The puzzle can be printed off from here.
I found this one to be quite 2dn.
I don’t know if it was because it was my first blog since returning from holiday (although I did a lot pf puzzles while I was away) or whether it was just a difficult puzzle to get into, but I struggled a bit with theis Mudd offering.
It didn’t help that I was determined to have MOOR or ROOM somewhere in the answer to 9dn, but I got ther in the end.
Thanks, Mudd, for blowing away a few post-break cobwebs.
| Across | ||
| 1 | GAMEPLAN | Strategy Indonesian players must keep quiet (4,4) |
| GAMELAN (“Indonesian players”) must keep P(iano) (“quiet”)
A gamelan is an Indonesian percussion orchestra. |
||
| 5 | BELLOW | Bill finally penetrating under bark (6) |
| (bil)L penetrating BELOW (“under”) | ||
| 10 | AINTREE | Course isn’t on English (7) |
| AIN’T (“isn’t”) + RE (“on”) + E(nglish) | ||
| 11 | ODDBALL | Return of stuttering Labour Party, strange (7) |
| <=D-DO (stuttering “labour”) + BALL (“party”) | ||
| 12 | PUBESCENT | Developing inclination to insert key, having turned up earlier (9) |
| BENT (“inclination”) to insert ESC (“key”, on a computer keyboard), having <=UP earlier | ||
| 13 | RALLY | Improve court practice? (5) |
| Double definition; for the second, think tennis. | ||
| 15 | SINAI | Mount seen originally in a newspaper (5) |
| S(een) + IN A + I (“newspaper”) | ||
| 16 | BOOB TUBE | Mistake then saving billions in a day? That’s tight! (4,4) |
| BOOB (“mistake”) then B(illions) in TUE (“a day”) | ||
| 19 | DIAGNOSE | Identify charity backing good runner (8) |
| <=AID (“charity” backing)+ G(ood) + NOSE (“runner”) | ||
| 20 | AGAIN | Asian commander elected a second time (5) |
| AGA (“Asian commander”) + IN (“elected”) | ||
| 21 | BIGOT | Racist piece about to be removed (5) |
| BIT (“piece”) about GO (“to be removed”) | ||
| 23 | MOVIEGOER | Pop corn muncher, one inspired by plant food eaten by cow? (9) |
| I (‘one”) inspired by VEG (“plant food”) eaten by MOOER (“cow?”), so MO(V(I)EG)OER | ||
| 25 | CHAGRIN | Irritation rag disseminated in feature (7) |
| *(rag) in CHIN (“feature”) | ||
| 27 | NEVADAN | Bread stuffed with endless duck for resident of US state (7) |
| NAN (“bread”) stuffed with EVAD(e) (endless “duck”) | ||
| 28 | SARNIE | Simple snack is near crackers (6) |
| *(is near) | ||
| 29 | BEDSTEAD | Framework in chamber debated furiously, gathering speed initially (8) |
| *(debated) gathering S(peed) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | GOALPOST | End letters, upright (8) |
| GOAL (“end”) + POST (“letters”) | ||
| 2 | MIND-BENDING | Difficult to get in door, builder starts fixing houses (4-7) |
| IN + D(oor) B(uilder) housed by MENDING (“fixing”) | ||
| 3 | PERISHING | Damn freezing! (9) |
| Double definition | ||
| 4 | ARETE | Some athlete raced up mountain ridge (5) |
| Hidden backards in “athlETE RAced”, indicated by some and up | ||
| 6 | EIDER | Ruddy that is, flipping duck (5) |
| <=(RED (“ruddy”) + I.E. (“that is”)) | ||
| 7 | LEA | Lychgate borders on a field (3) |
| L(ychgat)E on A | ||
| 8 | WELLY | Commitment shown, one going on foot (5) |
| If you “give it welly”, you show full commitment. | ||
| 9 | BOLTHOLE | Review of Othello beyond belief at first – somewhere to hide? (8) |
| *(othello) beyond B(elief) | ||
| 14 | LABRADOODLE | Something that serves to restrain bad or feral old dog (11) |
| LADLE (“something that serves”) to restrain (*(bad or) + O(ld)) | ||
| 16 | BLOOMING | Totally out (8) |
| Double definition | ||
| 17 | TEA LEAVES | Everton, say, almost goes – or remains in the cup? (3,6) |
| TEA(m) (“Everton, say”, almost) + LEAVES (“goes”) | ||
| 18 | UNIRONED | Badly ruined trousers on, still creased (8) |
| *(ruined) trousers ON | ||
| 21 | BUCKS | County cash (5) |
| Double definition. | ||
| 22 | TORSI | Trunks featuring in elephant or similar (5) |
| Featuring in “elephanT OR SImilar” | ||
| 24 | VENUE | Place where planet’s short on energy (5) |
| VENU(s) (planet”, short) + E(nergy) | ||
| 26 | AIR | Show tune (3) |
| Double definition | ||
*anagram
The feeling that 9d ended in ROOM for MOOR in review also held me back for some time. A few others took a bit of thought, e.g. BIGOT but got there in the end. I think the parsing for 11a is LLAB + DDO all reversed for a stuttering of LAB (Labour) + DO (party).
Thanks to Mudd and loonapick.
Another who was sure that ‘Review of Othello’ just had to be MOOR, which held me up for a few including DIAGNOSE, my last in. Agree with Hovis @1 about the parsing for ODDBALL which was an original clue. Thanks for the parsing of BIGOT – simple now, but I just couldn’t work it out.
Liked the ‘feral old dog’ and ‘That’s tight!’ for BOOB TUBE.
Thanks to Mudd and loonapick
Thanks to Mudd and loonapick. I started out well but got bogged down with WELLY (I didn’t know the “commitment” connection) and the PERISHING double definition. I had the same parsing for ODDBALL with two stutters. My LOI was BOOB TUBE which looked like the solution but is a term I associate with TV, not tightness (I did not know the dress-gown term).
A 35 minute solve. Struggled for a toe hold for 15 minutes and had only the NE an SW in. Perishing was the last one in. Loved LLAB DDO. Hated SINAI. Could not parse LABRADOODLE. Thanks MUDD. And Loonapick.
Thanks Mudd and loonapick
Found this at the upper end of Mudd’s difficulty range. After starting off quite briskly in the bottom right corner, things soon slowed down quite a bit.
Had come across the term “give it Welly” only recently, but it needed all of the crossers to be able to write it in.
Used a word finder to finish off BOLTHOLE and DIAGNOSE … and wished that I had just persisted that little bit longer before doing that … both good clues.