Today’s puzzle has been set by Math, a compiler whose work I have so far blogged only once.
On that one and only previous occasion, there was a musical theme running through the clues but not the solutions. I haven’t spotted a specific theme today, in either clues or solutions, but then I am normally pretty slow on the uptake when it comes to themes. Have I missed anything, I ask?
Overall, I found this to be an enjoyable, medium-difficulty puzzle, with enough accessible clues to get the solver going, but enough of a challenge to get the grey matter ticking over.
My favourite clues today are 3, for its sheer topicality; 7, for its smooth surface; and 23, for maintaining the IT theme through definition and wordplay alike. Incidentally, 5D was something I only vaguely knew, but the possible solutions to the anagram could easily be checked on Google until the right one was found. I am not sure of my parsing of 28 as regards Christ/son.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clue
| Across | ||
| 01 | PILGRIM | He’s made progress in writing
Cryptic definition: the reference is to The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, published in 1678 |
| 05 | FLOWERS | E.g. 2 francs left by debtors?
F (=francs) + L (=left) + OWERS (=debtors); the definition is “e.g. lilacs (=entry at 2)” |
| 09 | WELLS | We will initially spend // spring near small // city
The definition is “city”, i.e. in Somerset; there are two sets of wordplay: WELL (=spring, fount) + S (=small) AND WE’LL (=we will) + S<pend> (“initially” means first letter only) |
| 10 | SUBEDITOR | Newspaper man‘s recollected it: “Rosebud!”
*(IT ROSEBUD); “recollected” is anagram indicator |
| 11 | RECESSIONS | Declines items charged after break in US
RECESS (=break in US, i.e. in school day/year) + IONS (=items charged, in physics); the definition is “declines” as a noun, i.e. periods of economic decline |
| 12 | ENVY | Sin reported in Nevada briefly
Homophone (“reported”) of NV (=Nevada; “briefly” indicates abbreviation) |
| 14 | IRON CURTAIN | Press blackout possibly one type of feature of the Cold War
IRON (=press, as verb) + CURTAIN (=blackout (is) possibly one type) |
| 18 | REALLOTTING | Little orange mostly chopped up for sharing again
*(LITTLE + ORANG<e>); “mostly” means last letter dropped; “chopped up” is anagram indicator |
| 21 | PINE | Ache in leg by right side of knee
PIN (=leg) + <kne>E (“right side of” means last letter only); to ache for is to pine for something |
| 22 | WELSH CORGI | A dog from the east I raised round stormy lochs
*(LOCHS) in WERGI (I + GREW (=raised); “from the east” indicates reversal); “stormy” is anagram indicator |
| 25 | TENNIS PRO | Expert in court isn’t prone to disorder
*(ISN’T PRONE); “to disorder” is anagram indicator; the “court” of the definition is a tennis court |
| 26 | MOVIE | Male has to fight to keep love in film
M (=male) + [O (=love, i.e. a zero score) in VIE (=to fight)] |
| 27 | SUSS OUT | Decipher secrets US southerners keep
Hidden (“keep”) in “secretS US SOUTherners” |
| 28 | TACKS ON | Attaches riding gear by Christ!
TACK (=riding gear) + SON (=Christ, i.e. son of God) |
| Down | ||
| 01 | POWERS | Drives // an Austin
Double definition; the reference is to Austin Powers, the hero of a series of US action-comedy films |
| 02 | LILACS | Lumber importer initially wants 1000 cut trees
L<umber> I<mporter> (“initially” means first letters only) + LAC<k>S (=wants, is without; “1000 (=K) cut” means letter “k” is dropped) |
| 03 | RESISTIBLE | Possible to oppose Brexit’s lies, broken with vote to leave
*(BRE<x>IT’S LIES); “with vote (=X) to leave” means letter “x” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “broken” |
| 04 | MASAI | Mother’s on the road north from southern Kenya
MA’S (=mother’s) + A1 (=the road north, from London to Edinburgh) |
| 05 | FIBONACCI | Fab iconic characters shot additional sequence
*(FAB ICONIC); “(character=letters) shot” is anagram indicator; the reference is to the Fibonacci sequence, whereby the next number in the sequence is the sum of the previous two, hence “additional” |
| 06 | ODDS | They’re not even getting the chance
Odd numbers are, by definition, not even numbers; betting odds indicate the chance, probability of something happening |
| 07 | ESTONIAN | Public schoolboy gets second in foreign language
S (=second) in ETONIAN (=public schoolboy) |
| 09 | STRAYING | Drifting off, flat fish has raised tail section
STINGRAY (=flat fish); has raised tail section (=RAY)” means letters “ray” appear higher up, i.e. earlier, in the word |
| 13 | TRAGICOMIC | One good drawing turns up on front of graphic novel causing mixed emotions
TRAGI (I=(one) + G (=good) + ART (=drawing); “turns up” indicates vertical reversal) + COMIC (=graphic novel) |
| 15 | ON THE SPOT | Where should I put the ball for kick-off? Right there!
To be “on the spot” is to be “right there”, in the very location; a referee places a football on the spot ready for kick-off |
| 16 | CREPITUS | Doctoring tip cures rattling in the lungs
*(TIP CURES); “doctoring” is anagram indicator |
| 17 | EARNINGS | Proceeds with new replacement for 4th piece of jewellery
EAR-R-INGS (=jewellery); “with new (=N) replacement for 4th” means that 4th letter becomes “n” |
| 19 | GRAVES | Leader of Green party’s accents
G<reen> (“leader of” means first letter only) + RAVES (party’s) |
| 20 | GIDEON | Prophet in Latin version’s with God in spirit
DEO (=with God, in Latin (version)) in GIN (=spirit (drink)); Gideon is a prophet in the Book of Judges of the Hebrew Bible |
| 23 | SCOTT | Security concern over Trojans leads to close of Internet Explorer
S<ecurity> C<oncern> O<ver> T<rojans> + <interne>T; “leads to” means first letters only; “close of” means last letter only; the reference is to Atlantic explorer Robert Scott (1868-1912) |
| 24 | CIAO | Spies obtain cipher used for so long in Italy
CIA (=spies, i.e. US intelligence services) + O (=cipher, i.e. zero in maths); ciao means cheerio, bye in Italian, hence “so long” |
22ac – I think ‘from the east’ is the reversal indicator, ’round’ the rest.
Good to have another of Math’s occasional appearances and a nice steady solve. FIBONACCI was my CoD and I liked the topicality of 3dn.
Just by co-incidence WELLS was described as England’s smallest city in a question on University Challenge last night and also the concert on Radio 3 was from Wells Cathedral, so 9ac was a write-in for me.
Thanks, Math and RatkojaRiku.
Thanks, RR. Like you, I found this medium-hard, but perfectly gettable with a bit of brainwork. Except I didn’t quite get it, since I put SCOUT and not SCOTT for 23dn; but that’s just my muppetry. When in doubt, read the clue and all that.
CIAO does of course mean ‘so long’ or ‘goodbye’ in Italian, but it also means ‘hello’, which is confusing or easy according to taste.
I liked FIBONACCI because it’s a bit of maths and reminded me of snails.
Thanks to the setter too.
Thought there must be a theme with so many names. Scott Pilgrim characters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Scott_Pilgrim_characters#Ramona.27s_Evil_Exes
With the exception of 8 which I couldn’t parse (easy when explained of course), not too demanding. I had the feeling I was missing a theme with so many potential surnames around, but had never heard of the Scott Pilgrim comic book series. I’m not convinced about 16. The crackling sounds which can be heard listening to the lungs in conditions such as heart failure are known as ‘crepitations’, whereas CREPITUS is the grinding sound or feeling when say moving a knee affected by arthritis. I take the point that Chambers has the former as one meaning for the latter, but the words aren’t really used interchangeably in a clinical sense. Maybe ‘creaking in the joints’ rather than ‘rattling in the lungs’ would have been better.
Anyway, enough pedantry. I found this a pleasant solve and particularly enjoyed the wordplay for 3.
Thanks to Math and RR
Thanks, Paul A, for pointing out my slip at 22, now corrected.
And thanks to orange for unearthing the theme, which was completely lost on me – we live and learn, as they say!