Gurney provides us with an entertaining challenge this morning.
A crossword with a good mix of clues, some of which were write-ins and some of which took a bit of time to solve and/or parse.
It was a steady solve, though, as the more elusive clues revealed themselves when crossing letters fell into place, with my LOI being ICONOCLAST.
Thanks, Gurney.
| Across | ||
| 1 | COCKCROW | Heap of hay attracting bird early in day (8) |
| COCK (heap of hay) + CROW (bird)
Hadn’t come across “cock” as a pile of hay before, but apparently it is a name for a conical heap of hay. |
||
| 5 | VIKING | Seafarer from past in opposition to island monarch (6) |
| V (short for “versus” (in opposition to)) + I(sland) +KING (monarch) | ||
| 9 | ATLANTIS | Legendary location in book enthralling Nettie on regular basis (8) |
| ATLAS (book) “enthralling” NeTtIe | ||
| 10 | GOETHE | German writer’s progress with English article (6) |
| GO (progress) + E(nglish) + THE (article)
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), whose most celebrated works include “The Sorrows of Young Werther” and “Faust”. |
||
| 11 | EAU-DE-NIL | Alien due? Could be yellowish- green! (3,2,3) |
| *(alien due) | ||
| 12 | FABIAN | Leaders in fact are being indecisive and needlessly cautious (6) |
| Leaders in (ie first letters of) “F(act) A(re) B(eing) I(ndecisive) A(nd) N(eedlessly)” | ||
| 14 | BATON ROUGE | One out at night appearing with cosmetic in capital? (5,5) |
| BAT (one out at night) + ON (appearing) + ROUGE (cosmetic)
Baton Rouge is the capital of the American state of Louisiana. |
||
| 18 | ICONOCLAST | One hostile to Officer Commanding carry-on, say? (10) |
| I (one) + CON (hostile to) + O(fficer) C(ommanding) + LAST (carry on) (an &lit. clue) | ||
| 22 | SANDAL | Son with a large item of footwear (6) |
| S(on) AND (with) A L(arge) | ||
| 23 | GO NATIVE | Yield over old King Cole – follow locals (2,6) |
| GIVE (yield) “over” O(ld) + NAT (King Cole), so G(O-NAT)IVE | ||
| 24 | FOODIE | Gourmet’s dessert cut at finish (6) |
| FOO(l) (dessert, “cut”) + DIE (finish) | ||
| 25 | FEMINIST | Fine European film about popular campaigner (8) |
| F(ine) E(uropean) MIST “about” IN (popular) | ||
| 26 | TITTER | After loss of weight, messaging site providing a laugh (6) |
| T(w)ITTER (messaging site, losing W(eight)) | ||
| 27 | GARGOYLE | Glory age seen otherwise – as something ugly? (8) |
| *(glory age) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | CRAVEN | Mean-spirited, caught bird (6) |
| C(aught) + RAVEN (bird) | ||
| 2 | CALL-UP | Summons for service, country’s first, entirely finished (4-2) |
| C(ountry) + ALL (entirely) + UP (finished) | ||
| 3 | CANNES | Sticks about northern festival centre (6) |
| CANES (sticks) “about” N(orthern)
The French resort of Cannes is the venue for a prestigious annual film festival. |
||
| 4 | ORIGINALLY | Ring, loyal, I organised at outset (10) |
| *(ring loyal I) | ||
| 6 | IDOLATRY | Reverence shown by lady trio after conversion (8) |
| *(lady trio) | ||
| 7 | INTRIGUE | Plot’s fascinating quality (8) |
| Double definition | ||
| 8 | GUERNSEY | Gurney’s abroad, touring eastern island? (8) |
| *(gurneys) “touring” E(astern) | ||
| 13 | HORSE OPERA | Film hero, so cultivated, with power over time (5,5) |
| *(hero so) + P(ower) +ERA (time)
“Horse opera” is an alternative name for a western. |
||
| 15 | HISSY FIT | Fellow’s extremely silly suit leads to outburst (5,3) |
| HIS (fellow’s) + S(ill)Y + FIT (suit) | ||
| 16 | SOUND OUT | Sensible, striking question (5,3) |
| SOUND (sensible) + OUT (on strike, so “striking”) | ||
| 17 | BONA FIDE | Genuine Jedi fan objecting, upset to some extent (4,4) |
| Hidden backwards in “jEDO FAN OBjecting” | ||
| 19 | EALING | Area in London getting better, hard to leave (6) |
| (h)EALING (getting better, with H(ard) “leaving”) | ||
| 20 | VILIFY | Malign six cut biography unfairly in end (6) |
| VI (six) + LIF(e) (biography, “cut”) + (unfairl)Y | ||
| 21 | BEATLE | Member of Merseyside group surpassed the French (6) |
| BEAT (surpassed) + LE (the, in French) | ||
*anagram
Thanks Gurney and loonapick
Surprised to see no comments on what I thought was a very good and interesting crossword. Think that I helped my cause by doing it in a number of shorter sessions as I found a fresh look at clues that initially looked impenetrable would just become apparent – especially so with my last two – HISSY FIT and FOODIE.
ICONOCLAST took quite a while to see as well – the first time an &lit clue has proven more of a hindrance than a help. EAU DE NIL and FABIAN were both new terms.
Did have issues with CRAVEN equating to ‘mean-spirited’ – but I suppose it will line up somewhere.
Thanks for the blog, loonapick, and brucew for the comment. Glad you enjoyed it. Collins dictionary (which is free on-line) has ‘mean-spirited’ for CRAVEN but dictionaries are not infallible, I guess.
Horse Opera?
Eau de Nil?
Not a good crossword.