I got off to a flying start but the last few took a while to get and explain. Thank you Peter.
7dn was a particular example: I was so fixated on PREFACE that I couldn’t see the correct solution for ages.
| Across | ||
| 1 | STRIPS | Takes off for journey aboard ship (6) |
| TRIP (journey) in SS (on board a Steam Ship). There can’t be may steam ships still afloat. But perhaps by the time SS finally becomes obsolete the Star Ship will have arrived so the “on board ship” tradition may yet be continued. | ||
| 4 | EGG CUP | Gooey Greek starters served in retro purple tableware (3,3) |
| starting leters of Gooey Greek inside PUCE (purple) reversed (retro) | ||
| 9 | TARN | Sailor close to mountain lake … (4) |
| TAR (sailor) and mountaiN (closing letter of) | ||
| 10 | PHEROMONES | … Calls about more unusual bodily secretions (10) |
| PHONES (calls) containing anagram (unusual) of MORE | ||
| 11 | TUXEDO | 10 entertained by duet playing close to disco’s DJ (6) |
| X (ten) in (entertained by) anagram (playing) of DUET then discO (closing letter of) | ||
| 12 | COMEDIAN | Entertainer and press taken in by scam (8) |
| MEDIA (press) in CON (scam) | ||
| 13 | MANHANDLE | Push graduate to meet new so-called composer (9) |
| MA (graduate) with (to meet) N (new) HANDLE sounds like (so-called) “Handel” (composer) | ||
| 15 | ANTE | Stake poked into malignant effigy (4) |
| found in (poked into) malignANT Effigy | ||
| 16 | CRAW | Cold and uncooked crop (4) |
| C (cold) and RAW (uncooked) | ||
| 17 | SPEAKEASY | A pass key is in circulation around Delaware’s last illicit bar (9) |
| anagram (in circulation) of A PASS KEY containing delawarE (last letter of) | ||
| 21 | HELSINKI | Collapse after endless torture by one in European capital (8) |
| SINK (collapse) following HELL (torture) missing last letter (endless) then I (one) | ||
| 22 | HAMLET | Hot meal prepared by Troy’s prince (6) |
| H (hot) then anagram (prepared) of MEAL followed by T (troy ounce) | ||
| 24 | MONOCHROME | Working with Old Master, returned to church somewhere in Italy to produce black and white picture (10) |
| ON (working) with O (old) M (master) all reversed (returned) then CH (church) and ROME (somewhere in Italy) | ||
| 25 | LATE | Tenor leaving coffee behind (4) |
| LATtE (coffee) missing T (tenor) | ||
| 26 | THEORY | Other people accepting central elements of informed speculation (6) |
| THEY (other people) contains infORmed (centre of) | ||
| 27 | CENSER | Fragments of screen found in ceremonial vessel (6) |
| anagram (fragments of) SCREEN | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SPATULA | Blade used in argument over filling of roulade (7) |
| SPAT (argument) on roULAde (middle, filling of) | ||
| 2 | RANGE | Assortment of goods originally stolen from country house (5) |
| gRANGE (country house) missing Goods (first letter of, origin) | ||
| 3 | POPCORN | Popular trick involving Russia’s foremost snack (7) |
| POP (popular) CON (trick) containing Russia (first letter of) | ||
| 5 | GLOOMY | Setter leaving cold building with masonry walls is blue! (6) |
| iGLOO (cold building) missing I (the setter) then MasonrY (walls, outside letters of) | ||
| 6 | CLOG DANCE | Start to carry weapon to protect dog mistreated in noisy performance (4,5) |
| Carry (starting letter of) LANCE (weapon) containing (to protect) anagram (mistreated) of DOG | ||
| 7 | PRESAGE | Section of book containing research forecast (7) |
| PAGE (section of book) containing RES (research) | ||
| 8 | HERCULE POIROT | Hotel croupier misdealt to famous Belgian (7,6) |
| anagram (misdealt) of HOTEL CROUPIER – fictional Belgian from Agatha Christie novels | ||
| 14 | HEADSTONE | Dates carved into Polish memorial (9) |
| anagram (carved) of DATES in HONE (polish) | ||
| 16 | CHEROOT | Cigar found by biblical king scratching backside in bed (7) |
| HEROd (biblical king) missing last letter (scratching backside) in COT (bed) | ||
| 18 | ATHLETE | Sportsman attending hospital allowed to get drug (7) |
| AT (attending) H (hospital) with LET (allowed) and E (drug) | ||
| 19 | SWEATER | Curse about outer layer of Terylene garment (7) |
| SWEAR (curse) contains (about) TerylenE (outer letters of) | ||
| 20 | ANCHOR | Anglican chorister’s tie? (6) |
| found inside anglicAN CHORister | ||
| 23 | MILLS | Slight uprising over length of factories (5) |
| SLIM (slight) reversed (uprising) contains L (length) | ||
*anagram
definitions are underlined
I write these posts to help people get started with crosswords. If there is something here you do not understand feel to ask questions; chances are there are others wondering the same things.
A fun ride. Not too hard, not too easy. Lots of apposite surface readings, incl. for COMEDIAN, SPATULA, CHEROOT, ATHLETE and SWEATER.
7d held me up at the end. I initially had ‘preface’ even though I couldn’t parse it.
I did wonder about T for Troy in 22a but apparently it’s a unit of measurement. Well I never. You learn something new every day.
Thanks Peter and PeeDee.
Fairly benign, but definitely with a few to challenge, especially down in the SE. I liked CLOG DANCE and SPEAKEASY.
Can anyone explain the ellipses at the end of the clue for 9 and the beginning of the clue for 10? I can see that the ellipses join the clues to make one surface, but there doesn’t otherwise seem to be a link and none that I can identify between the answers. I always feel slightly uneasy whenever I see the 3 little dots, suspecting that I’m missing something, as I probably am here.
Thank you to PeeDee and Peter.
Wordplodder @2 – sorry I can’t help you there. I think some setters add ellipses at random. For example 12 and 13 could also be joined by ellipses too, and make just as much (non)sense.
WordPlodder, I guess the 9… …10 ellipses are there I because as a combo the surface works better that 10’s would on its own.
The first two lines of Peedee’s blog reflect my experience of this enjoyable puzzle. No particular fave clue for me today, just lots of smooth stuff so thanks to Peter for the puzz and Peedee for the write-up.
@2 WordPlodder – for the most part (and in the case of 9/10 here, I think) ellipsis is used to link the surface reading of 2 clues together with nothing else going on cryptically. However, IIRC, it can also used to have part of the wordplay or def of the second clue in the first clue (or vice versa). Oh, and sometimes it just defines the word ‘ellipsis’, as in last Saturday’s Serpent puzzle.
As swatty@1 says, a fun ride. Not too hard, not too easy.
Several contenders for CoD, but I think it has to be TUXEDO, because of the false reference to the preceding clue (10) and the misdirection in “disco’s DJ” suggesting a disc jockey rather than a dinner jacket.
Thanks, Peter and PeeDee.
Sorry, a v. late reply but thanks to all who took the trouble to respond. At least I wasn’t too far off the mark. I think a better combined surface was what the setter was trying to do.
Thanks again.