A pleasant gentle crossword from Silvanus today. I thought one or two of the surfaces (10ac, 15ac, …) were perhaps a little underwhelming, but on the other hand some (11ac, 1dn, …) were very good.
Definitions underlined and in maroon.
For some reason I never expected there to be a Nina in this one. Now prove me wrong!
| Across | ||
| 1 | UNIT | Single item of ammunition (4) |
| Hidden in ammUNITion | ||
| 3 | PAINTBRUSH | Punish brat somehow? Constable would use this (10) |
| (Punish brat)* — not a police constable but the artist John Constable | ||
| 10 | DECORUM | Propriety from last month – it represents nothing strange (7) |
| Dec 0 rum — December is the last month of the year — I can’t see what the purpose of ‘it represents’ is: it doesn’t improve the surface, indeed possibly detracts from it; perhaps Silvanus felt that 0 = nothing wasn’t quite enough | ||
| 11 | DRESDEN | Empty dresser badly needs porcelain (7) |
| d{resse}r (needs)* | ||
| 12 | RESCIND | Cancel half of shares before company’s inexperienced new director starts (7) |
| {sha}res c{ompany’s} i{nexperienced} n{ew} d{irector} | ||
| 13 | ENSURE | Guarantee severe criticism having skipped college (6) |
| {c}ensure | ||
| 15 | CURSE | Scout risked regularly to swear (5) |
| {S}c{o}u{t} r{i}s{k}e{d} | ||
| 16 | LIMESTONE | Rock ace seen by Liverpool station (9) |
| Lime St one — my knowledge of Liverpool stations is limited to Lime Street, so this was fortunate | ||
| 18 | RAPACIOUS | Grasping extensive cold front is disappearing, ultimately milder instead (9) |
| capacious with its initial c [cold front (cold’s front or c at the front?)] replaced by r [ultimately milder] | ||
| 21 | REPEL | Drive back one avoided heading west (5) |
| (leper)rev. | ||
| 23 | GENIUS | In class Indian primarily shows outstanding intellectual ability (6) |
| gen(I)us, the I being I{ndian} — before anyone complains that class = genus is wrong, which in biological classification it is, Chambers has ‘genus: a class of objects comprehending several subordinate species (logic)’, although goodness knows what that means, and one of the great logicians is speaking (all of gamma in the Logic paper in my Oxford finals years ago) | ||
| 25 | CAVALRY | Grant covers review of facilities for horsemen (7) |
| Ca(val)ry, the val being (lav)rev. — ref Cary Grant | ||
| 27 | OPEN-AIR | Love writer to broadcast outside (4-3) |
| 0 pen air | ||
| 28 | AVARICE | Greed foremost in epicure pursuing extravagant caviar (7) |
| (caviar)* e{picure} | ||
| 29 | MOTHERWELL | Scottish town‘s relative health in question? (10) |
| Mother well — ‘is Mother well?’ | ||
| 30 | KNOT | Difficulty hearing crucial part of negative statement (4) |
| “not” | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | UNDERSCORE | Stress of one still in their teens? (10) |
| under score — if someone is in their teens they are under 20, ie under a score | ||
| 2 | INCISOR | Incorporated gold to coat one small tooth (7) |
| (inc. (1 s) or) | ||
| 4 | ARMADILLO | Intrinsically unpopular, mad, illogical creature (9) |
| Hidden in unpopulAR, MAD ILLOgical | ||
| 5 | NUDGE | Gentle reminder of catching girlfriend initially in state of undress (5) |
| nud(g)e, the g being g{irlfriend} | ||
| 6 | BLESSES | Praises athletics supremo over pocketing a smaller sum (7) |
| b(less)es, the bes being (Seb)rev. — the athletics supremo is Seb Coe — I wonder how long this three-letter boon to crossword setters will continue | ||
| 7 | UNDERGO | Own goal embarrassed foreign character’s comeback experience (7) |
| (o.g. red nu)rev. | ||
| 8 | HUNT | Without hesitation watch search process (4) |
| hunt{er} — the hunter is a watch | ||
| 9 | URSINE | Some connoisseurs in engineering like Paddington for instance (6) |
| Hidden in connoiseURS IN Engineering — ursine means like a bear, which Paddington was | ||
| 14 | DEPLOYMENT | Organisation comprises dissolute “old men types” mostly (10) |
| (old men type{s})* | ||
| 17 | MUSIC HALL | Chum is bewildered totally in variety theatre (5,4) |
| (Chum is)* all | ||
| 19 | PREFECT | French official‘s old Ford (7) |
| 2 defs — one of them referring to a type of Ford which only those of a certain age, and readers of ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’, will remember | ||
| 20 | CLIMATE | Current trend in opinion Alec and Tim manipulated (7) |
| (Alec Tim)* | ||
| 21 | REVEAL | Make disclosure about meat (6) |
| re veal | ||
| 22 | PILLION | Flipping cheek – Leo’s getting seat next to driver! (7) |
| (lip)rev. lion | ||
| 24 | STRAW | Thatcher is closely associated with this former Cabinet minister (5) |
| 2 defs — a roof thatcher and Jack Straw | ||
| 26 | FORM | Criminal record document (4) |
| 2 defs | ||
*anagram
What, no one’s commented yet. A change from the last couple of days. It all went in easily, so I can understand why no-one has anything to say.
Just thee, John and me, D? Summer holidays started or someut?
Enjoyable puzzle, I thought – though not quite as easy as blogger and D found it (but in a good, make me feel clever while solving, way). Fave clue was 3d for nice surface misdirection throughout.
Thanks to God for the puzzle and to John for the blog.
We don’t normally have to comment on Wednesdays, Dac day and everything smooth as silk, or whatever. No change today, a quibble-free solve in 15 mins so the rest of the day to melt or hide in the pub.
Thanks to S&B
Paul @3 – can’t argue with that – especially the pub part – and I know one particular setter friend of mine who’ll be very pleased to hear it indeed.
Setter here, many thanks to John for his spot-on interpretations and to those kind enough to take the trouble to comment. Much appreciated.
Late on parade today with this, but many thanks to Silvanus and John.
D’oh! Forgot to change user name in post 6.
I blame Kathryn’sDad
I really enjoyed this one. The armadillo hidden in 4d made me smile.
Thanks to Silvanus and John.
P.S. News by the last of the carrier pigeons is that Jane loved it.
This is such a late comment I’m not sure whether you will notice it, Silvanus. Just to say I printed this off to do later and I’m so pleased I did. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I thought this a lovely puzzle. My favourite was 22d. I also particularly liked 1d, 4d, 18a and 25a.
Appreciativer thanks to Silvanus and to John for the blog.