The puzzle can be found here.
Most of the clues were of a high quality, but one or two left me cold (I’ve seen variations of 23ac several times, the author in 10dn is a bit obscure and I have a minor quibble with 15dn). I think there was a misprint in 11ac, but it was actually my favourite clue.
Some general knowledge required here (the aforementioned 10dn and the composer at 4ac may not be universally known), but I prefer puzzles that teach you something, so have no issue with a smattering of general knowledge in my puzzles.
Thanks, Dogberry.
| Across | ||
| 1 | TONGUE | Maybe Spanish gunshot severing digit (6) |
| *(gun) severing TOE (“digit”) | ||
| 4 | BARTOK | Composer taken from Zanzibar to Kenya (6) |
| Hidden in (taken from) “zanziBAR TO Kenya”
Refers to Bela Bartok, the Hungarian composer. |
||
| 8 | GRIDDLE | Wherewithal to cook good puzzle (7) |
| G(ood) + RIDDLE (“puzzle”) | ||
| 9 | FIREFLY | Tree, see, housing loud insect (7) |
| FIR (“tree”) + ELY (“see”) housing F (“loud”, in music), so FIR-E(F)LY | ||
| 11 | TOILET-ROLL | Cyber-bully pursing material with which to smear first half of 14? (6,4) |
| TROLL (“cyber-bully”) pursuing TOILE (“material”)
I’m assuming that “pursing” was a misprint in the clue. This one would not pass muster over the water due to the sanctimonious US puzzle editors’ “breakfast test”, but it gave me a giggle. |
||
| 12 | TEEM | Collaborators said to be numerous (4) |
| Homophone of TEAM (“collaborators”) | ||
| 13 | LURCH | In which one may be left abandoned? (5) |
| A barely cryptic definition | ||
| 14 | MUCK-RAKE | Dig for dirt, coming back with sea monster, mostly (4-4) |
| <=CUM (“with”, coming back) + KRAKE(n) (“sea monster”, mainly) | ||
| 16 | ASPHODEL | Lops head off flower (8) |
| *(lops head) | ||
| 18 | TITAN | Moon-painter minus one (5) |
| TIT(i)AN (“painter”, minus 1)
Titan is Saturn’s largest moon |
||
| 20 | GRAN | Older relative – nearly 1,000? (4) |
| GRAN(d) | ||
| 21 | PETER PIPER | Pan repeatedly presenting protagonist of 1, 19 (5,5) |
| PETER (Pan) + PIPER (as in Pan, the Greek god of nature, often represented as playing pan pipes) | ||
| 23 | ATISHOO | Sneeze, or what to use after one, some say (7) |
| Homophone of A TISSUE | ||
| 24 | PASTURE | Fields beyond river (7) |
| PAST (“beyond”) + (“river”) URE | ||
| 25 | SPLIFF | Flips out with female joint (6) |
| *(flips) with F(emale) | ||
| 26 | CLARET | Drink distilled from treacle, mostly (6) |
| *(treacl)-e | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | TORSO | What’s found under “head for heights” – love? (5) |
| TORS (“heights”) + O (“love” in tennis) | ||
| 2 | NODULAR | Not quite all round, gnarled and knotty (7) |
| *(al round) | ||
| 3 | UNLATCHED | Cut handle off and opened (9) |
| *(cut handle) | ||
| 5 | ARIEL | Adroit Ella oddly showing spirit (5) |
| Odd letters of “AdRoIt ElLa” | ||
| 6 | TWEETER | Look likely to fall about with user of social media (7) |
| TEETER (“look likely to fall”) about W(ith) | ||
| 7 | KILDERKIN | Like drink brewed in old cask (9) |
| *(like drink)
A kilderkin is an ale cask about half the size of a barrel or two firkins, and is still used by real ale brewers, so “old” may be nugatory in the clue. |
||
| 10 | NORMALITY | Dreadful deed not beginning to involve Kennedy – business as usual? (9) |
| (e)NORMITY (“dreadful deed”, not beginning) to involve A L (Kennedy, a Scottish author) | ||
| 13 | LAST RITES | Young woman embracing facile ceremony (4,5) |
| LASS (“young woman”) embracing TRITE (“facile”) | ||
| 15 | CATERWAUL | Howl – wound’s beginning to ulcerate badly (9) |
| *(ulcerate w) (although see comments 3 and 4 below – I was too annoyed at the W that I didn’t notice that CATERWAUL needs two As, and not two Es!)
Not entirely comfortable with the W being part of the anagram when “to” splits it from the rest of the anagram fodder. This would normally imply that the W should be added to the anagram at the beginning or end, rather than in the middle. |
||
| 17 | HANDSEL | Composer receiving second inaugural gift (7) |
| HANDEL (“composer”) receiving S(econd) | ||
| 19 | TWISTER | Dubious character of tornado (7) |
| Double definition | ||
| 21 | PROOF | Impervious to evidence (5) |
| Double definition, as in fire-proof | ||
| 22 | EGRET | Bird lifted out of detergent (5) |
| Hidden backwards in “deTERGEnt” | ||
*anagram
Dont have a prob with 15d but I see your point-I thought the same at first but ….
Nice puzzle. thanks Dogberry and loonapick
Thanks Dogberry and loonapick.
Chamber has kilderkin as ‘obsolete’, so I guess the ‘old’ is justified.
The anagram at 15 doesn’t work: 2 As in caterwaul, not 2 Es
Yes 15 down held me up for no other reason that the anagram is incorrect.
Thanks Dogberry and loonapick
Was able to do this one over lunch and the grid filled in at quite a constant pace.
Did have an initial ewww moment with the TOILET ROLL definition but there were plenty of other clues to like, especially PETER PIPER and MUCK-RAKE. A pity with the mistake in CATERWAUL and the misprint in 11a.
Finished with the clever PETER PIPER, ASPHODEL (took longer than it should to recognise it was a simple anagram) and NORMALITY (tricked a bit with the definition of ‘ENORMITY’ and tricked a lot by the Scottish author whom I had not heard of).