We have a typically elegant Dac crossword today
You know what you are going to get with Dac. Clues with very good surfaces, unambiguous parsing and entries that come from a vocabulary well known to most Independent solvers.
The title of Muriel Spark’s novel was unknown to me, but I suspect that the majority of solvers will have known it.
There was a lot going on in the wordplay for the clues today which means some of the parsing is quite intricate, but that’s how I like my clues.
In the acrosses, I liked particularly the clues for EXPERT and PROVENCE. In the Downs my favourites were those for COVER STORY and MEMENTO MORI. However I could easily highlight other clues.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
|
1
|
Boa moved slowly (5)
|
STOLE (woman’s outer garment worn on the shoulders often in the form of a boa [long, serpent-like coil of fur, feathers of the like]) STOLE |
STOLE (passed quietly, unobtrusively, gradually, or surreptitiously) double definition
|
| 4 |
Welcomed current medical reforms (9)
|
AC (alternating current) + an anagram of (reforms) MEDICAL AC CLAIMED* |
ACCLAIMED (welcomed with enthusiasm)
|
|
9
|
One campaigning against cinema closure makes display for computer (11)
|
SCREEN (cinema) + SAVER (one campaigning to keep something open) Taken together the phrases SCREEN SAVER could therefore describe some campaigning against the closure of a cinema. SCREEN SAVER |
SCREENSAVER (program which, after a period of user inactivity, replaces the screen image with a usually moving pattern. Popular in the early days of cathode ray tube display to avoid image burn-in)
|
|
10
|
Characters in 7 (3)
|
MEN (hidden word in (in) MEMENTO MORI [entry at 7 down]) MEN |
MEN (people; characters)
|
|
11
|
Professional version of Windows once placed in box, say, for sending back (6)
|
(XP [reference the Windows XP operating system, now no longer supported [once]) contained in TREE (a box TREE is an example) reversed (for sending back) There was a version of XP denoted as Windows XP Professional E (XP) ERT< |
EXPERT (professional)
|
|
13
|
Wander through outskirts of Perpignan, to west of this French region (8)
|
(ROVE [wander] contained in [through] PN [first and last letters of {outskirts of} PERPIGNAN}) + CE (French for ‘this’) P (ROVE) N CE |
PROVENCE (region [of France])
|
|
15
|
Superficial Italian poet penning one epistle without hesitation (10)
|
DANTE (reference DANTE Alighieri [1265 – 1321], Italian poet) containing (penning) (I [Roman numeral for one] + LETTER [epistle] excluding [without] the final two letters ER [expression of hesitation]) D (I LETT) ANTE |
DILETTANTE (person who loves the fine arts but in a superficial way and without serious purpose)
|
|
16
|
Bust over? Opportunities multiply, principally, in this (4)
|
BOOM (first letter of [principally] each of BUST OVER OPPORTUNITIES MULTIPLY) BOOM |
BOOM (reference to the BOOM and BUST cycle where each tends to follow the other. BOOM is the part of the cycle where opportunities multiply)
|
|
19
|
Run ahead of one group of people (4)
|
R (run) + ACE (one) R ACE |
RACE (group of people)
|
|
20
|
Taken away on stretcher and executed (7,3)
|
CARRIED OUT (taken away, possibly on a stretcher; an old meaning is to take away for burial) CARRIED OUT |
CARRIED OUT (descriptive of a task performed or executed)
|
|
22
|
Drink with penniless-sounding shower (8)
|
DOWN (as a verb, drink) + POUR (sounds like [sounding] POOR [penniless]) DOWN POUR |
DOWNPOUR (shower of rain)
|
|
23
|
No limits to crime in island resort (6) |
RIM (central letters of CRIME remaining when the outer letters [limits] C and E are excluded [no]) + IN + I (island) RIM IN I |
RIMINI (Italian seaside resort)
|
|
25
|
Fellow‘s period behind bars reduced (3)
|
TIME (period in prison [behind bars]) excluding the final letter (reduced) E TIM |
TIM (man’s name; fellow)
|
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26
|
Exercising with dog after lead’s removed is taking too long (7,4)
|
RUNNING (an example of exercising) + ROVER (common name for a dog) excluding (removed) the first letter (lead) R RUNNING OVER |
RUNNING OVER (taking too long)
|
|
28
|
Kept an eye on fool in secured surroundings (9)
|
NIT (fool) contained in (in … surroundings) MOORED (of a boat, secured) MO (NIT) ORED |
MONITORED (kept an eye on)
|
|
29
|
Some applauded enchanting actress (5)
|
DENCH (hidden word in [some] APPLAUDED ENCHANTING) DENCH |
DENCH (reference Dame Judi DENCH [born 1934], English actress)
|
| Down | |||
|
1
|
Poster incorporating American president’s support (9)
|
SENDER (poster) containing (incorporating) (US [American] + P [President]) I can’t find a dictionary giving P as an a stand alone abbreviation for President, but I know it is used as part of POTUS for example (President of the United States) S (US P) ENDER |
SUSPENDER (support)
|
|
2
|
Row over a river (3)
|
O (over) + A + R (river) O A R |
OAR (as a verb, row)
|
|
3
|
Abhor old English jalopy (8)
|
EX (former; old) + E + CRATE (old worn out car; jalopy) EX E CRATE |
EXECRATE (detest; abhor)
|
|
4
|
Former campaigning MP regularly lambasted (4)
|
ABSE (letters 2, 4, 6 and 8 [regularly]) of LAMBASTED) ABSE |
ABSE (reference Leo ABSE [1917 – 2008], campaigning Labour MP for Pontypool)
|
|
5
|
Main item about parts of cricket match? Right (5,5)
|
C (circa; about) + OVERS (parts of a cricket match) + TORY (party of the political right) C OVER S TORY |
COVER STORY (main item of a magazine)
|
|
6
|
To get to destination, I have a Rolls Royce at first (6)
|
A + RR (Rolls Royce) + I’VE (I have) A RR IVE |
ARRIVE (get to destination)
|
|
7
|
Male has no more time to translate Spark’s work (7,4)
|
M (male) + an anagram of (to translate) NO MORE TIME M EMENTO MORI* |
MEMENTO MORI (novel by Muriel Spark published in 1929)
|
|
8
|
Teacher introduces Geordie poet (5) |
DON (any member of the teaching staff of a college or university) + NE (North East, the home of Geordies in Newcastle in the North East of England) DON NE |
DONNE (reference John DONNE [1572 – 1631], English poet)
|
|
12
|
Male cop now prepared to enrol one female colleague? (11)
|
Anagram of (prepared) MALE COP NOW containing (to enrol) I (Roman numeral for one) POL (I) CEWOMAN* |
POLICEWOMAN (female colleague of a male cop)
|
|
14
|
Actress ran Renault in battered state (4,6)
|
Anagram of (in battered state) RAN RENAULT LANA TURNER* |
LANA TURNER (reference LANA TURNER [1921-1995], American actress)
|
|
17
|
A short haircut in Cambridgeshire town? She’s in charge (9)
|
(A + TRIM [haircut] excluding the final letter [short] M [haircut]) contained in (in) MARCH (English town in Cambridgeshire) M (A TRI) ARCH |
MATRIARCH (female head of a family, tribe or community; she’s in charge)
|
|
18
|
Switched on, did Irish dance (8)
|
RE (with reference to; on) + JIGGED (did an Irish dance) RE JIGGED |
REJIGGED (re-arranged; switched)
|
|
21
|
Stumbles, as it were, after imbibing single alcoholic drink (6)
|
(TRIPS containing (imbibing) I [one; single]) all reversed (as it were; falls over, imitating the effect of a TRIP) (SPIR (I) T)< |
SPIRIT (alcoholic drink)
|
| 22 | Information lawyer has got on corporation (5) |
DA (District Attorney; lawyer) + TUM (stomach; corporation) DA TUM |
DATUM (single fact; information) |
|
24
|
Animal concealed round middle of greenwood (4)
|
HID containing (round) N (central letter of [middle of] GREENWOOD) HI (N) D |
HIND (female of the red deer; animal)
|
|
27
|
I will abandon useless vehicle (3)
|
VAIN (futile; useless) excluding (will abandon) I VAN |
VAN (vehicle)
|
A lovely puzzle from Dac as ever, as Duncan says, with some interesting grid entries. I confess that I’d never heard of Mr Abse.
Many thanks
Beautiful surfaces. Too many good clues to mention. I suspect you meant to refer to the box tree in 11a, rather than plane tree. I parsed SPIRIT as I in ‘trips over’, which is similar to your parsing. I put DANTE down (again) for 8d, thinking ANT (as in Dec’s partner) as the Geordie, hoping DE was an abbreviation for some sort of teacher, so thanks for correcting me on this.
Hovis @ 2
Thanks – yes I meant box. When I wrote the blog, I think I had just solved another puzzle where plane was given as an example of a tree. Blog updated.
The usual ‘smooth as silk’ offering one expects from Dac. We did wonder, though, how many solvers would know of Mr Abse and, possibly, Ms Turner. We didn’t know (or had forgotten) Memento Mori but it was obvious from the wordplay and crossing letters. No real favourite – it was all good.
Thanks, Dac and Duncan.
I knew of Leo Abse and Lana Turner, but didn’t know Muriel Spark’s book. It was easy enough to work out from the crossers, although I did need them all, it being my penultimate entry. A most enjoyable puzzle, which needed careful reading of the clues without giving you the impression you’d struggle to finish. I started with STOLE and finished with COVER STORY, which despite having COVER and _T_R_, took me a while as I hadn’t lifted and separated correctly. Great stuff. Thanks Dac and Duncan.
I’m in complete accord with the sentiments expressed above. Lovely stuff and a pleasure to solve.
MEMENTO MORI and LANA TURNER rang only faint bells for me but the wordplay and checkers were enough. Similarly for ABSE, except in that case the bells were silent.
Thanks to Dac and Duncan.
Lovely puzzle.
Where’s Hoskins tonight?
He must love the surface of 3d, I assume.
Unlike most of the people above, I found this crossword rather run-of-the-mill.
Yes, the usual Dac qualities, yet too easy to my taste.
Never mind.
I did enjoy the solve as I (nearly) always enjoy solving a crossword.
Thank you, duncan.