Tees is occupying the midweek slot with a medium-difficulty and rather topical puzzle.
I particularly enjoyed the references to current affairs in this puzzle at 6, 01/17/27 and 8. Incidentally, the expression at 01/17/27 was one that my grandmother used a lot when I was a child, and until Boris recently resurrected it, I had always imagined that it was dialectal as opposed to standard English. Indeed, I never expected to find it as an entry in an Indy crossword!
Apart from that, I found this to be a fairly accessible puzzle, despite the fact that I didn’t really know the entry at 5A or indeed the Egyptian deity alluded to at 22.
My favourite clues today were the three short entries at 4, for surface; 7, for surface and construction, and 25, for surface. I also appreciated the misdirection in 9.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01/17/27 | FIT AS A BUTCHER’S DOG | Shift at sea with Coastguard – be in good shape
*(SHIFT + COASTGUARD BE); “shift” is anagram indicator |
| 05 | SYBARITE | Voluptuary disturbed by satire
*(BY SATIRE); “disturbed” is anagram indicator; a Sybarite is a person whose life is devoted to luxury |
| 09 | SLAG HEAP | Misses boomerangs collection that’s found next to mine
SLAG (GALS=misses; “boomerangs” indicates reversal) + HEAP (=collection, informal); the “mine” of the definition is e.g. a coal mine |
| 10 | RHESUS | Macaque needs bringing back to life outside hospital
H (=hospital) in RESUS (=bringing back to life, i.e. resuscitation) |
| 11 | PAGODA | Temple walk perhaps in flat area
[GO (=walk perhaps) in PAD (=flat, as in bachelor pad)] + A (=area) |
| 13 | EAST CAPE | A street better in central Greece or Antipodean location?
[A + ST (=street) + CAP (=better, exceed, as verb)] in <gr>EE<ce> (“central” means middle 2 letters only); East Cape is the easternmost point of the main islands of New Zealand |
| 15 | PRIME NUMBERS | Brief outfits for special figures?
PRIME (=brief, inform) + NUMBERS (=outfits, set of clothes) |
| 18 | SUPERSTITION | Fabulous paradise bird held in irrational belief
SUPER (=fabulous) + [TIT (=bird) in SION (=paradise, i.e. Zion)] |
| 21 | SCHEDULE | Programme dropped with Christmas broadcast
Homophone (“broadcast”) of “SHED (=dropped) + YULE (=Christmas)” |
| 23 | ENTREE | One leaving whole sheep’s heart in dish
ENT<i>RE (=whole; “one (=I) leaving” means letter “i” is dropped) + <sh>E<ep> (“heart” means middle letter only) |
| 24 | AEOLUS | See energy returning to feed Australian god
EOL (LO=see! + E (=energy); “returning” indicates reversal) in AUS (=Australian); Aeolus is the Greek god of the winds |
| 26 | ANDROGEN | Ace new doctor gone mad provides steroid
A (=ace, in cards) + N (=new) + DR (=doctor) + *(GONE); “mad” is anagram indicator; androgen is a synthetic steroid hormone that regulates the development of male characteristics |
| 28 | ASSORTED | Tips from Aldous equipped with drugs in mixture
A<ldou>S (“tips from” means first and last letters only) + SORTED (=equipped with drugs, colloquially) |
| 29 | GOK WAN | Fashion consultant initially going well, then looking pale
G<oing> (“initially” means first letter only) + OK (=well) + WAN (=looking pale); the reference is to British fashion consultant Gok Wan (1974-) |
| Down | ||
| 02 | I’LL SAY | Most definitely not good for one
ILL (=not good) + SAY (=for one, for example) |
| 03 | ANGLOSPHERE | Group liking British lager one’s brewed around pub
PH (=pub, i.e. public house) in *(LAGER ONE’S); “brewed” is anagram indicator; the Anglosphere is a group of English-speaking nations with close historical and cultural ties with the UK |
| 04 | APE | Clara Peggotty’s parrot
Hidden (“ ‘s ”, i.e. genitive) in “ClarA PEggotty”; to parrot is to imitate, hence “to ape” |
| 05 | SUPREME | Unsurpassed as chicken served in velouté sauce?
The reference is to the culinary dish chicken supreme |
| 06 | BORIS | King in French wood: he’s claimed to be 1 17 27
R (=king, i.e. rex) in BOIS (=French wood, i.e. the French word for wood); UK PM Boris Johnson claimed to be as fit as a butcher’s dog following his recent brushes with COVID-19 |
| 07 | ROE | Eggs on desperado finally roped in
<desperad>O (“finally” means last letter only) in RE: (=on, regarding) |
| 08 | TRUMPERY | Foolish speech: beaten President absolutely losing head
TRUMP (=beaten President, in US) + <v>ERY (=absolutely; “losing head” means first letter is dropped); trumpery is nonsense, twaddle |
| 12 | ARIES | Sign that is featured in classical art
I.E. (=that is) in ARS (=classical art, i.e. the Latin word for art) |
| 14 | CABINETWORK | Senior ministers are employed to produce fine articles
CABINET (=senior ministers) + WORK (=are employed); cabinetwork is the fine craftsmanship of a cabinetmaker |
| 16 | UNITE | Brussels collecting money raised to form alliance
TIN (=money) in EU (=Brussels); “raised” indicates vertical reversal |
| 19 | IRELAND | Tees put down again in European destination
I (=Tees, i.e. the compiler of this puzzle) + RE-LAND (=put down again, of plane) |
| 20 | PESETA | Old bit in gym and some games area
PE (=gym, i.e. physical education) + SET (=some games, in tennis) + A (=area) |
| 22 | UPSET | Surprise result having advantage over Egyptian deity
UP (=having advantage) + SET (=Egyptian deity, i.e. the god of deserts and storms) |
| 25 | LOO | Liberal loves convenience
L (=liberal) + OO (=loves, 2 x love=0, i.e. zero score) |
Another enjoyable crossword from Tees. Thanks to him and RR
That was good fun – thanks Tees.
We hadn’t heard of EAST CAPE in NZ, and had to check that. We had heard of the Eastern Cape in South Africa, and wondered whether Tees might have been using Antipodean extremely loosely. Of course he wasn’t.
I assume that the presence of the Egyptian god of storms and the Greek god of winds is a coincidence, rather than a mini-theme?
Thanks to RR for blogging.
As crypticsue says, an enjoyable crossword. We liked the topical references, particularly 8dn which might almost be an &lit. In 22dn we did have to check the Egyptian god in Brewer, where the usual form is given as ‘Seth’, with ‘Set’ as an alternative.
A slight error in the blog – the anagrind for 1/7/27 is ‘at sea’ – as noted, ‘shift’ is part of the anagram fodder.
Thanks, Tees and RatkojaRiku.
For a second I convinced myself there was such a thing as TRUMANRY. Like a fool!
Thank you Tees & RR
Very enjoyable. I initially thought ‘East Cape’ too obscure, but a wordsearch reveals that it may be the only thing that would fit. And I had to come here to learn the narcotic implication of ‘sorted’. Thanks Tees and RatkojaRiku.
Bit of hard work for me here, with sybarite and aeolus being new to me. Schedule had me going for a bit, as I pronounce it without the “h”. Don’t know if that’s a Northern thing. Thoroughly enjoyed it, though. Thanks to Tees and RatkojaRiku.
found this harder work than usual.. but can’t pinpoint why… with Clare24@6 re schedule but that was hardly a sticking point… other godlikes or classical things as homophones – Aries n Satire and i’m sure Trump has claimed some form of divinity at some point..
Bit late as usual but schedule pronounceing the ch as a K is an Americanism and makes a nice word quite harsh in my opinion.
schedule however pronounced is always quite a harsh word as it implies something you have to stick to… I can’t follow their rules…
Was slightly delayed by 5a, where the first anagram I spotted was BESTIARY!