||
| 17 | LEND AN EAR | Listen closely after City nets goal (4,2,3) |
| NEAR (closely) after [ LA (city) nets END (goal) ] | ||
| 18 | ALL THERE | Presumably nobody here is alert (3,5) |
| cryptic clue | ||
| 19 | MAGRITTE | Artist met tragic end out dancing (8) |
| anagram of MET TRAGIc (end out i.e. without last character) – Belgian surrealist artist | ||
| 22 | MAHLER | Guy eclipses Hampshire’s top run scorer (6) |
| [ MALE (guy) around H (Hampshire’s first letter) ] R (run) – Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer. I liked this clue too. | ||
| 23 | BOWER | Retreat from one on the fiddle? (5) |
| cryptic clue; someone on the fiddle would be playing with a bow and hence could be a bow-er. | ||
| 25 | PAGES | Private secretary takes time to produce summons (5) |
| [ P (private ) S (secretary)] containing AGE (time) | ||
| 27 | ZINC | A bit of jazz incorporating heavy metal (4) |
| hidden in “..jazZ INCorporating..” – another super surface. | ||
*anagram
Thanks Alberich and Turbolegs
29ac: I took the nurse as being EN (enrolled nurse), but it works either way.
5dn: Here I think it should be “A certain” cluing ONE and “book” cluing JOB (as in the Old Testament).
Thanks, Turbolegs, for the blog.
I really loved this puzzle, especially NOVELLA, TYNWALD, LANE, MAHLER and MAGRITTE – some wonderfully witty misdirection in the surfaces.
I didn’t, alas, have time on a weekday for the Guardian’s Enigmatist challenge, so it was great to find one of my favourite FT setters here.
I interpreted 29ac and 5dn as Pelham Barton did.
Many thanks to Alberich for a super puzzle.
How is “Mayan” South American?
Coby Lubliner
From Chambers:
Maya
noun
1 A S American people of Central America and S Mexico who developed a remarkable pre-Columbian civilization
2 The language of this people
3 A member of this people (also Mayan)
adjective
(also Mayan) of or relating to the Mayas
Coby @3: Mayan is an adjective describing the Mayas: a S American people of pre-Columbian Central America & S Mexico (see Chambers).
I enjoyed this puzzle too & my favourites matched Eileen’s. Thank you, Alberich & Turbolegs.
[I was very interested to read of the Executive Nurse, Turbolegs – a title which, I think, sums up beautifully the role of the modern day nurse. I was a Registered Nurse in the days when Enrolled Nurses played a very important part in patient care in the UK.]
You got in before me, Gaufrid @4. I’m a very slow typist!
So, per Chambers, Mexico and Central America are in South America? Is that how geography is taught in the UK?
I’m new to Alberich and I was really delighted with some original cluing. I was completely misdirected by 22D. Mahler is one of my favorite composers but whenever I see sports talk, I just assume there is no way I can know the answer.
The only nit I will pick is with Mayan. I agree with Cody @7. Chambers is in error unless S American stands for southern North America.
Great to see so many people enjoy this Alberich treat !!
Ref the clue for 9D, while uncommon in usage, the word ‘America’ can refer to either North America or South America and hence one wouldn’t be completely wrong to say South America could be Mexico if the intended usage of America was to refer to North America.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/America
Regards,
TL
Thanks Alberich and Turbolegs – great summary.
Put me down as another that really enjoyed this. I needed to do a few logical somersaults to get the parsing of LANE, NOVELLA and PHOTOGENIC and really enjoyed ASPIRATION.
Good fun.
Thanks Alberich and Turbolegs
Found the last couple of clues extremely hard – actually started this near publication date but those last two clues – ON THE JOB and NOVELLA have held me up until now. Was pleased to finally crack it on the train ride this morning !!!
Lots of excellent clues throughout and a little new learning along the way. Missed the parsing of PHOTOGENIC – had lazily assumed that it was a cryptic definition – I should have known better with this setter.
Enjoy him for his difficulty level, humour and just plain good clueing.