A tough offering from the Don this Friday. Several new words I learnt along the way – fairly clued so that made the solve reasonably attainable , with only references made with Chambers to ensure correctness of solution.
FF: 9 DD: 9
| Across | ||
| 1 | DISPLAY CABINET | Tidy basin – place possibly where cups are seen? (7,7) |
| TIDY BASIN PLACE* | ||
| 10 | RIPON | City making request for peace – no turning back (5) |
| RIP (request for peace, rest in pace) ON (reverse of NO) | ||
| 11 | GOING RATE | What home fuel will do? What’s the normal price? (5.4) |
| cryptic def; read as GO IN GRATE (what home fuel would do) | ||
| 12 | TWEEDLE | Play in river and lake (not the middle) (7) |
| TWEED (river) LakE (without middle letters) – new word for me | ||
| 13 | KRISHNA | Shrink with trembling when meeting a deity (7) |
| SHRINK* A | ||
| 14 | CODED | Jest by journalist in a language that needs interpretation (5) |
| COD (jest) ED (journalist) – learnt a new meaning of COD | ||
| 16 | ATEMPORAL | An agency worker said to be unconstrained by time? (9) |
| A (an) TEMP (agency worker) ORAL (said) | ||
| 19 | MARES NEST | Disorderly situation – not really one of those that will 29! (5,4) |
| cryptic def; a mare’s nest wont hold horses (answer to 29a) | ||
| 20 | REPOT | Drunk after relapse gets transplant (5) |
| TOPER (drunk), reversed | ||
| 22 | DEMEANS | Humiliates clergy, squashing them (7) |
| DEANS (clergy) containing EM (them, ’em) | ||
| 25 | MANDRIL | Fellow meets bore, not stopping, in bar (7) |
| MAN (fellow) DRILl (bore, without last letter) | ||
| 27 | ATTAINDER | Tainted rogue imprisoned by a king being deprived of rights (9) |
| TAINTED* in A R (king) | ||
| 28 | PLANE | Vehicle parking by road (5) |
| P (parking) LANE (road) | ||
| 29 | HOLD YOUR HORSES | What stables can do for you? Hang on a minute! (4,4,6) |
| cryptic def | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | IMPLEADER | Mischief-maker, boss who goes to court? (9) |
| IMP (mischief-maker) LEADER (boss) | ||
| 3 | PINED | Longed to be holy – young hooligan (5) |
| PI (holy) NED (young hooligan, referring to edward ‘ned’ young, british pirate, not sure whether hooligan fits) | ||
| 4 | AGGREGATE | Having made arrangement, get garage to collect (9) |
| GET GARAGE* | ||
| 5 | CRICK | Spasm cutting sport short repeatedly (5) |
| CRICKet (sport, cut short repeatedly) | ||
| 6 | BIG DIPPER | American stars – will such make a considerable splash? (3,6) |
| cryptic def; the same asterism is called plough in uk | ||
| 7 | NEATH | Fine athlete covers this bit of Wales (5) |
| hidden in “..fiNE ATHlete..” | ||
| 8 | TOENAIL | Inside dog there’s one nasty growth (7) |
| TAIL (dog) containing ONE* | ||
| 9 | EROTIC | Naughty champion, hiding head, twitching (6) |
| hERO (champion, without first letter) TIC (twitching) | ||
| 15 | DISPARITY | Gap is provided in frantic day trip (9) |
| IS in DAY TRIP* | ||
| 17 | ECTOMORPH | Thin person in the City getting to change gradually (9) |
| EC (city) TO MORPH (chang gradually) | ||
| 18 | REPORTAGE | Presentation of news about price for conveying goods (9) |
| RE (about) PORTAGE (price for conveying goods) | ||
| 19 | MIDRASH | Exposition from one doctor in hospital series on TV (7) |
| [I (one) DR (doctor)] in MASH (hospital series on TV) – new word but getable from the clue | ||
| 21 | TOLLED | Gave forth solemn sound, as reported on the radio (6) |
| sounds like TOLD (reported) | ||
| 23 | MOTEL | Overnight accommodation the French fellow set up (5) |
| LE (the, french) TOM (fellow), all reversed (set up) | ||
| 24 | SADHU | Holy man had us troubled (5) |
| HAD US* | ||
| 26 | NEPER | Wire penthouse up – internal electrical unit required (5) |
| hidden, reversed in “wiRE PENthouse..” – new term for me, only solved due to crossers | ||
*anagram
For 3 down, Ned refers to Teddy Boys, who were young hooligans. Young delinquents in Scotland are still referred to as ‘Neds’.
The hardest one I can ever remember from Bradman, with five new words for me and some tough clues for words I did know. In the end, only failed on the unknown MIDRASH, which ignorance led me to believe looked better with an ‘A’ rather than an ‘I’. Appearances can obviously be deceptive.
Didn’t really get the ‘cutting sport short repeatedly’ bit of 5d. I suppose it means the last two letters are cut, not just the last one.
I liked the surface of EROTIC and ECTOMORPH, which I don’t think I’ve seen in a cryptic before.
Thanks to Bradman for a real challenge and to Turbolegs for figuring it all out so expertly.
Thanks to Bradman and Turbolegs. I did know MIDRASH, remembered SADHU from a previous puzzle, did not know NEPER, and was not sure about cod = jest, MANDRIL = bar, ned = hooligan, or IMPLEADER.
Thanks both. Very tough as you say.
I had IMPEDITOR for 2d which is a legal term for someone in an action. Parsed very well, but made the crossers impossible to get.
Thanks Bradman and Turbolegs
Nearly as tough as he can get – closer to his Pasquale persona in the Guardian and don’t know that I would’ve been able to complete it without internet help.
All of the words mentioned by ACD as well as ATTAINDER and ECTOMORPH were new to me. Slowed things up a bit by entering TRAMP at first in 28a.
Finished in the SE corner with NEPER (which I saw reversed and had to check to see what it meant), PLANE (which was then able to be fixed up) and TOLLED (which I made greater work out of then needed) as the last few in.
I understood mandrel refers to a bar. Mandrill is a type of baboon.