So my turn comes round again and it’s Vi-go to start our week here in Indy land.
Often when you get a Vigo crossword she’s put ninas or themes but I’ve been looking for a while and if there is anything extra in the grid it’s gone over my head. A couple of minor gripes in my head solving (more likely my parsing) this but enjoyable Monday fare nonetheless.
Thanks Vigo.
Across
1 Parties hard for money (4)
DOSH
DO – party & S for plural & H(ard)
3 Gnawed salt providing source of perspiration (5,5)
SWEAT GLAND
[GNAWED SALT]* The anagram indication sems to be implied by providing but …
10 Short working party with top base (7)
SQUALID
A short SQUA(d) & LID – top
11 Rat is feature on old river (7)
TRAITOR
TRAIT – feature & O(ld) & R(iver)
12 Incense and silver in fantastic setting (7)
OUTRAGE
AG – silver inside OUTRÉ
13 Credit one with essential goodness (6)
CRIKEY
My last one in, tried for ages to make this cripes, CR(edit) & 1 & KEY for essential, looking at it now I wonder why it took me so long.
15 Get rid of grand flawless houses (5)
PURGE
G(rand) housed by PURE – flawless
16 Blue journalists caught in act (9)
DEPRESSED
PRESS for journalists caught by DEED for act
18 Fight alien with your English padding (5,4)
SPARE TYRE
SPAR for fight & the setters’ favourite alien E.T. & Y(ou)R & E(nglish)
21 Old skin almost cast out (5)
EXPEL
EX – old & most of PEL(t)- skin
23 Monotony of psychic losing head after time (6)
TEDIUM
T(ime) & a headless (m)EDIUM
25 Daily editor rejected over a piece of absurd behaviour (7)
CHARADE
A charade of CHAR for a daily cleaner & A & a rejected ED(itor)
27 Interview is short after disastrous early beginnings (7)
DEBRIEF
Beginnings of D(isasterous) E(arly) & BRIEF for short
28 I carelessly retain a state of idleness (7)
INERTIA
I & RETAIN* carelessly
29 A small volume Rector revised is accepted as valid (10)
ACCREDITED
A & C(ubic) C(entimetre) – they’re not big – & R(ector) & EDITED for revised
30 Festival in cafeteria (4)
FETE
In(side) caFETEria
Down
1 Disturb dance with masculine attitude (10)
DISCOMPOSE
DISCO – dance & M(asculine) & POSE – attitude
2 Second rambling nature walk (7)
SAUNTER
S(econd) & a rambling NATURE*
4 You and I notice post returning by unknown date (9)
WEDNESDAY
WE – you and I – & [AD for notice & SEND – to post] reversed & Y – a mathematical “unknown”. Does a day name mean date? Not really convinced, you’d ask what day is it, or what’s the date which wouldn’t get the answer Wednesday.
5 Ancient culture admired zealots that executed children first of all (5)
AZTEC
Initial letters of A(dmired) Z(ealots) T(hat) E(xecuted) C(hildren).
6 Stone from Northern Ireland featured in fireplace (7)
GRANITE
N.I. inside GRATE
7 Recasts eccentric performer (7)
ACTRESS
An eccentric RECASTS*
8 Mild expletive on radio covered up in review (4)
DARN
Hidden reversed – covered – up in oN RADio
9 Stick or split? (6)
CLEAVE
Classic double defintion where the two meanings are complete opposites
14 Corrupt man or woman with ecstasy and speed (10)
ADULTERATE
ADULT – man or woman – & E(cstacy) & RATE for speed
17 Lay down before writer (9)
PRESCRIBE
PRE – before & SCRIBE – writer
19 One king with pen that’s sharp (7)
ACERBIC
ACE for 1 & R(ex) for King & BIC a make of pen
20 Building certified without essential elements of mortar crumbles (7)
EDIFICE
The essential elements of (mo)RT(ar) are removed from a crumbled [CE(rt)IFIED]*
21 Told not right to be happy (6)
ELATED
R(ight) removed from (r)ELATED for told
22 Start to play with child’s toy and chatter inanely (7)
PRATTLE
Start of P(lay) & RATTLE – child’s toy
24 Civvies noisily botch note (5)
MUFTI
Sounds like – noisily MUFF – to botch & TI a note from tonic sol-fa scales
26 Brainwave regularly featuring in middle ear (4)
IDEA
alternate letters – regularly in mIdDlE eAr
Ditto on 13a. ET for ‘alien’ again. Long time since I last saw BEM (Bug Eyed Monster). I agree with all of your misgivings.
Don’t recall having seen DISCOMPOSE before. Thanks to Vigo and flashling.
A nice gentle introduction to the week with just a few holdups. We also took ages to see CRIKEY – and we totally missed the parsing of DARN. We’d agree about ‘date’ in 4dn, but we didn’t have a problem with ‘providing’ in 4ac – we read it as ‘providing the letters for …’ and not much different from the use of ‘possibly’ or ‘could be’ as anagram indicators. That being said, though, ‘could be’ might have been better here. And in 29ac we thought it a wee bit odd that the answer began ‘acc…’ when the similar word ‘accepted’ in the clue is not too far removed in meaning; we even looked for a word which didn’t start the same way before coming back to ACCREDITED.
Plenty to like, though, including DEBRIEF, PRESCRIBE and EDIFICE.
Thanks, Vigo and flashling.
All good stuff from Vigo again although I’m another who queried ‘date’ in 4d.
I really liked CRIKEY and thought 14d would have sat rather well with Hoskins. PRATTLE also appealed for the clue’s surface read – I’ve just spent a couple of weeks doing exactly that with my 14 month old grandson!
Many thanks to Vigo and to flashling for the blog.
A lovely puzzle to start the week. I liked CRIKEY for the surface, the answer, and the clever ‘essential goodness’. My favourite clue is probably the interview story (27a).
Ha, I was wondering whether for DARN, the reverse hidden might be more concisely indicated by just ‘covered up’ rather than ‘covered up in review’. It seems Flashing inadvertently agrees with me.
Many thanks Vigo and Flashling
Indeed Dutch re 8 Darn, I was in that very quandry so left it open ended to see if anyone noticed 🙂