A typical BRADMAN offering.
FF: 8 DD: 8
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | LIFE BELT |
One may go round holding someone up (4,4)
|
| cryptic def | ||
| 5 | DIGEST |
Possibly a periodical excavation on English street (6)
|
| DIG ( excavation ) E ( English ) ST (street ) | ||
| 8 | BOA |
Former pupil knocked over by a snake (3)
|
| BO ( former pupil => Old Boy => OB, reversed ) A | ||
| 9 | REVISITING |
Calling again on minister, I protest – not much good! (10)
|
| REV ( minister ) I SIT IN ( protest ) G ( Good, not much of i.e. only first letter ) | ||
| 10 | ROCKETRY |
Electronic test on something solid that can help get things off the ground (8)
|
| [ E ( electronic ) TRY ( test ) ] on ROCK ( something solid ) | ||
| 11 | LEAN ON |
Pressurise the French with a refusal in Paris (4,2)
|
| LE ( the, french ) A NON ( no, refusal, french ) | ||
| 12 | TEEM |
Come down with suitable backing (4)
|
| MEET ( suitable ) reversed | ||
| 14 | QUESTIONER |
One wanting answers is not troubled – get suspicious about that? (10)
|
| QUEER ( suspicious ) around [ IS NOT ]* | ||
| 17 | DROSOPHILA |
Swimming pool is hard for insect (10)
|
| [ POOL IS HARD ]* – common fruit fly; had a vague memory of this from another crossword solve | ||
| 20 | EMIN |
Artist of indefatigable mindset (4)
|
| hidden in “..indefatigablE MINdset”, tracey emin, british artish; hadn’t come across her before | ||
| 23 | ADROIT |
Notice tiro working to become skilful (6)
|
| AD ( notice ) [ TIRO ]* | ||
| 24 | STATUTES |
Laws from parliament ultimately set in slabs of stone? (8)
|
| T ( parliamenT, ultimately ) in STATUES ( slabs of stone ) | ||
| 25 | BANGLADESH |
Country party around Durham area? Happy to be included (10)
|
| BASH ( party ) around [ NE ( durham area ) containing GLAD ( happy ) ] | ||
| 26 | SHE |
Perhaps the girl to get rid of – daughter needing to leave (3)
|
| SHEd ( get rid of, without D – daughter ) | ||
| 27 | GEISHA |
Female escort in short dress – is husband enthralled? (6)
|
| GEAr ( dress, short ) containing [ IS H ( husband ) ] | ||
| 28 | ESURIENT |
Tureen is brought out – those in soup kitchen being this? (8)
|
| [ TUREEN IS ]* | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | LIBERATED |
Learner I laid into for flouting conventional rules? (9)
|
| L ( learner ) I BERATED ( laid into ) | ||
| 2 | FIANCEE |
I can feel endlessly excited as one anticipating match (7)
|
| [ I CAN FEEl ( endlessly ) ]* | ||
| 3 | BARRED |
Naughty sin about to be admitted – gets one kept away (6)
|
| BAD ( naughty ) containing reverse of ERR ( sin ) | ||
| 4 | LIVE ROUGH |
Exist like a tramp? That could be vile (4,5)
|
| reverse clue for VILE – [ LIVE ]* with ROUGH being the anagrind | ||
| 5 | DRIBLET |
Maybe phone Robin up for a wee drap? (7)
|
| TEL ( phone ) BIRD ( robin ) , all reversed | ||
| 6 | GO IT ALONE |
Ambition to get hold of modern technology – I work without help (2,2,5)
|
| [ GOAL ( ambition ) containing IT ( modern technology ) ] ONE ( i ) | ||
| 7 | SIGNORE |
Society to take no notice of Italian man’s title (7)
|
| S ( society ) IGNORE ( take no notice of ) | ||
| 13 | MISCOUNTS |
Girl, noble inside, makes a sort of error (9)
|
| MISS ( girl ) containing COUNT ( noble ) | ||
| 15 | SPLIT PEAS |
Vegetables that one can spot in shop easily (5, 4)
|
| cryptic def; referring to the arrangement of letters in “shoP EASily” | ||
| 16 | RENASCENT |
Broken-down entrances restored to former glory? (9)
|
| [ ENTRANCES ]* | ||
| 18 | RIDABLE |
What horse should be, with a bridle properly arranged (7)
|
| [ A BRIDLE ]* | ||
| 19 | PATELLA |
Bone – the last thing gent needs in Spanish dish (7)
|
| T ( genT, last letter ) in PAELLA ( spanish dish ) | ||
| 21 | MATISSE |
French art model, a mistress turning up for painter (7)
|
| ES ( french for art, be ) SIT ( model ) A M ( mistress ), all reversed | ||
| 22 | ETCHER |
Creative type who makes an impression (6)
|
| cryptic def |
Thanks for the blog. I think SPLIT PEAS is the pick of the crop here from a good set of clues. I do not think I have seen this SPLIT idea used before.
Minor facetious quibble, maybe CON ARTIST would be better for 20AC.
Ha, Roz @1, I see we share the same view of 20a; 21d being much more to my taste. The former, though, was a favourite clue along with BOA, PATELLA, SPLIT PEAS and GEISHA (my LOI because I found it devilishly misleading).
Being no entomologist, I needed an anagram solver to find the posh version of fruit fly. My iteration, alas, was wrong.
28a was a new word for me but, luckily, a correct guess.
Thanks to Bradman and Turbolegs.
Was wondering if 5d should have read ‘wee dram’ or ‘wee drop’? S’pose someone’s going to tell me that ‘drap’ is a dialectical variation?
Chambers has drap as Scottish drop so quite appropriate with the wee.
I did know drosophila , they are widely used in genetics. Have very large chromosomes for some reason.
Thanks Roz for that confirmation.
Nice to see the clue for BANGLADESH-and good to see a not so well-known word as DROSOPHILA
He does have a reputation to live up to.
Apparently Tracy Emin is not well and I am still hovering between Titian and Turner but she has been very successful and is a gift for setters (like CHER etc)
Thanks Don
Thought I’d filled the grid correctly, only to see here that LIFE BELT is a much more logical answer for 1a than my ‘lift belt’ version. I only know Tracey EMIN from crossword-land, where she comes up from time to time, most recently in Eccles’ Wednesday Indy puzzle a couple of days ago. I too remembered DROSOPHILA and their big chromosomes from Biology classes in the distant past.
I liked the idea of a GEISHA being in a ‘short dress’ and as noted by Roz @1, the original device for SPLIT PEAS.
Thanks to Bradman and Turbolegs
Very clever crossword with SPLIT PEAS a great clue. Please could some kind person explain the anagrind in 4d?
LIVE rough can be EVIL an anagram of LIVE, hence EVIL can be thought of as LIVE rough. It is a sort of back formation.
Thanks so much Roz . I think I get it.
Thanks Bradman and Turbolegs
Did find this a typical example of this setter with the neat anagrams and the smattering of lesser known words – although DROSOPHILA and ESURIENT were only borderline ‘lesser known’ – EMIN has certainly surfaced enough times not to be, at least in crossword land.
Liked the reversed charades for 5d and 21d along with the reversed cryptic construct at 4d.
Finished back at the top with DRIBLET (where the assumption that ‘drap’ was a Scottish interpretation of liquid falling), ROCKETRY (with the amusing E-TRY) and BARRED (which gave a lot more trouble than it should of to define and then unpick the construct).