You know when you see Raich’s name on a puzzle that you’ll be solving a soundly clued, accessible offering, with the strong likelihood of a bit of footie thrown in. Et voilà …
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 Sweet desert dweller inspiring artist
CARAMEL
An insertion (‘inspiring’) of RA for ‘artist’ in CAMEL.
5 Blogger Bill
POSTER
A dd.
8 Being cocky about scam I’d introduced to dishonest person
OVERCONFIDENCE
A charade of OVER for ‘about’, CON for ‘scam’ and ID inserted into FENCE for ‘dishonest person’.
9 Unexpected risk limits English winter sportsman
SKIER
An insertion (‘limits’) of E in (RISK)* The anagrind is ‘unexpected’.
10 Points at musicians’ headgear
SWEATBAND
A charade of S, W and E for three ‘points’ of the compass, AT and BAND.
12 Perhaps one involved in service dispute over exporter?
WORSHIPPER
A charade of ROW reversed and SHIPPER.
14 Big name instrument one’s lost
STAR
S[I]TAR
16 Girl was in revolt
ROSE
A dd.
18 Such a position for the other girl with island line
MISSIONARY
A (slightly naughty for a Sunday) charade of MISS, IONA and RY for railway or ‘line’.
21 Feature of your day just now perhaps – cut in items at sea?
SPARE TIME
An insertion of PARE for ‘cut’ in (ITEMS)* Raich is suggesting that you are indulging your spare time in doing his crossword this morning.
23 Body temperature, approximately
TORSO
A charade of T and OR SO.
24 Disappoint 11?
LET THE SIDE DOWN
Referring to the side featured in 11dn, DERBY COUNTY. According to friends who are supporters, it’s the side that’s let them down these past few seasons. We won’t mention Sunderland.
25 On return in hotel, try menu girl’s seen
MYRTLE
Hidden reversed in hotEL TRY Menu.
26 Writer’s opening rebuffed by flirt
TOLSTOY
A charade of SLOT reversed and TOY gives you the writer of War and Peace.
Down
1 Argue puzzles must include smut (just a bit)?
CROSS SWORDS
An insertion of S, the first letter of ‘smut’ in CROSSWORDS.
2 Odour more horrible, rank ultimately? That is right
REEKIER
I can’t quite get this to work. It seems to be a charade of R, E, E and K for the final letters of the first four words of the clue, IE for id est or ‘that is’ and R, but where is the definition? It’s not really a cad and if it’s the first three words of the clue then surely they are doing double duty as the definition and part of the wordplay.
3 Controversial 1950s US Senator’s match – cry off
MCCARTHY
(MATCH CRY)* ‘Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party of the United States?’
4 Makes connection between sexual deviations after leader’s replaced
LINKS
Raich is asking you to replace the first letter of KINKS with L.
5 Very amusing, invaluable
PRICELESS
A dd. ‘The look on her face was priceless.’
6 Rest as site out of order
SIESTA
(AS SITE)*
7 Charm of French anthem
ENCHANT
Hidden in FrENCH ANThem.
11 Players’ local game – like some cricket?
DERBY COUNTY
A charade of DERBY for a game between local rivals, and COUNTY, which is the least well attended of all the forms of cricket in England and Wales. The origin of DERBY for a local match is uncertain. Some sources link it to the city of Derby; others to the horse race.
13 I’ve gripe possibly about introduction of lawyer’s immunity claim?
PRIVILEGE
An insertion of L for the first letter of ‘lawyer’ in (IVE GRIPE)* The sense here is best illustrated by ‘parliamentary privilege’, where an MP can claim immunity from prosecution by, for example, naming an individual in parliament when disclosure of the name has been banned by the courts. Sir Philip Green was outed in this way a little while ago.
15 City loan term renegotiated
MONTREAL
(LOAN TERM)*
17 Worth seeing Presley regularly after Quiet American’s Number One
SHAPELY
A charade of SH, A for the first letter of ‘American’ and PELY for the odd letters of ‘Presley’. The sense of ‘worth seeing’ is of being visually attractive, hence SHAPELY.
19 Move up from here
AIRPORT
A cd. This setter uses them very sparingly.
20 Act like a foolish person? Go away!
BEAT IT
If you did act foolishly, you might BE A TIT. Might have seen this one before.
22 Instruction redraft safeguards clubs
EDICT
An insertion (‘safeguards’) of C for the suit in EDIT.
Many thanks to Raich for this morning’s IoS puzzle.
I had exactly the same trouble with 2d, but eventually parsed it unsatisfactorily as the first three words as the def, the last letters of which also contributed to the wordplay. (By the way ‘cad’ = ‘clue as definition’?).
A few quite difficult ones such as DERBY COUNTY and a bit of fun with 18a, so just about right for a bit of ‘Feature of your day just now perhaps’ on a Sunday afternoon.
Thanks to Raich and Pierre
Unusually I started this one in the morning of publication rather than at bedtime, so able to drop in early. I agree with WordPlodder re 2D. 24D was obvious which helped with 11D. For some reason struggled in SE corner until 26A suddenly clicked. Many thanks to Raich and Pierre.
Glad to hear I wasn’t the only one scratching my head over 2dn, WordPlodder. Yes, cad is ‘clue as definition’, as shown in the list of abbreviations at the head of the blog.
Thanks Raich and Pierre. An enjoyable puzzle and I didn’t pause to scratch my head over 2d, just assumed it was me being slow on the uptake. Over too soon for me. Now I should do something useful…
Many thanks for the excellent blog, Pierre, and also to the commenters. REEKIER was intended as a &lit (and literally) clue sometimes referred to as “all-in-one” where the whole clue is the wordplay and also serves as the definition. In the wordplay “Ultimately” refers back to (the last letters of) all the four words before it in the clue.
Woops, sorry Pierre, I didn’t look at your very clearly placed list of abbreviations closely enough. No excuses.
Thanks to Raich for dropping in and explaining 2d.