I enjoyed this one from Vigo. She’s put together a tidy puzzle in the old Monday style. Some very good surface readings. A bit heavy on charades and insertions, but for a crossword aimed at improving solvers, that’s no bad thing. No full anagrams, though.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letters removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Avoids holding appeal backing drug
SEDATIVE
An insertion of AD in EVITES, all reversed. EVITE is an archaic word for ‘avoid’. Should have got this sooner, since éviter is the French verb ‘to avoid’. Bit of a tricky one to get us going on the acrosses. Or it could of course just be IT for (sex) appeal in EVADES, all reversed. On writing up the blog, I’m tending towards the latter explanation.
5 Surgeons maybe in charge after sea storm’s onset
MEDICS
A charade of MED, IC and S for the first letter of ‘storm’.
9 Locate popular naval officer drowning in drink
PINPOINT
An insertion of IN and PO for ‘petty officer’ in PINT.
10 Plots out loud to cause injury
BRUISE
I think this is a homophone of BREWS for ‘plots’ but would be happy to be corrected.
12 Exaggerate past situation
OVERSTATE
A charade of OVER and STATE.
13 Bad feeling caused by tip of instrument left in stomach
GUILT
An insertion of I and L in GUT. Your stomach is only part of your gut, but in casual usage, I think it’s fine as a definition.
14 Weak, shiny fabric
LAME/LAMÉ
A dd. One spelled with an acute accent at the end, the other without.
16 Way to love fashion in warehouse
STORAGE
A charade of ST, O and RAGE. ‘It’s all the fashion/it’s all the rage.’
19 Demanding I wake without drug
ONEROUS
A charade of ONE and ROUS[E].
21 Defeat left horses missing odd bits
LOSS
A charade of L and the even letters of hOrSeS.
24 Journey to East is rubbish
TRIPE
A charade of TRIP and E.
25 Skill I suppress growing vegetable
ARTICHOKE
A charade of ART, I and CHOKE.
27 Try a support for facial hair
GOATEE
A charade of GO, A and TEE.
28 The Italian returning censure free
LIBERATE
A charade of IL for one of the Italian words for ‘the’ reversed, and BERATE.
29 Trim so veil extends lower than eyes to start with
SVELTE
The first letters of So Veil Extends Lower Than Eyes.
30 Dilettante man inhabits decaying estate
AESTHETE
An insertion of HE in (ESTATE)*
Down
1 Drain drink to get title
SIPHON
A charade of SIP and HON as in Right Hon Gentleman.
2 St Peter maybe the measure of fineness
DENIER
A cd cum dd. Peter denied knowing Christ three times before the cock crowed. You need to pronounce the word in two different ways, of course. The latter definition is to do with ladies’ tights, if that’s not too exciting a thought for a Monday morning.
3 Money raised by society for idiots
TOOLS
A reversal of LOOT followed by S, and a rather contemporary word for ‘idiots’. ‘You are a complete tool’ is often heard uttered by one of my children to another one.
4 Benefit of vehicle label beginning to emerge
VANTAGE
A charade of VAN, TAG and E.
6 Notorious European pie maker losing final grand keeping promise
EGREGIOUS
A charade of E and GREG[G]S with IOU inserted. GREGGS the bakers make other things than pies, but they are well known for them.
7 Unfriendly but fashionable one goes to show without us
INIMICAL
A charade of IN, I and M[US]ICAL.
8 Charming ape chewed plant
SWEET PEA
A charade of SWEET and (APE)*
11 Starters of marinated eel sushi served in dining room
MESS
The first letters of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth words of the clue.
15 Reconciled with people having time to make amends
ATONEMENT
A charade of AT ONE, MEN and T.
17 Unwilling guests of entertainer grow old and start to shrivel
HOSTAGES
A charade of HOST, AGE and S for the first letter of ‘shrivel’.
18 Offer daughter iced-tea concoction
DEDICATE
A charade of D and (ICED TEA)*
20 Problem arising in Glamorganshire
SNAG
Hidden reversed in GlamorGANShire.
21 Held up crossing river in can
LATRINE
An insertion of R and IN in LATE. ‘Can’ is another slang word for ‘toilet’.
22 Give fellow a note
DONATE
A charade of DON, A and TE for the note that is a drink with jam and bread.
23 Remove permit to enter river
DELETE
An insertion of LET in the River DEE.
26 Croatia’s foremost port is Split
Good surface to finish off. A charade of C and LEFT for ‘port’.
CLEFT
Many thanks to Vigo for a fine start to the Indy crossword week.
Thanks, Pierre, for the blog, and Vigo for an enjoyable puzzle.
I prefer the second parsing of 1ac – it’s the one I had! – and agree with the parsing of 10ac: Chambers has ‘brew = to contrive or plot’.
Thanks Vigo and Pierre.
I parsed SEDATIVE the same as Eileen. Good, enjoyable crossword – CLEFT had a super clue!
Robi @2, CLEFT rang a bell – cf 22d in yesterday’s Poins.
Clue Split, answer CLEAVE
Second thoughts parsing of 1A agreed, though I did notice evite. That word has now fallen into desuetude, but can still be seen in inevitable.
More like an IoS puzzle, I thought.
Thanks to Vigo and Pierre.
I like Vigo’s puzzles very much and want to add my acclaim for the brilliant clue for CLEFT.
I still bear the scars of her ghost-theme built around ring-tones for her smartphone so I was on the lookout for clues for something similar but have drawn a blank.
I’ll check in later…..
Thanks to Vigo and Pierre
Thanks Pierre for the blog. Your second parsing of 1a was the one I was going for – evite is a new word for me!
Thanks also to everyone who took the time to comment – baerchen, don’t worry there’s no theme hiding in this one (or the next one…)
Victoria