A very enjoyable solve from Falcon.
Nothing too taxing this morning, although a bit of general knowledge required to complete. With a good number of unusual letters from the alphabet I was looking for a pangram, but that was not the case. A very enjoyable and fair challenge from Falcon, so many thanks!
ACROSS
1. Perhaps aunt, about 50, tense, missing daughter (8)
RELATIVE
RE (about) + L (50) + [d]ATIVE (tense, missing daughter)
5. Telephone to secure file, hand-held tool (6)
TROWEL
TEL (telephone) to secure ROW (file)
10. Rages at new riot control measure (4,3)
TEARGAS
11. Greek character’s order, constant in club (7)
OMICRON
OM (order, (of merit)) + C (constant) in IRON (club)
12. Money in such a fund may be tied up, it’s said (5)
TRUST
“TRUSSED” (tied up, “said”) &lit
13. Absolve former lover facing single charge (9)
EXONERATE
EX (former lover) facing ONE (single) RATE (charge)
14. Opera Atticus often reviewed (4,3,5)
COSI FAN TUTTE
(ATTICUS OFTEN)* (*reviewed)
18. Material about product used for enjoyment (12)
RECREATIONAL
REAL (material) about CREATION (product)
21. Male horse surrounded by strangely frightening collection of animals (9)
MENAGERIE
M (male) + NAG (horse) surrounded by EERIE (strangely frightening)
23. Stop ignoring PR function (5)
EVENT
[pr]EVENT (stop, ignoring PR)
24. Beat struggling Spurs, netting a second (7)
SURPASS
(SPURS)* (*struggling) netting A S (a second)
25. Finished in the short grass off the fairway (7)
THROUGH
TH[e] (short) + ROUGH (grass off the fairway)
26. One moving cattle took the wheel, heading for ranch (6)
DROVER
DROVE (took the wheel) + R[anch] (heading for)
27. A member of the clergy, US patriot associated with North Dakota (8)
REVEREND
REVERE (US patriot) associated with ND (North Dakota)
DOWN
1. Go round in foxtrot at embassy (6)
ROTATE
[foxt]ROT AT E[mbassy] (in)
2. Maritime measure the French applied to malaria (6)
LEAGUE
LE (the, French) applied to AGUE (malaria)
3. High wire in tense Hitchcock film (9)
TIGHTROPE
TIGHT (tense) + ROPE (Hitchcock film)
4. Personal stake revealed by setters – evident in cryptic form! (6,8)
VESTED INTEREST
(SETTERS EVIDENT)* (*in cryptic form)
6. Collect article during hike (5)
RAISE
A (article) during RISE (hike)
7. Bond cautious with storm coming in (8)
WARRANTY
WARY (cautious) with RANT (storm) coming in
8. Delayed departure of ship carrying Guardian’s top editor (8)
LINGERED
LINER (ship) carrying G[uardian’s] (top) + ED (editor)
9. Trouble over root vegetable left in faulty cooler? It’s a pest (8,6)
COLORADO BEETLE
ADO (trouble) over BEET (root vegetable) + L (left) in (COOLER)* (*faulty)
15. Rather common amphibian, for example, seen on pond plant no end (2,1,6)
TO A DEGREE
TOAD (common amphibian) + EG (for example) seen on REE[d] (pond plant, no end)
16. Professional shot wide, reportedly swore (8)
PROMISED
PRO (professional) + “MISSED” (shot wide, “reportedly”)
17. So, a nicer new storyline (8)
SCENARIO
19. A Burgundy wine with what could be knuckle or shin, we hear (6)
BEAUNE
“BONE” (knuckle or shin “we hear”)
20. Made a lasting impression, got female going (6)
ETCHED
[f]ETCHED (got, F (female) going)
22. Pleased ice, at last, is clearing (5)
GLADE
GLAD (pleased) + [ic]E (at last)
Two great homophones today at 12 and 19.
My FOI was 10 which sadly has been liberally deployed in my neck of the woods; the surface was also rather apt.
Really enjoyed the anagram at 14 and unravelling the likes of 21 and 7. I found this so absorbing, if a brief entertainment, that I didn’t even notice the letters which might trigger thoughts of pangrams mentioned by Teacow.
Thanks to Falcon for a satisfying solve and Teacow for parsing a few I missed like the ‘dative’ at 1a.
Some enjoyable fare today. Struggled a bit to disentangle TROWEL & WARRANTY. Had to use a word fit to get BEAUNE. Didn’t know the wine but, fortunately, it was early in the word fit list.
3d recalled a strange coincidence from my younger days. I was visiting an Italian friend’s house and his mother barely spoke a word of English. I was watching the TV and she kept insisting she wanted to watch the circus. Nothing in the TV listings gave me any hint until I eventually found she had seen the Hitchcock film Topaz and thought it said Trapeze.
To Diane @1:
Actually, and to be picky, ‘dative’ is a case and not a tense. ‘Tense’ only goes with verbs.
But I thought THROUGH was a great clue. Not hard, of course, but a perfect surface.
Thanks to all.
As just pointed out by Grant @3, for 1a surely DATIVE is a case, not a ‘tense’ (there’s just a slight difference!) unless I’m missing something, or there is an alternative parsing. Otherwise everything pretty clear except I didn’t know ROPE as a ‘Hitchcock film’ so couldn’t satisfactorily parse TIGHTROPE.
Like Grant, I really liked the simple but clever surface for THROUGH.
Thanks to Falcon and Teacow
Well yes, since I know the dative is a case, it was not foremost in my mind for parsing – I was thinking along the lines of strain – but this is Crossword land, after all.
As with others, I was troubled with DATIVE as a case. Not being familiar with Hitchcock films (in 3d), I struggled with “rope” = “wire” but accepted the “tightrope” could have been one. Could not get “BEAUNE” – never heard of it so the fact that “BONE” was running round my mind didn’t help! Thanks F & T.
Being keen on wine and opera, BEAUNE and COSI FAN TUTTE went in very easily: no problems with the rest either and it was all done quickly. A pleasant variety of clues, though, and an enjoyable solve – though I’m with those disappointed by “tense”: for those of us who studied Latin at school (many years ago in my case) this is plain wrong.
We too tut-tutted over ‘dative’ as a tense.
Otherwise a most enjoyable puzzle with a nice mix of clue types. Favourite, even though it was a write-in for us was COSI FAN TUTTE.
Thanks, Falcon and Teacow.
As I continue to struggle with Saturday’s jigsaw by Julius, this came as a welcome respite. For once I had the GK (BEAUNE, ROPE, COSI FAN TUTTE) to easily complete the crossword. Favourites included MENAGERIE, EVENT, and FETCHED. Thanks to both.
Not only is dative not a tense, neither is knuckle a bone; it’s a joint. Or is UK usage different from (or to) US usage?
Otherwise, however, it was a very enjoyable puzzle for a Monday — especially a holiday here in the US.
Thanks Falcon and Teacow
I am always willing to forgive an occasional honest mistake and I think we must put 1ac in that category.
However, I can find nothing wrong with 19dn: the first definition of knuckle in Chambers 2014 is “any of the bones that protrude when a finger joint is bent”.
Very enjoyable Bank Holiday Monday solve – my thanks to Falcon. Enjoyed 21A, 25A, 26A, 2D, 19D.
Thanks to Teacow for explaining 5A, 11A, 25A, 27A.
I enjoyed this a lot.. but took longer than I’d hoped on starting.. tend to agree with EdK@USA@10 that knuckle ain’t a bone.. bony certainly.. but is more often perhaps applied to a cut of meat as in knuckle of beef, as in joint etc.. didn’t ruin the fun though..
Thanks FALCON n Teacow
Pelham Barton @11: Thanks. That is a usage of the word of which I was not aware. I checked half a dozen dictionaries, and none of them defined a knuckle to be a bone, let alone give that as the first definition.
Thanks Falcon and Teacow
Out of printer cartridges in the middle of lock down, meant a late start to last week’s puzzles. Was expecting a slightly easier crossword from this setter and much of it was until coming to a halt in the SE corner. There was a bit of general knowledge required and not knowing the Hitchcock “ROPE”, didn’t parse 18a. Was pleased to unravel the opera at 14a and agree that simple but elegant THROUGH was excellent.
Finished with EVENT, the tricky ETCHED and BEAUNE which was a guess from the homophone and looking up Burgundy wines.