Dac has supplied the first Wednesday puzzle of the year, as he has doubtless done on many previous occasions.
This was a rather gentle introduction to solving and blogging in 2017 for me. I think that I am confident enough of the parsing today not to need to ask explicitly in this preamble for help, which is a rare treat for this humble blogger.
New vocabulary for me figured at 17, 20 and 23, but the wordplay directed me nicely to the correct solutions in all cases. Amongst my favourite clues today inevitably appear some of Dac’s trademark silky-smooth surfaces, at 3, 8, 16 and above all 26; 26 was actually my last-one-in, since I hadn’t taken “rocks” to be an anagram indicator. I wonder how many more of these Dac will produce for our delectation in 2017 …
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | CABALS | Plotters almost all conveyed in taxis
AL<l> (“almost” means last letter dropped) in CABS (=taxis) |
| 04 | THICKSET | Stocky bumpkins taking drug time after time
T (=time) + HICKS (=bumpkins) + E (=drug, i.e. Ecstasy) + T (=time) |
| 09 | SPORTY | Like athlete left with extremely skimpy clothing
PORT (=left, on a ship) in S<kimp>Y (“extremely” means first and last letters only) |
| 10 | CARNEGIE | Philanthropist erupting in rage, entering church
*(IN RAGE) in CE (=church); “erupting” is anagram indicator; the reference is to US industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) |
| 12 | BENIN | Mountain in part of Africa
BEN (=mountain, especially in Scotland) + IN |
| 13 | ANTARCTIC | Worker takes heavy lorry round cold polar region
ANT (=worker) + [C (=cold, as on tap) in ARTIC (=heavy lorry)] |
| 14 | ONE FOR THE ROAD | Head roofer not ordering drink
*(HEAD ROOFER NOT); “ordering” is anagram indicator |
| 17 | ROLLER DERBIES | Wave hats in races
ROLLER (=wave, at sea) + DERBIES (=hats, a US bowler hat); roller derbies are speed skating races on roller skates |
| 21 | OVERGROWN | Uncultivated public mostly heard to complain
OVER<t> (=public; “mostly” means last letter dropped) + homophone (“heard”) of “groan” (=complain) |
| 23 | SOLDO | Disposed of old Italian coin
SOLD (=disposed of) + O (=old); a soldo is a former Italian coin, one twentieth of a lira |
| 24 | PALATIAL | Friend tours European country that’s not very majestic
LAT<v>IA (=European country; “that’s not very (=V)” means letter “v” is dropped) in PAL (=friend) |
| 25 | PIG OUT | Place in which I go to eat a lot
[I GO] in PUT (=place, as verb) |
| 26 | MARINADE | Steep rocks in Maryland area
*(IN + MD (=Maryland) + AREA); “rocks” is anagram indicator; to marinade is to soak, or “steep”, food in a liquid prior to cooking, to imbue it with flavour |
| 27 | CRANED | Supple dancer lifted high in the air?
*(DANCER); “supple” is anagram indicator |
| Down | ||
| 01 | CASH-BOOK | Accountant trembled, receiving bachelor’s finance record
CA (=accountant, i.e. Chartered Accountant) + [B (=bachelor) in SHOOK (=trembled)] |
| 02 | BROWN BEAR | Creature born in ridge close by
B (=born) in [BROW (=ridge, e.g. over the eyes) + NEAR (=close by)] |
| 03 | LET INTO | Admit Spanish red wine is inferior to the French
LE (=the French, i.e. a French word for the) + TINTO (=Spanish red wine) |
| 05 | HEART-RENDING | Woman’s conclusion about painting is pathetic
ART (=painting) in [HER (=woman’s) + ENDING (=conclusion)] |
| 06 | CON BRIO | Leading pair of competitors, note, at Olympic venue showing spirit
CO<mpetitors> (“leading pair of” means first two letters only) + NB (=note) + RIO (=Olympic venue); “con brio” is a musical direction meaning forcefully, with vivacity, hence “showing spirit” |
| 07 | SIGHT | Sound position, in a sense
Homophone (“sound”) of “site” (=position, location) |
| 08 | TRENCH | Ditch fish angler finally caught
<angle>R (“finally” means last letter only) in TENCH (=fish) |
| 11 | CASTLE HOWARD | A lord watches out for a country pile
*(A LORD WATCHES); “out” is anagram indicator; Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire |
| 15 | DRILL DOWN | Carefully examine tool that’s out of action
DRILL (=tool) + DOWN (=out of action, not in service); to drill down e.g. through financial data is to examine in more depth |
| 16 | ASSORTED | A variety of trades, so diverse
*(TRADES SO); “a variety of” is anagram indicator |
| 18 | LIGHT ON | Accidentally find lamp not switched off?
LIGHT (=lamp) + ON (=not switched off); to light on is to stumble across e.g. a solution |
| 19 | RISKIER | Run in front of one downhill race? That’s no so safe
R (=run, in cricket) + I (=one) + SKIER (=downhill racer) |
| 20 | POM-POM | Two Englishmen down under find wartime weapon
2 x POM (=Englishman, in Australia and NZ, hence “down under”); informally, a pom-pom is an automatic quick-firing gun |
| 22 | EULER | Swiss mathematician turned up on toboggan? No good
RE (=on, concerning) + LU<g>E (=toboggan; “no good (=G)” means letter “g” dropped); “turned up” indicates vertical reversal; the reference is to Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707-83) |
Thanks RR and Dac.
As regards 14ac, in the days before stricter drink and drive limits, this was a very common saying. It was even the slogan for a famous whisky company. How times have changed!
As you say, quite a straightforward puzzle with very clear clueing.
An excellent offering, as usual from Dac. Straightforward but with enough thought required to avoid write-ins, and some parsings took a bit of working out.
Favourites today were MARINADE and EULER.
Thanks, Dac and RatkojaRiku
We are never disappointed with a Dac puzzle. Precise clueing and some thought required – what’s not to enjoy?
Thanks RR and Dac.
My LOI was MARINADE too. Shouldn’t have given me so much trouble in retrospect but I was fixated on ‘area’ being just ‘A’ and also missed the anagrind, instead expecting a container because of ‘in’. It didn’t help that I was in a hurry. I’ve noticed how my cryptic faculty tends to diminish when I’m distracted. Solving ability improves significantly with relaxed mood and freshly brewed tea.