Today’s slot has been filled by Klingsor’s latest puzzle. First things first, let me apologise for the very late posting of this blog, which is due to circumstances beyond my control.
I thoroughly enjoyed this crossword, which I found to be full of flair and ingenuity but still sufficiently doable for a mid-week slot.
1D was new to me, as was the jazz pianist at 7, while I only vaguely knew the part of the Mass referred to at 16. As for my preferred clues, there are almost too many to mention: 1A, for surface, which I couldn’t fully parse for a long time; 4 and 10, both for surface; the brilliant & lit. at 12; and 15, for playing with “mac”.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | ASSISTANCE | Relief when one gets into pole position
AS (=when) + {I (=one) in [S (=pole, i.e. south) + STANCE (=position)]} |
| 06 | BARI | Italian city‘s first pub?
Cryptically, the first pub could be described as BAR 1 |
| 09 | BRIGANTINE | Giant waves stopping the sea vessel
*(GIANT) in BRINE (=the sea) |
| 10 | STIR | Prison time breaks a gentleman
T (=time) in SIR (=a gentlemen) |
| 12 | SHERWOOD FOREST | Trees of R. Hood’s world, primarily? Could be
*(TREES OF R. HOODS + W<orld> (“primarily” means first letter only); & lit. |
| 14 | SCREWY | Unknown on second team is eccentric
S (=second) + CREW (=team) + Y (=unknown, in algebra) |
| 15 | RAINCOAT | Informant entertains trendy company with introduction to Apple Mac
[IN (=trendy) + CO (=company) + A<pple> (“introduction to” means first letter only)] in RAT (=informant); the mac here is a mackintosh |
| 17 | AGAR-AGAR | Newspaper article twice backed setter?
2 x (=twice) a reversal (“backed”) of “RAG (=newspaper) + A (=article)”; the “setter” of the definition is a setting agent |
| 19 | HAIRDO | Henry needs gas to cook mullet, perhaps
H (=Henry) + AIR (=gas) + DO (=cook); Chambers list both “gas” and “cook” in respective definitions of “air” and “do” |
| 22 | RIMSKY-KORSAKOV | Composer marks Kirov’s OK year with new composition
*(MARKS KIROV’S OK + Y (=year)); “with new composition” is anagram indicator; the reference is to Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) |
| 24 | LATE | Departed in high spirits after losing case
<e>LATE<d> (=in high spirits); “after losing case” means first and last letters are dropped; “(dearly) departed” is “late” in the sense of died, passed away |
| 25 | PROSPERITY | Succeeded in real estate, securing one affluence
S (=succeeded, from obituaries) and I (=one) to be inserted in different places in PROPERTY (=real estate) |
| 26 | EARN | Make clear nothing needs cutting back
Hidden (“needs cutting back”) in “clEAR Nothing”; e.g. He makes (=earns) £30K a year |
| 27 | TEST FLIGHT | Son felt unsettled in cramped aircraft’s first trip
[S (=son) + *(FELT)] in TIGHT (=cramped); “unsettled” is anagram indicator |
| Down | ||
| 01 | AMBO | American doctor wants old desk
A (=American) + MB (=doctor, i.e. bachelor of medicine) + O (=old); an ambo is an early Christian raised reading-desk |
| 02 | SLITHER | Sister restricts nimble movement of snake?
LITHE (=nimble) in SR (=sister) |
| 03 | SPARROWHAWKS | Resort to quarrel about right to sell small birds
{R (=right) in [SPA (=resort) + ROW (=quarrel)]} + HAWK (=to sell) + S (=small) |
| 04 | ACTION | Proceedings in a court over one charged
A + CT (=court) + ION (=one charged, i.e. a charged particle) |
| 05 | CANADIAN | North American‘s promised land surrounding vacant deli
D<el>I (“vacant” means middle letters are dropped) in CANAAN (=promised land, in the Bible) |
| 07 | ART DECO | Style of, say, Tatum O’Neal’s top clothing last month
DEC (=last month (of year)) in [ART (say, Tatum, i.e. US jazz pianist Art Tatum) + O<neal> (“top” means first letter only)] |
| 08 | IRRITATION | Watering requires tons, not gallons – that’s a bother
IRRIGATION (=watering); “requires T (=tons), not G (=gallons)” means letter “g” is replaced by letter “t” |
| 11 | SOUND AS A BELL | Ring is in perfect condition
To ring is “(to make a) sound as a bell” |
| 13 | ESPADRILLE | I sell padre buckle for shoe
*(I SELL PADRE); “buckle” (as verb) is anagram indicator |
| 16 | VALKYRIE | Can uplifting part of mass produce warrior maiden?
VAL (LAV=can, i.e. toilet; “uplifting” indicates vertical reversal) + KYRIE (=part of mass, i.e. the Kyrie eleison); the Valkyries led the slain from the battlefield to Valhalla in Norse mythology |
| 18 | AMMETER | Instrument encountered in La Mer, bar 50
MET (=encountered) in <l>A MER (“bar 50 (=L, in Roman numerals” means the letter “l” is dropped); a ammeter is used to measure electrical current, usually in amps |
| 20 | ROOTING | Poking about in jumper can start to grate
ROO (=jumper, i.e. kangaroo) + TIN (=can) + G<rate> (“start to” means first letter only) |
| 21 | PROSIT | Cheers for model
PRO (=for) + SIT (=(to) model, i.e. for an artist) |
| 23 | EYOT | English play about small island
E (=English) + YOT (TOY=play (with); “about” indicates reversal) |
A steady solve for us with no real difficulties. We’d always thought of AMBO as a pulpit rather than a reading desk; Chambers gives either meaning and adds the derication from Greek for a hill. Interestingly, the village of Wendens Ambo has nothing to do with an ambo of any sort, ‘ambo’ there being derived from Latin.
No real CoD, it was all good but we liked 11dn for what we saw as misdirection – ‘Ring’ in a Klingsor puzzle sets one thinking ‘Wagner’ – but he came later at 16dn.
Thanks, Klingsor and RatkojaRiku.
Really enjoyed this. Best of today’s bunch for me. As a minor point, I thought 26a might be better with something like ‘nothing needs stripping off’ since it is not just an inclusion but has ‘clothing’ removed.
Thanks to Klingsor and RatkojaRiku.
I looked back and see that I’ve only blogged Klingsor once in well over a year. Which probably means that I’ll get his next three. But if I did this would be no problem (for me at any rate), because I enjoy his crosswords as much as anyone’s. This was well up to the usual standard I thought. 12ac was outstanding.
I enjoyed this puzzle, but my LOI AGAR AGAR gave me some trouble. I didn’t know the jazz pianist either, but the answer was clear enough. Liked Bar1. Thanks Klingsor and RR