A typical Falcon offering…
… nothing teribly difificult, but everything fair and above board.
I took a few minutes trying to finish the top left corner, and then a d’oh! moment when I saw AMAZON, which made DOMINO easier to see.
My favourite clue was that for SECOND TO NONE.
Thanks, Falcon.
| Across | ||
| 1 | VANDAL | Person wantonly damaging property in museum close to Whitehall (6) |
| V AND A (Victoria and Albert “museum”) + (whitehal)L | ||
| 5 | BARONESS | Titled lady one’s seen in pubs (8) |
| ONE’S seen in BARS (“pubs”) | ||
| 9 | WARRANTY | Bond guarded about angry tirade (8) |
| WARY (“guarded”) about RANT (“angry tirade”) | ||
| 10 | BIG TOP | Burly jumper, for example, in circus tent (3,3) |
| BIG (“burly”) + TOP (“jumper, for example”) | ||
| 11 | DOMINO | One’s usually spotted in a cape with a hood (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 12 | ON STRIKE | Out and about with small three-wheeler (2,6) |
| ON (“about”) + S(mall) TRIKE (“three-wheeler”) | ||
| 14 | GONE TO GROUND | Hiding? Got one, we might deduce? (4,2,6) |
| Reverse anagram – “got one” is “gone to” ground. | ||
| 18 | SECOND TO NONE | Best moment on pitch outside (6,2,4) |
| SECOND (“moment”) with TONE (“pitch”) outside ON | ||
| 22 | PRACTICE | Cost includes thing done for business (8) |
| PRICE (“cost”) includes ACT (“thing done”) | ||
| 25 | TISSUE | Concern shown after beginning of television series (6) |
| ISSUE (“concern”) shown after T(elevision) | ||
| 26 | CANINE | Stick thrown round home for dog (6) |
| CANE (“stick”) round IN (“home”) | ||
| 27 | DROP GOAL | Objective after lapse in term at Rugby? (4,4) |
| GOAL (“objective”) after DROP (“lapse”) | ||
| 28 | TELEPLAY | Something to watch on the box – wriggling eel, extremely powerful, in Scottish river (8) |
| *(eel) + P(owerfu)L in TAY (“Scottish river”) | ||
| 29 | NOTARY | Small number attempt to engage a public official (6) |
| No. (“small number”) + TRY (“attempt”) to engage A | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | AMAZON | Tigress in river? (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 3 | DERRING-DO | Heroic action of theologian over stopping sinning (7-2) |
| DD (doctor of divinity, so “theologian”) + O(ver) stopping ERRING (“sinning”) | ||
| 4 | LAND OF NOD | Sleep in biblical place (4,2,3) |
| Double definition | ||
| 5 | BOYCOTT | Stay away from male child on bed with onset of typhus (7) |
| BOY (“male child”) + COT (“bed”) with T(yphus) | ||
| 6 | REBUS | Puzzle over old aircraft (5) |
| RE (“over”) + BUS (“old aircraft”) | ||
| 7 | NIGER | Turbulent reign in African country (5) |
| *(reign) | ||
| 8 | SHOCKING | Spill the beans about German wine being terrible (8) |
| SING (“spill the beans”) about HOCK (“German wine”) | ||
| 13 | TOR | Rocky height can be seen in centre of storm (3) |
| s(TOR)m | ||
| 15 | GHOST TOWN | Good MC won’t fancy a place that’s empty (5,4) |
| G(ood) + HOST (“MC”) + *(wont) | ||
| 16 | OVERSIGHT | Inadvertent mistake as regards vision (9) |
| OVER (“as regards”) + SIGHT (“vision”) | ||
| 17 | DECREASE | Drop iron? (8) |
| Double definition, the second a cryptic one. | ||
| 19 | NET | Catch number coming up (3) |
| <=TEN (“number”, coming up) | ||
| 20 | OPEN DAY | What a school may have done – pay involved? (4,3) |
| *(done pay) | ||
| 21 | AU PAIR | A posh couple’s helper from overseas? (2,4) |
| A + U (“posh”) + PAIR (“couple”) | ||
| 23 | CRIME | Frost after cult’s leader for murder, perhaps (5) |
| RIME (“frost”) after C(ult) | ||
| 24 | IDEAL | Model and I do business (5) |
| I DEAL (“do business”) | ||
*anagram
Thanks Falcon and Loonapick. My experience was like yours except I did not have the epiphany over “amazon” and “domino”.
A bit gentler than the Nutmeg in The Guardian which I did immediately before this, but pleasant to work through and tease out the sometimes not so obvious parsing.
Favourites were the unusual def. for TISSUE (? ever used in this sense apart from in a “tissue of lies”) and the &littish AU PAIR.
Thanks to Falcon and loonapick.
Thanks to Falcon and loonapick Much fun. I enjoyed the two long answers (14 and 18 ac) but was not sure about the second meaning of DOMINO involving cape and hood.
Thanks Falcon and loonapick
Entertaining but not too difficult a puzzle for a Thursday. Had to check on these other definitions of TISSUE and DOMINO and whilst seeing the anagram of ‘got one’, didn’t see through the GROUND trick today – usually can spot these reverse anagrams.
A couple of old chestnuts with 4d and 17d but good fun overall and a little trickier in some of his parsing than is normal for him.
Last couple in were PRACTICE and WARRANTY.