Once a regular setter, Orlando only appears rarely these days, so it was a delight to see his name on today’s puzzle, especially after the equally welcome surprise of fellow old-timer Brendan on Friday. Mostly very straightforward, as befits the Monday brief, but beautifully clued and with some stings in the tail, including a couple of cross-referenced definitions. Thanks to Orlando.
Across | ||||||||
9. | AROMA | Travelling people after a bouquet (5) A + ROMA |
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10. | EXUDATION | Sweat embarrassingly in a tuxedo? (9) (IN A TUXEDO)* |
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11. | HARDLINER | Conservative party member demanding vessel (9) HARD (demanding) + LINER (vessel). The definition refers to a conservative member of a party rather than a member of the Conservative party |
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12. | IRATE | Mad freebooter relinquishing power (5) PIRATE less P |
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13. | CLOBBER | Mate in Sydney holding large hammer (7) L in COBBER. Do Australians still call each other “cobber”? Did they ever? |
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15. | DIGRESS | Stray has accommodation in which there’s no time to relax (7) REST less T in DIGS |
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17. | GLEAN | Pick up article in valley (5) A (indefinite article) in GLEN (valley, usually in Scotland) |
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18. | EGG | Clutch component, say, coming closer (3) E.G. (Say) + the “closer” of cominG |
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20. | OFFAL | King of Mercia primarily laying waste (5) OFFA (King of Mercia 757-796, famous for his dyke) + L[aying] |
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22. | RESOLVE | Determination to complete the crossword again? (7) RE-SOLVE |
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25. | APOSTLE | Missionary position in middle of Wales (7) POST (position) in [w]ALE[s] |
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26. | FRAUD | Fiddle with French car that’s dropping back (5) FR + AUD[I] |
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27. | OUTRIGGER | Beginners from Oxford University set off in boat (9) First letters of Oxford University + TRIGGER (set off) |
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30. | ROAD SIGNS | Cast is so grand for directors (4,5) (IS SO GRAND)* |
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31. | ALERT | Attentive dealer taking part (5) Part of, i.e. hidden in, deALER Taking |
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Down | ||||||||
1. | BASH | Party for 13 across (4) Double definition |
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2. | FOURSOME | Golf match involving more of us (8) (MORE OF US)* |
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3. | HAIL | Fit, we hear, for a drop of the hard stuff? (4) Homophone of “hale” (fit) |
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4. | WET NURSE | Ewe turns out to be supplier of milk (3,5) (EWE TURNS)* |
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5. | PUTRID | Rotten place requiring short journey (6) PUT (to place) + RID[E] |
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6. | RARING TO GO | Gung-ho gunners encircle country in Africa (6,2,2) RA (Royal Artillery, funners + RING + TOGO |
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7. | TIRADE | Angry outburst from one stuck in traffic (6) I in TRADE |
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8. | ANNE | Old queen with no love for a new one (4) A + N + ONE less O (zero, love) |
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13. | CIGAR | 26 down, say, holding Joe up in Havana? (5) Reverse of GI in CAR (of which a Ford is an example) |
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14. | BANGLADESH | Land makes outlaw happy and he’s reformed (10) BAN + GLAD + HES* |
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16. | SALVE | 3 for Roman healer (5) Double definition – it’s Latin for “hail ” or “welcome” |
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19. | GIANTESS | Titanic female at sea, as gent is (8) (AS GENT IS)* |
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21. | FATIGUED | Corpulent guide, terribly weary (8) FAT +GUIDE* |
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23. | SHAMAN | Central bank supporting false medicine man (6) SHAM (false) + [b]AN[k] |
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24. | ENOUGH | One hug, possibly as good as a feast? (6) (ONE HUG)*, referring tp the saying “enough is as good as a feast” |
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26. | FORD | Where one goes from bank to bank to get a bit of dosh (4) FOR (to get, as in “I’m going to the shops for milk”) + D[osh] |
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28. | I SAY | My word is annoying you at first (1,3) IS + first letters of Annoying You |
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29. | RITZ | Legal documents, reportedly, for Swiss hotelier (4) Homophone if “writs”. The Ritz hotels in Paris and London were set up by César Ritz, who was born in Switzerland |
More ‘stings in the tail’ than I would expect for a Monday. Quite satisfying though.
Thanks for the blog, Andrew – as you say, a delight to see Orlando’s name.
A lovely puzzle, with familiar Orlando hallmarks – meticulous cluing and beautifully witty surfaces. I loved the drop of the hard stuff [and Roman healer], clutch component, missionary position and angry outburst from one stuck in traffic in particular.
Many thanks, as ever, Orlando – please come back soon!
I agree – but all those stings made it a very satisfying solve. I enjoyed the pairing of HAIL, SALVE, BASH and CLOBBER – and grinned at RITZ, RESOLVE and IRATE.
Thanks to Andrew for the explanations (I couldn’t parse BANGLADESH) and to Orlando for a pleasing start to the week.
Tougher than many a Monday offering of late, lacking in poor cryptic and double definitions, and all the better for it. Very neatly done – love the Roman salve, the hard stuff and the wet nurse anagram. “Bit of dosh” for “d” was a bit weak compared to the rest of this excellent puzzle, and OU = Oxford University without any “beginners” which was a bit too much of a give-away without improving the surface any. But a cracking way to start the week – thank you Orlando, and thanks Andrew for writing it up.
Very smooth and satisfying solve for a Monday. 26 down took a while to fathom, loi therefore.
Yep very neat Monday puzzle with favourites pretty much as above, esp egg of clutch, ban glad esh and Queen Anne (our house is described as a Queen Anne, tho I’ve never quite sussed out why). Thanks O and A.
Thanks Orlando and Andrew
Lovely puzzle. Lots of favourites – I loved FOURSOME, of course!
I didn’t parse ANNE.
Not surprisingly I didn’t like the “in” in 13d. The definition seems to be “in Havana”, but that doesn’t make sense, of course.
Being partial to the occasional 13d, I took the def to be ‘Havana?’, ie an example of one, with ‘in’ as the link.
A delight for me this morning. Wish we had more of this elegant setter.
Ticks in the same places as Eileen with particular merit for the excellent EGG.
Had to look up EXUDATION and also OUTRIGGER as I’ve only ever thought of it as the float on a boom for stabilization rather than the craft itself.
Love Orlando’s off-beat definitions such as directors for ROAD SIGNS.
Many thanks both, nice week, all.
Enjoyable. Favourites already mentioned by others. Many thanks to Orlando and Andrew.
Both Quiptic and cryptic of exceptional quality this morning. Loved all the quirky definitions, and favourites as mentioned above. Thanks to Orlando (yes, please return soon) and Andrew.
Excellent start to the week (or is that Sunday?)
I loved ROAD SIGNS, HAIL and ANNE.
Thanks Orlando and Andrew.
As others have said a very pleasant solve, and a bit more difficult than a typical Monday. For me it mostly unpacked quite readily, however the short clues seemed to take me for ever. I was held up by thinking that 26 should be strad, but of course it would not parse. Last ones were that, ford, hail and salve. All my favourites have been mentioned and thanks to both Orlando and Andrew.
Thanks to Orlando and to Andrew for excellent work. I enjoyed the same favorites as y’all. I never did get FORD.
Did anybody else try GALEN for the Roman healer?
GALEN was my first thought too, and I wondered if the connected clue might be WIND (no crossers here at that stage).
Me too, until I remembered he was Greek.
Exactly what Eileen said @2
Thanks both,
I’m at one with the general acclaim. I parsed the ‘d’ in 26d as d= old penny, but i makes no odds. Cracking start to the week.
Thanks Orlando, Blooming lovely (I’ll get my coat). Echoing most of what’s said above. One minor quiblet would be MAN appearing in both definition and answer in 23d. Very minor on reflection…
I had CROWBAR at 13 across but obviously failed to parse it. Nor could I parse ANNE. Loved HAIL, SALVE, EGG, ROAD SIGNS. Thanks to Orlando and Andrew
I suppose there’s always one who doesn’t join in the general acclaim but I can’t say I liked this much. I couldn’t parse SALVE or ANNE and,for some reason, FORD took forever. Couldn’t seem to get on the wavelength today.
Thanks Orlando.
I’m another who thoroughly enjoyed this. Great surfaces and misdirection throughout and too many favourites to mention. Only one I couldn’t parse was SALVE not knowing the Roman connection
Thanks Orlando!
We thought this was a lovely test – agree a bit hard for a Monday, and FORD perhaps not great – but many nice lightbulb moments.
A pleasure to return to a proper Grauniad after a fortnight of Yorkshire Post cryptics on our annual Filey pilgrimage. Good, but not the source. A particular fave was SALVE: memories of Kennedy’s Latin Primer ‘salve et vale’ 60 years ago.
Many thanks to Orlando and Andrew from me and Yorkshire Lass.
Having has a moan on another site about a puzzle in a different paper, I am really pleased to say how much I enjoyed this offering from Orlando. The cluing is precise and witty, providing a pleasant and not too difficult entertainment. It took me a while to sort out the parsing of 8d, but I got there in the end.
Thanks all round.
Great puzzle Orlando, and please return more often! Many thanks to you and our expert blogger Andrew.
Wholeheartedly agree with Andrew. Thanks to you both
Thanks Andrew and I enjoyed the puzzle and the blog. “Cobber” is part of the Australian vernacular. Maybe not quite as common these days.