The puzzle can be found here.
Hi all. Scchua is away, so I have the pleasure today. Thanks to Peter for another enjoyable puzzle in which my favourite clues were ADOBE, MERMAN and TOSH. Which were your highlights?
Definitions are underlined in the clues below. In the explanations, quoted indicators are in italics and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER.
Across
8a Three dimensional body protecting one twisted coil of wire (8)
SOLENOID
SOLID (three dimensional body) around (protecting) an anagram of (… twisted) ONE
9a Priest cutting awfully rude fruit with stone (5)
DRUPE
P (priest) inserted into (cutting) an anagram of (awfully) RUDE
10a Editor given space in paradise (4)
EDEN
ED (editor) next to (given) EN (printer’s space)
11a Bow during new prayer to resident clergyman (10)
PREBENDARY
BEND (bow) inside (during) an anagram of (new) PRAYER. I had to check with the dictionary that I hadn’t just made this word up
12a Bringer of good luck for member at racecourse (6)
MASCOT
M (member) by (at) ASCOT (racecourse)
14a Vessels covering former parts of ocean tricky for sailors (8)
DOLDRUMS
DRUMS (vessels) around (covering) OLD (former)
16a Letter prefacing generous pattern (7)
EXAMPLE
EX (letter X) preceding (prefacing) AMPLE (generous)
18a Have faith in variable source of aphrodisiac in concoctions from the east (5,2)
SWEAR BY
Y (mathematical variable), then the first letter of (source of) Aphrodisiac in BREWS (concoctions), all reversed (from the east)
21a Devil over shelter is powerless (8)
IMPOTENT
A charade of IMP (devil), O (over), and TENT (shelter)
23a Quiet country residence accommodating duke and earl (6)
SEDATE
SEAT (country residence) containing (accommodating) D (duke), followed by E (earl)
24a Ability to water tip of plant in shady part of garden (10)
BRAINPOWER
RAIN (water) plus the first letter of (tip of) Plant in BOWER (shady part of garden)
26a Unit housing western urban centre (4)
TOWN
TON (unit of mass) containing (housing) W (western)
27a Difficulty with extremely brittle building material (5)
ADOBE
ADO (difficulty) with the outer letters of (extremely) BrittlE
28a Dissenter‘s angry tirade about old French coins (8)
RECUSANT
RANT (angry tirade) around (about) ECUS (old French coins)
Down
1d Lovers crossing old river to get Dutch wine (8)
BORDEAUX
BEAUX (lovers) around (crossing) O (old), R (river) and D (Dutch)
2d Intense lamentation for the dead (4)
KEEN
Two definitions as underlined
3d Animal covering women in surgery in dung (6)
COWPAT
A Russian doll clue: CAT (animal) around (covering) the insertion of W (women) in OP (surgery)
4d Supplementary material produced by clergyman replacing leader of group in schedule (7)
ADDENDA
DD (clergyman) replacing the first letter of (leader of) Group in A[g]ENDA
5d Useless deli in difficulties (4)
IDLE
DELI anagrammed (in difficulties)
6d Foreign lads end run in UK city (10)
SUNDERLAND
An anagram of (foreign) LADS END RUN
7d Setter with ghastly headache (6)
MEGRIM
ME (setter) with GRIM (ghastly). Depending on dictionaries, this word for a migraine is either archaic or obsolete
13d Committee to meet in session hosted by destitute printer’s employee (10)
COMPOSITOR
COM (committee), then SIT (to meet in session) inside (hosted by) POOR (destitute)
15d See 17
17d & 15d Keep out of the public eye in speaker’s bed (3,3)
LIE LOW
When spoken this sounds like (speaker’s) LILO
19d Country wasn’t prepared to stop snake (8)
BOTSWANA
An anagram of (… prepared) WASN’T inside (to stop) BOA (snake)
20d Usher set off to part of hospital (7)
STEWARD
SET, anagrammed (off) + WARD (part of hospital)
22d Soldiers eaten by nasty mythological sea creature (6)
MERMAN
RM (soldiers, Royal Marines) inside (eaten by) MEAN (nasty)
23d Small robin primarily found in brownish-purple tree (6)
SPRUCE
S (small), then the first letter of (… primarily) Robin found in PUCE (brownish purple)
25d Look part of castle over (4)
PEEK
KEEP (part of castle) reversed (over)
26d Nonsense talked by drunk turning up at hospital (4)
TOSH
SOT (drunk) reversed (turning up, in a down answer) by (at) H (hospital)
This was good fun. 27a was a new word for me (in that context) as was the old word that is the answer to 7d.
26d was my favourite.
Many thanks to Peter for an enjoyable puzzle and to Kitty for a lovely review.
Wow, a dog picture in a Kitty blog.
Enjoyed this. I wad especially pleased to dredge up some words I haven’t seen in a long while: DRUPE, PREBENDARY & RECUSANT.
However MEGRIM was an unknown.
Thanks to Peter and Kitty.
Late in but with the excuse that I’ve been out with a group of friends celebrating my having reached a ridiculous age.
Don’t often tackle a puzzle from Peter but exceptions have to be made when Kitty is in the chair and I did really enjoy this one.
I wasn’t familiar with that spelling of 7d and the speaker’s bed took a little thinking about but no other problems.
Top three for me were the editor getting into paradise, the lucky charm and the drunk talking nonsense.
Thanks to Peter for the fun and to Kitty for the review and the usual excellent illustrations.