A very pleasing puzzle from Vigo. Good surfaces, well-signposted clues, and a variety of subject matter. Just right to start the new week.
And in addition, it’s a pangram. For those who don’t know, it means that the setter has used all twenty-six letters of the alphabet in the grid. Why do setters do this? Because they can.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
6 Molluscs initially shelled by Parisian who died
SQUID
A charade of S for the first letter of ‘shelled’, QUI for the French word for ‘who’ and D for ‘died’.
7 Way to cross by tube
VIADUCT
A charade of VIA and DUCT.
9 Run away when left in charge
FLEE
An insertion of L in FEE.
10 Old flame putting on new outfit for swapping
EXCHANGING
A charade of EX and CHANGING.
11 Cursed roughly about books being abandoned
SCRUBBED
An insertion of BB for ‘books’ in (CURSED)*
12 Germany, overwhelmed by seven balls, go too far
OVERDO
I’m not certain here of the parsing, but I’ll have a flirt with D for Deutschland or ‘Germany’ in OVER and O. An OVER in cricket consists of six balls, and O as a letter on its own could be considered another ‘ball’, making seven in total.
14 Far right try to cover up a complete mess
FARRAGO
An insertion of A in FAR, R and GO.
16 Stuff bringing protests
OBJECTS
A dd, showcasing one of those words in English that has completely different meanings depending on where you put the stress.
19 Drunk, wet, sad, devastated
WASTED
(WET SAD)* for one of the squillion slang words for ‘drunk’ in English. What that says about the nation’s relationship with alcohol, I can’t say.
21 Engineer into a plastic, tubular dish
RIGATONI
A charade of RIG and (INTO A)* This wasn’t my favourite from Viga this morning. RIGATONI is of course a tubular pasta, but to describe it as a ‘dish’ is perhaps a bit of a stretch. Add a tomato-based sauce and tomato’s best friend basil, sprinkle with parmesan and then you’re talking.
23 Capacity of graceful cat
FLUID OUNCE
This made me smile. It’s a charade of FLUID and OUNCE for the ‘cat’ better known as the snow leopard.
25 Farmer goes around exhibiting beast
OGRE
Hidden reversed in farmER GOes.
26 A little spot of sun to lightly kiss the French
SPECKLE
A charade of S, PECK and LE for one of the words for ‘the’ in French.
27 Cook special meal with a dash of marmite
STEAM
A charade of S, TEA and M for the first letter of ‘marmite’.
Down
1 Civil servant caught whistle-blower under desk
BUREAUCRAT
Since it’s a down clue, it C and RAT under BUREAU.
2 Braved changes daily, weekly or yearly perhaps
ADVERB
(BRAVED)* ‘Daily’, ‘weekly’ and ‘yearly’ are all examples of ADVERBS.
3 Starting off chaos and confusion bears fruit
AVOCADO
A charade of [H]AVOC and ADO.
4 A groom follows feline into vault
CATACOMB
A charade of CAT, A and COMB.
5 Short month with German psychiatrist
JUNG
A charade of JUN and G for one of the founding fathers of psychiatry.
6 First class fashions coming from South Island
ST LUCIA
A reversal (‘coming from South’) of AI CULTS for the Caribbean island.
8 Buff spot on Edwardian screens
TONED
Hidden in spoT ON EDwardian.
13 Conductors choose right verses
ELECTRODES
A charade of ELECT, R and ODES.
15 Menagerie in Denmark engulfed by fumes – crikey!
GADZOOKS
A double insertion: of ZOO in DK, all in GAS. A euphemism for GOD’S HOOKS, the nails by which Christ was attached to the cross. Archaic now, except when used for effect.
17 Oddly, tear not unusual in childish fit
TANTRUM
The odd letters of TeArNoT plus RUM.
18 Fruit variety in outsize container
ORANGES
An insertion of RANGE in OS.
20 Sailor heads North following a selection of maps
ATLAS
Coming from South, now heading North: it’s A followed by SALT reversed.
22 Good recipe, simple to follow and oily
GREASY
A charade of G, R and EASY. R for ‘recipe’ probably only comes up in crosswords now. It is (or was) doctor-speak for prescriptions: it’s the imperative of the Latin verb recipere, so it means ‘take’ (as in ‘take three pills per day’).
24 Holly sees priest returning to cross
ILEX
A reversal of ELI, the setters’ favourite priest, and X. ILEX is the scientific name for the genus of plants that we call holly.
Fine puzzle to start the Indy week. Brava, Vigo.
In 7a, I think ‘way to cross’ should be underlined as definition. A pleasant enough solve. Favourite was 6d.
After a few tough crosswords over the weekend, this was just what I needed. Pleasant and enjoyable, but some thinking required. I always like spotting a pangram (don’t know why, just do) and there were some witty clues including OVERDO (which I parsed as did Pierre), FLUID OUNCE and GADZOOKS. My pick was FARRAGO, the name of the weekly paper of my alma mater – maybe a ‘complete mess’, but definitely not ‘Far right’!
Thanks to Vigo and Pierre.
Thanks, Hovis.
Thanks Pierre. I thought 19a could work either way, with ‘devastated’ as the definition and ‘drunk’ as the anagram indicator as an alternative to the parsing you give.
Yes, Andrew,you are right: it does work either way. Better that than not working at all …
Thanks Vigo and Pierre.
Good, smooth clues, and Vigo likes pangrams it seems. Makes a change from themes, unless there is something else lurking in there.
I liked the serviceman for DOUBLE FAULTS.
Nice and easy stuff, I thought. Fairly whizzed through with only ‘viaduct’ giving me a moment of pause at the end. Lots of nice, solid stuff with my fave being ‘gadzooks’ – great word! Couldn’t spot a theme, though did notice a central cluster of four O’s in the middle of the grid and two fruits in 3d &18d down the middle column. Many thanks to Vigo for a nice puzzle and to Pierre for the blog.
Many thanks, Vigo – as enjoyable as ever.
Particularly liked 26a & 1d but 23a was definitely the cat’s whiskers!
Thanks also to Pierre for the blog – I parsed 12a in the same way as you did.
Nice quick solve over a coffee, and lots to like, such as OVERDO and GADZOOKS, and 14ac which is, fortuitously no doubt, somewhat topical.
Pedant’s corner: R for ‘take’ on prescriptions was a direction to the pharmacist, not the patient, in the days when pharmacists actually made up prescriptions rather than reaching for a box from the shelf. So it might be interpreted as ‘take 5 scruples of this, 2 drams of that, 3 minims of the other, &c, &c …’
Thanks, Vigo and Pierre
Such an enjoyable puzzle from Vigo and thanks for the blog Pierre.
Thanks to Pierre for the very entertaining blog and to all who took the time to post a comment. Much appreciated.
V
Thanks Vigo – great start to the week.
Thanks also to Pierre – great blog as usual.
Late post, away from home and revving up to blog the FT. Fine puzzle and an excellent preliminary work-out. Liked 26a particularly for its charming surface & wilful & conscious use of the split infinitive of which I always approve.
Lovely puzzle – thanks Vigo.
Predictably I liked the two cats, with the graceful one my favourite.
Thanks too to Pierre for the blog.
I’ve been having fun catching up with fave setters! This was thoroughly enjoyable. The standout clue for me was 23a. Beautiful!
Big thanks to Vigo and to Pierre.