A fun puzzle from Chalmie.
Once I worked out that the setter had put two-word phrases across the grid, this became a bit easier to solve, but the top right corner eluded me for a little whlle as I just couldn’t see ANISETTES and RIGHTIST’s parsing eluded me at first, but I got there in the end.
Thanks, Chalmie.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | QUESTION | Search satellite encounters neutron problem (8) |
| QUEST (“search”) + IO (moon of Jupiter, so “satellite”) encounters N (neutron) | ||
| 5 | MASTER | Gain expertise in Montezuma’s Terror (6) |
| Hidden in “montezuMAS TERror” | ||
| 9 | ASSISTED | Helped while relative is cut down (8) |
| AS (“while”) + SISTE(r) (“relative” cut) + D (down) | ||
| 10 | LIVING | Quick fish swallows doodlebug (6) |
| LING (“fish”) swallows Vi (“doodlebug”) | ||
| 12 | TRADE | Pictures reflecting half-dead deal (5) |
| <=ART (“pictures” reflecting) + [half] DE(ad) | ||
| 13 | AGREEMENT | Deal initially announced to welcome people entering (9) |
| [initially] A(announced) + GREET (“to welcome”) with MEN (“people”) entering | ||
| 14 | SINGLE | Carol, extremely likeable on her own (6) |
| SING (“carol”) + [extremely] L(ikeabl)E | ||
| 16 | MOTHERS | Script about different producers (7) |
| MS (manuscript, so “script”) about OTHER (“different”) | ||
| 19 | WASHING | Laundry remains in flight (7) |
| ASH (“remains”) in WING (“flight”) | ||
| 21 | DISHES | Ruins woman in Hell (6) |
| SHE (“woman”) in DIS (“Hell”) | ||
| 23 | TRANSPORT | Rants about drink and ecstasy (9) |
| *(rants) [anag: about] + PORT (“drink”) | ||
| 25 | PLANE | Smooth and quiet little street (5) |
| P (piano, so “quiet”) + LANE (“little street”) | ||
| 26 | MASHED | Stoned on rum (as he drank bottles) (6) |
| Hidden in [bottles] “ruM AS HE Drank” | ||
| 27 | POTATOES | Drug beginning to affect extremities of couch inhabitants (8) |
| POT (“drug”) + [beginning to] A(affect) + TOES (“extremities”) | ||
| 28 | DEADLY | Fatal drive around Llandovery with all losing heart (6) |
| D(rive)E A(roun)D L(landover)Y [all losing heart] | ||
| 29 | ASSASSIN | Killer elected by a couple of idiots (8) |
| IN (“elected”) by ASS + ASS (“a couple of idiots”) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | QUARTZ | Mineral measures announced (6) |
| Homophone [announced] of QUARTS (“measures”) | ||
| 2 | ECSTASIES | Sees cat is ordering drugs (9) |
| *(sees cat is) [anag: ordering] | ||
| 3 | TASTE | Sense country’s head is to be demoted (5) |
| STATE (“country” with its head (initial letter) demoted (ie moved down) | ||
| 4 | OVERAWE | Beware volcano going up – some scare horribly (7) |
| Hidden [some] backwards [going up] in “bEWARE VOlcano” | ||
| 6 | ANISETTES | Drinks mixed in eastern states (9) |
| *(in e states) where E is “eastern” [anag: mixed] | ||
| 7 | TRIPE | Gourmet finally ready to eat rubbish (5) |
| (gourme)T [finally] + RIPE (“ready to eat”) | ||
| 8 | RIGHTIST | Conservative is entering races weighed down by cereal, we hear (8) |
| IS entering TT (Tourist Trophy “races”) weighed down by (i.e placed under) homophone of RYE (“cereal”) [we hear] | ||
| 11 | FROM | Originating in female memory (4) |
| F (female) + ROM (read only “memory”) | ||
| 15 | GAITSKELL | Gill takes out old Labour leader (9) |
| *(gill takes) [anag: out]
Refers to Hugh Gaitskell, leader of the Labour Party from 1955 to 1963. |
||
| 17 | ELEVATORS | Leaves rot, snarling up grain hoists (9) |
| *(leaves rot) [anag: snarling up] | ||
| 18 | TWO-TIMED | Dead heat for first and second covering miles having cheated (3-5) |
| If TWO are TIED they will have been in a “dead heat”, possibly “for first and second” covering M (miles) | ||
| 20 | GROW | Cultivate government line (4) |
| G (government) + ROW (“line”) | ||
| 21 | DUTEOUS | Carelessly outed American serving diligently (7) |
| *(outed) [anag: carelessly] + US (“American”) | ||
| 22 | PERSON | Man maybe a child (6) |
| PER (“a”) + SON (“child”) | ||
| 24 | AT SEA | Lost on naval patrol (2,3) |
| Double definition | ||
| 25 | PRADA | Fashion house with power over aspiring drama queens? (5) |
| P (power) over RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where “aspiring drama queens” may study) | ||
Didn’t see the pairings until after I had finished. Very neat.
Didn’t know Gaitskell but it was my first guess for the anagram once I had all the crossers.
Wasn’t sure about the plural at 2d thinking “ecstasy” as a mass noun but I’m often wrong on such matters.
The right half was much harder than the left but all solved satisfactorily.
Thanks to Chalmie and loonapick.
what a great puzzle, thanks to Chalmie & loonapick
Thanks to loonapick and Chalmie
All very good, 8d is a curiosity though – I can’t recall ever being asked to guess the pronunciation of a non-existent word and then find a homonym.
Dansar @ 3: surely, if you can have a leftist you can have a rightist?
Simon @4
Rightist is a legitimate word, it is RIGH which is non-existent.
Thanks Chalmie and loonapick
Got to this one late (ex-holiday catch up one). No real problems with it as it was done in a couple of short sessions last Sunday.
Didn’t notice the word-pairs at all until coming here – very clever, with only the unknown (to me ) Labour politician and the curious plural ecstasy drug as the only down words bordering on the obscure. Wasn’t familiar for MASHED for being intoxicated. Was OK with how the homophone of RYE worked (although I don’t know if I have seen it not make a known word before either).
Finished in the SW corner with GAITSKELL (which was ‘de-anagramised’ and then had to be checked to see if there was such a person) and POTATOES (which would have been so much easier had one seen the theme).