A puzzle by Peter blogged by Pierre? What’s occurring? What should occur is that if you haven’t already had a go at it, do so now by using the link at the top of the left-hand column on this page. It’s a good one, especially for less-experienced solvers.
When it appeared in print, the IoS prize puzzle had a reputation for being accessible: ‘a chance for lesser mortals to win a crossword prize’ was what I remember the editor saying once. This was certainly accessible, so I’m going to recommend it to a couple of my friends who are just starting out with cryptics. A limited number of clue types – mainly charades and insertions – but fair enough if you’re trying to compile an ‘easy’ puzzle, which as we know, is hard to do. And some very good surface readings.
Bravo, Peter
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Charity makes radical angry
RED CROSS
A charade of RED and CROSS. Left-wing radical, of course.
5 Sailor brewing tea before head of steam dies down
ABATES
A charade of AB, (TEA)* and S for the first letter of ‘steam’.
9 A drug company associated with dodgy deal gets award
ACCOLADE
A charade of A, C for ‘charlie’ which is apparently a drug, CO and (DEAL)*
10 Concoct a verse containing series of notes
OCTAVE
Hidden in concOCT A VErse.
11 Get smaller car in vessel
DIMINISH
An insertion of MINI in DISH.
12 Bird circling a run in rabbits’ home
WARREN
An insertion of A and R in WREN.
Q: What do you call a man with 50 rabbits up his arse?
A: Warren
14 Join savings scheme used by graduates in African capital
ADDIS ABABA
A charade of ADD, ISA and BA twice.
18 Wise guy in fishing boat interrupted by skipper’s last story
SMART ALECK
An insertion of R for the last letter of ‘skipper’ and TALE in SMACK for ‘fishing boat’.
22 Attempt to steal woman’s radio
TRANNY
An insertion of ANN in TRY. A rather old-fashioned abbreviation for TRANSISTOR RADIO. It has a more contemporary meaning, but we won’t go there.
23 German ladies confused about second movement in ballet
GLISSADE
S inserted in (LADIES)* preceded by G. From the French verb glisser, to slide or slip.
24 Extolling the virtues of peeled fruit
RAISIN
[P]RAISIN[G]
25 I spell out one, primarily syntactical, way to indicate missing text
ELLIPSIS
(I SPELL)* plus I and S for the first letter of ‘syntactical’.
26 After church, rector enters retired bishop’s office for toast
CHEERS
A charade of CH and R for ‘rector’ in SEE reversed.
27 Pure spirit drunk by tipsy rival
VIRGINAL
An insertion of GIN in (RIVAL)*
Down
1 Artist holding stick in country
RWANDA
An insertion of WAND in RA for ‘artist’.
2 Walked northwards to conceal beginning of moonlight flit
DECAMP
An insertion of M for the first letter of ‘moonlight’ in PACED reversed.
3 Irritating engineer capturing violinist’s heart
RILING
Another insertion, of LIN for the middle letters of ‘violinist’ in RIG for ‘engineer’.
4 Party’s commercial somehow led to seat for woman
SIDE-SADDLE
A charade of SIDES, AD and (LED)* The position that some ladies use when riding to avoid having 600kg of horse between their legs.
6 Declared support for a strike breaker bringing card game
BACCARAT
A homophone of BACK followed by A RAT. But it should be ‘declare’ and not ‘declared’, surely?
7 Bear moving into wood for short refreshment stop
TEA BREAK
An insertion of (BEAR)* in TEAK.
8 Set out on popular route with instrument
STEINWAY
A charade of (SET)* IN and WAY for the piano.
13 Choose a flower said to be in veggie condiment
PICCALILLI
My main problem here was not solving the clue but remembering how to spell the solution. It’s a homophone (‘said to be’) of PICK A LILY.
15 See trio playing Chopin’s prelude in secret
ESOTERIC
(SEE TRIO)* plus C for the first letter of ‘Chopin’.
16 In March, island is a heaven on earth
PARADISE
An insertion of IS for ‘island’ in PARADE.
17 Second fiddle eating centre of onion is more malodorous
STINKIER
A charade of S and I for the middle letter of ‘onion’ inserted in TINKER.
19 Like ruler to be demanding
ASKING
A charade of AS and KING.
20 Clergyman with parking offence
PARSON
A charade of P and ARSON. This one’s been round the block a bit.
21 One not to be trusted with artist’s equipment
WEASEL
A charade of W and EASEL.
Many thanks to Peter for the debut puzzle (or is it only a debut puzzle in the Indy?)
Morning Peter & Pierre (are you twins perchance – like the ones in Tin Tin?).
I agree with everything you say (there is a first time for everything) but I would add a second curmudgeonly cavil with regard to 6 down. A strike breaker is surely a scab, whereas a rat is, in more general terms, a traitor.
I agree with Pierre’s assessment of this puzzle as a well-written cryptic ideal for the Sunday brief as we understand it to be.
Did you get a whiff of “deja-vu all over again” (c. Gazza) when seeing ESOTERIC? (used by Lohengrin in the last puzzle you blogged on Monday, with the immortal *coteries anag).
Thanks to S&B, and thanks for the Warren gag.
What do you call a man with a wooden head depressing the sustain pedal on a 8d?
Edward Woodward.
Anyone looking for a stiffer challenge who hasn’t seen it yet should seek out Elgar’s (Enigmatist, Nimrod) ridiculously clever puzzle on Big Dave’s site
Enjoyed this. Sorry about the esoteric coteries.
Thanks to Pierre and Peter.
A nice quick “Goldilocks” solve to round off an eventful day. The only (minor) hold-up was from the German ladies; I didn’t think to lift and separate, so was looking for wordplay involving ‘Frauen’.
I did wonder if the setter’s name meant that Pierre had ventured into setting, but he would hardly be blogging his own puzzle.
So thank you, Peter; merci, Pierre.
Re 6dn, I took ‘declared’ as the homophone indicator. Oh, and I always think of a wise guy (18 ac) as a smart Alec (without the ‘k’) but no doubt that’s just me.
Definitely towards the easier end of the spectrum but good to have a bit of respite from some harder offerings eg from the aforementioned Enigmatist in the Grauniad. I liked TRANNY which brought back many happy memories from my youth, though I doubt that anyone born after about 1975 would know what you were talking about given it’s more “contemporary meaning”.
allan_c @5 – count me in as another who would normally spell SMART ALECK without the ‘k’, though I see Chambers gives both spellings, including both lower and upper case for ‘alec’ and ‘Alick’.
Thanks to Peter and his French equivalent.
I think 18ac is simpler than your explanation Pierre, being an anagram of later (anagrind treated) inside smack (during strike).
Martin