A puzzle of medium difficulty to start the week.
There were a few I wasn’t entirely sure about. Most of the clues were fairly intricate in their construction with lots of one and two letter fillers. The one clue which strayed into CD territory was my least favourite, although maybe other people will have a different point of view.
| Across | ||
| 1 | CUT OUT | Stopped copper meeting informer in Belfast (3,3) |
| Cu + tout. Tout was a slang term for an informer during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. | ||
| 4 | STEP UP | Estimates from the right assuming record increase (4,2) |
| I think this is puts< around EP, although I’m not entirely sure how puts=estimates | ||
| 8 | DOORMAT | Cross about mother taking time to find shoe cleaner (7) |
| Rood< + Ma + t(ime) | ||
| 9 | PANNIER | Fellow reportedly carrying girl’s basket (7) |
| Hom of peer(=fellow) around Ann | ||
| 11 | SECOND BEST | Somewhat inferior support prior to defeat (6-4) |
| Second + best | ||
| 12 | AMOS | Similar to gripping second book (4) |
| As around mo(ment) | ||
| 13 | SET TO | Argument against joining clique (3-2) |
| I think this is to(=against, as in lean-to) after set(=clique) | ||
| 14 | ILL TIMED | Inappropriate for ailing duke to receive spell in prison (3-5) |
| Ill D(uke) receiving time(=spell in prison) | ||
| 16 | WARNINGS | Calls around noon after Washington’s intimations of danger (8) |
| WA + rings around n(oon) | ||
| 18 | VIOLA | Treat irreverently disregarding note from girl (5) |
| Viola[te] | ||
| 20 | DEAR | Expensive for an animal by the sound of it (4) |
| Hom of deer | ||
| 21 | EXORBITANT | Going beyond the usual limits to get extra bit on suspect (10) |
| (Extra bit on)* | ||
| 23 | LANYARD | Some introduced to embellish part of military uniform (7) |
| Any in lard | ||
| 24 | STROPPY | Quarrelsome left back blocking a couple of Spurs’ youngsters at the start (7) |
| Port< in Sp[urs] + y[oungsters] | ||
| 25 | DIVERT | Amuse with gossip implicating girl needing no introduction (6) |
| Dirt around [E]ve | ||
| 26 | ASTRAY | Wrong to have street artists seized in the outskirts of Albany (6) |
| St + RA(=Royal Academicians) in A[lban]y | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | CLOSE | Shut up about waste (5) |
| C + lose(=waste, I suppose in the sense of wasting or losing something) | ||
| 2 | TURN OUT | End up with performer on strike (4,3) |
| Turn(=performer, turn in a club etc) + out(=on strike) | ||
| 3 | UP AND DOWN | Raised immediately about article on diamonds in varying states (2,3,4) |
| Don’t fully get this – seems to be Up + down(=immediately) around (an+ d(iamonds)) but don’t see why down=immediately. | ||
| 5 | TRACT | Become affected by ignoring party leaflet (5) |
| [Con]tract | ||
| 6 | PUNJABI | Language barrier initially faced by Poins after joke by Japanese-American (7) |
| B[arrier] + I(=Poins) after Pun + J(apanese)-A(merican) | ||
| 7 | PHENOMENA | Remarkable things of prophetic significance seen by female in Pennsylvania (9) |
| Hen + omen in PA | ||
| 10 | REMISSION | Soldiers calling for forgiveness of sins (9) |
| RE + mission | ||
| 13 | STAGEHAND | Property manager? (9) |
| Some sort of CD, I think. A stagehand is someone who moves properties in a theatre. Not my favourite clue. | ||
| 15 | LOVE BITES | Evidence of canoodling making Olive’s bet look silly (4,5) |
| (Olive’s bet)* | ||
| 17 | NUREYEV | Head ultimately shunned by every exotic dancer (7) |
| Nu[t] + every* | ||
| 19 | OUTDOOR | Revealed by soldiers after party in the open air (7) |
| Out(=revealed) + OR after do | ||
| 21 | ERROR | Blunder contributing to emperor retreating northward (5) |
| Hidden, rev in empeROR REtreating | ||
| 22 | NIPPY | Quick to find unconventional fellow with note for Henry (5) |
| Hippy with N replacing H | ||
*anagram
A few too many suspect definitions for my liking but they could all be due to my lack of the requisite knowledge.
For 4a, I wondered if PUTS was used as in put options on the stock exchange?
For 9a, I had the fellow as Pierre. Guess it may depend on how you pronounce pannier.
Lard = embellish? At a push, perhaps. Similarly lose = waste.
Down = immediate is in Chambers for cash. I guess a down payment is an immediate one but never really thought of it this way.
Can “omen” mean “of prophetic significance”?
Thanks to Poins and Neal.
Thanks Neal
Re 4ac, under ‘put’ Collins gives: “7.(foll by at) To estimate: he put the distance at fifty miles“.
Gaufrid @2. Of course! It seems so obvious in hindsight. D’oh!
Appreciate the namecheck, Hovis. I am sturdy and can resist storms, but I’m not pronounced the same way as PIER …
Good puzzle as always from Poins, and thanks to Neal for blogging.
I parse pannier as “panière” which may only be the French pronunciation.
Not saying it’s right but with 3d I eventually had UP (raised) and an anagram of (about) NOW= immediately around the article AN and two diammonds DD.
Sure I could have explained that more neatly!
A curate’s egg for me
Thanks
S & B
Doofs. I considered this but it would require “about” doing double duty as anagram indicator and inclusion indicator.
Not exactly a gentle Monday stroll, with some defs I wasn’t quite sure about as noted above. I couldn’t parse 3d, not even considering DOWN for ‘immediately’. PANNIER was my last in, and the homophone worked OK for me.
I notice that DEAR / EXORBITANT and DIVERT / ASTRAY are next to each other on two rows of the grid. What does it all mean Basil? Probably nothing.
No good reason, but I like STROPPY as a word and it was my favourite today.
Thanks to Poins and NealH.
For 3D, well, it requires a looseness that I wouldn’t normally expect but would be in keeping with the rest of the puzzle – is it UP + NOW (immediately) surrounded by AN (article) on (surrounding) DD (diamonds)?
I didn’t enjoy this. Far too many of ‘that must be it but …’