My apologies for the late posting, which is due to unforeseen circumstances this afternoon.
This is only the second occasion on which I have blogged a puzzle by Dutch, and I have to say that it was even more enjoyable than the first one. I found this puzzle to be moderately challenging, highly entertaining and full of flair, verging on the unorthodox in places, e.g. the definition at 10A.
My favourites today are 9, 10A, 25 and 26, all for putting a smile on my face; 8, for sustaining the bread-making theme through definition and wordplay alike; 11, for sheer concision; and above all 10D, for its smooth surface and for what was so unexpected an answer!
Interestingly, I noticed that the top-half of the completed grid contains a number of strings of “w”s, one horizontal and two diagonal, which I can’t imagine happened by accident, given that this is not one of the standard 15 x 15 grids. Is this something only our Dutch(-speaking) solvers could appreciate, a bit of Limburg dialect perhaps?!
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | POSTER | Notice man with a package, perhaps
Cryptically, a “man with a package” to post could be described as a “poster “ |
| 04 | ASCRIBES | A writer with special attributes
A + SCRIBE (=writer) + S (=special) |
| 09 | SWAMP | Spam fan was regularly back in bog
<s>P<a>M <f>A<n> W<a>S; “regularly” means alternate letters only are used; “back” indicates reversal |
| 10 | SALAD BOWL | Tosspot allows bad dancing
*(ALLOWS BAD); “dancing” is anagram indicator, cryptically, as salads are often tossed in e.g. vinaigrette, a salad bowl could be described as a “tosspot”!! |
| 11 | THAW | Defrost what needs cooking
*(WHAT); “needs cooking” is anagram indicator |
| 12 | IOWA | One pursuing British island state
IoW (=British island, i.e. Isle of Wight) + A (=one) |
| 13 | OWNER | She has discovered barbiturates
<d>OWNER<s> (=barbiturates); “discovered” means first and last letters, i.e. the word’s “covers”, are dropped |
| 15 | OVERAWE | Gaining weight for good, too old to impress
OVERAGE (=too old); “gaining weight (=W) for good (=G)” means letter “g” is replaced by “w” |
| 16 | AWAY | A custom abroad
A + WAY (=custom); according to Chamber’s Thesaurus, “away” can specifically mean “abroad” and not just anywhere other than at home |
| 19 | BLOC | Look after book about the EU?
B (=book) + LO (=look) + C (=about, i.e. circa) |
| 20 | EYESORE | Offensive construction I noticed in report
Homophone (“in report”) of “I saw” (=I noticed) |
| 23 | EXIST | To be old is to have time
EX- (=old, former) + IS + T (=time) |
| 24 | REEK | Last of Limburger I’m scared to smell
<limburge>R (“last of” means last letter only) + EEK (=I’m scared, i.e. exclamation) |
| 25 | AREA | Theresa really does hold ground
Hidden (“does hold”) in “TheresA REAlly” |
| 27 | PRICE TAGS | Costs of new trade agreement described by sanctimonious prudes
CETA (=new trade agreement, between the EU and Canada) in PRIGS (=sanctimonious prudes) |
| 28 | ALIBI | Excuse any ludicrous in-fighting by incompetent leaders
A<ny> L<udicrous> I<n-fighting> B<y> I<ncompetent>; “leaders” means first letters only |
| 29 | SWEATING | Glowing women in dinner arrangement?
W (=women) in SEATING (=dinner arrangement, cf. seating plan); as the euphemism goes, horses sweat, men perspire and women glow! |
| 30 | TONGUE | Dutch maybe seen among getting-it-on guests?
Hidden (“seen among”) in “getting-iT–ON GUEsts” |
| Down | ||
| 01 | POSITION | Bible class quietly avoids part of speech for missionary, say
P<rep>OSITION (=part of speech); “Bible class (=R.E.) quietly (=P, i.e. piano, in music) avoids” means letters “rep” are dropped |
| 02 | SEAWATER | This could create wet areas
*(WET AREAS); “could create” is anagram indicator; semi- & lit. |
| 03 | ESPY | Detect end of democracy by clairvoyance
ESP (=clairvoyance) + <democrac>Y (“end of” means last letter only) |
| 05 | SELF-AWARENESS | Personal recognition of new sales fears after upheaval
*(NEW SALES FEARS); “after upheaval” is anagram indicator |
| 06 | RADIO-WAVES | Daughter, 12, gatecrashes parties with potential broadcasters
[D (=daughter) + IOWA (=entry at 12)] in RAVES (=parties) |
| 07 | BROWNS | British fight over new Sunday roasts
B (=British) + ROW (=fight) + N (=new) + S (=Sunday) |
| 08 | SALARY | Regular bread sadly rising rather unevenly at the edges
SALA (ALAS=sadly; “rising” indicates vertical reversal) + R<ather unevenl>Y (“at the edges” means first and last letter only are used); “regular bread (=money)” is regular income |
| 10 | SHOWER CURTAIN | Two hurricanes demolished flood defence system
*(TWO HURRICANES); “demolished” is anagram indicator |
| 14 | WALL STREET | Wastrel let loose in banking sector
*(WASTREL LET); “loose” is anagram indicator |
| 17 | WORRYING | Anxious with truck not starting in middle of fight
W (=with) + <l>ORRY (=truck; “not starting” means first letter dropped) + IN + <ni>G<ht> (“middle of” means middle letter only is used); in addition to meaning “worried”, “anxious” can mean “worrying” as in These are anxious times for us all |
| 18 | SET ASIDE | Put away TV when I date Marie at last
SET (=TV) + AS (=when) + I + D (=date) + <mari>E (“at last” means last letter only) |
| 21 | TEMPTS | Persuades politician coming in to restore cuts in U-turn
MP (=politician) in TETS (STET=to restore cuts, i.e. in printing; “in U-turn” indicates reversal) |
| 22 | DIVINE | Wonderful day with client, essentially drinking French wine
VIN (=French wine, i.e. the French word for wine) in [D (=day) + <cl>IE<nt> (“essentially” means middle letters only)] |
| 26 | HALO | Encephalograph can provide indication of light-headedness, possibly
Hidden (“can provide”) in “encepHALOgraph”; cryptically, a halo illuminating the head of a saint, could be described as an “indication of light-headedness”! |
Yesterday Eccles said we were in for a rare treat with today’s Dutch and I agree completely. Fantastic stuff, if mainly straightforward. I don’t know if the SHOWER CURTAIN anagram is original but it’s a beauty and coupled with an amazing surface. I also agree that SALARY was another great clue amongst many. Thanks to S&B.
I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle; thanks to Dutch and RR.
I loved the “tosspot” idea and the clue for SHOWER CURTAIN is terrific.
I always look first at the grid, and this is clearly an unusual one so I knew there’d be something, but it took me some time to spot the large W, made up of several ws occupying the top half of the grid. I’ve no idea if there’s any deeper meaning to it though.
Great stuff.
I really enjoyed this with great surfaces and some very inventive definitions, e.g. 10a, 10d & 28d.
10a was my favourite but 20a, 8d & 10d ran it close.
Very well done, Dutch, and many thanks for the great entertainment.
Another wonderful crossword from a setter who hasn’t lost his HALO (loved that definition!). This took me about the same time as a stiffish Torygraph back page puzzle.
I liked the elegant simplicity of THAW and was blown over by the clue for SHOWER CURTAIN.
As for the definition of SALAD BOWL, what can I say?!
Over at Big Dave’s we have The Naughty Corner and I detected something of a naughty corner here in the NW with 1a, 1d and 2d.
Wwwwwwwhat a nina! I didn’t spot it.
Thanks to Dutch and RatkojaRiku.
Thanks too to RR for the review.
Regarding the Ws, they are actually arranged in W shape. Let’s hope Dutch pops in to reveal te relevance!
Thanks for the blog, RR – ‘Moderately challenging, highly entertaining and full of flair’ is a great summing-up.
I agree with all the positive foregoing comments. I started listing favourites but had to delete them, because there were several different criteria, including the inventive definitions, noted above, but I must highlight 30ac, for the use of ‘Dutch’ not indicating I or ME – he’s done this before.
Many thanks, Dutch. I enjoyed this immensely – and it was great to see you again on Saturday.
We finished this quite quickly for a Thursday puzzle, with plenty of entertainment along the way. 29ac reminded us of that euphemism, too. Smiled at 1dn which we thought to be rather à la Hoskins/Punk. One or two we couldn’t parse, notably SALARY. SHOWER CURTAIN was great – a lovely misdirection (fwiw ‘Thames Barrier’ would fit the enumeration, not that there’s any way it could be derived from the clue).
Failed to spot the nina, of course.
Thanks, Dutch and RatkojaRiku.
Thanks, Dutch & RatkojaRiku
Great fun, really enjoyed the funny defs.
I had ****E*/**R**** for 10d and was equally convinced it was and wasn’t Thames Barrier
My fourth crossword of the day and a nice one to finish with. Found this a little tricky in places and it took me a while to parse OWNER which was last in. Some well disguised definitions.
Thanks to Dutch and RR
Many thanks RatkojaRiku for a perfect blog and kind words, especially in the context of having many other time pressures, I am truly grateful.
Thanks everyone else for the kind comments – your positive feedback will drive me to do more. I kinda hoped people would see the w’s and go WOW (as in W O(f) W’s) – I’m kidding, I only just thought of that – there was no significance except for a perverse desire to make life harder than it is. That’s normal, isn’t it?
See you soon
Thanks Dutch for a most enjoyable crossword. I laughed out loud at 1d, 10a and loved 10d. So many great clues. Great to meet you on Saturday. Keep up the good work. Thanks to RatkojaRiku for the excellent blog.
Excellent ruse with the big W – an idea waiting in the ether, and Dutch got there first!
Bags of invention and fun as ever, with my favourites being 8, 10 and 17down.
Many thanks to S & B.
As I said (or perhaps didn’t say 🙂 ) on previous occasions, the clueing is full of flair.
Somehow it’s in what I call the “Dac Category”, somehow it’s not.
And that is mainly because Dutch is quite good in using inventive, well-disguised definitions.
Much easier than the usual Thursday fare, a bit harder than the ‘usual’ Dutch fare.
I missed the nina (not used to looking at one in a crossword by this setter).
You’ve done it again, mate!
Thanks to Dutch and to RR for the review. A super puzzle, most enjoyable. I liked 10a, but my favourite was 10d, I had no idea what the answer was going to be, until I got enough checkers to solve the anagram. There was a lot of very inventive clueing, 21d was very good. Well done Dutch.
We are sorry that we are late – started late last night and finished this morning.
All good fun and as others have already said, some very inventive definitions which we loved and laughed at.
Spotted the W and a WOW from us for the construction.
Good to see you at York – keep the crosswords coming.
Thanks to RR for the blog.