A nice straightforward puzzle for the first Monday of the new year.
My fellow bloggers have commented before that Vigo’s puzzles are good examples for beginners who want to learn how this cryptic crossword thing works. Today’s puzzle fits the pattern well; there’s a broad range of constructions, all clearly clued (with the possible exception of one dubious anagram indicator), and no nastily-obscure words or definitions. The surfaces are well thought out too; I particularly enjoyed the mental pictures of 20a, 3d and 23d. My favourite clue is 13d, which is remarkably simple once you see it.
Thanks to Vigo, and Happy New Year to all.
Definitions are underlined; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | GOBSMACKED | Astounded doctor mocked bags (10) |
| Anagram (doctor, as a verb = fix or change) of MOCKED BAGS. | ||
| 6 | SCAM | Fleece coats returned (4) |
| MACS (short for mackintoshes = raincoats), reversed (returned). Scam, as a verb = fleece = swindle. |
||
| 9 | MANUSCRIPT | Manchester United’s epitaph in court document (10) |
| MAN U’S, then RIP (epitaph; abbreviation for requiescat in pace, Latin for “may he/she rest in peace”) inserted into CT (abbreviation for court, especially on street maps). | ||
| 10 | CELL | Loudly auction off part of prison (4) |
| Homophone (loudly) of SELL = auction off. | ||
| 12 | WELL-ADJUSTED | Balanced spa advertisement exactly on centre of aqueduct (4-8) |
| WELL (spa) + AD (advertisement) + JUST (exactly, as in “just so”) + centre letters of [aqu]ED[uct]. | ||
| 15 | PERSEVERE | Carry on to each extreme (9) |
| PER (to each) + SEVERE (extreme, as in severe weather). | ||
| 17 | SHEEP | Woman starts to embrace pet ruminant (5) |
| SHE (woman) + starting letters of Embrace Pet. | ||
| 18 | ARSON | Clergyman loses head for crime (5) |
| PARSON (clergyman), without the head (first letter). | ||
| 19 | INTRICATE | Complex about being surrounded by popular and banal (9) |
| CA (ca = abbreviation for circa = about), surrounded by IN (popular) + TRITE (banal). | ||
| 20 | EXCRUCIATING | Crashing exciting car across middle of mound is very painful (12) |
| Anagram (crashing) of EXCITING CAR around the middle letter of [mo]U[nd]. | ||
| 24 | TOTS | Small drinks small child returns (4) |
| S (small) + TOT (child), all reversed (returns). | ||
| 25 | RAZOR BLADE | Unruly Labrador swallowing unknown electronic grooming device (5,5) |
| Anagram (unruly) of LABRADOR, containing (swallowing) Z (a mathematical symbol for an unknown number), then E (prefix meaning electronic, as in email). | ||
| 26 | YARN | Lose energy in long story (4) |
| YEARN (long, as a verb), losing the E (energy). | ||
| 27 | SETTLEMENT | Colony arrangement (10) |
| Double definition: a place where people set up their home, or an agreement to conclude a deal or resolve a dispute. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | GAME | In the morning European follows good sport (4) |
| AM (ante meridiem = in the morning) + E (European), after G (good). Pedants may argue that “sport” and “game” are not quite the same thing, but they’re close enough for a crossword clue. |
||
| 2 | BAND | Group outlawed on the radio (4) |
| Homophone (on the radio) of BANNED (outlawed). | ||
| 3 | MISDEMEANOUR | Roam semi-nude somehow causing offence (12) |
| Anagram (somehow) of ROAM SEMI-NUDE. | ||
| 4 | CAROL | Leaders of choral association regularly oversee lyrics in song (5) |
| First letters (leaders) of Choral Association Regularly Oversee Lyrics. | ||
| 5 | EXPEDIENT | Suitable old exercise regimen involving bit of netting (9) |
| EX (old = formerly, as in ex-smoker) + PE (exercise) + DIET (regimen) containing the first letter (bit) of N[etting]. Straightforward enough once you realise that “regimen” is separate from “exercise”. | ||
| 7 | CHEW THE FAT | Gossip article few chat luridly about (4,3,3) |
| THE (definite article), with an anagram (luridly?) of FEW CHAT around (about) it. I’m not convinced by “luridly”; it can mean “garishly coloured”, or “shocking” in the sense of gruesome, but I can’t find any usage that properly corresponds to an anagram indicator. | ||
| 8 | MALADAPTED | Endless complaint appropriate journalist modified incorrectly (10) |
| MALAD[y] (complaint = illness), endless (last letter removed), then APT (appropriate) + ED (editor = journalist). | ||
| 11 | QUESTIONABLE | Dodgy challenge to get fit (12) |
| QUESTION (challenge, as in to question someone’s statement) + ABLE (fit). | ||
| 13 | APPARENTLY | Are not in use, seemingly (10) |
| AREN’T inserted into APPLY (use, as a verb; for example to apply pressure). | ||
| 14 | PROSECUTOR | Writings hacked by alternative lawyer (10) |
| PROSE (writings) + CUT (hacked) + OR (alternative). | ||
| 16 | ELIMINATE | Get rid of unusual alien item (9) |
| Anagram (unusual) of ALIEN ITEM. | ||
| 21 | TROUT | Time to defeat swimmer (5) |
| T (time) + ROUT (defeat comprehensively). | ||
| 22 | CAGE | Secure silver in church (4) |
| AG (Ag = chemical symbol for silver, from the Latin argentum) in CE (Church of England). Cage, as a verb = secure = lock in. |
||
| 23 | DEBT | Upended garden feature over time becomes liability (4) |
| BED (garden feature, as in flowerbed), reversed (upended, in a down clue), over (before, in a down clue) T (time). | ||
And a pangram to boot.
This pangram was a light delight with lovely cluing and super smooth surfaces. Jostling for top spot were 9a, 3d & 13d.
Many thanks Vigo for the fun and Quirister for the review.
I should have spotted the pangram but didn’t. I struggled with 25A and even searched online for ‘Radox blare’, which would have been OK if there was such a thing. Otherwise a nice and gentle start to the week, so thanks Vigo and Quirister.
“A nice straightforward puzzle for the first Monday of the new year.” Hear, hear!
Our only grumble – a minor one – is about 10ac; homophones where the only difference between the two words is a single unchecked letter always seem a tad unsatisfactory to us.
Plenty to like, though. Favourites included MANUSCRIPT, MISDEMEANOUR and QUESTIONABLE.
Thanks, Vigo and Quirister.
What’s not to like about a Vigo puzzle – another little gem from one of my favourite setters.
Plenty of ‘ticks’ but 9&25a plus 11&13d took the honours here.
Many thanks to Vigo and to Quirister for the blog.
Chambers has ‘ghastly’ for ‘lurid’, which is OK I think even though the sense of ‘ghastly’ is presumably sort of ‘deathly pale’ rather than something involving jiggling.
Thanks to Quirister and Vigo
Not really specific to this (good) crossword, but it includes two crossword staples that I’ve yet to be convinced by:
She = woman, and alternative = or.
Dansar @7: I agree on both points, though I could quote Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side” as evidence for the first one. “Plucked her eyebrows on the way, Shaved her legs and then he was a she . . . .”