Another Tees puzzle, another Pierre blog. Happy days. I found it a well-constructed and thoughtfully clued puzzle, with some clever double definitions.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Reassembled fleet with haste set out at night
FALSE TEETH
(FLEET HASTE)*
9 Exultant cry on entering English country area?
EUREKA
An insertion of RE for ‘on’ in E UK, and A. What Archimedes said. Allegedly.
10 Fragrant plant from Asia to fade when cooked
ASAFOETIDA
(ASIA TO FADE)*
11 Instructions irritate wealthy husband given boot
RUBRIC
A charade of RUB and RIC[H]
12 Ground-breaking if dropped from cup-tie
SEMINAL
SEM[IF]INAL
15 Bring down news boss backing the media
DEPRESS
A charade of ED reversed and PRESS.
16 Long time before November
YEARN
A charade of YEAR and N. Is N an abbreviation for ‘November’? It is now.
17 Wrong men entered in race
TORT
An insertion of OR for Other Ranks or ‘men’ in TT for the Isle of Man race. Easier if you know French, because TORT is French for ‘wrong’. Our usage is mainly in the legal sense – tort law and all that.
18 Sound happy for each individual to be heard
PURR
A homophone of PER. ‘Bread used to cost 6d per loaf.’
19 Cut some ice bringing peacekeepers into bed
COUNT
An insertion of UN in COT.
21 Asian person brought about to a loch by Scotsman
LAOTIAN
A reversal of TO A L followed by the setters’ fave Scotsman, IAN.
22 Sauce boat lifted
KETCHUP
A charade of KETCH and UP.
25 Cereal much esteemed, and light, leading couples used
MUESLI
The first pair of letters of MUch, ESteemed and LIght.
27 Brat’s piety looks phony in sacred area
BAPTISTERY
(BRATS PIETY)*
28 Subordinate gives name and number
NETHER
A charade of N and ETHER, which in its chemical form could certainly anaethsetise you, or act as a ‘number’.
29 Difficult to shift as certain troops were on Somme?
ENTRENCHED
A dd.
Down
2 Guess when birds turned north
ASSUME
A charade of AS and EMUS reversed.
3 It takes a day to go round hunting on this
SAFARI
A charade of SA for sex appeal or ‘it’ (a crossword staple) and A surrounded by FRI for the ‘day’.
4 Sea duty organised for 24-hour period
TUESDAY
(SEA DUTY)* We’ll be having (DYNAMO)* next.
5 Your compiler sent up Irish leader in the East
EMIR
Since it’s a down clue, it’s ME reversed followed by IR.
6 Old attend to layer that binds eastern ship
HEARKEN
An insertion of E and ARK in HEN for the ‘layer’. I think Tees is just using the ‘old’ description to indicated that it’s a rather archaic usage. Less than 86% checking in this clue. Mustn’t grumble.
7 President to rave about beer and go bananas
GEORGE BUSH
An insertion of (BEER GO)* in GUSH. The anagrind is ‘bananas’ and the insertion indicator is ‘about’. Dubya or his dad – either will do.
8 Band with time to focus on beat
WATCHSTRAP
A charade of WATCH and STRAP.
12 Hamlet‘s resolution?
SETTLEMENT
A dd.
13 Dull state one gets into being manipulated by others?
MARIONETTE
An insertion of RI for the ‘state’ of Rhode Island and ONE in MATTE.
14 Something worthless Frenchman found in Spanish city
LEMON
An insertion of M for ‘Monsieur’ in LEON.
15 Duke superior to soldiers took a shot perhaps?
DRANK
Place D for ‘Duke’ above RANK and you’ve got your solution.
19 Character or bore on the Tube?
CALIBRE
Another dd.
20 Strength as may be required in steel construction?
TENSILE
(IN STEEL)* with an extended definition. A cad at a pinch.
23 Busy with habitual response to religious language
COPTIC
A charade of COP and TIC. From my SOED:
busy (noun, slang). A detective; a police officer
coptic (noun). The medieval language of Egypt, now used only in the liturgy of the Coptic Church.
24 Sleeping around is out
UNTRUE
A dd. The second definition could be in the sense of ‘not straight’ (like the shelves in my house that I have put up), or perhaps a mathematical calculation.
26 Minor difference with hot and cold switched round?
SPAT
Tees is inviting you to reverse TAPS.
Many thanks to the setter for the entertainment to start the Indy week.
A nice entertaining start to the week indeed. Lots to enjoy – I particularly liked 18a
Thanks to Tees and Pierre
Thanks Tees and Pierre
Re 16, November = N comes from the NATO alphabet.
Of course it does, Simon. Senior moment.
Thanks Pierre for blogging another fine Tees puzzle.
That said, a DNF for me, missing out on 20d and 24d.
Is it a coincidence that both entries have double unches?
The grid contains no less than 12 words with double unches! Although, none of them leads to less than 50% checked.
Personally, as a solver, I do not care too much about these kind of grid properties. But it might have been one of the reasons, apart from me being dim, that I ultimately couldn’t get the two I mentioned earlier – although, I considered entering TENSILE without fully knowing why.
But, yes, another good crossword from a setter who has become quite prolific again in recent months.
Strange, I always thought it was spelled BAPTISTRY. Collins reckons BAPTISTERY is American although Oxford and Chambers have the latter as the first listed variant.
Pleasant solve, although I’m not a fan of double unches. I liked EUREKA (yahoo didn’t parse), Dubya raving about beer and going bananas, and DRANK.
Thanks Tees and Pierre.
I thought this was a great and challenging puzzle – and I learnt more from the blog as I didn’t know “unches”. It looked a very solver friendly grid to me with 20 of the 32 clues having at least the first letter as a crosser. However Tees made up for that with his clue setting. Everything was fair and there was nothing obscure, but it took a real effort to tease them out. I didn’t help myself by putting in PRESBITARY without properly checking the fodder (again!).
I had lots of ticks – 1 & 11a and 8,12,13,19d – and could have had more. FALSE TEETH was my cotd for its definition. It was a dnf as I didn’t have NETHER – although afterwards MrsW said “I thought of that” – I must do more to encourage voicing of ideas!
Thanks to Tees for an excellent workout, to Pierre for the blog and commenters for their insights.
Seemed a bit on the tough side for a Monday. 24dn, the only word that seemed to fit was UNTRUE, and a word search didn’t throw up anything else that looked useful, but although I could see the not straight meaning, I couldn’t for the life of me work out what it had to do with sleeping around. Not sure what this says about me. Thanks for the explanation, I got it eventually.
Not a clean solve for me, or indeed a fast one on a day with many distractions (some of them even good!). Resorted to an electronic re-sorter for the stinky plant and the sacred area, and spent quite a while growling at the SE corner. Still, I very nearly left a comment of a single word: PURR.
Thanks Tees and Pierre.
What crypticsue said.
Hello. Thanks for dropping in all. Many thanks to Pierre.
Very late to this crossword — nearly 8 months, but I printed it out at the time and then never did it and then had a tube journey this evening. Nobody will see this but you, K’s D. Isn’t the definition of 8dn WATCHSTRAP ‘Band with time’? Focus on = watch rather than time to watch.
I thought there were several very nice definitions in this.liks 1ac, 18ac, 3dn and 8dn.