You tend to know where you stand with Hypnos, and this Sunday’s puzzle was no exception.
As such there isn’t a great deal for me to add: nothing stuck out as controversial or obscure. Overall just a good, enjoyable Sunday solve as we’ve come to expect.
Probably the last one in for me was the cryptic def at 22 across, which is often the case. Hard to pick a favourite when they’re all good.
| Across | ||
| 1 | TYPECAST | Petty scam largely formulated and staged in same way? (8) |
| Anagram of (PETTY SCA[m]). | ||
| 5 | STUPID | Dim places backing half-formed notion (6) |
| PUTS< (places) + ID[ea] (notion). | ||
| 10 | SPONSOR | Poles kept in track for promoter (7) |
| (N + S) (poles) in SPOOR (track). | ||
| 11 | ALUMNUS | Old boy, Greek character, entering a slum for demolition (7) |
| NU (Greek character) in (A SLUM)*. | ||
| 12 | EVADE | Dodge some recalled in depressed avenue (5) |
| Hidden and reversed in [depress]ED AVE[nue]. | ||
| 13 | GUIDELINE | Help for mountaineers with rope – and indication of course (9) |
| GUIDE (help for mountaineers) + LINE (rope). | ||
| 14 | JOHN HUMPHRYS | Pianist with dubious expression on network beginning to shock BBC journalist (4,8) |
| JOHN (pianist; ref Elton John) + HUMPH (dubious expression) + RY (network) + S[hock]. | ||
| 19 | CAUSE CELEBRE | Worry about American and European star in noted trial (5,7) |
| CARE (worry) around (US + E + CELEB). | ||
| 22 | EXIT POLLS | Immediate pinpointers to crosses? (4,5) |
| Cryptic definition; crosses=votes. | ||
| 25 | UNITE | Integrate measure of alcohol with energy (5) |
| UNIT (measure of alcohol) + E (energy). | ||
| 26 | UNPLUGS | Disconnects adverts for peacekeepers? (7) |
| UN PLUGS (adverts for peacekeepers). | ||
| 27 | PUT DOWN | Drop record (3,4) |
| Double definition: PUT DOWN=drop (in cricket)/record (write). | ||
| 28 | ELEVEN | English Liberal with smooth side (6) |
| E (English) + L (liberal) + EVEN (smooth). | ||
| 29 | FREE FALL | Descent in public brawl knocking out soldiers (4,4) |
| FREE-F[or]-ALL (public brawl). OR = other ranks = soldiers. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | TASTER | Sample stunning device round back of depot (6) |
| TASER (stunning device) around [depo]T. | ||
| 2 | PROZAC | Antidepressant for unsuccessful London mayoral election candidate (6) |
| PRO (for) + ZAC (a Conservative environmentalist; ref Zac Goldsmith). | ||
| 3 | CASSEROLE | Box holding second part for stewed food (9) |
| (CASE (box) around S) + ROLE. | ||
| 4 | SPRIG | Tiny shoot in time of growth not new (5) |
| SPRI[n]G (time of growth). | ||
| 6 | TRUCE | Cuba’s in genuine cessation of hostilities (5) |
| C (Cuba; ref IVR) in TRUE (genuine). | ||
| 7 | PUNDITRY | Verbal wit? It is found amid formal expert judgment (8) |
| PUN (verbal wit) + (IT in DRY). | ||
| 8 | DISPENSE | Administer varied needs round BT say (8) |
| Anagram of NEEDS around ISP. | ||
| 9 | MANICURE | Trim staff with hospital area about to close (8) |
| MAN + ICU + RE. | ||
| 15 | NEEDLESS | Goads son? That’s gratuitous (8) |
| NEEDLES (goads) + S. | ||
| 16 | PIROUETTE | Tout PR i.e. dodgy source of elaborate spin (9) |
| Anagram of (TOUT PR IE + E[laborate]). | ||
| 17 | SCHEDULE | Man had inside clues possibly for inventory (8) |
| HE‘D (man had) in CLUES*. | ||
| 18 | CUTIE-PIE | Dish that is hidden by some meat and pastry (5-3) |
| IE (that is) in (CUT (some meat) + PIE). | ||
| 20 | MIMOSA | Ammo is exploding in plant (6) |
| Anagram of (AMMO IS). | ||
| 21 | KERNEL | Military officer, it’s said, in centre (6) |
| Homophone of “colonel”. | ||
| 23 | PRUNE | Remove undesirable parts from fruit (5) |
| Double definition: PRUNE=trim/fruit. | ||
| 24 | SUPPER | Excellent meal with pressure gone (5) |
| SUP[p]ER (meal). | ||
* = anagram; < = reversed; [] = removed; underlined = definition; Hover to expand abbreviations
A good Sunday solve which was too good for me. I missed out on PUNDITRY and the BBC journo at 14. Guessed JOHN and vainly tried to make the first letter of the surname a ‘Q’ which would have completed a pangram. 3d made me look up yet again the difference between a ‘stew’ and a CASSEROLE – yet again no satisfactory answer. I liked EXIT POLLS and my favourite CUTIE-PIE.
Thanks to Hypnos and Simon
Yep, good Sunday puzzle. I thought there might be a vague election broadcast theme – schedule, punditry, exit polls, guidelines, Humphrys himself – but nothing more than coincidence, I think.
Not entirely convinced by ‘John’ as def for pianist; he is one and not a bad one but scarcely an exemplar of the breed.
‘Freefall’ was clever and ‘manicure’ a really good clue.
Thanks to both, enjoyed it.
John for pianist is not at all satisfactory .. humph ?? Isnt is um? Anyway overall this clue didnt kinda work.. rest smashing tho..
Enjoyable stuff that was in the goldilocks zone for me. Of course, I still managed to skupper meself for a while by entering ‘pundirty’ [a Freudian pen slip if every there was one] at 7d. Fave clue was the very neatly done 18d so thanks to Hypnos for the puzzle and to SH for the blog.
Thanks, Simon, for blogging.
I stuck in JOHN HUMPHRYS because it couldn’t be anything else, but I would never have parsed it. And I still don’t like it. But lots of good stuff elsewhere.
Thanks to Hypnos too.
Started off thinking this was a Sunday stroll, but ground to a halt in the SW corner till I realised what ‘man had’ was in 17dn, then the rest of it clicked. Also I was thinking that ‘noted trial’ referred to some sort of musical test. I parsed JOHN HUMPHRYS apart from identifying ‘John’ with any particular pianist.
Thanks, Hypnos and Simon.