The puzzle can be found here.
I struggled with the NW corner of this Alberich offering. The unfriendly grid design didn’t help as there was only one “in” to the corner after solving the other three quadrants, but once I had worked out OFFERING, the rest fell into place gradually.
Most of the clues were excellent, and I would have to be ultra-pedantic to fault any of them. I liked SCROUNGE, HAIRLESS and the aforementioned OFFERING.
Thanks, Alberich.
| Across | ||
| 1 | TANDOORI | Too right I hold with Indian cooking! (8) |
| TOO + R(ight) + I holding AND (“with”) | ||
| 5 | SALOME | Almost everyone’s entertained by a little opera (6) |
| AL(l) (almost “everyone”) entertained by SOME (“a little”)
Salome is a one-act Richard Strauss opera. |
||
| 9 | NONSENSE | Name wayward son seen making moonshine (8) |
| N(ame) + *(son seen) | ||
| 10 | PIFFLE | Rubbish heap overshadows centre of Stafford (6) |
| PILE (“heap”) overshadws (sta)FF(ord) | ||
| 11 | EMISSARY | Spy English teacher fairly regularly (8) |
| E(nglish) + MISS (“teacher”) + (f)A(i)R(l)Y | ||
| 12 | FERRIC | Transfer rickety boxes of iron (6) |
| Hdden in (indicated by boxes) “transFER RICkety” | ||
| 14 | LIBERTINES | Rakes in close to fortune working with B-lister (10) |
| *(in E b-lister), where the E is (fortun)E (close to fortune) | ||
| 18 | COURAGEOUS | Bold American follows officer around these days (10) |
| US (“american”) follows C.O. (commanding “officer”) around OUR AGE (“these days”), so C(OUR AGE)O-US | ||
| 22 | OUTSET | Not the trendy group, for a start (6) |
| OUT (“not trendy”) + SET (“group”) | ||
| 23 | HAIRLESS | Close by hotel with no locks? (8) |
| AIRLESS (“close”) by H(otel) | ||
| 24 | NORMAL | New mark in test achieves standard (6) |
| N(ew) + M(ark) in ORAL (“test”) | ||
| 25 | ADHERENT | A depression grabs the woman’s admirer (8) |
| A DENT (“depression”) grabs HER (“the woman’s”) | ||
| 26 | EARNED | After long year missing, journalist is brought home (6) |
| After (y)EARN (“long” with Y(ear) missing), ED(itor) (“journalist”) | ||
| 27 | ROAD RAGE | A rare dog barking? Could be violence on the way (4,4) |
| *(a rare dog) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | TINSEL | Decorative stuff can retail with a pound off (6) |
| TIN (“can”) + SEL(l) (“retail” with a pound (L) off) | ||
| 2 | NUNCIO | Sister company welcomes one messenger (6) |
| NUN (“sister”) + CO(mpany) welcomes I (“one”) | ||
| 3 | ODENSE | Everything bright, presumably, for City (6) |
| If everything is bright, nothing (O) will be DENSE | ||
| 4 | RESTRAINED | Measured pressure in wind instrument (10) |
| STRAIN (“pressure”) in REED (“wind instrument”) | ||
| 6 | ANISETTE | Liqueur drunk neat? I decline to go into that (8) |
| I SET (“decline”) in *(neat) | ||
| 7 | OFFERING | Gift from European band (8) |
| OFF (“from”) + E(uropean) + RING (“band”) | ||
| 8 | EXERCISE | Stopping duty free endlessly turned to trouble (8) |
| EXCISE (“duty”) stopped by <=(f)RE(e) (endlessly turned) | ||
| 13 | GET-UP-AND-GO | Leave before breakfast and dash (3-2-3-2) |
| If you get up and go, presumably you’d miss breakfast. | ||
| 15 | SCROUNGE | Charlie’s enthralled by surgeon wiggling bum (8) |
| C(harlie) enthralled by *(surgeon) | ||
| 16 | MUTTERER | Primarily murmuring speaker? (8) |
| M(urmuring) + UTTERER (“speaker”) and &lit. | ||
| 17 | LACERATE | Cut price of delicate material? (8) |
| LACE (“delicate material”) + RATE (“price”) | ||
| 19 | FRIEND | Devotee captures queen, leading to mate (6) |
| FIEND (“devotee”) captures R (“queen”) | ||
| 20 | HELENA | The man nearly advanced on a woman (6) |
| HE (“the man”) + LEN(t) (nearly “advanced”) on A | ||
| 21 | TSETSE | Fly east from France, returning twice (6) |
| <=EST + EST (French for “east”, returning twice) | ||
*anagram
From what you say in your intro, I guess (like me) it was the NE, not NW, corner that proved troublesome. Found this puzzle fairly average. Liked the surface to 26a. Thanks to S&B.
Aye, Hovis, I meant NE.
Don’t get exercise to mean trouble. Is it like to exercise one’s mind? I suppose so.
Thanks for the blog, loonapick.
Excellent clues indeed, as ever from this setter – intricate, witty wordplay, crafty misdirection and elegant surfaces.
I share loonapick’s favourites, with the addition of ROAD RAGE, ANISETTE and EXERCISE [yes, you’re right, Tenerifemiller – see here – definition 9]
I feel pretty spoilt today – three of my top favourite setters! Many thanks, Alberich.
Reassuring to see I’m not the only one who can’t tell my W from my E. Same as our blogger and hovis@1, I was stuck in the NE before OFFERING, well… offered a way in.
Didn’t know an EMISSARY could be a ‘spy’, nor MOONSHINE for ‘nonsense’. I’m being thick, but ‘decline’ = SET? As I write this though ‘As the sun sets slowly in the west’, (or is it east?). I suppose that’s it.
Thanks to loonapick and Alberich
Thanks Alberich and loonapick
Did this one on the day but hadn’t posted on it over the Christmas hols. Found it pretty straightforward going until, like others, got held up in the top left corner where LIBERTINE and EXERCISE were my last two in.