This was five mini crosswords: four corners and a middle, each connected by a single cell. I enjoyed each of them individually and and the puzzle as a whole. The clues were not hard but the repeated cold starts made completing the whole a little more of a challenge. Thank you Aardvark.
There are a couple of quibbles in here but I’m not grumbling, just commenting.
I will be away for the rest of the day but I will try and drop in for corrections etc if I can.
| Across | ||
| 1 | MATRON | Nurse once covering right leg (6) |
| MAT (covering) R (right) and ON (leg-side, cricket) | ||
| 4 | UNSLICED | Type of bread (includes nuts) (8) |
| anagram (nuts) of INCLUDES | ||
| 9 | NEEDLE | Require licence to drain sewer? (6) |
| NEED (require) LicencE (to drain, no middle letters) – something that sews | ||
| 10 | LOMBARDY | See poet visiting compiler somewhere in Italy (8) |
| LO (see) then BARD (poet) inside (visiting) MY (compiler?). Isn’t the compiler ME rather than MY? | ||
| 12 | COLANDER | Article probes rather cool kitchen utensil (8) |
| AN (indefinite article) inside (probes) COLDER (rather cool) | ||
| 13 | WHAT HO | Which person assumes headwear for hail? (4,2) |
| WHO (which person) contains (assumes) HAT (headwear) | ||
| 15 | EDAM | Small space contains advert backing dairy product (4) |
| EM (small space, printing) contains AD (advert) reversed (backing) | ||
| 16 | WOE IS ME | I feel terrible regularly, wrote tipsy writer (3,2,2) |
| WrOtE tIpSy (regularly, every other letter) and ME (the writer) | ||
| 20 | MATINEE | Perhaps West End’s premier gains money for performance (7) |
| MAE (Mae West perhaps) and End (first letter, premier of) contains (gains) TIN (money) | ||
| 21 | FARL | Sort of cup both hands for cake (4) |
| FA (sort of cup, football) then R and L (both hands) | ||
| 25 | TIEPIN | Repeatedly attach clothing accessory (6) |
| TIE (attach) and PIn (attach, repeated) | ||
| 26 | AU GRATIN | After month, seaman’s back at home displaying culinary style (2,6) |
| AUG (August, month) then TAR (seaman) reversed) (back) and IN (at home) | ||
| 28 | BELLE VUE | Fine prospect, to act with two lines at theatrical show, runs out (5,3) |
| BE (to act, take on a role) with L L (line, twice) and rEVUE (theatrical show) missing R (runs) | ||
| 29 | SPROUT | French novelist, wanting son primarily to develop (6) |
| PROUST (French novelist) with S (son) moving to the front (primarily) | ||
| 30 | SPECTRUM | In periphery of skillet, mushroom turned unusual range of colours (8) |
| CEP (mushroom) reversed (turned) in SkilleT (periphery of) then RUM (unusual) | ||
| 31 | SPOT ON | Exactly right to use tee when restricted by old golfing club (4-2) |
| T (tee, name of letter) inside (restricted by) SPOON (old golf club) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | MONICKER | Name Nicholas abbreviated during more editing (8) |
| NCIK (Nicholas abbreviated) in anagram (editing) of MORE | ||
| 2 | THE ILIAD | Extremely thorough Welshman to tell stories about ancient text (3,5) |
| ThourougH (extremes of) ten DAI (a Welshman) and LIE (tell tales) reversed (about) | ||
| 3 | OOLONG | Old couple extended oriental tea (6) |
| O O (old, a couple of) and LONG (extended) | ||
| 5 | NOOK | Child and I leaving native American retreat (4) |
| chiNOOK (native American) missing CH (child) and I | ||
| 6 | LA BOHEME | Hum with male during weak opera (2,6) |
| BO (body odour, hum) with M (male) inside (during) LAME (weak) | ||
| 7 | CURATE | Clergyman attending, has smoke perhaps outside? (6) |
| AT (attending) inside (with…outside) CURE (smoke perhaps, like bacon) | ||
| 8 | DRY ROT | Hazel’s problem maybe needing doctor to track back (3,3) |
| DR (doctor) TO then RY (railway, track) reversed (back) | ||
| 11 | BEGONIA | Go away shortly, vacation in Ibiza, seeing colourful flower (7) |
| BE GONe (go away, shortly) then IbizA (vacation in, being vacated) | ||
| 14 | WINE GUM | Sweet victory against Spain, cup being lifted (4,3) |
| WIN (victory) with (against) E (Espania, Spain) then MUG (cup) reversed (lifted) | ||
| 17 | KABINETT | Taxi ordered by Geordie non- drinker after one German wine (8) |
| KAB sounds like (ordered, as on the phone) cab (taxi) then NE (north eastern, Geordie) TT (non-drinker) following (after) I (one). I’m not keen on ordered as a homophone indicator, to me there is nothing specifically verbal about an order, it could just as easily be written. | ||
| 18 | LAST POST | Stay after ceremonial piece of music (4,4) |
| LAST (stay) POST (after) | ||
| 19 | PLANKTON | Chart written by banks of Kennet on aquatic organisms (8) |
| PLAN (chart) with KenneT (banks of, side letters) and ON | ||
| 22 | STUBBS | English painter finding stone guest-house in America (6) |
| ST (stone) BB (B&B, guest house) in US (America) | ||
| 23 | WELLIE | It’s 50:50 one will fit into small boot (6) |
| L L I (fifty, fifty and one as Roman numerals) in WEE (small) | ||
| 24 | WRAP UP | Keep warm with gunner and dog (4,2) |
| W (with) RA (Royal Artillery, a gunner) and PUP (dod) | ||
| 27 | TUTU | Disapproving utterance over posh skirt (4) |
| TUT (disapproving utterance) on U (posh) | ||
definitions are underlined
I write these posts to help people get started with cryptic crosswords. If there is something here you do not understand ask a question; there are probably others wondering the same thing.
“Call me a cab”
“OK youre a kab”
Really enjoyed this. For 10a, I took visiting compiler to be something like ‘in my surrounding’. Failed to get WINE GUM, so obvious really but my mind went to rice pud and wouldn’t leave.
I meant to ask why ‘once’ in 1a – I thought matrons were still nurses even if mainly managerial?
Re Hovis @ 3: A matron’s title was formerly “nurse” and is now “matron”.
Methinks the ‘money’ in 20ac is TIN.
Thanks Aardvark and PeeDee
Interesting puzzle(s) that was completed across a number of short sessions and did need to be prised out bit by bit. Good variety of devices as per normal from this setter and particularly liked MATINEE for its neat and misleading surface that still generated a related solution. WELLIE wasn’t far behind.
Finished in the SW corner with KABINETT (that I hadn’t come across before), BELLE VUE (there does seem to be an increasing number of unannounced foreign words and phrases served up in puzzles lately) and TUTU the last few in.
You think correctly Pentangle. Fixed now.