Alberich provides our FT challenge today.
I always enjoy solving Alberich puzzles and this was no exception.
A 10 down of clever cluing devices and smooth surfaces made this a fine puzzle.
Thanks ALBERICH
| Across | ||
| 1 | PRIEST | Is Snoopy cartoon’s central character a father? (6) |
| PRIES (“is snoopy”) + [central character of] (car)T(oon) | ||
| 4 | SWEAR OFF | Promise to quit smoking’s beginning to weaken (5,3) |
| S(moking’s) [beginning] + WEAR OFF (“to weaken”) | ||
| 9 | ADAPT | Promotion likely for tailor (5) |
| AD (“promotion”) + APT (“likely”) | ||
| 10 | POSTERIOR | Wiggling toes keeps one in order? The reverse, later (9) |
| *(toes) in PRIOR (“one in order”) | ||
| 11 | MAGNETO | Impressionist acquires good old generator (7) |
| (Edouard) MANET (“impressionist” painter) acquires G (good) + O (old) | ||
| 12 | SPONGER | Person ultimately being bum? (7) |
| *(person g) where the g is [ultimately] (bein)G, and &lit. | ||
| 13 | CORD | String quartet from Poulenc or Debussy (4) |
| Hidden in [quartet (of letters) from] “poulenC OR Debussy” | ||
| 14 | MINDLESS | Don’t object so much? That’s stupid! (8) |
| If you MIND LESS, you “don’t object so much” | ||
| 17 | LARGESSE| | English ship protected by great generosity (8) |
| E (English) + SS ((steam)ship) protected by LARGE (“great”) | ||
| 19 | ROVE | Range is finished back to front (4) |
| OVER (“finished”) with its back (ie last letter) moved to the front | ||
| 22 | AMPHORA | Essential oil, first off, needs a jar (7) |
| (c)AMPHOR (“essential oil” first off) needs A | ||
| 24 | ORLANDO | Lorna Doone is shot without one US location (7) |
| *(lorna do), where DO is DOONE without “one” | ||
| 25 | LIABILITY | Debt claim oddly ignored by faculty (9) |
| (c)L(a)I(m) [oddly ignored] by ABILITY (“faculty”) | ||
| 26 | NAIVE | Green water? That’s revolutionary (5) |
| <=EVIAN (revolutionary “water”) | ||
| 27 | ANTIGONE | With this, cantilever creates clever Greek drama (8) |
| With ANTI GONE, “c(anti)lever” creates “clever”
Antigone is a play by Sophocles |
||
| 28 | MALLET | Hammer film shown by shopping precinct (6) |
| E.T. (“film”) shown by MALL (“shopping precinct”) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | PHARMACY | Quick to nurse injury, get medicine here? (8) |
| PACY (“quick”) to nurse HARM (“injury”) | ||
| 2 | INAUGURAL | Maiden wants hot summer month by river (9) |
| IN (“hot”) + AUG. (“summer month”) by (river) URAL | ||
| 3 | SUTLER | Old army supplier is relatively refined in speech (6) |
| Homophome of [in speech] SUBTLER (“relatively refined”) | ||
| 5 | WEST SIDE STORY | Musical sister’s to wed oddball before start of year (4,4,5) |
| *(sisters to wed) before [start of] Y(ear) | ||
| 6 | AWESOME | Terrific doctor to stitch up in A&E (7) |
| <=MO SEW (“doctor” + “stitch”, up) in A + E | ||
| 7 | OWING | Outstanding playing cello perhaps, but not bass (5) |
| (b)OWING (“playing cello, perhaps” but not B (bass)) | ||
| 8 | FURORE | Pelt with rock, creating disturbance (6) |
| FUR (“pelt”) with ORE (“stone”) | ||
| 10 | PROLIFERATION | Increase allowance to support common labourer, including a condition (13) |
| RATION (“allowance”) to support PROLE (“common labourer”) including IF (“a condition”) | ||
| 15 | SPOONBILL | Cost of some cutlery for a flyer (9) |
| The BILL for SPOONs would be the “cost of some cutlery” | ||
| 16 | REDOLENT | Benefit cuts aren’t initially missed – that’s suggestive (8) |
| DOLE (“benefit”) cuts (a)REN’T [initially missed] | ||
| 18 | ROOFING | Go in for dodgy building work (7) |
| *(go in for) | ||
| 20 | DAHLIA | Painter captures hearts with a flower (6) |
| (Salvador) DALI (“painter”) captures H (hearts) with A | ||
| 21 | GLINKA | Georgia’s about to join Russian composer (6) |
| Ga. (Georgia) about LINK (“to join”) | ||
| 23 | PLAIT | Climbing mountain’s given Italian a bit of a shock (5) |
| [climbing] <=ALP (“mountain”) given (Italian)
For the definition, think of shock as “thick hair” |
||
*anagram
Many masterfully constructed clues.
Loved the “Snoopy cartoon”, “String quartet” and “Hammer film” clues and the “pelt with rock” for FURORE. Also enjoyed the construction for ANTIGONE.
A DNF for me. Didn’t know SUTLER and would never have guessed it.
Thanks to Alberich and loonapick.
Thanks, loonapick.
An absorbing and enjoyable puzzle, as expected. My favourites were PRIEST and ANTIGONE but there isn’t a dud clue in sight.
Many thanks to Alberich.
PRIEST was also my COD. Like Hovis @ 1 a DNF due to SUTLER. Thanks to Alberich and loonapick.
At first pass I thought i would quit. Then, having solved one in each quarter, 13a, 26a, 7d and23d, it began to fall in place and I completed. Even recalled “sutler”. Only quibble, “camphor is a solid at room temp. Thanks to both
As usual I found Alberich infuriatingly subtle as a setter, and had my brain squeezed (but abjured external assistance). I loved ANTIGONE most. Thanks to Alberich and looonapick.
Thanks to Alberich and loonapick. I did know SUTLER but I took a while parsing PRIEST, SPONGER, and my LOI REDOLENT.
Brilliant. Could not get priest and sutler in top LH corner. Probably because I guessed PLINUS for that 1 across clue! Very enjoyable challenge.
Thanks Alberich and loonapick
Did this one on the day but very late to check it off and found it fairly challenging. New terms for me were SUTLER (that I only found via a word finder) and the composer GLINKA (whom I had to confirm in Wikipedia after building from the word play).
Loved the same two as Eileen@2 but as she says, there were no bad ‘uns !!
Finished in the NE corner this time with SWEAR OFF, SPONGER (which should have come much earlier) and OWING the last few in.