Tees in the Indy on Saturday, Tees in the Indy on Monday. The boy will be off to the shops, except that they’re all closed.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
9 Perform sad song around school area
DISCHARGE
An insertion of SCH and A in DIRGE.
10 Working class making start
ONSET
A charade of ON and SET.
11 Author in love with son begins show
OPENS
An insertion of PEN in O and S.
12 Stew has turkey in creole cooking
CASSEROLE
An insertion of ASS in (CREOLE)* I was uncertain of the turkey/ASS connection, but Chambers has ‘a fool, a slow or inept person’, so that works fine.
13 Assigned setter is placed by news boss
IMPUTED
A charade of I’M for ‘setter is’, PUT and the ever-faithful ED.
14 One cheeky girl in Washington city
WICHITA
An insertion of I and CHIT in WA for the abbreviation for the US state, although WICHITA is in Kansas. Chambers again to my rescue:
chit² (n) a child, a girl (derog.)
Other dictionaries offer the ‘cheeky’ aspect of the definition.
16 Monstrous serpent appears in filthy drain
HYDRA
Hidden in filtHY DRAin.
18 Rev initially gracious with peacekeepers
GUN
A charade of G for the first letter of ‘gracious’ and UN for the faithful ‘peacekeepers’. The reference is to car engines, not men of the cloth; here’s a quote from a BMW petrolheads forum:
Turbos cannot replace the joy of revving your engine high and gunning it
19 Pressure husband coming in to assist sucker
APHID
An insertion of P and H in AID.
21 Trees in this region have vanished we’re told
ARGONNE
A guess from the crossing letters and then confirm for me. A homophone of ARE GONE. It’s a forested region in the north-east of France.
22 Dead strange lecturer becomes attached later
ADDED ON
A charade of (DEAD)* and DON.
24 Five short of turning forty-seven, look ahead
EYES FRONT
(FORTY-SE[V]EN)* with ‘turning’ as the anagrind.
26 Asian politician, female backing rugger
NEHRU
A charade of HEN reversed and RU gives you the first prime minister of India.
27 Empty net
CLEAR
A dd.
28 Double trouble in lake with oil incurring fine
LOOKALIKE
An insertion of OK for ‘fine’ in (LAKE OIL)* with ‘trouble in’ as the anagrind.
Down
1 Reprimand a Scots man breaking plate
ADMONISH
A charade of A and MON for the Scots dialect word in DISH.
2 Snake outside shelter resting
ASLEEP
An insertion of LEE in ASP.
3 Fair diversion leading straight on to crash?
GHOST TRAIN
(STRAIGHT ON)*
4 Couple finally had to be supported
BRACED
A charade of BRACE and D for the last letter of ‘had’.
5 Composer, German, meets with quiet success
GERSHWIN
A charade of GER, SH and WIN for the American composer. In a shameless piece of cross-promotion, here’s a piece by him played by my fellow blogger Andrew, who’s not only good at crosswords but is also a seriously good pianist.
6 In residential care?
HOME
A dd.
7 Substantial weight is in wood floor
ASTONISH
An insertion of TON and IS in ASH.
8 Goddess subsequently seen in drunks meetings
ATHENA
An insertion of THEN in AA for Alcoholics Anonymous. Those attending their meetings might not be too pleased to be referred to as ‘drunks’. They normally introduce themselves as ‘recovering alcoholics’.
15 White Italian lady in suspicious surroundings
CHARDONNAY
An insertion of DONNA in CHARY. I know, I know, CHARDONNAY is a grape type and not a wine, but in response to ‘A glass of white wine, please’, you will hear ‘Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay?’ so let’s not start a day-long Guardian-style pedantic chunter over here. We’re better than that.
17 North Sea region taken by the Spanish? Nonsense
DOGGEREL
A charade of DOGGER and EL. Forth, Tyne, Dogger, Fisher, German Bight … The area is really called Dogger Bank and its name derives from the Dutch fishing boats of mediaeval times, called doggers.
18 Horse minus tail impressive in French city
GRENOBLE
A charade of GRE[Y] and NOBLE.
20 Somehow unrested, set to come out at night
DENTURES
Brilliant. (UNRESTED)*
21 Means business
AGENCY
A dd.
22 Car on run passing Henry 25 for one
AUTHOR
An insertion of H for ‘Henry’, the SI unit, in AUTO, followed by R. Tees is probably referencing Richard Ford, the American novelist and short story writer. Any road up, I can’t find another very famous Ford who is an AUTHOR. There was another four-letter American author as a solution in Tees’ Saturday puzzle, as it goes.
23 Trouble had upset lovely thing in bed
DAHLIA
A reversal of AIL and HAD.
25 Force over road crossing
FORD
A charade of F, O and RD.
Many thanks to Tees for this morning’s offering.
An enjoyable start to the week. Didn’t know that meaning of “chit” or the author FORD. Personally, I think 22d would work better without the cross-reference putting in Henry Ford explicitly.
Liked the GHOST TRAIN anagram and the definition for 20d.
Thanks to Tees and Pierre.
22a. Ford Maddox Ford, author of “The Good Soldier” and “Parade’s End”. Both wel worth reading.
Thank you both
Thanks for the plug, Pierre 🙂
I found this tougher than a usual Monday Tees. I missed the AGENCY double def which might (but realistically probably wouldn’t) have helped with the unknown ARGONNE. I’m another who liked the ‘set to come out at night’ definition and the idea of the ‘Rev’ GUN(ning) his Ford Prefect.
I agree with your comments about Andrew and his skill in tickling the ivories. Very impressive.
Thanks to Tees and Pierre
Glad to find that I wasn’t alone in finding this tougher than a usual Monday Tees – I am starting to wonder whether the distancing measures and my frustration at not being able to do a long list of things is starting to affect my cryptic solving ability, so it is always good to know that it isn’t ‘just me’.
Thanks to Tees (trickier than expected but as enjoyable as ever) and to Pierre
Very enjoyable. I was pleased with myself for guessing Argonne, despite having never heard of it. I did struggle with the crossing Clear and Agency but got there in the end. Thanks Tees and Pierre.
This took a bit longer than some Monday and/or Tees crosswords but we got there in the end. LOI was ARGONNE – another guess followed by confirmation in Collins.
GERSHWIN is a much underrated composer. It’s reported that he approached Ravel for lessons; Ravel declined, saying, ‘Why be a second-rate Ravel when you can be a first-rate Gershwin?’
CoD? Difficult to choose but we’ll go for EYES FRONT.
Thanks, Tees and Pierre.
My last 2 in were the intersecting Agency / Clear which I found a bit mean as they were both 2 word clues so not a lot to go on.
I don’t mind Chardonnay as grape or wine but felt ‘White’ by itself (i.e. sans e.g. or perhaps) was stretching it as a definition.
Thanks to Tees & Pierre for an enjoyable diversion from the ‘Mondayne’ existence!
Thanksh Pierre, and all for comments, gratefully received.
Shurely I am reshcued by Collins, which at 2. defines Chardonnay as ‘any of various white wines made from this grape’.
Banned clue: Conservative member standing negative voter drink.
Thanks for sharing the banned clue. That was a bit stiff.