Steady Tuesday morning offering from Jason…
Which is certainly not to say unenjoyable, 17 & 20 my favourites. Thanks, Jason.
| Across | ||
| 1 | BRASS BANDS | British clot rings blowers of their own trumpets? (5,5) |
| BR[itish] + ASS (‘clot’) + BANDS (‘rings’), w. lightly cryptic def. | ||
| 7 | SIDE | Limit small fish (4) |
| S[mall] + crossword’s 2nd favourite fish, the IDE. | ||
| 9 | ACHE | Desire what Groucho had – time’s running out (4) |
| Along with Hitler and Chaplin, Groucho Marx famously wore a moustache (or ‘mustache’, as he’d have spelt it). “tACHE’ is the short form, from which we subtract T[ime]. | ||
| 10 | WINE CELLAR | Grouse merchant, we hear, supplies liquid stock? (4,6) |
| Homophone (‘we hear’) of ‘whine’ (grouse) and ‘seller’ (merchant). | ||
| 11 | STARES | Gawps at Covent Garden traders calling out “apples and pears” (6) |
| Another homophone (‘calling out’), this time of ‘stairs’, for which said fruit are rhyming slang. | ||
| 12 | ONE-LINER | Joke about English and QE2, say (3-5) |
| ON (‘about’) + E[nglish] + LINER (e.g., ‘QE2’) | ||
| 13 | CLIFFTOP | High point seen on the Strand? (8) |
| Cryptic def. | ||
| 15 | RASH | Foolhardy run to the west of wood (4) |
| R[un] + to map-left of ASH. | ||
| 17 | MEME | Passed on belief: a sure sign of egotism (4) |
| It’s all about me, ME, ME. ‘Meme’ coined by Richard Dawkins, I believe, though not credited in Chambers. | ||
| 19 | SERENITY | Dip out of faculty for fluking quietude (8) |
| ‘Serendipity’ is the art of making lucky discoveries. Take the ‘dip’ out and there you are. | ||
| 22 | TREASURE | Endlessly discuss certain fortune (8) |
| To ‘treat’ is to discuss (as in the legal phrase ‘invitation to treat’). So, TREAt + SURE (‘certain’). | ||
| 23 | SCREEN | Check canopy (6) |
| Double definition. | ||
| 25 | TYPESETTER | Printer’s kind dog (10) |
| TYPE + SETTER. | ||
| 26 | LAIR | Shelter is left warm and dry (4) |
| L[eft] + to AIR. | ||
| 27 | GNAT | Airborne menace kick and punch back (4) |
| Reversal of TANG, a bit of a kick or punch to, say, a curry (I suppose). | ||
| 28 | BASKET CASE | Nut cake’s best, a changing position (6,4) |
| Anagram (first today, ‘changing position’) of CAKES BEST A. Rather harsh def, imho. | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | RECITAL | Reading article with a different slant (7) |
| Immediate 2nd anagram (‘with a different slant’) of ARTICLE. | ||
| 3 | SHEAR | Female Arabic barber (5) |
| SHE + AR[abic]. | ||
| 4 | BE WISE TO | Become aware of fabulous website on Oscar (2,4,2) |
| Anagram (‘fabulous) of WEBSITE + O[scar], in radio code. | ||
| 5 | NON COMPOS MENTIS | Potty which is not up to being tried (3,6,6) |
| Double def. ‘Unfit to plead’, they used to say. | ||
| 6 | SECRET | 9am services turned up hidden from view (6) |
| TERCES are, precisely, 9 a.m. church or monasterial services, here reversed. | ||
| 7 | SOLDIER ON | Continue with private playing (7,2) |
| SOLDIER (‘private’) + ON (‘playing’). | ||
| 8 | DRAWERS | Cartoonists’ bloomers? (7) |
| Double def. | ||
| 14 | FREE AGENT | Frank, a refined chap, could be a bachelor (4,5) |
| FREE (‘frank’) + A + GENT (‘refined chap’). | ||
| 16 | PRESERVE | Protect page in front of book (8) |
| P[age] + RESERVE (‘book’). | ||
| 18 | EARLY ON | Peer over that before long (5,2) |
| EARL (a ‘peer’) + YON (‘that [over there]’) | ||
| 20 | THEPITS | Some sort of cat among the birds – it gets no worse (3,4) |
| ‘HEP to the jive’ (like, kinda cool, man) describing a jazz ‘cat’, surrounded by TITS. I will say no more. | ||
| 21 | SUPERB | Saleswoman aboard coach – flipping excellent! (6) |
| Reversal (‘flipping’) of REP (gender-blind ‘saleswoman’) in BUS (‘coach’). | ||
| 24 | RELIC | Council erroneously holds back an historic item of interest (5) |
| Reversed inclusion in ‘counCIL ERroneously’. | ||
*anagram
Initially missed the all too obvious (now) anagram at 2d which in turn didn’t help with some short but less obvious ones such as SHEAR and MEME. Didn’t know the ‘9am services’ either. Thank goodness for a few that went in more easily such as SIDE. I’ll have to think about the favourite crossword fish. Alewife? Probably not.
Pick of the bunch was THE PITS – it (almost) gets no better.
Thanks to Jason and Grant.
Very pleasant relaxing crossword. I liked the fabulous website, the joke about qe2, me me,mthoe cartoonist and more.
I also thought the def to 28a was harsh, I think of the answer as a bit of a wimp rather than a nut.
Surprised to see “an historic” in 24d, I’d expect a historic – guess it depends how you speak – are both correct?
Plenty to enjoy so thank you Jason and thank you grant
Thanks to Jason and Grant. I got through much of this puzzle successfully but ended up guessing at CLIFFTOP where I still don’t see the link with seen on the Strand. I did for once catch the rhyming slang for stare-stair, but was not sure about the free in FREE AGENT and took a long time spotting the hep in THE PITS. Still, a lot to enjoy here.
Thanks Jason and Grant
Took the train trip into the city and most of it back again to get this one out. A lot to enjoy but a couple of clues that were a little vague – the definitions of 27 and 28 and the cryptic definition of CLIFFTOP – I’m with ACD here – I don’t get the link between ‘Strand’ and CLIFFTOP.
I did particularly like the ‘tache’ in 9, the homophone at 10 and the construction (and blog comment) of 20d.
Since nobody else has commented. Strand can mean beach from where you could see a CLIFFTOP as the highest point. Where I come from ‘nut’ and ‘basket case’ both refer to a crazy person.
Not impressed with 13 & 17. Both quite unacceptable clues.
Also, a typesetter sets type. A typesttter does not print. A printer prints.