A Saturday Nimrod – enough to send a shiver up your spine!
As expected there are a couple which we need some help with. We were struggling towards the end and as we had noticed quite early on the possibility of it being a pangram we thought that we be able to at least pick out the missing letters. No such luck! By the time we went through the alphabet we realised that we had every letter in the alphabet already.
Thanks Nimrod – there were some great surfaces and some crafty misdirections.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | Senior judge stabbed by sword from behind well! (7) | |
| JEEPERS | SR (senior) J (judge) around or ‘stabbed by’ EPEE (sword) all reversed or ‘from behind’ | |
| 5 | Outcome of flipping warning message (5-2) | |
| HEADS-UP | Double definition | |
| 9 | Grass framing bad criminal in press produces work for peelers (4-7) | |
| SPUD-BASHING | SING (grass) around an anagram of BAD (anagrind is ‘criminal’) which is inside PUSH (press) | |
| 10 | Direct motorway link between capitals anticipated (3) | |
| AIM | We think this is a reference to the A1 connecting Edinburgh and London, which, in parts is classified as a motorway, as A1(M) – but we cannot work out what part ‘anticipated’ is playing in the parsing. | |
| 11 | Treat tomatoes, perhaps, of various kinds (6) | |
| SUNDRY | A play on the fact that you can SUN DRY tomatoes – delicious! | |
| 12 | Foolhardy rival buttonholes slow-witted fellow waiting in playhouse (8) | |
| VLADIMIR | An anagram of RIVAL (anagrind is ‘foolhardy’) around or ‘button-holing’ DIM (slow witted). The fellow waiting refers to one of the characters in THIS play | |
| 14 | Times notice read by luvvie in boozer giving details of exhumation (1,5,3,4) | |
| X MARKS THE SPOT | X (times) MARK (notice) + THESP (luvvie) in SOT (boozer) | |
| 17 | Dazzling routine: being dancer’s first tango, well impressed! (7,2,4) | |
| DRESSED TO KILL | DRILL (routine) around or ‘impressed by’ ESSE (being) D (first letter of dancer) T (Tango) OK (well) | |
| 21 | Marine’s visiting a party to mellow (2,6) | |
| IN SEASON | SEA’S (marine’s) inside or ‘visiting’ IN ON (a party to). We struggled with this one for ages as we kept on thinking of the verb ’to mellow’. | |
| 23 | Must drop joint, Spooner says (4-2) | |
| NEED-BE | A Spoonerism of BEAD (drop) KNEE (joint) | |
| 25 | Not so many sheep now father’s departed (3) | |
| EWE | ||
| 26 | Dancing to tune, regularly achieving perfection (3,3,2,3) | |
| TEN OUT OF TEN | An anagram of TO TUNE (anagrind is ‘dancing’) OFTEN (regularly) | |
| 27 | Silk demonstrated exhibits numbers 1 and 7 (7) | |
| SATINET | SAT IN (demonstrated) E T (first and seventh letters in ‘exhibits’) | |
| 28 | Extremely daring unmentionables! (7) | |
| BRAVEST | BRA VEST (unmentionables) – Oh Dear. We just mentioned them! | |
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | I agree – well deserved, getting promoted (4,2) | |
| JUST SO | We struggled with this one and the only logical explanation we can come up with is SO JUST (well deserved) the wrong way round or ‘getting promoted’ | |
| 2 | One draught animal failing to finish a second event in September? (7) | |
| EQUINOX | EQUIN |
|
| 3 | Church Times given makeover by Reds, maybe? (5,4) | |
| EMBER DAYS | An anagram of REDS MAYBE (anagrind is ‘makeover’) | |
| 4 | Frame it, then put a sock in it (4) | |
| SASH | SA (IT as in sex appeal) SH (put a sock in it) | |
| 5 | The redeveloped Rio Hilton employs a lock-keeper (4,6) | |
| HAIR LOTION | An anagram of RIO HILTON around or ‘employing’ A (anagrind is ‘redeveloped’) | |
| 6 | A cover maintains topping for gateau at low temperature (5) | |
| ALGID | A LID (cover) around G (first letter or ‘topping’ for gateau) | |
| 7 | Sparkling display, Garrett’s whirling gun as centrepiece (4,3) | |
| STAR MAP | PAT’S (as in Pat Garrett’s) reversed or ‘whirling’ with ARM (gun) in the middle or ‘as centrepiece’ | |
| 8 | Sweets that are made round British networks (8) | |
| POMFRETS | POM (British) FRETS (networks). The round sweets are sometimes called Pontefract cakes. | |
| 13 | Promise(!) regulars in nick big day out keeps on coming round (1,3,3,3) | |
| I KID YOU NOT | I K I D Y (alternate or ‘regular’ letters in nIcK bIg DaY) and OUT around or ‘keeping’ ON reversed or ‘coming round’ | |
| 15 | Brew infused with Australian fruit upset writer (5,4) | |
| EMILE ZOLA | ALE (brew) around or ‘infused by’ OZ (Australian) + LIME (fruit) all reversed or ‘upset’ | |
| 16 | This is excessively defined anxiety (8) | |
| EDGINESS | We are not sure about this one – an object could be said to be ‘defined’ by its edges, but why ‘excessively’? | |
| 18 | Extremely tranquil things taken in the afternoon out of gratitude (7) | |
| EASIEST | ||
| 19 | “Lively young thing”, a duke observed in short communication (7) | |
| LADETTE | A D (duke) inside LETTE |
|
| 20 | Something developing underground fuels European U-turn (6) | |
| PEANUT | Hidden inside or ‘fuelling’ EuroPEAN U-Turn | |
| 22 | Regarding new Uni (5) | |
| ASTON | AS TO (regarding) N (new) | |
| 24 | Check fourth of stars in Ursa Minor (4) | |
| CURB | R (fourth letter in ‘stars’) inside CUB (Ursa Minor – little bear) | |
Great puzzle and blog.many thanks to Nimrod and B&J.Nice to see one of my favourite authors with very gettable wordplay.I was a few parses short which is main reason I visited here.
And to laud one of my favourite setters. OK favourite setter.Loved the Godot and the tomatoes too.
And I seem to remember a sign saying A1(M) on the way out of London.
I find Nimrod a bit of a hit-and-miss setter with this being a definite hit. Loved it but couldn’t finish. I parsed 1d pretty much as blogged with promoted referring to JUST, i.e., moving it to the top. Was pleased to parse EASIEST early on but angry with myself for failing to parse SATINET. Don’t fully understand AIM, but assume it is because the AI(M) was to become a motorway? Don’t understand EDGINESS yet.
My one complaint is the use of ‘often’ to mean ‘regularly’, as opposed to ‘frequently’, in 26a. I guess it has become acceptable through misuse? Or I’m wrong again and somebody will put me right.
Thanks B&J
Regarding 16dn, one of the definitions in Chambers under EDGINESS is “Angularity or over-sharpness of outline” which I think equates with ‘excessively defined’. Collins has “excessively defined” as a definition for ‘edgy’.
Thanks B&J (and N). I thought AIM was M[otorway] preceded by A1 (route between London and Edinburgh), so it’s a “motorway [that a] link between [the] capitals anticipated”.
Still not sure about Easiest. Isn’t there an S too many in the parsing? Enjoyed the puzzle after the initial ‘Oh no it’s a Nimrod’ moment, and surprised myself by doing OK without help.
Thanks to N & B & J
Paul A @5 – Thanks for pointing that out – it’s a typo on our behalf (now corrected) – it’s (T)EA (in the singular) and SIEST(A) – both things you might take in the afternoon without the ‘TA’
Ooh, my brain hurts – not to mention the apprentice’s! A really tough workout but we got there in the end without help apart from checking in Chambers that the word ALGID actually exists. We realised it must be a pangram about half way through and checking the letter count we were missing a C – which immediately solved 24dn for us.
Tips for solvers department: Check the clue carefully – it was “marine’s” rather than “marine” in 21ac that eventually helped us see what was afoot.
Too many fiendishly clever (= excellent) clues to nominate a CoD but SPUD-BASHING, VLADIMIR and CURB would be in the running. We’d give this at least 26ac – 13dn!
Thanks, Nimrod and B&J
… and we saw the ‘anticipated’ in 10ac as referring to the A1 being not yet completely upgraded to a motorway.
Great surfaces and lovely misdirections indeed – You always find with a Nimrod (or any Henderson crossword come to that) that you are reminded of ‘stuff’ you thought you didn’t know – Mr Garratt in 7d being one such thing lurking in the back of my memory banks
Thanks to Nimrod and B&H too
A bit gentler than the usual Nimrod. Eventually finished, even if it was with more than a bit of guesswork and with a few only half-parsed. Somehow fluked CURB as my first in and slow going from then on. JEEPERS for ‘well’ was my favourite.
Thanks to B & J and Nimrod.
Thanks B&J@6, I should have seen that.
I got the bottom right corner filled in very quickly first thing this morning and then ground to a halt. It took me to now to compete it, and even then I filled in 21ac and 16dn and 18dn without being convinced I’d got the right answers, although I see I had. I can’t really see when mellow means “in season”.
We understood mellow to indicate that something was ‘ripe or mature’ which is the same as saying that sonething is ‘in season’ (as far as Joyce is concerned when thinking about fruit and veg in the garden).
I don’t think it’s a meaning of mellow I’m at all familiar with.
Help an American out — why is “sing” an analogue of “grass”?
Philip@15 – Chambers defines sing as ‘to confess, to turn informer, to squeal (slang, esp N American)’. Another meaning of grass is slang for ‘to inform on’.
When I wrote up the blog I almost added a bit more explanation so please accept my apologies. (Joyce)