It has been a very long time since it has fallen to me to blog a puzzle by Nestor, and this one was a good reminder of what I had been missing. My apologies for the late post – I’ve been running behind schedule all day.
I found this quite a challenging solve, but since you know that everything will ultimately make sense with a Nestor, I plugged away at it and I think that I have managed to solve and parse everything correctly. My one doubt concerns the parsing of 26, where perhaps something more sophisticated was intended by Nestor. Let me know if I am barking up the wrong tree here. Indeed, 26 and the intersecting 20 were my last-ones-in today.
I’m somewhat spoilt for choice today when it comes to picking a favourite. I like 2 for its surface reading; 7, for eliciting a wry smile; 8, for surface and for the humorous homophone; the & lit. at 9; and 11, for using most of the letters of Kate Bush in a clue to BABUSHKA, even though it made the parsing rather complicated.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clue
| Across | ||
| 07 | TRUE | Genuine regret after conclusion of Brexit
<brexi>T + RUE (=regret); “conclusion of” means last letter only |
| 08 | GO STRAIGHT | Price of spirit maybe said not to be criminal any more
Homophone (“said”) of “ghost (=spirit) rate (price of)”, cryptically |
| 10 | COPTIC | Old Egyptian law enforcer facing out-of-control movement
COP (=law enforcer, i.e. policeman) + TIC (=out-of-control movement, i.e. muscular twitch) |
| 11 | BABUSHKA | Granny‘s book with a note taken from index entry for woman who sang about her (audibly)?
B (=book) + A + BUSH KA<te> (=index entry for woman who sang about her (audibly); “note (=te) taken” means letters “te” are dropped); the reference is to the 1980 hit “Babooshka” for Kate Bush – note spelling, hence “audibly”; “index entry” suggests that the surname should precede the forename! |
| 12 | ST TRINIAN’S | Strain isn’t unusual for dysfunctional school?
*(STRAIN ISN’T); “unusual” is anagram indicator; the reference is to the school featured in cartoons by Ronald Searle in the 1940s and in subsequent books and films |
| 15 | RUHR | Mostly managed personnel in German industrial area
RU<n> (=managed; “mostly” means last letter dropped) + HR (=personnel, i.e. Human Resources) |
| 16 | WATERSHIP DOWN | Warren’s story reduces the impact of wild fruit
Cryptically, something that “waters hip down” would reduce the impact of wild fruit; the reference is to the 1972 children’s novel by Richard Adams, following the adventures of a group of rabbits, hence “warren” |
| 18 | DRUB | Wipe the floor with duster at first, then buff
D<uster> (“at first” means first letter only) + RUB (=buff, polish); to drub is to defeat convincingly, hence “wipe the floor with” |
| 19 | CONTRABASS | 20% off smuggled case of shells? That sounds very low
CONTRBA<nd> (=smuggled, of goods; “20% off” means 2 of 10 letters are dropped) + S<hell>S (“case of” means first and last letters only) |
| 21 | FLEETING | Temporary withdrawal of support stops launch
EET (TEE=support, in golf; “withdrawal” indicates reversal) in FLING (=launch, throw) |
| 23 | ORACLE | Headless spirit carrying cape, who makes mystic utterances?
C (=cape, i.e. on map) in <m>ORALE (=spirit; “headless” means first letter dropped) |
| 25 | OCCURRENCE | What happens as soon as ingesting remedy with regular repetitions?
C(+C) U R (+R) E (=remedy; “with regular repetitions” means first and third letters are repeated) in ONCE (=as soon as) |
| 26 | DORK | Fool to participate in town near Leatherhead, apparently
The word “dork” (=fool) appears in the name Dorking, a town near Leatherhead in Surrey |
| Down | ||
| 01 | BRNO | Bond’s debut eclipsing that of his adversary somewhere in Moravia
DR NO (=adversary of James Bond); “Bond‘s debut, i.e. first letter, eclipsing” means letter “b” replaces letter “d” |
| 02 | DEBTOR | Person with outstanding balance tipped over rubbish sack
ROT (=rubbish) + BED (=sack, as in to hit the sack); “tipped over” indicates vertical reversal |
| 03 | EGOCENTRIC | Recollecting moves, forgetting lines and not caring about others
*(RECO<ll>ECTING); “forgetting lines (=LL)” means letters “ll” are dropped from anagram, indicated by “moves” |
| 04 | GRUB | Eats // root // and larva
Triple definition, with to root meaning to grub around, e.g. of pigs |
| 05 | PISSARRO | Impressionist is timeless headliner introduced by trouper?
[IS + S<t>AR (=headliner, “time (=T) –less” means letter “t” is dropped)] in PRO (=trouper, i.e. experienced person); the reference is to French painter Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) |
| 06 | SHAKE HANDS | Maybe bury the hatchet fish with heroin in beach area
[HAKE (=fish) + H (=heroin)] in SANDS (=beach area) |
| 09 | SUB-MACHINE GUN | What could get heartless human being scum shot?
*(HU<m>AN + BEING SCUM); “heartless” means middle letter dropped; “shot” is anagram indicator; & lit. |
| 13 | TOWER BLOCK | To start developing upwards, secure lofty premises
TO + WERB (BREW=start developing; “upwards” indicates vertical reversal) + LOCK (=secure, fasten) |
| 14 | SUPERMODEL | I must look right for work, thus shown up receiving classy hairstyle
[U (=classy) + PERM (=hairstyle)] in [SO (=thus) + DEL (LED=shown; “up” indicates vertical reversal)] |
| 17 | TABLEAUX | Staged scenes of DJ admitting practised answer
[ABLE (=practised, expert) + A (=answer, as in Q&A)] in TUX (=DJ, i.e. tuxedo) |
| 20 | BRANDY | Bowed, seeing Queen come in for a snifter?
R (=queen) in BANDY (=bowed, of legs) |
| 22 | IN RE | About to harden, removing uniform
IN<u>RE (=harden, habituate); “removing uniform (=U, in radio telecommunications)” means letter “u” is dropped; in re means about, concerning |
| 24 | LYRE | It’s somewhat musically retro
Hidden (“somewhat”) in “musicalLY REtro”; & lit., given the age of the instrument! |
Thanks RatkojaRiku.
Spoilt for choice is right. As I solved each clue I marvelled at the ingenuity, imagination, and in many cases the sheer brilliance of their construction. Any single one that good would have made it worthwhile. This was, as the young say, a gift that kept on giving.
Nestor, should we ever meet, the drinks are on me.
Despite, or maybe because of, the excellence of the puzzle, came to a complete halt after only about 5 clues were in so had a bit of a snooze, woke up refreshed, et voilà, answers then began appearing steadily. Finished with DORK which I only half-parsed, but my thoughts were along the same lines as yours. For me WATERSHIP DOWN was the pick of the bunch, with GRUB and BABUSHKA not far behind. Overall the expected Thursday challenge but definitely one with much to enjoy.
Thanks to Nestor and RatkojaRiku
Quite a lot I got but didn’t manage to parse.
I thought the clue for DORK was a bit unsatisfactory. As I see it a hidden answer should be completely within the concealing word or phrase, not at one end of it. It was only when I looked at a map of the Leatherhead area and saw ‘Dorking’ that the answer suggested itself.
But some excellent clues elsewhere, as others have already noted.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
I think Dorking is cleverer than that – if you treat dork as a verb (i.e. you participate in it), you would be dorking. Very nice.
Thanks to S&B
So much clever wordplay and misdirection. Most enjoyable. Thanks Nestor & RR.Agree entirely when you write “I found this quite a challenging solve, but since you know that everything will ultimately make sense with a Nestor…”
In my (admittedly sheltered – even blinkered possibly, life ) I had not come across ‘dork’ until Police Academy 5, where someone ‘paints’ the word in extra strong sunblock on Captain Harris’s chest while he sunbathes asleep.
Hilarious results if that sort of thing amuses you (which in my case it does). We discuss this a lot at my local Get a Life Club.
Tremendous puzzle from Nestor, as usual, and thanks to RR for the blog.
I don’t think I’d have got 1d if I hadn’t read Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy