It’s been a while since I locked horns with Poins, which used to be a regular Sunday occurrence.
This was good, though I seemed to find the going a bit more of a challenge than I remember. There are a few examples of the sort of vocabulary that I tend to associate with the advanced weekend cryptics and a copy of Chambers, but maybe that’s just me. “Drag” in 1 down, then 7 down and 14 down would be examples.
Still, I got there. Unfortunately the exact nature of 13 across eludes me, so any help readers can provide will be welcome there.
| Across | ||
| 1 | REPROACH | Backing for each swimmer in disgrace (8) |
| PER< + ROACH. | ||
| 5 | TRAILS | Complains after time drags wearily (6) |
| T + RAILS. | ||
| 10 | GIRAFFE | Tactless remark describing Kirk essentially as an animal (7) |
| [k]IR[k] in GAFFE. | ||
| 11 | ADVISER | Dicky raved about island fellow offering counsel (7) |
| IS in RAVED*. | ||
| 12 | RELIC | An object of historical interest discovered by Catholic priest inside (5) |
| ELI in RC. | ||
| 13 | STILL LIFE | Art class? (5,4) |
| Sorry, this one’s beaten me. | ||
| 14 | NONAGENARIAN | Soon returning with information on song by northern fellow in his nineties (12) |
| ANON< + GEN + ARIAN + N. | ||
| 18 | ILLUSTRATE | Tense strikebreaker consumed by a false impression of reality for example (12) |
| (T + RAT) in (ILL USE). | ||
| 21 | COMPLICIT | Sharing guilt with the Italian over getting caught tracking Communist party leader with it (9) |
| IL< in (COM + P[arty] + IT. | ||
| 23 | ELEGY | Poem on breaking Freyja’s heart (5) |
| LEG in [fr]EY[ja]. | ||
| 24 | SO-AND-SO | No great shakes going around with this person (2-3-2) |
| AND in SO–SO. | ||
| 25 | OPINION | Good to share the Head’s point of view (7) |
| PI in ONION. | ||
| 26 | SCORNS | Expresses disdain for southern Republican involved in fraudulent activities (6) |
| S + (R in CONS). | ||
| 27 | ASBESTOS | Answer an appeal for help to hide the finest example of banned material (8) |
| A + (BEST in SOS). | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | REGARD | Care about the rise of American influence (6) |
| RE + DRAG<. DRAG as US slang for “influence” was new to me, but it’s there in Chambers as the 15th definition, so fair play. | ||
| 2 | PAROLE | Language used by people in Pennsylvania has a continuous trilling sound they say (6) |
| PA + homophone of “roll”. | ||
| 3 | OFFICIOUS | Interfering niece oddly neglected to pack away documents acknowledging debts (9) |
| OFF + [n]I[e]C[e] + IOUS. | ||
| 4 | CHELSEA TRACTOR | Charlotte races around in it (7,7) |
| That got a smile out of me. Nice anagram of (CHARLOTTE RACES) and presumably &lit. | ||
| 6 | RIVAL | Be worthy of comparison with upcoming Irish girl (5) |
| IR< + VAL. | ||
| 7 | INSPIRIT | Where alcohol is found to encourage and enliven (8) |
| IN SPIRIT. A new word to me, but clearly signposted with a very nice surface too. | ||
| 8 | SERGEANT | Doctor Strange concealing final piece of evidence from police officer (8) |
| [evidenc]E in STRANGE*. | ||
| 9 | MANIFESTATIONS | What Macbeth sees as public demonstrations of feeling (14) |
| Two definitions: ghosts/a public procession or demonstration. | ||
| 15 | AT THE TIME | Formerly a single fellow living in the centre of Cheltenham (2,3,4) |
| A + (THE + TIM) in [chel]TE[nham]. | ||
| 16 | DISCUSES | Has a conversation about losing small pieces of sports equipment (8) |
| DISCUS[s]ES. | ||
| 17 | PLUMBAGO | Climber with backache is under a bit of pressure (8) |
| P[ressure] + LUMBAGO. I’m learning a lot today. Plumbago is “a genus of 10-20 species of flowering plants in the family Plumbaginaceae”. | ||
| 19 | DEPICT | Sketch showing princess receiving a couple of Ephesians at court (6) |
| (EP[hesians] in DI) + CT. | ||
| 20 | HYPNOS | Greek god with reportedly cool sense of smell for the most part (6) |
| Homophone of “hip” + NOS[e]. | ||
| 22 | LED ON | Tricked by the French mafia boss (3,2) |
| LE + DON. | ||
* = anagram; < = reversed; [] = removed; underlined = definition; Hover to expand abbreviations
Thanks Poins and Simon
I too thought 13 was slightly curious: I needed the crossers to get it, and parsed it as a CLASS/TYPE of ART. There doesn’t seem to be enough fodder for much more to be going on (or it’s sailed way above my head!).
Can’t help with 13ac I’m afraid; I was similarly mystified.
Couple of minor slips in the blog:
14ac should be ARIA+N, not ARIAN+N
18ac the answer is actually ILLUSTRATION, so “illusion” rather than “ill use” figures in the wordplay.
I found this tough and was pleased to see it off in the end, but took most of the day and several visits. Thanks to Poins and Simon.
Thanks Simon
I agree with Simon S regarding 13ac. I think that it is intended to be a cryptic definition. STILL LIFE is one of the ‘classes’ of art (along with landscape, portrait etc) but Poins is trying to mislead the solver into thinking about art lessons.
21ac needs the 2nd C, for caught. No idea about still life either, but it fitted.
Enjoyable challenge that ultimately beat me with some clues in the NW and SE corners. Faves were 7d and 17d. Many thanks to Poins for the puzz and to SH for the enlightenment.