The puzzle can be found here.
A tidy, if unexciting, offering from Mudd. Clever surfaces, a good range of devices used, and straightforward to parse – just what you need when you have a blog to wrote before leaving for work!
I don’t think there’s a theme or nina, but I may have missed something.
Thanks, Mudd
| Across | ||
| 1 | FANLIGHT | Stairs concealing an opening over a door (8) |
| FLIGHT (“stairs”) concealing AN | ||
| 5 | SPIGOT | Controller of fluid the swine fed to drunkard (6) |
| PIG (“the swine”) fed to SOT (“drunkard”) | ||
| 9 | LEMONADE | Article in newspaper that’s refreshing (8) |
| A (“article”) in LE MONDE (French “newspaper”) | ||
| 10 | TRAUMA | Vehicle rounds bend before a shock (6) |
| TRAM (“vehicle”) rounds U (“bend”) before A | ||
| 12 | SWEARWORD | 30 perhaps put on, weapon outside (9) |
| WEAR (“put on”) with SWORD (“weapon”) outside | ||
| 13 | OOMPH | Energy member invested in exclamation of wonder (5) |
| M.P. (“member” of parliament) invested in OOH (“excalamation of wonder”) | ||
| 14 | DUCK | Avoid meat (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 16 | TRAINER | Black cloud follows close to itinerant, one going on foot (7) |
| RAINER (“black cloud”) follows (itineran)T | ||
| 19 | CAPITAL | Hoarding bread, state accumulated wealth (7) |
| Cal.(ifornia) (“state”) hoarding PITA (“bread”) | ||
| 21 | BEEF | Bleat as cow? (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 24 | NICHE | Harrow’s principal in lovely, comfortable job (5) |
| H(arrow) in NICE (“lovely”) | ||
| 25 | DESICCATE | Cold packed in ice, dates awfully dry (9) |
| C(old) packed in *(ice dates) | ||
| 27 | HEARTH | Home rule initially welcomed by former PM (6) |
| R(ule) welcomed by (Ted) HEATH (“former PM”) | ||
| 28 | PIT VIPER | Musician squeezing one box that hisses (3,5) |
| PIPER (“musician”) squeezing 1 TV (“one box”) | ||
| 29 | SPEEDY | Over ebbing river, spot fleet (6) |
| SPY (“spot”) over <=DEE (“river”, ebbing) | ||
| 30 | KNICKERS | By the sound of it, more than one thief curses (8) |
| Homophone of NICKERS (“more than one thief”) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | FOLKSY | Shape of sky assuming line that’s familiar (6) |
| *(of sky) assuming L(ine) | ||
| 2 | NUMBER | Nine, perhaps, a shade under ten, ultimately (6) |
| UMBER (“a shade”) under (te)N | ||
| 3 | INNER | Close lead of champion forsaken (5) |
| (w)INNER (“champion” with its “lead” forsaken) | ||
| 4 | HADDOCK | Fish dined on the waterfront (7) |
| HAD (“dined on”) + DOCK (“waterfront”) | ||
| 6 | PERSONAGE | Somebody manufacturing green soap (9) |
| *(green soap) | ||
| 7 | GOURMAND | Food lover, chap into fruit (8) |
| MAN (“chap”) into GOURD (“fruit”) | ||
| 8 | TEACHERS | Educators see Sr Guevara crying? (8) |
| CHE (“Sr Guevara”) in TEARS (“crying”) | ||
| 11 | EDIT | Change somewhat overrated, I think (4) |
| Hidden in “overratED I Think” | ||
| 15 | UNTREATED | Unfortunately less hot, the tuna red raw (9) |
| *(te tuna raw), where TE is “the” less H(ot) | ||
| 17 | ACANTHUS | Vessel like this supporting a plant (8) |
| CAN (“vessel”) + THUS (“like this”) supporting A | ||
| 18 | SPACE AGE | Modern resort with English in prison (5,3) |
| SPA (“resort”) with E(nglish) in CAGE (“prison”) | ||
| 20 | LIDO | Pool top, snooker’s third (4) |
| LID (“top”) + (sn)O(oker) | ||
| 21 | BASTION | Baton is used in defence (7) |
| *(baton is) | ||
| 22 | MAGPIE | Publication with something to digest in flier (6) |
| MAG (“publication”) with PIE (“something to digest”) | ||
| 23 | HEARTS | Suit – Scottish footballing outfit? (6) |
| Double definition – a suit in cards and a Scottish football team. | ||
| 26 | CIVIC | City that may rise and fall (5) |
| Palindrome, so it reads the same rising and falling | ||
*anagram
A nice, quick solve for me. Fortunately, I’ve seen the clue for 9a before so that was a write-in. Did wonder whether 14a could be ‘buck’ as well as ‘duck’ but decided on the latter.
Thanks to S&B.
15D. I think you meant to indicate the anagram as “Te tuna red”. Thanks!
Ah, yes – my now compulsory typo. Thanks!
Nice puzzle, Loi was 1d – took me a while to see it needed an anagram!
I liked “itinerant, one going on foot”, the smooth hidden (11d, foi), and the bread/money theme in 19a.
Many thanks mudd and thanks as always loonapick
We did this as we’d done Crucible this morning and needed something to do with our (late) elevenses. Does Paul set at different level of difficulty as Mudd, as this seemed to come together without too much straining from us. We also had BUCK rather than DUCK – which is clearly better. I wouldn’t have seen a NICHE job as necessarily comfortable and think defining CIVIC as city is weak. Regardless of those niggles it filled the elevenses bill so thanks to Mudd and loonapick.
Thanks to Mudd and loonapick. I parsed KNICKERS but don’t get the connection to “curse.” I should have remembered LIDO from previous puzzles, and BEEF was my LOI. I enjoyed this one (not Greek to me).
Nice puzzle. Seemed easy after the previous FT one.
Guessed 8d but tho I recognized CHE it took a while to grasp that “Sr Guevara crying” meant Che “IN TEARS”! Great clue.
Thanks, Mudd and Loonapick.
Thanks Mudd and loonapick
A puzzle that I finished off on our Australia Day holiday and then didn’t get to check until now. Typically smooth clueing where it took a little while to see RAINER as a ‘black cloud’ and OOH instead of OH as the ‘exclamation of wonder’.
Can remember hearing KNICKERS as the mild curse used by the character ‘Rat in a Hat’ in the Australian children’s TV program “Bananas in Pyjamas” when my kids were young.
Liked the PIT VIPER clue.