A nice puzzle in a traditional style, but not old-fashioned. Some easy clues, some hard ones. Thank you Moo.
I was expecting a pangram, but the Z didn’t materialize.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | THIRTY |
Cardinal gasping, beginning to sneak off (6)
|
| THIRsTY (gasping, for a drink) missing (with…off) Sneak (first letter, beginning) – an example of a cardinal number (1,2 3…) as opposed to an ordinal number (1st, 2nd, 3rd…) | ||
| 4 | SHACKLES |
Furious clashes with head of KGB in irons (8)
|
| anagram (furious) of CLASHES with Kgb (first letter, head of) | ||
| 10 | EXPLOITER |
One profiting from old lag keeping quiet (9)
|
| EX (former) LOITER (lag) contains P (piano, quiet) | ||
| 11 | LEMUR |
Primate in South American capital, I hear (5)
|
| sounds like (I hear) “Lima” (South American capital) | ||
| 12 | ALSO |
Article like this entertaining learner too (4)
|
| A (article, grammar) SO (like this) contains (entertaining) L (a learner) | ||
| 13 | RESTRAINED |
Calm fell on the others (10)
|
| RAINED (fell) on REST (the others) | ||
| 15 | ELITIST |
Snob popping into brothel? It is tempting (7)
|
| found inside (popping into) brothEL IT IS Tempting | ||
| 16 | CLEVER |
Shrewd of Tory party moving to the left (6)
|
| C (Conservative, Tory) then REVEL (party) reversed (moving from right to left) | ||
| 19 | BENDER |
Drinking spree in outdoor shelter (6)
|
| double definition | ||
| 21 | ACADEME |
Made to suffer, trapped in wicked world of scholars (7)
|
| anagram (to suffer) of MADE inside ACE (wicked, very good) | ||
| 23 | ANTITHESIS |
Atheists in misguided opposition (10)
|
| anagram (misguided) of ATHEISTS IN | ||
| 25 | MULE |
Cross you put your foot in it? (4)
|
| double definition – a hybrid animal and a slipper | ||
| 27 | QUEER |
Monarch changing at last? That’s odd (5)
|
| QUEEN (monarch) with last letter changed | ||
| 28 | EDITORIAL |
Real idiot somehow becoming leader (9)
|
| anagram (somehow) of REAL IDIOT – leader (the editor’s article) in a newspaper | ||
| 29 | ENTREATY |
Request lunch to be served in lobby (8)
|
| EAT (lunch, as a verb) inside (to be served in) ENTRY (lobby) | ||
| 30 | POSEUR |
Problem restraining posh exhibitionist (6)
|
| POSER (problem) contains (restraining) U (posh) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | TEENAGER |
Youngster making green tea (8)
|
| anagram (making, what you can make from these letters) of GREEN TEA | ||
| 2 | IMPASSIVE |
Moo’s voice? It’s expressionless (9)
|
| I’M (I am, Moo is) the PASSIVE (the passive voice, grammar) | ||
| 3 | TOOT |
Take a little coke, as impatient driver may (4)
|
| double definition | ||
| 5 | HERETIC |
Dissenter’s present eccentricity (7)
|
| HERE (present) TIC (eccentricity) | ||
| 6 | COLLATERAL |
Security subsequently seen in local, drunk (10)
|
| LATER (subsequently) inside anagram (drunk) of LOCAL | ||
| 7 | LEMON |
Article in Paris Match at beginning of week a disappointment (5)
|
| LE (an, article, in French, as in Paris Match) then MON (Monday, beginning of the week) | ||
| 8 | STRIDE |
Step out of trousers, scratching bottom (6)
|
| STRIDEs (trousers) missing (scratching) last letter (bottom) | ||
| 9 | ATTEST |
Confirm cricket lover might be here (6)
|
| AT TEST (at a test match, where a cricket lover might be found) | ||
| 14 | PIED-A-TERRE |
Romantic tryst in Frenchman’s love nest? (4-1-5)
|
| DATE (romantic tryst) inside PIERRE (a Frenchman) | ||
| 17 | EXECUTIVE |
Management made up of four, in effect (9)
|
| IV (four) inside EXECUTE (effect, as a verb) | ||
| 18 | JEWELLER |
Taunt about flourishing chap such as Fabergé (8)
|
| JEER (taunt) contains (about) WELL (flourishing) | ||
| 20 | RE-ELECT |
Return again to participate in free lectures (2-5)
|
| found inside (participates in) fREE LECTures – to return to Parliament | ||
| 21 | ACIDIC |
Bitter, a bit like LSD? (6)
|
| ACID-IC (like acid, LSD) | ||
| 22 | MARQUE |
Dictator’s characteristic symbol – Rolls- Royce perhaps (6)
|
| 24 | THEFT |
Illicit removal of stockbroker’s organ (5)
|
| THE FT (The Financial Times) – an organ is a newspaper | ||
| 26 | SOLO |
By oneself in capital, son having moved (4)
|
| OSLO (capital) with S (son) having moved to the end |
I enjoyed this puzzle. 22D I took as a hp(dictator’s) of Marquee (characteristic symbol).
Thank you Moo & PeeDee.
Thanks for the blog , I think MARQUE sounds like MARK ( dictator means being spoken ) .
Good puzzle , nothing wrong with traditional clues. BENDER = shelter is new for me, will look it up later .
A nice wind-down after yesterday’s. For 22d, to reiterate Vasant & Roz above, I think ‘Dictator’s’ is a homophone indicator for ‘characteristic symbol’ = “mark”, as in “trade mark”, with MARQUE indicating a (usually posh) car make such as ‘ Rolls-Royce’.
My query was with BENDER for ‘outdoor shelter’ which I had to look up afterwards. I enjoyed ENTREATY and especially the surface for PIED-A-TERRE. The homophone at 11a was just bad enough to be good!
Thanks to Moo and PeeDee
All present and correct, LOI was that ‘cross’/’footwear’.
At least I’ll have had the pleasure of completing one puzzle unaided this week!
Thanks to Moo and PeeDee.
Thanks for explaining dictator everyone. The blog is updated now.
Hm … ‘failed pangrams’ are an interesting phenomenon. There have been a few instances over the last couple of years over on the Guardian. There seem to be two schools of thought on this: the ‘coincidence theory’, whereby the appearance of 25 of the 26 letters is simply an unconscious byproduct of the grid-filling, and the ‘conspiracy theory’, whereby the setter is deliberately and perversely teasing the solver. Here, as often, the pangram could have been easily procured without jeopardising the rest of the grid-fill by cluing BOZO or GOZO at 26 down.
Thanks Moo and PeeDee
Spooner’s catflap: I can add a third possibility, namely that the setter submitted a puzzle with a pangrammatic grid, but the editor required a change to one answer, and the pangram was lost in the process.
Enjoyable – what a relief after yesterday. Particularly laughed after a few Doh moments – Theft and Elitist in particular.
Alas, I missed Mule.
I agree with Moly@8. Missed Mule too Doh.
Thanks Moo and PeeDee
Able to get this one completed over the course of the day, although missed the parsing of both PIED-A-TERRE and MARQUE. Had dodged the Io from yesterday (will be a weekend job, I think), doing the Mudd weekend puzzle instead yesterday.
Sheltered life must have meant that I hadn’t come across the ‘coke-snorting’ version of TOOT. Enjoyed putting together the charades throughout the grid – in particular JEWELLER.
Finished up in the NW corner with that TOOT which eventually led to the ‘cardinal by example’ (no ?) THIRTY.
I’m sure this is not the first time this puzzle appeared…