Dill is occupying this week’s Tuesday slot. Dill is a compiler whose work I have limited experience of blogging and solving, so I wasn’t quite sure what lay in store for me today.
I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzled, finding it to be of medium difficulty, so just right for a mid-week solve. Today is Tuesday, so one expects a theme, perhaps a quotation from Dryden, but I haven’t found anything. I look forward to being enlightened by fellow solvers shortly. I would also be grateful for confirmation of my parsing at 29 – I am not totally sure whether I have plumped for the right initial letter!
My favourite clues today are 13, for its deceptive surface and its topicality; 15, for originality; 18 and 25, both for smoothness of surface. The entry at 19 was new to me, as indeed was the term “lawmonger”.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | MISSPENT | Young female writer before detox essentially wasted
MISS (=young female) + PEN (=writer, author) + <de>T<ox> (“essentially” means middle letter only) |
| 05 | DRYDEN | Study follows boring old writer
DRY (=boring, of style) + DEN (=study); the reference is to English writer John Dryden (1631-1700) |
| 10 | LUNATIC | Mad idiot picked up a jerk
Homophone (“picked up”) of “loon (=idiot)” + A + TIC (=jerk, twitch) |
| 11 | IMPOSER | Promise breaking taxman
*(PROMISE); “breaking” is anagram indicator; an imposer is someone who levies a tax |
| 12 | EDISON | Inventor lacking edge retrospectively
(having) NO SIDE (=lacking edge); “retrospectively” indicates reversal; the reference is to US inventor Thomas Edison (1847-1931) |
| 13 | FURLOUGH | Leave coat beside Irish lake
FUR (=coat) + LOUGH (=Irish lake, i.e. the Irish version of the Scottish loch) |
| 15 | TRAINSPOTTER | Anorak wearer possibly teaches at Hogwarts
Cryptically, one who possibly teaches at Hogwarts “trains (Harry) Potter”! |
| 19 | PETTIFOGGERS | Global traveller detained by more insignificant society lawmongers
FOGG (=global traveller, i.e. Phileas Fogg in Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days) in [PETTIER (=more insignificant) + S (=society)]; pettifoggers are lawyers who deal, often deceptively and quibblingly, with trivial cases |
| 22 | ALARMIST | Worried ram tails one crying ‘wolf’
*(RAM TAILS); “worried” is anagram indicator |
| 24 | SWARMS | Masses of text describing conflict
WAR (=conflict) in SMS (=text, in mobile telephony) |
| 26 | TAKES ON | Adopts appropriate child
TAKE (=appropriate, seize) + SON (=child) |
| 27 | ROMANCE | Date an Italian chef regularly
ROMAN (=Italian) + C<h>E<f> (“regularly” means alternate letters only; to romance is to woo, court, hence to “date” |
| 28 | RED-EYE | Communist spy’s early flight
RED (=Communist) + EYE (=(to) spy (on); a red-eye is an overnight plane journey |
| 29 | DWINDLED | Became less fooled when son replaced first daughter
SWINDLED (=fooled); “when son (=S) replaced first daughter (=D)” means “s” would replace first letter “d” in word |
| Down | ||
| 01 | MILDEW | Picked up plant expected to produce fungus
Homophone (“picked up”) of “MILL (=plant, factory) + DUE (=expected)” |
| 02 | SYNDIC | Legal representative’s brief coordination interrupted by senior investigator
DI (=senior investigator, i.e. Detective Inspector) in SYNC<h> (=coordination, as in to be in synch; “brief” means last letter is dropped); a syndic is a person chosen to transact business for others, hence “legal representative” |
| 03 | POTPOURRI | Serve into, or tip out, fragrant mixture
POUR (=serve (out)) in *(OR TIP); “out” is anagram indicator |
| 04 | NICE | Some vegan ice-cream is quite pleasant
Hidden (“some”) in vegaN ICE-cream” |
| 06 | REPEL | Drive off revolting social outcast
LEPER (=social outcast); “revolting” indicates vertical reversal |
| 07 | DISGUSTS | Offends underworld boss with emotional outbursts
DIS (=underworld boss, in Greek mythology) + GUSTS (=emotional outbursts) |
| 08 | NORTHERN | Arctic // underground line
Double definition |
| 09 | MINUS SIGN | Mathematical indicator of negative balance perhaps
MINUS (=negative) + SIGN (=balance perhaps, i.e. of zodiac) |
| 14 | LIMOUSINE | I’m getting round America on board stock car
[I’M + O (=round, i.e. pictorially) + US (=America, i.e. United States)] in LINE (=stock, descent) |
| 16 | OARSWOMEN | A news room broadcast for lady athletes
*(A NEWS ROOM); “broadcast” is anagram indicator |
| 17 | SPLATTER | Southern dish for pepper
S (=southern) + PLATTER (=dish); to pepper is to splatter, sprinkle |
| 18 | ATTACKED | Changed course after Ascot extremely harshly criticised
A<sco>T (“extremely” means first and last letters only) + TACKED (=changed course, in sailing) |
| 20 | URINAL | Place where men go when river floods home
IN (=(at) home) in URAL (=river); the “go” of the definition refers to weeing, peeing |
| 21 | ASCEND | Get high through exotic dances
*(DANCES); “exotic” is anagram indicator |
| 23 | MUSKY | Sexy smelling like a Tesla owner?
Cryptically, musky could mean “like a Tesla owner”, referring to Elon Musk (1971-) |
| 25 | DRAW | Attraction of up and coming protégée
WARD (=protégée); “up and coming” indicates vertical reversal |
Yes for 29A as written – the definition has to be at the beginning or the end of the clue. Solving online with the ‘D’ popped up 100% correct.
29A is correctly parsed I’d say,
6D I thought was a reversal revolting being uprising rather than an anagram, though both obviously work.
2D I’d parsed as DI in SYNC and the brief referred to the definition SYNDIC(ATE) – I think your parsing is better tho RR
Not too difficult but just right for a Tuesday
Thanks Dill and RR.
This was not too tricky and good fun, although it was bit of a shame to find “picked up” used twice as a homophone indicator, and I think RED-EYE is an American term.
I took 9d to be a “semi &lit” where the whole clue is the definition but only part is the wordplay.
My top two were PETTIFOGGERS and FURLOUGH.
Many thanks to Dill and to RR.
I ‘Became’ more, rather than ‘less fooled’ by 29a, and just about entered ‘swindled’, but opted for DWINDLED because of the position of the def in the clue, as pointed out by mw7000 @1. I hadn’t heard of a SYNDIC and although I’d come across PETTIFOGGERS before, I didn’t know it had specific legal connotations.
Further to Blah @2’s comment, I parsed ‘revolting’ in 6d as a reversal, rather than anagram, indicator; otherwise it would mean a (supposedly) verboten indirect anagram.
Thanks to Dill (and welcome back for your first 2021 Indy puzzle) and to RR
Are we looking at hidden weather terms?
So far in the SKY I can see a bit of MIST – no FOG Maybe the GUSTS of WIND have blown away the RAIN altogether it’s MILD. Just like the crossword.
Many thanks.
Goodness – with DRY, WARM and perhaps POUR, that looks reasonable. Well done Salad if so!
DEW? And, perhaps a bit of stretch, but it looks NICE out …
Struggled to think of the global traveller and hadn’t come across a SYNDIC previously but all became clear eventually – another entry for the theme?
Top three for me were FURLOUGH, TRAINSPOTTER & MILDEW.
Thanks to Dill – after all the work you had done on the house I do hope you’re not now battling with mildew! – and thanks to RR for the review.
Rabbit Dave @8 – but perhaps ICE is less of a stretch?
There’s also RAW. Nice crossword, thanks Dill and RR.
Yes, I agree with Blah and WordPlodder about the vertical reversal at 6D, and I have amended the blog accordingly. What clinched it for me was needing to avoid the forbidden indirect anagram!
Well done to all those who have spotted weather terms – I can’t believe that I didn’t see them!