Another entertaining puzzle, as we have come to expect. Thank you again Julius.
A Boaty McBoatface of a puzzle. Not my strong point but I understood nearly all of it.
| Across | ||
| 1 | SALTY OLD SEA DOG | Gladys Oates excitedly cuddling senior chap in the third row (5,3,3,3) |
| anagram (excitedly) of GLADYS OATES contains (cuddling) OLD (senior) – I have not heard the expression before and I don’t understand the definition either! Please can someone help me out. The third row of this puzzle is ANCIENT MARINER – a salty old sea dog | ||
| 9 | ANCIENT | Regularly taking out nanny? Crikey, not very old! (7) |
| every other letter (regularly taking out) of nAnNy CrIkEy NoT | ||
| 10 | MARINER | Colliery worker defending Arab collier? (7) |
| MINER (colliery worker) contains (defending) AR (Arab) – a sailor on a coal ship | ||
| 11 | GELID | Frosty starts to General Election leaders’ interactive debates (5) |
| first letters (starts to) of General Election Leader’s Interactive Debate | ||
| 12 | SHORT IRON | Having made the cut, rookie enters golf club (5,4) |
| SHORN (having made the cut) contains (with…entering) TIRO (rookie) | ||
| 13 | SAILOR | 10 shillings, first class? Good Lord! (6) |
| S (shillings) AI (A1, first class) LOR (Good Lord!) – the definition refers to MARINER, 10 across | ||
| 15 | MANITOBA | Boatman adrift round island region bordering Hudson Bay (8) |
| anagram (adrift) of BOATMAN contains (about) I (island) | ||
| 18 | NEEDIEST | Shawnee dies trying to protect those most desperate (8) |
| found inside (protected by) shwNEE DIES Trying | ||
| 19 | CEASED | Stopped to relax in the outskirts of Chelmsford (6) |
| EASE (to relax) inside ChelmsforD (outside letters, outstskirts of) | ||
| 21 | SUBTENANT | U-boat officer losing place he is renting from another leaseholder (9) |
| SUB (U-boat) lieuTENANT (officer) missing LIEU (place) | ||
| 23 | See 27 | |
| 25 | OUTWITS | Is too smart for old, upper-class Charlies (7) |
| O (old) U (upper class) TWITS (Charlies) | ||
| 26 | DONEGAL | Accomplished objective, taking over county (7) |
| DONE (accomplished) then GoAL missing (taking) O (over) | ||
| 27, 23 | MESSING ABOUT IN BOATS | Playing around, sneakily obtains crafty pleasures (7,5,2,5) |
| MESSING ABOUT (playing) then anagram (sneakily) of OBTAINS | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SLANG | Young ladies upset about the introduction of nasty, common language (5) |
| GALS (young ladies) reversed (upset) contains Nasty (introduction, first letter of) | ||
| 2 | LOCAL TIME | You can set your watch by this diet period (5,4) |
| LO CAL (diet) TIME (period) | ||
| 3 | YIELD | Bond’s return, strangely idle following the completion of Octopussy (5) |
| anagram (strangely) of IDLE follows octopussY (last letter, completion of) | ||
| 4 | LATEST | Most recent Latin advanced paper (6) |
| L (Latin) A (advanced) TEST (paper) | ||
| 5 | SUM TOTAL | Aggregate taken from Hilversum to Tallinn (3,5) |
| found inside hilveSUM TO TALlin | ||
| 6 | AIR STRIKE | Displays three-wheeler, shot from above (3,6) |
| AIRS (displays) TRIKE (three-wheeler) | ||
| 7 | OWNER | Proprietor’s wife stuck in revolting Nevada resort (5) |
| W (wife) inside RENO (Nevada resort) reversed (revolting) | ||
| 8 | IRON HAND | Firm discipline used to press crew member (4,4) |
| IRON (to press) and HAND (crew member) | ||
| 13 | SANDSHOE | Model shod in sensible footwear (8) |
| anagram (model) of SHOD inside SANE (sensible) | ||
| 14 | OLIVE OILS | Oleaginous products 13 across’s girlfriend owns, it’s said (5,4) |
| sounds like (it’s said) OLIVE OYL’S (sailor’s girlfriend owns) – Olive Oyl was sailor Popeye’s girlfriend | ||
| 16 | ONSLAUGHT | Large area cordoned by random shotgun attack (9) |
| L (large) A (area) inside anagram (random) of SHOTGUN | ||
| 17 | ASSASSIN | He’s paid to kill Jenny with arsenic (a serious offence) (8) |
| ASS (jenny, a female ass) with AS (As, arsenic) and SIN (a serious offence) | ||
| 20 | STADIA | Arenas to remain expensive, according to reports (6) |
| sounds like (according to reports) “stay dear” (remain expensive) | ||
| 22 | BATHE | Bishop took food infused with hot dip (5) |
| B (bishop) ATE (took food) contains (infused with) H (hot) | ||
| 23 | BINGO | House Bertie’s Little pal? (5) |
| double definition – “house” is a call in the game of bingo and Richard P. “Bingo” Little, friend of Bertie Wooster in the stories by PG Wodehouse | ||
| 24 | SALON | Look into hospital, where cuts are commonplace (5) |
| LO (look) inside SAN (sanatorium, hospital) – where you get haircuts | ||
definitions are underlined
I write these posts to help people get started with cryptic crosswords. If there is something here you do not understand ask a question; there are probably others wondering the same thing.
The third row is ANCIENT MARINER.
Didn’t see lo-cal in 2d so that was left unparsed. Thanks for the explanation.
Popeye’s girlfriend was Olive OYL, hence the “it’s said” in the clue for 14d.
Thanks to Julius and PeeDee.
Thank you Hovis for tying up the loose ends.
Sailors on leave from their usual job as crossword fodder; no tars, ABs or Ordinary Seamen on board today. Seeing the Ancient Mariner early on, I was looking for some cunning wordplay based on ‘stoppeth one in three’ or indeed anagram fodder from Ratty’s ‘messing about IN BOATS’ but ‘twas sadly not to be.
More mundanely, I was held up at the death by DONEGAL, containing as it did ‘over’, that most weaselly of crossy words.
Still, a very pleasant pleasure trip.
Thanks to Julius & PeeDee.
Heh heh!!
Our setter will be delighted to learn that I both noticed and enjoyed the theme, even if I am now reciting parts of the 9/10a (one of our O level set ‘books’) to myself – a different sort of ear worm experience
Thanks to him and PeeDee
The SE corner almost defeated me, because I have never read Wodehouse, but fortunately DONEGAL came to the rescue which meant house couldn’t be anything else. All very enjoyable, especially 1a.
Thanks to Julius and PeeDee
Thanks Peedee & Julius.
Nice one. That floated my boat!
Thanks, PeeDee.
I’ve been out on a lovely country walk, in 20 degrees apparently, followed by an excellent pub lunch and found a Julius puzzle to do when I got home. Things don’t get much better.
Not only were the tars, ABs and Ordinary Seamen on leave but we also had ASSASSIN without even one fool in sight – lovely clue.
I haven’t read Wodehouse, either, so I had to google BINGO. [When I said once here that I’d never read ‘Three men in a boat'[!], a kind 15² friend turned up at the Cambridge S and B with a copy to lend me and I really enjoyed it. I really don’t think Wodehouse is my cup of tea, so please don’t, anybody, do something similar in Leicester on May 4th. 😉 ]
I enjoyed the clever use of the theme here – it reminded me of the Crucible clue [‘He wrote The Ancient Mariner (6)] from a couple of years ago, which is in my little book of classic clues.
Many thanks, Julius – a lovely end to a lovely day [and I’ve still got choir practice to come …]
Go on, Eileen, sing some well-earned praises for a cunningly crafted puzzle which had me fooled for a while attempting to parse silly old sex pot. Thank you, setter and blogger.
Silly old sex pot? You must have had some trouble with 6dn then.
Excellent puzzle but for me Filbert takes the palm today (which is yesterday, how time flies) – sorry Rob.
For some reason, 20dn (SALON) was my favourite, Julius must be annoyed though about the two IRONs crossing.
Many thanks to PeeDee for the blog & to Jullius for the fun.
Thanks PeeDee for the blog and thanks to those who have commented.
@Sil…I agree with you on both counts!
Thanks Julius and PeeDee
Didn’t find this as challenging or as fun whilst doing it as I normally do with this setter. It was only having a look afterwards and seeing the boating theme that I came to appreciate it more. Even though I’d spotted the ANCIENT MARINER in the third row, I forgot to go back to see what the reference in 1a really meant. Didn’t parse the bottom long one either.
Had to look up both the references to the “Wind in the Willows” and the Wodehouse series to verify the MESSING ABOUT phrase and Bertie’s pal.
Finished in the SE corner having to correct SALON and then work out DONEGAL as the last couple in.