I found I was very much on Brummie’s wavelength, so romped through this one. (I do the Private Eye crossword, so I’m used to his style from his other incarnation as Cyclops there, which probably helps.) I found this a very enjoyable solve nonetheless – thanks, Brummie!
Across
1. Very tailored cut-offs, a means of improving film star’s look? (4,5)
SOFT FOCUS
SO = “Very” + (CUT OFFS)*
Definition: “a means of improving film star’s look”
6. Made contact material (4)
FELT
Double definition: “Made contact” and “material”
8. Red Star was consumed with passion (8)
SUNBURNT
SUN = “Star” + BURNT = “consumed with passion”
Definition: “Red”
9. Soft buttocks alongside? Ignore (4,2)
PASS BY
P = “Soft” + ASS = “buttocks” + BY = “alongside?”
Definition: “Ignore”
10. Noel possibly involved in extremely fishy crime (6)
FELONY
(NOEL)* in F[ish]Y
Definition: “crime”
11. They will bother runners? (8)
HARRIERS
Cryptic definition, referring to the Hash House Harriers and “to harry” meaning “to bother”. Update: thanks to the many people who pointed out out that “Harriers” is a common name for running clubs, and the Hash House Harriers (where I know this sense from) is just an example of that!
12. Secret police’s unchanging state (6)
STASIS
STASI’S = “Secret police’s”
Definition: “unchanging state”
15. Elected to wear fancy stripes — not quite original (8)
PRISTINE
IN = “Elected” in (STRIPE)* – the anagram fodder is from “stripes not quite”
Definition: “original”
16. Diamonds, together with collar, falling from the top (8)
DANDRUFF
D = “Diamonds” + AND = “together with” + RUFF = “collar”
Definition: “falling from the top” (“falling” as a noun, I guess)
19. Hard time of day is the most intense part (6)
HEIGHT
H = “Hard” + EIGHT = “time of day”
Definition: “the most intense part”
21. Brothels in kingdom’s housing capital (8)
HELSINKI
Hidden in “[brot]HELS IN KI[ngdom]”
Definition: “capital”
22. Good looking but very absent, taking name instead — ‘Forsaken’ (6)
LONELY
LOVELY = “Good looking” replacing V = “very” with N = “name”
Definition: “Forsaken”
24. Prudence, the Nazi organisation’s pet (6)
CARESS
CARE = “Prudence” + SS = “the Nazi organisation”
Definition: “pet” (as a verb)
25. Scoffing oriental king is tucking into fish (8)
DERISORY
E = “oriental” + R = “king” + IS in DORY = “fish”
Definition: “Scoffing”
26. Go downhill and start to turn for take-off? (4)
SKIT
SKI = “Go downhill” and T[urn] = “start to turn”
Definition: “take-off?””
27. ‘Duck includes some hot and cold starters’ (reluctant kitchen aid) (9)
DISHCLOTH
First letters of D[uck] I[ncludes] S[ome] H[ot] and C[old] + LOTH = “reluctant”
Definition: “kitchen aid”
Down
1. Bird turned up covered with special foam (5)
SPUME
EMU = “bird” reversed beside SP = “special”
Definition: “foam”
2. Possibly, as a root system lies around our ground (7)
FIBROUS
FIBS = “lies” around (OUR)*
Definition: “Possibly, as a root system”
3. Boat makes blunder entering fishery boundaries (5)
FERRY
ERR = “blunder” in F[isher]Y = “fishery boundaries”
Definition: “Boat”
4. Draw level with Nick on horseback (5,2)
CATCH UP
CATCH = “Nick” (as in “you’re nicked”) + UP = “on horseback”
Definition: “Draw level with”
5. Police officer amusing billionaires (5-4)
SUPER-RICH
SUPER = “Police officer” (superintendent) + RICH = “amusing”
Definition: “billionaires”
6. Rocky acts as if one’s out to be a political authoritarian (7)
FASCIST
(ACTS S IF)* – the anagram fodder is “acts as if” without A = “one”
Definition: “political authoritarian”
7. Any birth mishandled after onset of labour is a perplexity (9)
LABYRINTH
(ANY BIRTH)* after L[abour] = “onset of labour”
Definition: “a perplexity”
13. Brand new dart-maker (9)
TRADEMARK
(DART MAKER)*
Definition: “Brand”
14. Turned up, had a look round, rather puggish (4-5)
SNUB-NOSED
SNUB = “Turned up” + NOSED = “had a look round”
Definition: “rather puggish”
17. Show contempt for party that’s split (7)
DISSECT
DIS = “Show contempt for” (slang from “to disrespect”) + SECT = “party”
Definition: “split”
18. An appeal for honesty just before affairs (4,3)
FAIR DOS
FAIR = “just” + DOS = “affairs”
Definition: “An appeal for honesty”
20. Station escort guarding dramatist (7)
IONESCO
Hidden in “[stat]ION ESCO[rt]”
Definition: dramatist
22. Fifty-one clubs accepting your texted words (5)
LYRIC
LI = “Fifty-one” (in Roman numerals) + C = “clubs” around YR = “your texted” (“yr” is a common abbreviation for “your” in text messages or chat)
Definition: “words”
23. Right to replace meal centre’s list (5)
LURCH
LUNCH = “meal” but with R = “Right” replacing its centre
Definition: “list”
Thanks mhl.
I think Harriers is a common name among athletics clubs.
Thanks to Brummie.
Liked SOFT FOCUS, HELSINKI, DANDRUFF.
New: FAIR DOs.
Did not parse 14d SNUB-NOSED.
I recall thinking re 14 ‘surely the snub- in snub-nosed means “turned up” and so the clue is not very cryptic”.
I really enjoyed this. Thank you Brummie. 2down got a bit tick – “our ground” very clever I thought.
At first glance I suspected this might be a SOFT FOCUS puzzle, and I FELT the same way as I saw the earlier clues PASS BY. However it was an entertaining journey through the LABYRINTH, and very little DANDRUFF was shed along the way. Also enjoyed HELSINKI & IONESCO (LOI).
Thanks Brummie.
PS: By coincidence I just completed cryptic # 23,357 from way-back.
Also very enjoyable, so double-thanks, Brummie.
Thanks Brummie for a vey enjoyable Saturday morning workout. Elegant surfaces, tricky clues, and just the right level for me. Challenging but do-able.
Thanks mhl. Even as a Hash House Harrier I have to agree with Gonzo@1 that we do not have exclusive rights to the term. Not sure what you mean by ‘falling as a noun’ in 16a, I had no difficulty with the present participle. LOI was 1a, I was ‘focused’ on ‘faces’ as the second word.
Column 11, accidental?
Thanks Brummie, that was great. Loved SOFT FOCUS, STASIS, and PRISTINE (double tick) as well as the surfaces for FASCIST and LABYRINTH. All in all a nice weekend crossword — thanks mhl for the blog.
Had the same query as mhl re 16ac: falling as noun, is that how it works? Thought 19ac could have done with a ? after day, then “It’s the etc”, and wondered about lurch for list (which means lean) in 23d. Otherwise, nice puzzle, pretty straightforward, thanks Brummie and mhl.
I liked it but it seemed to take an inordinately long time for me to crack the south west quadrant – in fact the puzzle took all week, though there were lots of other life things going on along the way. When I finally cracked the SW, the already-mentioned HELSINKI at 21a ended up being my favourite clue. I also enjoyed the other already-highlighted hidden, IONESCO at 20d.
Thanks to Brummie and mhl.
Thanks for the blog , I never knew that Brummie was Cyclops, live and learn.
YR also new to me, I do not even want to think about it but the clue does work.
Gonzo @1 quite right, in fact it seems that nearly every athletics club is named Harriers.
Enjoyed this – needed to use the aids but managed to parse all but one (HEIGHT).
Favourites: DANDRUFF, DISHCLOTH, HARRIERS, IONESCO (very neatly hidden).
Thanks Brummie and mhl
An enjoyable challenge that I worked through steadily right up to the point where all I had left was 17d D-S-E-T and three candidates for ‘split’: dessert (as in banana split), dissent, and dissect. At least the last two started with DISS for contempt, but I couldn’t see a party in ‘ent’ or ‘ect’. It was an embarrassingly long time before it dawned on me that maybe DIS could be spelled with one S. My failings aside, a nice, clever, puzzle. Thanks Brummie, thanks mhl.
I enjoyed this too and had only one quibble – at 9ac. While the answer was obvious, I have always viewed ASS (pron. with a short ‘a’) for bum/behind/backside as an Americanism whereas elsewhere an ass is simply a donkey, without a snigger, and the rear end is “arse” with a long ‘a’. Has the US term “ass” taken hold in the UK as well, such that the clue did not require a reference to the American usage?
A relatively lite puzzle for a Saturday. My only significant observation (HARRIERS) has already been covered off several times already – though I might add we have a local football team, Kidderminster, who also rejoice in the name. I’m with those who enjoyed SOFT FOCUS, DANDRUFF, HELSINKI and IONESCU. I contributed a Focus earworm recently – the classic Hocus Pocus – so choose a very different but uplifting track today – Sylvia.
COTD for the surface and the smile was PASS BY. Pertinent to that, KLColin @16: I suspect it’s a generational thing. I’d still plump for an arse but my sons would go for ass – or booty – and wouldn’t perceive that as specifically American. A bit like light and lite.
Thanks Brummie and mhl
I thought the reluctant kitchen aid was a co-resident (read husband/son). Liked DISHCLOTH.
Falling is fine by me as a noun for DANDRUFF.
Gonza @3, I had similar thoughts about snub-nosed. A bit too close and ran the risk of not being very cryptic.
Not being at all athletic didn’t get the second part of the double def for HARRIERS. I thought it was something to do with fox hunting or something equally as British.
Can’t remember how HELSINKI fell on the grid but took a while to see that.
Enjoyed LURCH. Memories of the Adamms Family, about the only TV program we were allowed to watch when stuck in boarding school (apart from the moon landing) as it was on between tea and prep You rang?!
Thanks, mhl and Brummie. A challenging but solvable puzzle, which took me till Sunday.
I felt LYRIC was ‘texted words’, as lyric poetry is a literary text, so ‘texted’ has a double meaning – I think YR has been an abbreviation for ‘your’ since before texting in its modern sense was invented.
As to ASS, it is mainly a US usage, but does that matter? Also, I wonder if it was once pronounced that way in the UK too, as ‘donkey’ (once a babyish word, like ‘bunny’ or ‘pussy’) became the euphemistic standard name for the animal in the C19, since calling it an ass was considered improper.
KiethS@15. Me too. I invented a new word, DOSRENT – Dos=party that’s +rent=split. Strange, but the dictionaries didn’t understand it is a synonym for ‘show contempt’.
[PDM@ 18 I think HARRIERS came from Hare-coursing which developed into paper chasing and then cross country running. Something I read , but a while ago , so not quite sure , others may know more on this topic.
A very enjoyable puzzle that I worked through mostly in one session. I got temporarily stuck in the SW (echoing the experience of JinA @12) but managed to polish it off the following day.
SOFT FOCUS was my first in and a favourite – it is a while since I have seen that phrase used.
Thanks to Brummie and mhl.
Ah, thanks Roz@21. I thought so too re HARRIERS @18.
[I know we are not supposed to discuss the current Prize. However, the on-line version has a preamble
Special instructions: Nine entries are similarly defined
which does not appear in the paper version. Which is right?]
[DE @24: Having the special instructions, and knowing that nine clues are involved, certainly helps!]
{ No instructions in the paper but I did it without so it is fine and actually better without }
My only query related to 18 down, where “fair” is both part of the answer and included in the clue (inside affairs). Other than that an enjoyable puzzle, although we missed the Nina in column 11 (chapeau, grantinfreo @ 9).
grantinfreo or bridgesong , what was the Nina please ?, our newspaper was collected on Tuesday.
I couldn’t decide if the similar clueing for 3dn and 10ac was intentional or not. An enjoyable puzzle.
For some reason I entered SUNBURST for 8a, and was going to comment that it didn’t quite seem to work. Of course it was me who didn’t work it out properly.
Gonzo @3 and paddymelon @18, I know what you mean about 14d. But to be fair to Brummie, “turned up” in the surface reading means “arrived”, which is where the crypticity comes in.
It took me ages to see HELSINKI hidden in plain sight in 21a – very good.
Many thanks Brummie and mhl.
Lord Jim @30. I had SUNBURST very briefly, but the parsing soon put me right. I also had a mis-step at 25a, with DERISION seeming to fit the definition, but the hitherto unheard of DION fish failed to appear in Chambers or Google, causing a rethink.
I often used to find Brummie a bit chewy, and never quite got on his wavelength. But apart from the aforementioned glitches, I fairly skated through this one.
Thanks to Brummie and mhl.
Bravo Brummie,
I rem thinking — this seems quite easy, then a) I got super-stuck in SW corner. When I finally realised the Finnish capital was simply hidden ‘in plain sight’ and I needn’t have bothered looking for synonyms for brothels, doh…. The other hidden word clue was also a delight — I remember his name from my name from my days in am dram at uni many moons back.
Also realised on consulting mhl’s excellent blog that I wrote in OUTBURST at 8A and thought “hmm, cannot see parsing, but it fits the grid and the defiinition “ So, no prize for me this week.
One bit of domain knowledge I can offer : Harriers is indeed a very common name of running clubs. See for instance : https://www.belgraveharriers.com/history
Thanks Brummie for the fun, and mhl for pointing me on the right path, and all other learned contributors to 15^2
Roz @28: there’s no way of sugar-coating this – the Nina in column 11 reads ARSEOIL.
Bridgesong@33: I was just pondering a polite way of spelling out the Nina, so thanks for taking the plunge!
I did wonder if it was meant as a sop to those Brits who couldn’t fit PARSE BY into 19ac..
Ha ha thank you very much anyway, glad I never spot them. Credit to grantinfreo for finding it and being discrete.
Petert @29. I too wondered about the same wordplay being used for FY at 3d and 10a to the extent that I hesitated to put the second one in until there was no alternative.
Thanks to Brummie and mhl.
That is a good spot Petert@29 and Pino@36. I must admit it passed me by on my solve. It does seem quite unusual to use it twice, but it is probably quite rare to have two answers with the same first and last letter . I will look out for this in future.
Very satisfying puzzle – my first prize. (Today’s brought me back down to earth.) Thanks Brummie & mhl.
Well done Paul@38, it is worth persevering with the Prize this week. You have got until next Saturday.
Interested to read about the (sort of) masonic joggers, even if there are other harriers. I got it easily because I have seen runners here referred to as harriers. Now I’m wondering if these local harriers are members of the Hash House Harriers or just athletes.