Tricksy for a Tuesday, I thought,
Mostly straightforward but with some sneaky definitions. And I had to do some serious unpicking in the NW corner at the end (see note to 11a). So, for me anyway, quite a challenge, for which thanks to Orense.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | METAMORPHOSES |
Changes to some hampers needing adjustment (13)
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Anagram ('needing adjustment') of TO SOME HAMPERS. |
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| 9 | GO-KARTS |
Reasonable skills shown by good little racers (2-5)
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G[ood] + OK ('reasonable') + ARTS ('skills'). |
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| 10 | ROOSTER |
Thatcher perhaps needing way to replace loud morning caller (7)
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ROOfER ('thatcher perhaps'), its F[orte] ('loud') replaced by ST[reet]. |
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| 11 | CASTE |
Social status of Conservative having lost seat (5)
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C[onservative] + anagram ('lost') of SEAT. I wonder if others initially had CLASS = C + L[ost], as in sports results tables, + ASS (vulgar US 'seat'). Held me up badly until crossers made it impossible. |
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| 12 | MAELSTROM |
Confusion of line adopted by virtuoso beginning to moralise (9)
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L[ine] in MAE.STRO + 1st of M{oralise}. |
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| 13 | LADYBIRD |
Bug woman and attempt to stifle resistance (8)
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LADY + BI.D around R[esistance]. |
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| 15 | HOTBED |
Bizarrely, the body, with no end of dairy, becomes a breeding ground (6)
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Anagram ('bizarrely') of THE BODy without last. |
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| 18 | LUSTRE |
Desire must come before soldiers shine (6)
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LUST ('desire') + R[oyal] E[ngineers]. |
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| 19 | PRIMROSE |
Sort of writing about border flower (8)
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PRO.SE ('sort of writing') around RIM. |
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| 22 | GENEALOGY |
Returning desire for example to include a record study of trees (9)
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Reversal of YEN ('desire') + EG includes A LOG ('record'). Family 'trees', of course. |
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| 24 | GAFFE |
One runs from animal in Africa – mistake! (5)
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GirAFFE minus 1 & R[uns]. A rather familiar clue. |
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| 25 | TRIBUTE |
Praise from extended family embracing Utah (7)
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TRIB.E surrounds UT[ah]. |
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| 26 | IRONING |
I call around on pressing business (7)
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I R.ING around ON, w cryptic def. |
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| 27 | ANAESTHETISED |
Put under the sea instead, after a redesign (13)
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Anagram ('after a redesign') of THE SEA INSTEAD. |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | MAGICAL |
Enchanting note about silver state (7)
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MI ('note' in Sol-fa) around AG ('silver') + CAL[ifornia]. |
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| 2 | TAKE SIDES |
Agrees to accept one of the French to show support (4,5)
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TAKES ('agrees to accept', as in 'concedes during bargaining') + 1 + DES (Fr. 'of the', plural). |
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| 3 | MARGE |
Spread stuff turning up on empty grave (5)
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Reversal of RAM ('to stuff') + eviscerated 'GravE'. |
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| 4 | ROSEMARY |
This girl sees beads take me back (8)
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ROS.ARY ('beads') includes reversal of ME. |
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| 5 | HERMES |
Herald could be male, taken in by endless heterodoxy (6)
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HER.ESy ('heterodoxy', without last) contains M[ale], Hermes being the 'herald' of the Greek gods. |
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| 6 | SNOWSTORM |
Present on board to soldier at sea in such weather (9)
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NOW ('present') in SS (ship, therefore 'on board') + TO + R[oyal] M[arine] ('soldier at sea'). |
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| 7 | SITAR |
Instrument of rising bureaucratisation? (5)
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Contained, reversed, in 'BureaucRATISation'. |
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| 8 | FRAMED |
Wrongly accused, and prepared to hang (6)
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Double definition. |
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| 14 | BARRACUDA |
Radar Cuba developed for predatory type (9)
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Anagram ('developed') of RADAR CUBA. |
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| 16 | BLOWFLIES |
Make a mess of stories about female insects (9)
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BLOW (to 'make a mess of'') + F[emale] + LIES ('stories'). |
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| 17 | CRAYFISH |
Caught two swimmers and a crustacean (8)
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C[aught] + RAY + FISH ('two swimmers'). |
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| 18 | LEGATE |
Ambassador’s attendance in support of the French (6)
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GATE ('attendance' at an e.g. sporting event) below LE (Fr. 'the'). |
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| 20 | EMERGED |
Spain joined and came out (7)
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E[spana] + MERGED. |
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| 21 | COVETS |
Wants to have formal agreements with granny gone (6)
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COVEnanTS without NAN ('granny'). |
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| 23 | NAIRA |
Currency held by authoritarians on the rise (5)
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Nigerian 'currency' contained, reversed, in 'athoriARIANs'. |
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| 24 | GHOST |
Suggestion from good master of ceremonies (5)
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G[ood] + HOST (M.C.). 'Ghost' as in a hint, a suggestion of something. |
Seem to have gotten on Orense’s wavelength today and rattled this of. Had to check heterodoxy meant heresy and TAKE SIDES took a little working out. The BLOW part of 16d took longer than it should.
Fortunately, I never thought of CLASS for 11a. Fascinating how the two words fit the wordplay in such different ways
Enjoyed this very much particularly for its chewy parsing. Like Grant, I did think ‘class’ at first, albeit unparsed, but 2d/3d put me right. My tussles though were in the NE corner and I failed on HERMES (love the scarves, forgot the messenger).
Pick of the bunch for me today were the witty ROOSTER, GENEALOGY and ROSEMARY.
Thanks to Orense and Grant for some much-needed parsing.
Yes, a bit more difficult than the usual Tuesday FT and I had problems in the NW corner too. TAKE SIDES held me up; I wasn’t sure if the def was ‘Agrees’ or ‘Agrees to accept’. Once I had that, CASTE revealed itself, like Hovis @1, without the possibility of ‘class’ having entered my mind to confuse things beforehand.
I liked the ‘granny gone’ in COVETS and working out the parsing of SNOWSTORM and HERMES.
Thanks to Orense and Grant.
COVETS was my favourite but I liked this as I didnt have to jump through hoops or loop the loop with coloured pencils
Ok for me mostly.. 5dn had me as Diane@2, despite having all the available fodder.. also disappointed that I failed to spot the inclusion in 23dn, having smugged myself over 7dn.. nice to be grounded..
Thanks ORENSE n Grant Baynham
Ps.. I should add…amongst a whole bunch already mentioned I really liked MAELSTROM..
Yeah, I was held up a while with CLASS for 11ac 🙂
Good crossword though I failed on HERMES and needed a look-up for NAIRA. Liked the long anagrams @ 1a and 27a. Favourites were ROOSTER and LEGATE. Would like to see Orense more often. Thanks to both.
Oddly I completed the NW corner first but then failed to complete the whole puzzle. I agree with Tony Santucci about the two elegant anagrams.
Very enjoyable solve – many thanks to Orense and Grant.
Like some others, I just failed on 5D
With Tony on Hermes and got Naira only due to having had it in a crossword before.
Steady progress and got there with LOI Hermes.
I found the NW corner filled very quickly and I made my way in an anticlockwise direction, with my struggles in the NE. Snowstorm took a while; even though I was thinking of Marines, I missed the idea of RM. Also, Blowflies came late in the day, because I wasn’t confident of the Blow bit, and Primrose too was a struggle until I spotted that “rose” fitted. Border always makes me think of Hem and Edge. Must remember Rim, even though I don’t really think a rim is a border
I particularly liked Covets and Rooster amongst some very good clues in an enjoyable puzzle.
Thanks to everyone.
Like Hovis, we must have been on Orense’s wavelength as we finished fairly quickly. Fortunately we only thought of CASTE for 11ac so had no problems with the NW corner. LOI was COVETS as we took a while to think of covenants. An enjoyable solve; favourites were GENEALOGY, GAFFE and ROSEMARY.
Thanks, Orense and Grant.
Thanks Orense and Grant
CASTE was my first one in without any thought of ‘class’, luckily as it seems and apparently solved the puzzle in a different fashion to others, completing the top half first and finishing in the SW. Lots of cleverly crafted clues with some lovely charades and nicely disguised definitions. Liked unravelling the top and bottom anagrams – needing all of the fodder to get the spelling right for both of them.
Finished with TRIBUTE, LEGATE and the very clever GENEALOGY, which became my best of the crop when I finally saw how it worked.