Looks like the Indy and our fifteensquared rota are aligned and brings a Tees to blog again – suits me.
I remember some years ago I found Tees’ puzzles very hard. I know my solving improved since then, but I fear it has peaked and is on the wain. Happily Tees has come to produce puzzles which have clues at my wavelength – nothing too easy and nothing too hard. This makes them a joy to solve because they get filled in steadily right to the end. Well, almost but …
… I must pick out 2d for being a hidden answer clue that I found astonishingly difficult to see – even though I got it when solving and noted “Rev.Hidden” – when I came to write up this blog even with the answer and that note I couldn’t see it again for a while.
A little game of “biblical trades” going on for a couple of the clues what with Jesus/Carpenter and Peter/Fisherman.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | TOAD | Amphibian taking oxygen in small amount (4) O[xygen] in TAD (small amount). Tad is one of the few words I irrationally loathe. Anyway, first read and first solved so flying start |
| 3 | TERRA-FIRMA | Hard ground making farmer endlessly irate (5-5) (FARMER IRAT[e])* AInd: making |
| 10 | MONARCH | Royal against appearing in military display (7) ON (against) in MARCH (military display) |
| 11 | PLEDGED | Nick in place departs as promised (7) EDGE (nick) inside PL[ace] and D[eparts] |
| 12 | EPSOM | Feel glum about securing second place for racing (5) S[econd] in MOPE< (feel glum, about) |
| 13 | DISSENTER | Rebel is mailed drug that doctor seizes (9) IS SENT (mailed) E (drug) inside DR (doctor) |
| 14 | ADUMBRATE | Describe in general an unintelligent judge (9) A DUMB (an unintelligent) RATE (judge) |
| 16 | THIEF | One wrongly taking tea in London (5) Ref. Tea-Leaf = Thief in Cockney Rhyming Slang |
| 18 | EXPEL | Boot out former Brazilian player unable to finish (5) EX-PEL[e] |
| 19 | ASPARAGUS | Something eaten when secretary’s requited love (9) AS (when) P.A. (secretary) SUGAR< (love, requited) Unusual Rev.Ind: requited |
| 21 | CARPENTER | Fish to get in for one doing the Lord’s work (9) CARP (fish) ENTER (to get in) |
| 22 | RANGE | Singer’s asset managed by vacuous Geordie (5) RAN (managed) G[eordi]E |
| 24 | IDOLISE | Hero-worship from frivolous viewers reportedly (7) Homophone: “Idle eyes” |
| 25 | NOSTRUM | No way booze is remedy against ills (7) NO ST (way, street) RUM (booze) |
| 26 | PYTHAGORAS | Philosopher remapped argosy path (10) (ARGOSY PATH)* AInd: remapped |
| 27 | VEIN | Typically long vessel — see one in Bremen (4) V (see, V = vide) EIN (one in German) Last one in. Obvious when you see it. |
| Down | ||
| 1 | TEMPERATE | Moderate‘s consumed with rage (9) TEMPER (rage) ATE (consumed) |
| 2 | AGNES | Woman picks engagement rings up (5) Hidden Rev. in pickS ENGAgement. Very, very hidden to my eyes – Last but one in! I won’t even say obvious when you see it to this one. |
| 4 | ECHIDNA | Greek character embraced by female creature (7) CHI (Greek character) inside EDNA (female) |
| 5 | RIPOSTE | East German comes in ready to make swift reply (7) OST (East in German) inside RIPE (ready) |
| 6 | FREE ENTERPRISE | Peers interfere outrageously in capitalist system (4,10) (PEERS INTERFERE)* AInd: outrageously |
| 7 | RIGHT-WING | Tory Stanley Matthews would run down? (5-4) Double Definition |
| 8 | ALDER | Local dignitary hiding man in tree (5) ALDER[man] |
| 9 | PRIMA BALLERINA | Librarian, ample, trained to become dancer (5,9) (LIBRARIAN AMPLE)* AInd: trained |
| 15 | UPPERMOST | Top meal — no starter — succeeded in test (9) [s]UPPER (meal, no starter), S[ucceeded] inside MOT (test) |
| 17 | FISHERMAN | Maybe Peter‘s poem recalled Yankee commander (9) IF< (poem, recalled) SHERMAN (Yankee commander (general)) |
| 19 | ART DECO | Cunning Italian author entertains duke in style (3,4) D[uke] inside ART (cunning) and [umberto] ECO |
| 20 | PIRANHA | Ruthless type from country seen in pub area (7) IRAN (country) inside PH (pub, Public House) and A[rea] |
| 21 | CHIMP | Primate uniting church with devil (5) CH[urch] IMP (devil) |
| 23 | NORSE | Bouquet welcomes king from old Scandinavia (5) R[ex] (king) inside NOSE (bouquet) |
Thanks to Tees and beermagnet, especially for explaining the “ragus” bit of ASPARAGUS.
I really enjoyed the puzzle. I find myself in agreement with a few comments I’ve read recently about Tees’ puzzles not having quite the teeth of old (requited as rev.ind. notwithstanding); still v well written of course.
@beermagnet…are your powers on the wain due to dry January? 🙂
Dry January! <phaugh!>
Luckily my local is running “Try January” encouraging us punters to try something different.
Thus my diet has improved to encompass all the major food groups: Beers and Wines and Spirits
Blog greatly helpful, thanks, however would one of the grown-ups kindly confirm where in 11ac departs is represented by ‘d’, does this relate to e.g. train or bus timetable?
I saw a sign yesterday advertising ‘dry ginuary’ which I found quite amusing, especially after seeing on FB a Daily Mash article about how a lot of people who don’t drink very much in any case are enduring hardly any pain in giving up alcohol for a month. That’s about right I would say, as one who couldn’t possibly leave it alone for more that a couple of days!
As beermagnet and baerchen I greatly enjoyed this. I loved the image of an ample librarian retraining for a new job! As to difficulty, I haven’t been an Indy solver for long enough to remember early Tees, but what we have now is a great mix of fun and fiendishness.
For The Fourth Official, I assume you are right about bus and train timetables, but I don’t really know. My Chambers doesn’t list a source for it, and Collins too.
Many thanks.
An enjoyable puzzle, which like our blogger, I found reasonably straight forward, with AGNES taking a while to spot. TOAD was my FOI and CARPENTER brought up the rear. I managed to drag ADUMBRATE up from the depths. Liked ECHIDNA. Thanks Tees and Beermagnet.
The easiest Tees puzzle I can remember but fun while it lasted.
We’d agree with Mr Crabtree about the easiest Tees puzzle. We breezed through most of this, though it wasn’t a complete doddle. We took a while to get ADUMBRATE – not being familiar with that shade (no pun intended) of meaning – until we had PRIMA BALLERINA. Oddly, in fact, we solved the long anagrams on sight, but needed to tease out TERRA FIRMA. Our LOI was VEIN, and a facepalm moment when we got it, although we couldn’t parse AGNES till after we’d completed the grid.
In 16ac, although most rhyming slang just uses the first word (e.g. ‘china’ = ‘china plate’ = ‘mate’), we’re not sure that ‘tea’ for ‘tea leaf’ is used on its own – but we’re open to correction on that.
Otherwise all good stuff: ASPARAGUS, FISHERMAN and ART DECO among our favourites.
Thanks, Tees and beermagnet.