Dac is occupying this week’s Wednesday slot, his spiritual home at the Indy.
Dac always delivers a set of clean, crisp clues, with plenty of smooth surfaces in evidence. That said, I am not sure that I have fully grasped 27, since there appear to be two reversal indicators in it, i.e. “back” and “returned”. Perhaps a fellow solver could clarify the parsing for me …
As for my favourites today, I particularly like 9, for ingenuity; and 16 and 25, both for surface.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | PRINCE | Singer in church introduced by priest
PR (=priest) + IN + CE (=church, i.e. Church of England); the reference is to US singer-songwriter Prince (1958-2016) |
| 04 | DRAMATIC | Theatrical drummer discontented with violin concerto’s introduction
D<rumme>R (“dis-content-ed” means contents (=middle letters) are dropped) + AMATI (=violin) + C<oncerto> (“introduction” means first letter only) |
| 10 | PROMISINGLY | Concert, one alone showing great potential?
PROM (=concert) + I (=one) + SINGLY (=alone) |
| 11 | ANA | Literary pieces regularly featured in annual
A<n>N<u>A<l>; “regularly featured” means alternate letters only |
| 12 | HOLED UP | Reported entire political party in hiding
Homophone (“reported”) of “whole” (=entire) + DUP (=political party, i.e. Democratic Unionist Party) |
| 14 | DEAREST | Each holiday to east of Germany is most precious
D (=Germany, in IVR) + EA (=each) + REST (=holiday) |
| 15 | PALATABLE | A drink knocked back with food – delicious
PALA (A + LAP (=drink); “knocked back” indicates reversal) + TABLE (=food) |
| 17 | ROWS | Resistance shown by wife during massive arguments
R (=resistance, in electricity) in [W (=wife) in OS (=massive, i.e. outsize)] |
| 19 | SLED | Derek’s rejected winter transport
DEL’S (=Derek’s, i.e. colloquially); “rejected” indicates reversal |
| 21 | LAS PALMAS | Miss entertaining friend and mother in Spanish-speaking resort
[PAL (=friend) + MA (=mother)] in LASS (=miss, i.e. girl) |
| 24 | SAVELOY | Husband loyally leaves friend something to eat
SAVE (=husband, i.e. conserve e.g. resources) + LOY<ally> (“leaves friend (=ally)” means letters “ally” are dropped) |
| 25 | MATINÉE | Show chum round home at start of evening
[IN (=(at) home) in MATE (=chum)] + E<vening> (“start of” means first letter only) |
| 26 | ERR | Do wrong, stealing capital from German chap
<h>ERR (=German chap, i.e. the German word for Mr); “stealing capital” means first letter is dropped |
| 27 | BACK NUMBERS | Old magazine copies son returned?
Cryptically, if you back (=reversal) “Nos” (=numbers) you get “son”! |
| 29 | SIDESTEP | Avoid having nasty pest on team
SIDE (=team, in sport) + *(PEST); “nasty” is anagram indicator |
| 30 | STALER | Sister pens story that’s less original
TALE (=story) in SR (=Sister) |
| Across | ||
| 01 | POP SHOPS | Places to see uncles and fathers dance with sons
POPS (=fathers, esp. in US) + HOP (=dance) + S (=sons); pop shops are pawnshop, where uncles are pawnbrokers |
| 02 | IMO | As far as I am concerned, // it’s a state in Nigeria
Double definition; “imo” means “in my opinion” |
| 03 | CHINDIT | Soldier in Burma using Indian language in court
HINDI (=Indian language) in CT (=court, i.e. in addresses); a chindit was a member of an allied commando force in Burma in WW2 |
| 05 | RIGIDNESS | GI in dress abandoned formality?
*(GI IN DRESS); “abandoned” is anagram indicator |
| 06 | MAYFAIR | Springtime gala in part of London
Cryptically, a “May fair” could be described as a springtime gala |
| 07 | TRADESWOMAN | Shopkeeper supplying damson and water concoction
*(DAMSON + WATER); “concoction” is anagram indicator |
| 08 | CRAFTY | Shrewd, getting a great deal in Cyprus
RAFT (=a great deal (of), many) in CY (=Cyprus, in IVR) |
| 09 | WIMP | Jamaican politician, perhaps, one lacking backbone
Cryptically, a Jamaican politician could be described as a WI (=West Indian) MP (=Member of Parliament)! |
| 13 | LILY-LIVERED | Chicken £49, plus delivery surprisingly
L (=£, i.e. pound) + IL (=49, in Roman numerals) + *(DELIVERY); “surprisingly” is anagram indicator |
| 16 | BELLYACHE | Beef dish brought round sailing vessel shortly
YACH<t> (=sailing vessel; “shortly” means last letter dropped) in BELLE (=dish, i.e. attractive woman); to bellyache is to complain, moan, hence “(to) beef” |
| 18 | ASSESSOR | Examiner interrupts classes sorrowfully
Hidden (“interrupts”) in “clASSES SORrowfully” |
| 20 | DELIBES | Composer of French stories in British
DE (=of French, i.e. the French word for of) + [B (=British) in LIES (=stories, untruths)]; the reference is to French composer Léo Delibes (1836-91) |
| 22 | ATTEMPT | Try trampoline initially during various team exercises
[T<rampoline> (“initially” means first letter only) in *(TEAM)] + PT (=exercises, i.e. physical training); “various” is anagram indicator |
| 23 | ASTERS | Like short, cut flowers
AS (=like, as in like/as I said) + TERS<e> (=short, curt: “cut” means last letter dropped) |
| 25 | MEND | Repair last bit of motorway?
Cryptically, a M (=motorway) END could be described as the “last bit of motorway” |
| 28 | EEL | Fish, part of free lunch
Hidden (“part of”) in “frEE Lunch” |
Pop shop reminds me of ‘pop goes the weasel’. Interesting to google that and find out what it means.
I have the same problem with 27a. ‘Old magazine copies provided by son, perhaps’ would work for me. What do others think?
Thanks to Dac and RR.
Thanks for blogging, RR. Your first sentence sums it up, really.
I hadn’t heard of POP SHOPS (although I solved it) but of course (thank you Hovis) it’s that meaning in the nursery rhyme, which I had forgotten. And now relearnt, an experience you don’t get with Sudoku.
I was fine with BACK NUMBERS. ‘Son returned’ = ‘nos backed’ works for me. There are two reversal indicators, but one’s in the clue and one’s in the solution.
Well done, Dac – keep them coming.
Thinking about it a bit more, I can’t quite get 27a either, though it seemed to make sense when solving. POP SHOPS were new, as was the connection with ‘Pop goes the weasel’; yes, thanks to Hovis@1 for the suggestion to look it up. I missed IMO for which I unconfidently entered ‘ido’.
I liked CHINDIT, the surface for SAVELOY and BELLYACHE.
Thank you to Dac and RR.
I agree with K’s D about BACK NUMBERS
A nice, if short-lived, crossword – thank you to Dac and RR
Just been musing on 27a. I reckon I got fixated with ‘returned’ as a reverse indicator but ‘return’ has many meanings, for example ‘yield’. I would guess this was what Dac intended (including an intentional mislead).
I am pleased to have your concurrence, crypticsue, but worry that you have been spreading your agreement too widely of late, both here and in Another Place. Eileen is capable of jealousy, you know.
The parsing of 27a left me bewildered, but the rest of the puzzle was enjoyable. I briefly wondered what sort of bird a PRINCH was, but not for long. My LOI was CRAFTY, but I then had to revisit IGO to get a completion notice. Thanks Dac and RR.
When I was solving I entered 27ac without thinking about it but when I saw our blogger’s introduction I had a quick look to see if I could parse it and I came to the same conclusion as KD and co.
When I was much younger there was a pop song version of Pop Goes the Weasel, sung by Anthony Newley, I think, which included a spoken section where he explained the meaning of the song. And I’m sure that some people will remember that when the Indie had its offices in City Road, they had a columnist called The Weasel.
I seem to remember The Weasel as a Saturday crossword in the magazine (?), harder than the weekday Indy fare but not convoluted like today’s Inquisitor/Listener stuff. As with Dormouse @8 I just entered 27 without any quibbles. I think the ? is the key. The usual smooth proper sentences we know and love. Thanks to Dac & RR.