The puzzle is available here.
Hi everyone. Once again Knut scores! (9a) – but I couldn’t possibly be cross. With this setter I always know I’m in for some fun. Not much more to say here, but I’ve made more comments than usual in the main part of the blog, so it all balances out. Thanks, Knut!
Definitions are underlined in the clues below. In the explanations, quoted indicators are in italics, explicit [deletions] are in square brackets, and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER. For clarity, I omit most link words and some juxtaposition indicators.
Across
1a Welcome posh, kinky sex when drunk in a yard (11)
HOSPITALITY
POSH anagrammed (kinky) + IT (sex) + LIT (drunk) in A and Y (yard). Well, that’s one way to set the tone for a puzzle!
7a Five, say, say five a day ideally? (3)
VEG
V (five) + EG (e.g., say), 5 A Day being the supposed minimum number of daily portions of fruit and veg for good health. The question mark covers the fact that the target is for fruit and vegetables combined, so just veg would be an example. Any Australians solving could perhaps do without it (the question mark, not the veg!) as they are told to “go for 2 & 5”: two servings of fruit and five of veg. However keeping it in place will help keep happy anyone questioning whether five is actually the ideal number to aim for. Sorry, mustn’t fill this space with waffle – that’s definitely not one of your five a day!
9a Cross … Knut scores! (5)
IRATE
I RATE … what Knut might say when he scores/rates
10a Daily tram serving old Whitehall building (9)
ADMIRALTY
DAILY TRAM anagrammed (serving)
11a Small piece of meat I sent back – it’s just for decoration (9)
MEDALLION
MÉDAILLON (small piece of meat) in which I is moved a couple of places towards the end (sent back). I got a bit tangled in the parsing here, first thinking that medallion was the piece of meat, then trying to make it LOIN (with the I sent back) … one sorted out later for the blog
12a Husband implicated in constant humiliation (5)
SHAME
H (husband) inside (implicated in) SAME (constant)
13a Badge old Knut has back to front? (7)
ROSETTE
O (old) and SETTER (Knut) with the last letter moved to the beginning (back to front)
15a Check flow of water ebbing (4)
EDIT
TIDE (flow of water) going backwards (ebbing)
18a Chap tempted by Mahdi Army every now and again? (4)
ADAM
Alternate letters of (… every now and again) mAhDi ArMy
20a Mark part of test (7)
INKBLOT
Two definitions. Which definition you see first may reveal your inner thoughts. Or it may not
23a Yellowish-white gold plant placed outside (5)
IVORY
OR (gold) with IVY (plant) around it (placed outside)
24a Scored Dutch Open shock! (7,2)
NOTCHED UP
DUTCH OPEN anagram (shock)
26a Footballer’s girlfriend/model Annie taking on queen of German style (9)
WAGNERIAN
Start with WAG (footballer’s girlfriend) then make an anagram of (model) ANNIE containing (taking on) R (queen)
27a Petty Officer receiving stolen picture (5)
PHOTO
PO (Petty Officer) containing (receiving) HOT (stolen)
28a Starter of grilled American river fish (3)
GAR
The first letter (starter) of Grilled + A (American) + R (river)
29a Complain faulty air intakes letting in sulphur (5,1,5)
RAISE A STINK
An anagram of (faulty) AIR INTAKES containing (letting in) S (sulphur)
Down
1d Collect long pass from quarterback (4,4)
HAIL MARY
Two definitions, the second of which I didn’t know and had to check. Chambers seems a little lacking in American football slang, but Collins has it: it’s a long, last-minute pass
2d Investigates LAPD as helicopter lands in a careless manner (8)
SLAPDASH
InvestigateS LAPD AS Helicopter secures (lands) the answer
3d Dream of unlimited cider and malt? (5)
IDEAL
Without outer letters (unlimited), cIDEr and mALt
4d Greed – adult weakness – possessing a Republican (7)
AVARICE
A (adult) + VICE (weakness) containing (possessing) A and R (Republican)
5d Huge chaps in semi getting knocked out (7)
IMMENSE
MEN (chaps) in an anagram of (… getting knocked out) SEMI
6d Benchmark for Met officer’s baton? (9)
YARDSTICK
A baton belonging to an officer of the Met, aka Scotland Yard, aka the Yard, could be termed a YARD STICK
7d Crude newspaper; Liberal, upper-class, very revolting (6)
VULGAR
RAG (newspaper), L (Liberal), U (upper-class) and V (very), all reversed (revolting)
8d Spring greens go mushy without nitrogen, Yankee admitted (6)
GEYSER
GREE[n]S are anagrammed (go mushy) without N (nitrogen), then having Y (Yankee) inserted (admitted)
14d Sleeping partner stimulating dry debate (5,4)
TEDDY BEAR
An anagram of (stimulating) DRY DEBATE
16d Good boy, 11, carrying old lady’s first flowers (8)
GLADIOLI
G (good), LAD (boy) and II (11) containing (carrying) O (old) and Lady’s first letter
17d Can it turn off hose carrying C6? (8)
STOPCOCK
SOCK (hose) around (carrying) TOP C (C6: C6, musical note)
19d People generally forget cup size on international swimwear (7)
MANKINI
Take MANKIN[d] (people generally), then omit (forget) D (cup size); this is followed by (on, in a down entry) I (international). I think I’ll spare you the near-obligatory Borat pic!
20d Very powerful, breaking within ten seconds (7)
INTENSE
The answer is inside (breaking) withIN TEN SEconds
21d Heavyweight notorious rapper’s whiskey (one gallon) (6)
BIGWIG
BIG (notorious rapper, the Notorious B.I.G.) + W (whiskey) + I (one) + G (gallon)
22d Head of Gaming punches programmer – a guy sounding, like, 8 (6)
CODGER
The first letter (head) of Gaming is inserted into (punches) CODER (programmer). 8 = 8d, GEYSER
25d Empty, Henry starts to pour extra Sugar Puffs (5)
HYPES
Without inner letters (empty), HenrY + the first letters of (starts to) Pour Extra Sugar
One question . I don’t understand what collect does in 1D. I knew of the American football long pass, so had the answer but am still a little confused.
Otherwise all straightforward enough.
Thanks, Knutsford and Kitty.
Hi Blah. A collect is a short prayer – such as the Hail Mary.
Thanks Knut and Kitty
Blah @ 1 it’s collect, not collect.
A collect is a sort of prayer.
Nice to see some more contemporary references. I liked HAIL MARY and YARDSTICK too. Thanks, both.
Thanks Kitty and Simon S,
Not a definition I’d ever heard for collect- I did do a quick google but thought nothing came up. I was on my phone at that point so probably didnt scroll down far enough!
Thanks for the blog, Kitty, especially the parsing of MEDALLION, which confused me, because I’ve seen the piece of meat spelt that way.
Unlike Blah, I knew the prayer but not the football pass – it seemed an improbable definition but I found it in Collins. It was one of my favourites, along with VEG, IRATE, TEDDY BEAR and the well-hidden SLAPDASH, with its great surface.
Many thanks, Knut, for another enjoyable puzzle.
Thanks Knut and Kitty!
Loved solving the puzzle.
Found CODGER particularly interesting (Geezer being a homophone of geyser).
Thanks, Knut and Kitty.
The surface of 25D may well be a reference to Henry Mcgee, who appeared alongside the Honey Monster in the 1970s Sugar Puffs adverts.
I found this rather easier than a usual Sunday puzzle (i.e. I didn’t need that much use of the reveal button!) and really enjoyed it. 7A was my favourite but lots of other good ones.
I’m a Church of England lay minister, and at one point with three of the crossers in for 1D I idly thought “If this were the Church Times a setter could use COLLect as misdirection for collECT” but only when I’d got the H did I realise Knut had! I’d assumed it was too obscure outside the church, so those of you who didn’t know it can be assured it’s definitely a niche word.
Sheepish @9
And today is the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with the appropriate Collect
Finally got round to doing this. I’m slightly annoyed that 1dn was my LOI, as I’ve been following the NFL for nearly 40 years. (Didn’t know the prayer, though.)