The puzzle can be found here.
A quick solve with a good variety of devices, and some clever clues, my favourites being 25a, 26a and 8d.
On the other hand, there were a couple of chestnuts in there as well (STATE and LOCO), and I also had issues with 11ac and 4dn (see the blog below and let me know if you agree or correct me if I am wrong).
Thanks, Mudd
| Across | ||
| 1 | PESTILENT | Off-piste, fast – and deadly (9) |
| *(piste) + LENT (“fast”) | ||
| 6 | BASRA | Retired horse touring southern Iraqi city (5) |
| <=ARAB (retired “horse”) touring S(outhern) | ||
| 9 | NERVE | Bottle, the transmitter of a message (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 10 | EYESTRAIN | Difficulty seeing English tutor, certainly previously (9) |
| E(nglish) + YES (“certainly”) + TRAIN (“tutor”) | ||
| 11 | CENTIMETRE | Heart-breaking period in a small measure (10) |
| CENTRE (“heart”) with TIME (“period”) breaking
This one doesn’t work for ma, as I read the clue as suggesting that CENTRE should be breaking TIME, rather than the other way round required for the solution to work. |
||
| 12 | MENU | Name between setter and solver in list (4) |
| N(ame) between ME (“setter”) and U (you, so “solver”) | ||
| 14 | DIARIST | One making a record in seedy joint, did we hear? (7) |
| Homophone of DIRE WRIST (“seedy joint”) | ||
| 15 | MIRACLE | Extraordinary thing, vehicle reversing into the distance (7) |
| <=CAR (“vehicle”, reversing) into MILE (“distance”) | ||
| 17 | SHELLAC | Inside container, fire down below producing resin (7) |
| Inside SAC (“container), HELL (“fire down below”), so S(HELL)AC | ||
| 19 | EPIGRAM | Something witty, joke ultimately on farm animals (7) |
| (jok)E on PIG and RAM (“farm animals”) | ||
| 20 | IOTA | Part read in Riot Act – just a bit (4) |
| Hidden in “rIOT Act” | ||
| 22 | INACCURATE | Am I able to lie back with clergyman? That’s wrong! (10) |
| <=CAN I (“am i able to”, back) with CURATE (“clergyman”) | ||
| 25 | SUBWOOFER | Part of a loudspeaker, the underdog? (9) |
| SUB (“under”) + WOOFER (“dog”) | ||
| 26 | ATLAS | Global plans in the end, cut (5) |
| AT LAS(t) (“in the end”, cut) | ||
| 27 | LOTTO | Private location hositng races, a game of chance (5) |
| LOO (“private location”) hosting TT (Tourist Trophy “races”) | ||
| 28 | ROTTERDAM | Port dreamt about on bunk (9) |
| *(dreamt) on ROT (“bunk”) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | PANIC | Image encapsulating an uncontrolled, anxious state (5) |
| PIC (“image”) encapsulating AN | ||
| 2 | SHRINKAGE | Loss having replaced her gains with investment of a grand (9) |
| *(her gains) with investment of K (“a grand”) | ||
| 3 | INELIGIBLE | Unqualified man ultimately involved in big lie, doubly unsettled (10) |
| (ma)N involved in *(big lie lie) | ||
| 4 | EVEREST | Mountain the most difficult, if peak reached? (7) |
| (s)EVEREST Don’t quite understand why “reached” would mean removal of the initial lettter? | ||
| 5 | THEOREM | The raw material required, heading for majority rule (7) |
| THE ORE (“raw material”) + M(ajority) | ||
| 6 | BUTT | Bottom, on the other hand, top of tree (4) |
| BUT (“on the other hand”) + T(ree) | ||
| 7 | STATE | Nation, say (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 8 | AD NAUSEAM | A sundae ordered in the morning, enough to make you sick? (2,7) |
| (a sundae) in A.M. (“morning”) | ||
| 13 | ARTICULATE | Craftsmanship taken over a clue, it turning out as eloquent (10) |
| ART (“craftmanship”) over *(a clue it) | ||
| 14 | DISMISSAL | Grey bags in several shades, each starting out as sacking (9) |
| DISMAL (“grey”) bags initial letters of In Several Shades (indicated by each starting out) | ||
| 16 | CURTAILED | Scoundrel followed, getting cut off (9) |
| CUR (“scoundrel”) + TAILED (“followed”) | ||
| 18 | CONIFER | Tree to discuss, one to cut through (7) |
| CONFER (“discuss”) with I (“one”) cut through | ||
| 19 | EXCERPT | Some work from goalkeeper finally inspired by save (7) |
| (goalkeepe)R inspired by EXCEPT (“save”) | ||
| 21 | TIBET | Disputed territory lay south of Thai borders (5) |
| BET (“lay”) south of T(ha)I | ||
| 23 | EPSOM | Surrey town where rising moon eclipses sun at first (5) |
| <=MOPE (rising “moon”) eclipses S(un) | ||
| 24 | LOCO | Cracked engine (4) |
| Double definition | ||
*anagram
A pleasant walk in the park!
I can’t remember enjoying a Mudd as much as I did this one. I’ll forgive the typo in 27a. I don’t have any problem with EVEREST – it would be SEVEREST if the peak S was reached, just didn’t quite make it. I think 11a is fine. For the cryptic, as opposed to surface, reading need to put ‘breaking’ with ‘period’.
Hovis
I see your point about SEVEREST (just), but I still think 11ac isn’t right
Interesting in 23d where s = “sun at first”, because some might say ‘sun’ on its own might work – it’s in Chambers. I guess not every setter/editor accepts it if it isn’t in other dictionaries. Good clue anyway, and I liked AD NAUSEAM a lot.
I can’t see a problem at all with CENTIMETRE. The hyphen in heart-breaking makes it perfectly clear to me.
Thanks to blogger and Mudd.
I remember J Halpern saying that in his youth he had an aunt arriving at a station and he was “sent to meet her”
Re: 11a. Reading Nila@4, I think the best parsing is Heart-breaking (in two) gives CEN + TRE and period in denotes the insertion of TIME.
OK, I see it now.
Hovis @6 – I think “in” is just a link-word to the definition. “Heart-breaking period” = centre-breaking time: i.e. ‘time’ is ‘centre-breaking’, is breaking ‘centre’.
Like Nila Palin I don’t see any problem with 11ac – the previous comment is spot on.
That said, the other opinions are valid too.
Like Hovis @6. Only problem is that this is not a device (the use of ‘in’ this way) that Mudd would use. I know the setter’s style well enough to be pretty sure.
In a day and age that punctuation can be ignored, the clue can also give us ‘heart breaking time’, meaning Loonapick’s option works too.
Take your pick!
Thanks Mudd and loonapick
Did find this one on the easier end of Mudd’s difficulty spectrum, although on coming here, I see that some of my parsing in 14a, 22a and 28a wasn’t quite right.
I eventually parsed 11a along the same lines as Hovis.
Finished in the NW corner with EVEREST (which I struggled with the reason to take away the S, but now that Hovis has pointed it out, it makes sense) and PESTILENT as the last one in.