The puzzle can be found here.
Having failed to get the first and third clues across on my first run-through, I thought this may have been a difficult puzzle, but then the rest of the across clues, especially the long anagrams, were fairly easy to slot in. With all those checking letters in place, the down clues went in without pause, and the two missing ones from my first run of the across clues followed.
A good crossword for beginners possibly, with no obscure words (houri and refulgent aren’t everyday words, granted, but they were easy to divine from the clues and crossing letters). My only grip was with 13dn, which didb’t work for me.
Thanks, Gurney.
| Across | ||
| 1 | SHROPSHIRE | Getting round resistance stores take on staff in this area (10) |
| SHOPS (“stores”) getting round R(esistance) + HIRE (“take on staff”) | ||
| 6 | LAUD | Praise twofold after reflection (4) |
| <=DUAL (“twofold”, after reflection) | ||
| 9 | FISTICUFFS | Fighting fit, fuss if at first cheeked at work (10) |
| *(fit fuss if c), where the C is the first letter of “cheeked” | ||
| 10 | PACT | Father with court agreement (4) |
| PA (“father”) with Ct. (“court”) | ||
| 12 | SERIAL KILLER | Strange rare ills like Jack the Ripper, say? (6,6) |
| *(rare ills like) | ||
| 15 | LONDON EYE | Academic extremely early in isolated tourist attraction (6,3) |
| DON (“academic”) + E(arl)Y in LONE (“isolated”), so LON(DON-EY)E | ||
| 17 | SCONE | Small traffic marker in Scottish location (5) |
| S(mall) + CONE (“traffic marker”)
Scone is a small town near Perth, famous for its palace. |
||
| 18 | FLEET | Fast-moving warships (5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 19 | AUTHENTIC | Genuine gold article not hollowed-out I see according to quote (9) |
| Au (“gold”) + THE (“article”) + N(o)T + IC (homophone of “I SEE” (indicated by according to quote)) | ||
| 20 | UNAPOLOGETIC | Clue got piano mixed up? Sorry? No! (12) |
| *(clue got piano) | ||
| 24 | DARE | Challenge poster withdrawn by soldiers (4) |
| <=AD (“poster”, withdrawn) by R.E. (Royal Engineers, so “soldiers”) | ||
| 25 | SANCTIMONY | Approval covering thousand with yen for religious display (10) |
| SANCTION (“approval”) covering M (“thousand”) + Y(en) | ||
| 26 | DADO | Wall feature bringing daughter bother (4) |
| D(aughter) + ADO (“bother”) | ||
| 27 | HEEL-AND-TOE | Walking method used by the eland to endure (4-3-3) |
| Hidden in (used by) “tHE ELAND TO Endure” | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SAFE | Sound identical when female replaces male (4) |
| SA(m)(F)E (“identical” with F(emale) replacing M(ale)) | ||
| 2 | RASH | King remains impetuous (4) |
| R (“king”) + ASH (“remains”) | ||
| 3 | PRICE CONTROL | Charges up hitting roof because of this? (5,7) |
| Cryptic definition – if price control is in place, charges can go no higher, so they’ve hit the roof. | ||
| 4 | HOURI | Time with single woman, alluring (5) |
| HOUR (“time”) with I (one, so “single”) | ||
| 5 | REFULGENT | Enter gulf abroad, shining (9) |
| *(enter gulf) | ||
| 7 | AT ALL COSTS | Class total must be sorted out, no matter what (2,3,5) |
| *(class total) | ||
| 8 | DETERRENCE | It helps to restrain worked up editor – Rattigan’s about right (10) |
| <=ED (“editor”, worked up) + TERENCE (“Rattigan”) about R(ight) | ||
| 11 | FIRST EDITION | Original version of sortie, find it confused (5,7) |
| *(sortie find it) | ||
| 13 | ILL-FOUNDED | The setter will be supported financially? Nothing in it! (3-7) |
| I’LL (“the setter will”) + FUNDED (“supported financially”) with O (“nothing) in it.
I think Gurney wants us to treat theis as an &lit., but the only the last three words are necessary for the definition, and they are also part of the clue, so are doing double duty in my opinion, so this clue doesn’t work for me. |
||
| 14 | UNREPAIRED | A French couple in rush needing fix? (10) |
| UN (“a” in French) + PAIR (“couple”) in REED (“rush”), so UN-RE(PAIR)-ED | ||
| 16 | ELABORATE | Explain in more detail, it’s complicated (9) |
| Double definition | ||
| 21 | EXCEL | Perform well in old Church by lake (5) |
| EX (“old”) + C.E. (“church” of England) + L(ake) | ||
| 22 | MOST | Nearly all meet our specifications, tough initially (4) |
| Initially, “Meet Our Specifications Tough” | ||
| 23 | HYPE | Pushy person’s exaggerated publicity (4) |
| Hidden in “pusHY PErson” | ||
*anagram
Thanks Gurney and loonapick
All pretty easy except PRICE CONTROL, which went in mainly from the crossers
Failed at the last hurdle with 3d. Got PRICE but just couldn’t see the second word. Got fixated on it ending with TION. Didn’t care much for it but liked the rest. I agree that 13d isn’t the best &lit but Gurney is clearly trying to say that the initial statement/question is ill-founded, so there is ‘nothing in it’.
Thanks to Gurney and loonapick.
Thanks to Gurney and loonapick. Yes, easy but fun. I was slowed down in the NE corner until I got PRICE CONTROL which then gave me SHROPSHIRE. I knew SCONE from the last line in Macbeth where Malcolm invites the newly named earls (who had been thanes) “to see us crowned at Scone.”
[The Stone of Scone has been a bone (stone?) of contention between Scotland and England for centuries. A compromise was reach in the 1990s; it’s kept at Edinburgh Castle unless needed at Westmisnter Abbey for a Coronation.]
Many thanks loonapick for the blog and also to those who have commented.
Re ILL-FOUNDED, “Nothing in it” would be rather stark as a definition on its own without context. So I saw the earlier part of the clue as being part of the definition too. Also, without going into too much technical detail, there can be “semi&lit” clues where one element of definition/wordplay (usually the latter) covers the whole clue with the other element contained in just part of the clue.
All pretty routine apart from 3 (which was a very bad clue) & 4 (which i’d never heard of).
Thanks Gurney & loonapick.
Not for the first time, I find a puzzle that I have managed to solve described as easy and suitable for beginners! I enjoyed it, particularly 13 down.
Thanks Gurney and loonapick
Found this on the easier end of this setter’s difficulty spectrum with still some deeper thinking required to finish off the NW corner with FISTICUFFS and REFULGENT the last two to go in.
Actually thought ILL-FOUNDED was quite a humorous way for the setter to be asking for a pay rise, liked the clever run-on with HEEL AND TOE where I wasted time trying to make an anagram work initially and was another who was not particularly enamoured with PRICE CONTROL.
Still an enjoyable solve.