I don’t get to blog Tees puzzles very often. I remembered them as being quite tricky but this was quite amenable, as is traditional for a Sunday. Thank you Tees.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SCRUMPY | Strong booze in pack partly emptied (7) |
| SCRUM (pack, rugby) then PartlY (emptied) | ||
| 9/27 | PUT IN THE PICTURE | Cast informed (3,2,3,7) |
| double/cryptic definition | ||
| 10 | MANDATE | Order what you need to make friend? (7) |
| MAN and a DATE (what you need to make a friend) UPDATE – Tees kindly dropped in to give the intended (and better) parsing: M AND ATE is what you need to make MATE (friend) | ||
| 11 | ELONGATE | Fruit without starter scoffed after good stretch (8) |
| mELON (fruit, without starting letter) then ATE (scoffed) following G (good) | ||
| 12 | DEBRIS | Drunken bride succeeded causing wreckage (6) |
| anagram (drunken) of BRIDE then S (succeeded) | ||
| 13 | TRADE WINDS | Deal with trendy copper’s potential howlers (5,5) |
| TRADE (deal) W (with) IN (trendy) DS (detective sergeant, copper) – or D’S (pennies, copper) | ||
| 15 | BLUE | Down and dirty (4) |
| double definition | ||
| 16 | APPOINTED | Answer page expressing criticism in post (9) |
| A (answer) P (page) POINTED (expressing criticism) | ||
| 21 | IDOL | Old impostor useless when speaking (4) |
| sounds like (when speaking) IDLE (useless) – old means definition is obsolete | ||
| 22 | RIPSNORTER | Something excellent in cocaine user’s epitaph? (10) |
| RIP (rest in peace) SNORTER (cocaine user) | ||
| 24 | PLAICE | Swimmer in location without current (6) |
| PLACE (location) contains (without) I (current, electrical symbol) | ||
| 25 | REROUTED | Diverted article leaving bottom exposed? (8) |
| A (indefinite article) missing from REaR OUTED (bottom exposed) | ||
| 27 | See 9 | |
| 28 | TWOPENCE | Town regularly unlocked church for small sum (8) |
| ToWn (regularly) OPEN (unlocked) CE (Church of England) | ||
| 29 | GEORDIE | Dialect needing good English at all costs? (7) |
| OR DIE (at all costs, do or die) following (with, needing) G (good) E (English) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | CRANE FLY | One certainly having legs to stretch forward on the ball (5,3) |
| CRANE (to stretch) on FLY (forward on the ball, rugby player) or possibly CRANE (to stretch forward) and FLY (on the ball, fashionable) | ||
| 3 | UNDERSEA | Submarine needs anti-rust treatment endlessly (8) |
| UNDERSEAL (anti-rust treatment) missing last letter | ||
| 4 | PUT A STOP TO | Scotch, superior flavour mostly, drink not from bottles (3,1,4,2) |
| U (superior) TASTe (flavour, mostly) inside (…bottles) POP (drink) TO (not from) | ||
| 5 | DUEL | Owed pounds in honourable affair (4) |
| DUE (owed) L (pounds) | ||
| 6 | MINNOW | Fish pub served during harvest (6) |
| PUB (inn) inside (served during) MOW (harvest) | ||
| 7 | STRAINS | Riddles from two sons outside school (7) |
| S S (sons, twice) contains (outside) TRAIN (school) | ||
| 8 | RELEASE | Publish charter again? (7) |
| RE-LEASE (charter again) | ||
| 11 | EMACIATED | Acetamide mixture might be too thin (9) |
| anagram (mixture) of ACETAMIDE | ||
| 14 | ENTERPRISE | Compete in Lever business (10) |
| ENTER (compete in) then PRISE (lever) | ||
| 17 | DISASTER | Catastrophe as in stride being disrupted (8) |
| AS inside anagram (disrupted) of STRIDE | ||
| 18 | CONCERTI | Works caught on — sure success one concludes (8) |
| C (caught) ON then CERT (sure success) and finally I (one) | ||
| 19 | PRO RATA | Men, splitting apart, strangely maintaining correspondence (3,4) |
| OR (men, other ranks) inside anagram (strangely) of APART | ||
| 20 | SPARROW | Flyer having arguments (7) |
| SPAR (argument) ROW (argument) | ||
| 23 | NAUSEA | European in sauna developed sickness (6) |
| E (European) inside anagram (developed) of SAUNA | ||
| 26 | ETCH | Get less following cut (4) |
| fETCH (get) missing F (following) | ||
It was probably just me, but I found this harder than the usual Tees. CRANE FLY, TRADE WINDS and ETCH took a while to work out, I didn’t know the ‘Old impostor’ meaning of IDOL and I still don’t really see how STRAINS = ‘Riddles’. No complaints though as the ‘cocaine user’s epitaph?’ and GE OR DIE more than made up for a bit of frustration along the way.
Thanks to Tees and PeeDee
Wordplodder: Riddle, sieve and strain are synonymous
I also struggled to see CRANE FLY & ETCH but eventually got them. Failed to parse UNDERSEA though. I was working on a highly implausible anagram (treatment) of NEEDs + A(anti?)-RUSt (all endlessly). Didn’t see the obvious.
For 13, the blog should say DS not DA for Detective Sergeant. Personally, I parsed as D’S for old pennies/coppers but either works.
WordPlodder@1. A riddle is a type of sieve and, as a verb means to pass through a riddle.
Thanks to Tees and PeeDee.
Thanks both trenodia and Hovis. I must have come across this meaning before but had forgotten it, as I probably will the next time it comes up!
Morning. Happy Sunday. Well done Wales.
Thanks all esp PD. 10ac I meant to be M and ATE, i.e. what you need to make MATE.
Cheers Tees
Thanks Tees. That makes it a much better clue.