A stiff-ish test for a Tuesday,
Much low-hanging fruit plucked on the first pass but a slow finish for me, particularly in the SE corner where 'slanderous' refused parsing and elements like 'nat', 'ure' and 'tall' weren't obvious either. Thanks to Sleuth for a bit more fun than I'd planned for.
| ACROSS | ||
| 9 | PERVASIVE |
Prince not straightforward about source of rumour that’s widespread (9)
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P[rince] + EVASIVE ('not straightforward') around 1st of 'R[umour}'. |
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| 10 | LAUDA |
By the sound of it, more noisy old racing driver (5)
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Homophone of (Niki) Lauda, 1949-2019, R.I.P. |
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| 11 | ANODYNE |
A number by Disney sadly is lacking and devoid of colour (7)
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A + NO ('number') + anagram ('sadly') of DisNEY without 'IS'. |
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| 12 | REGROUP |
Note Greek publishing outfit getting to assemble again (7)
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RE ('note' in sol-fa) + GR[eek] = O[xford] U[niversity] P[ress]. |
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| 13 | HUE |
Shade is cut for an audience (3)
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Homophone of 'hew'. |
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| 14 | IN A NUTSHELL |
Desperate hunt in sale to acquire latest in apparel to put it briefly (2,1,8)
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Anagram ('desperate') of HUNT IN SALE + last of 'appareL'. |
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| 17 | BLAST |
Broadcaster’s first to endure verbal attack (5)
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1st of 'B{roadcaster} + LAST ('to endure'). |
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| 18 | DUD |
Ineffective pair of departments probed by university (3)
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2x D[epartment] surrounds U[niversity]. |
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| 19 | APART |
Detached Australian with quiet cunning (5)
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A[ustralian] + P[iano] ('quiet') + ART ('cunning'). |
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| 21 | UNDER A CLOUD |
Candour due possibly about learner in difficulties (5,1,5)
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Anagram ('possibly') of CANDOUR DUE surrounds L[earner]. |
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| 23 | URN |
Source of tea found in journal (3)
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Hidden in 'joURNal'. |
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| 25 | DEFICIT |
Loss is cited if bankrupt (7)
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Anagram ('bankrupt') of CITED IF. |
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| 27 | TALL HAT |
Extended thing to put on loaf? (4,3)
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Cryptic definition. "Loaf'' is Cockney rhyming slang for 'head' ("loaf o' bread"). A 'tall hat' is another name for a top hat, Chambers confirms. |
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| 28 | REEVE |
US actor always cycling infused with energy (5)
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EVER ('always'), last to 1st ('recycling') around E[nergy], for Superman actor Christopher Reeve, d. 2004, R.I.P. once more. |
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| 29 | ODD NUMBER |
Rum provided by anaesthetist for one, say (3,6)
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ODD ('rum') + NUMBER ('anaesthetist', one who numbs). 1 is indeed the first 'odd number'. |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SPLASH |
Power cut restricts publicity (6)
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S.LASH ('cut') contains P[ower]. |
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| 2 | ARBORETA |
Groups of elders, maybe? (8)
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Cryptic definition. 'Elders' = trees, of course. |
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| 3 | BABY-SITTER |
One minding small issue? (4-6)
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Cryptic definition. |
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| 4 | FINE |
Outstanding penalty (4)
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Double definition. |
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| 5 | GET ROUND TO |
Bring oneself to do what some pub drinkers do also when caught short (3,5,2)
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GET ROUND ('what some pub drinkers do') + TOo ('also', abbreviated, 'caught short'), |
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| 6 | PLUG |
Turn down quickly publicity (4)
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Reversal of GULP (to 'down quickly'). |
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| 7 | FURORE |
Type of garment with valuable material producing wild excitement (6)
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FUR + ORE. |
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| 8 | PAMPHLET |
Light touch about male getting varied help for publication (8)
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PAT ('light touch') around M[ale] + anagram ('varied') of HELP. |
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| 15 | ABDICATION |
A bishop speaking about a possible end for a monarchy (10)
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A + B[ishop] + DICTATION ('speaking'). |
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| 16 | SCANDALOUS |
Scrutinise loads scribbled about unionist that’s defamatory (10)
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SCAN ('scrutinise') + anagram ('scribbled') of LOADS around U[nionist]. |
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| 17 | BOUNDARY |
Four, perhaps, round bay when swimming (8)
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Anagram ('when swimming') of ROUND BAY. 4 runs in cricket scored when struck ball crosses boundary rope. |
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| 20 | ABU DHABI |
A friend from the US with limited custom in Arab city (3,5)
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A + BUD (US 'friend') + HABIt ('custom', shortened). |
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| 22 | DUFFER |
Useless type gets to feel pain after daughter replaces son (6)
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sUFFER ('to feel pain'), D[aughter] replacing S[on]. |
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| 24 | NATURE |
Condition in SNP member for one with Scottish musician (6)
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A S[cottish] N[ational] P[arty] member is a 'Scot NAT'. Midge URE is the Scottish musician (Thin Lizzy, Ultravox &c). |
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| 26 | CREW |
Officer inside dismissing small team of workers (4)
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sCREW (informal, prison officer = 'officer inside') witthout S[mall]. |
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| 27 | TIDY |
Neat characters regularly seen from this day (4)
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Alternate letters of 'ThIs DaY'. |
Wasn’t aware of NAT in 24a but easy to guess. My loi though.
5d reminded me of the Round Tuit my grandmother had hanging in the hallway.
Favourite today was ODD NUMBER.
Sorted.. but thanks for explaining NAT, as Hovis@1.. no total confusion which makes a change.. liked many..
Thanks SLEUTH n Grant Baynham
Tricky than I’d expected from Sleuth but I enjoyed the solve
Thanks to him and Grant
A very decent workout all round which I much enjoyed.
My favourite today was 14A – just tickled me. Will we see those packs of bargain hunters descending upon stores again?
Just one query – it appears there is a T unaccounted for in the parsing of 15D.
Thanks to Grant and Sleuth.
There’s some of 19a’s ‘quiet cunning’ on display today in this grid from Sleuth. Favourites included 14, 21, 2, 3 and 22.
Like Grant, my first thought was ‘slanderous’ which fits the definition better – something ‘scandalous’ isn’t necessarily defamatory, after all, but was clearly what was required.
Needed Grant’s help too with parsing 6 and 26 (miffed not to spot Midge Ure).
Was surprised to see ‘publicity’ twice, along with ‘pub’, ‘publishing’ and ‘publication’. Satisfying and fun though.
Thanks to Sleuth and Grant.
Another who couldn’t fathom the extra T in ABDICATION.
To Diana & DuncM:
You’re quite right. It’ DIC.TION around A. I’ll fix the blog.
I’m curious if anyone else had ’tile hat’ instead of ‘tall hat’. A tile hat is a semi-regular in crossword land. And according to my non-Chambers dictionary, a tile hat is ‘a tall silk hat.’ If I look at the definition as purely a cryptic definition, it seems to me either could be correct. Otherwise the puzzle was fine. Thanks to both.
Thanks Sleuth & Grant.
I think that “in” is part of the definition of 21 across.
Slightly thrown by NAT but fortunately I’d got the musician so it was easy to guess and then turn to Mr G for confirmation.
Thoroughly enjoyed the solve and particularly liked ABU DHABI.
Thanks to Sleuth aka the twinkly-eyed one, Grant for the review and Cryptic Sue for pointing me in the direction of the puzzle.
We also bunged in an unparsed ‘slanderous’ from the definition till we realised 27ac had to be TALL HAT. Apart from that it was a fairly quick and enjoyable solve.
Thanks, Sleuth and Grant.
Thanks to Sleuth and Grant B. The NW was the last to go in for me with 1&2d and 9a. I liked ODD NUMBER among others.
I entered slanderous as a given, without justifying it. Hence SE was a mess. Would also question scandalous as defamatory – however, sour grapes methinks.
Thanks to Sleuth and GB. Really enjoyed the rest!
Can anyone help with 24d? How does “for one” fit into the parsing?
piratewitch@14: ‘For one’ is another way of saying ‘for example’ – as NAT[ionalist] can be any sort of nationalist not just a Scottish one. Hope that helps.
piratewitch @14 that confused me as well.
Also, something can be scandalous but not defamatory, but something that is slanderous is by definition defamatory. But I was there in the end.
Thanks for the work out Sleuth. Just what I needed on a wet afternoon.
Ub@8, I also considered TILE HAT but rejected it because a TILE, on its own, is another name for a top hat so that seemed to be naming it twice.
Thanks for the explanations Grant – I really did not understand NATURE.
This crossword went in bit by bit today. I started at breakfast and finished (mostly) after a short run on a sunny warm day. (I didn’t get NATURE and I misspelled LAUDA.) Favourites were PERVASIVE, ABU DHABI, and the best of the day, ODD NUMBER. Thanks to both.
Thanks Sleuth and Grant
A new contract has got in the road of timely solving of puzzles this week. Actually blitzed through the first three quadrants of this one … and then came the NW corner.
Have always regarded the informal ’tile’ to be more of a hard type of hat, like a top hat or derby rather than a cap-like one, so it was never a consideration at 27a. Saw the NAT part of 24d, but didn’t land on Midge for the URE bit – the clue by definition was sufficient though.
Only had FINE and BABY SITTER in the top left for ages and started to question the BABY part at one stage. Knew what was required with ‘elders’ at 2d, but do you think that ARBORETA would come to mind – it was the 3rd to last in with ANODYNE (didn’t know this definition) and PERVASIVE (that required a word finder, cos my brain was starting to hurt by this stage). Enjoyed the experience though !