Our setter gives us something slightly more challenging than the normal Tuesday offering…
A mixed bag. Some straightforward stuff to get us going, then a few stiffer tests and a couple of (to me anyway) obscurities to get the grey matter fizzing a bit. Good puzzle. Thanks, Sayang.
| Across | ||
| 1, 6 | SOFT-BOILED EGGS | Soldiers may engage them at the crack of dawn (4-6,4) |
| Whole-clue jocular cryptic; toast ‘soldiers’ & dippy egg for breakfast. Might just do that now. | ||
| 9 | CAVALCANTI | A cat Calvin butchered in Rio neighbourhood (10) |
| Anagram (‘butchered’) of A CAT CALVIN. Wiki’d this & found little to report. | ||
| 10 | YO-YO | Repeatedly calling for attention to toy (2-2) |
| YO (‘ahoy there!’) x 2. | ||
| 12 | NONCOMMITTAL | Cautious Milton to con man “No, no criminal” (12) |
| Anagram (‘criminal’) of MILTON TO CON MAN minus NO. | ||
| 15 | HOMEGROWN | Native in formal dress embracing king (9) |
| IN (‘home’) then GOWN (‘formal dress’) around R[ex], ‘king’. | ||
| 17 | See 22 | |
| 18 | MURAL | Right for all to see replacement for round wall painting (5) |
| MORAL (‘right’) with U (cinema classification, ‘for all to see’) replacing O (’round’). | ||
| 19 | EXTRACTOR | Old farm vehicle & exhaust fan (9) |
| Ex-tractor, ho-ho. | ||
| 20 | FISH AND CHIPS | Almost fine dish chaps fried for traditional food (4,3,5) |
| Anagram (‘fried’, appropriately) of FINe DISH CHAPS. | ||
| 24 | CURT | Brusque scoundrel with model (4) |
| CUR (‘scoundrel’) + T (old Ford ‘model’). | ||
| 25 | HAVE IT MADE | Own a timed device for an easy life (4,2,4) |
| HAVE (‘own’) + anagram (‘device’) of A TIMED. | ||
| 26 | DROP | Give up deposit (4) |
| Double definition. | ||
| 27 | ATTACHMENT | A loving feeling for that net cam development (10) |
| Anagram (‘development’) of THAT NET CAM. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SACK | Discharge rifle (4) |
| Another DD. | ||
| 2 | FIVE | Number four in empty fridge (4) |
| IV (Roman 4) in FridgE. | ||
| 3 | BALM OF GILEAD | Healing ointment revitalised foliaged tree (4,2,6) |
| BALM (‘healing ointment’) + anagram (‘revitalised’) of FOLIAGED. Last clue in. Had to search for this & again with little to report. It’s to do with the book of Lamentations. That Jeremiah could go on, couldn’t he? | ||
| 4 | ISAAC | Newton is a Chartered Accountant up in Scotland (5) |
| IS A + AC (last 5 words of clue). | ||
| 5 | ESTAMINET | Café advertisement left out derv spillage (9) |
| Anagarm (‘spillage’) of AdverTISEMENT minus DERV. | ||
| 7 | GHOST-WRITE | Scribe spiritually? (5-5) |
| Whole-clue cryptic. | ||
| 8 | SPOILSPORT | Meddler left special lubricants at the front (10) |
| PORT (‘left’) after SP[ecial] OILS. | ||
| 11 | HIT A BAD PATCH | Encounter hardship, so criticise a poor temporary solution from Microsoft, perhaps (3,1,3,5) |
| HIT (‘criticise’) A BAD (‘a poor’) PATCH (software fix). A bit thin, this, I thought. | ||
| 13 | SHAMEFACED | Hoax cover admitted by press chief, sheepish & sorry (10) |
| SHAM (‘hoax’) + FACE (‘cover’) in ED[itor]. | ||
| 14 | IMPRESARIO | Promise air conditioning for showman (10) |
| Anagram (‘conditioning’) of PROMISE AIR. Neat surface. | ||
| 16 | OVERDRAFT | No more blueprint outstanding with the bank (9) |
| OVER (‘no more’) + DRAFT (‘blueprint’). | ||
| 21 | HYENA | Rubbishy enactment restricts wild animal (5) |
| Inclusion (‘restricts’) in ‘rubbisHY ENActment’. | ||
| 22, 17 | MAKE A TRIP | Cast Mike with a part in “Travel” (4,1,4) |
| Anagram (‘cast’) of MIKE A PART. | ||
| 23 | ZEST | Peel with gusto (4) |
| Double def. | ||
*anagram
You must be lonely today, Grant!
Like you I found this crossword a bit harder than the ‘usual’ Tuesday FT fare.
It was also relatively difficult for a Sayang, although it had his familiar style all over it.
Quite something to clue AC with ‘Chartered Accountant up in Scotland’ ….
And 12ac had me looking for the right anagram fodder for ages, just like in 3d where ‘foliaged tree’ could have been the fodder (but alas).
While the surface of 20ac is nice (and, indeed, apt) the fodder was a bit too obvious.
I liked 15ac (HOMEGROWN) and 14d (very nice anagram fodder!).
I’m not sure whether ‘at the front’ is a good indicator in 8d as it’s a Down clue.
Through the years I have become less and less enthusiastic about nounal indicators.
Therefore ‘replacement’ (18ac), ‘device’ (25ac) and ‘spillage’ (5d) wouldn’t have been my choice.
I’m not fully against these kind of indicators but, for example, ‘heat treatment‘ sits better with me than ‘a timed device‘.
A matter of taste?
By the way, I don’t put the blame on Sayang as several setters would disagree with me (not the majority, though).
Last week we had an FT crossword with four cases of nounal indicators that were only there to enhance the surface.
For me, however, the surface comes second – I’d rather re-write a clue.
No comments from other solvers so why should I actually care?
Thanks for the blog Grant, & Sayang for the challenge.
A very happy day for Sayang … just got news of a brand-new grandson. This puzzle was inspired when the London grandchildren came to visit last year and I sat with them at the breakfast table when they asked for toasted bread to accompany their half-boiled eggs (yes, in the East, this is the term).
Thank you Grant for the blog and Sil for your usual thorough going through. Now to go and see my new grandson.
Thanks Sayang and Grant
Found this tougher than normal … but it was done on a train ride home quite late with more than the normal number of glasses of Shiraz under my belt. So was happy that others didn’t find it a pushover either!
My befuddled brain didn’t get the anagram fodder for either 12a nor 3D properly untangled – the answers were definitely the answers though.
Finished with the clever cd – SOFT-BOILED EGGS.
PS congratulations on your new arrival !!