BASILISK serves up a solid and enjoyable challenge this Friday.
FF: 9 DD:10 ( only because of 3d, else I would have rated this 8 maybe 9).
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | PACIFY |
Calm fleet accepts uncertainty (6)
|
| PACY ( fleet ) containing IF ( uncertainty ) | ||
| 4 | SEAMLESS |
Continuous landlocked borders beginning in Mongolia (8)
|
| SEA LESS ( ~ landlocked ) containing M ( Mongolia, starting letter ) | ||
| 10 | SCAPEGOAT |
Undeserving victim treated Gestapo guards roughly (9)
|
| [ GESTAPO ]* containing CA ( roughly ) | ||
| 11 | NINJA |
Person involved in assassination in Japan (5)
|
| &lit; hidden in “..assasinatioN IN JApan” | ||
| 12 | OTIC |
Warning barely connected with the listener (4)
|
| nOTICe ( warning, barely i.e. without end letters ) | ||
| 13 | LIBERATION |
Story helping to secure book’s release (10)
|
| [ LIE ( story ) RATION ( helping ) ] containing B ( book ) | ||
| 15 | ANIMATE |
Article author’s had to breathe life into (7)
|
| AN ( article ) I’M ( author’s ) ATE ( had ) | ||
| 16 | TWIGGY |
Stick-thin model? (6)
|
| double def; the latter referring to dame lesley lawson – yet another learning from the internet today | ||
| 19 | ENDING |
What is the last thing hog and pig have in common? (6)
|
| cryptic def; read as END IN G ( thinG hoG and piG have in common ) | ||
| 21 | SHUTEYE |
They use dancing for rest and relaxation? (7)
|
| [ THEY USE ]* | ||
| 23 | IMPROVABLE |
Statement of fact apparently in need of enhancement (10)
|
| cryptic def; read as I’M PROVABLE ( statement of fact ) | ||
| 25 | KNOT |
Aquatic bird’s speed over water (4)
|
| double def; had to confirm the bird def with chambers | ||
| 27 | DEIGN |
See fit Scandinavian’s announcement (5)
|
| sounds like DANE ( scandinavian ) | ||
| 28 | INNOCUOUS |
Chorus regularly going wrong in unison somehow doing no harm (9)
|
| [ ChOrUs ( regularly ) UNISON ]* | ||
| 29 | MISTAKEN |
Girl almost gets engaged in error (8)
|
| MISs ( girl, almost ) TAKEN ( engaged ) | ||
| 30 | PENNON |
Write about accepting new standard (6)
|
| [ PEN ( write ) ON ( about ) ] containing N ( new ) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | PASTORAL |
Previous examination connected with support for students (8)
|
| PAST ( previous ) ORAL ( examination ) ; solved the clue but didnt know this meaning until today | ||
| 2 | COALITION |
Confederacy has Congress split over Alabama (9)
|
| COITION ( congress ) containing AL ( alabama ) | ||
| 3 | FLEX |
Lead spots on the radio (4)
|
| sounds like FLECKS ( spots ) / Thanks Hovis@1 [ My original answer: |
||
| 5 | ENTREAT |
Staff abandoned by leader deal with petition (7)
|
| mEN ( staff, without starting letter ) TREAT ( deal ) | ||
| 6 | MENDACIOUS |
Correct account with recognition of debts is deliberately misleading (10)
|
| MEND ( correct ) AC ( account ) IOUS ( recognition of debts ) | ||
| 7 | ENNUI |
What makes one tired and fed up of drunken nuisance? (5)
|
| hidden in “..drunkEN NUIsance” | ||
| 8 | SPAWNS |
Weak men supporting sons gives rise to issue (6)
|
| PAWNS ( weak men, chess ) under S ( sons ) | ||
| 9 | IODINE |
I eat after 10 (6)
|
| IO ( 10 ) DINE ( eat ) – chemical symbol for iodine is I | ||
| 14 | CALIFORNIA |
Area in which African lion mainly evolved (10)
|
| [ AFRICAN LIOn ( mainly ) ]* | ||
| 17 | GREENHORN |
Where to be putting warning signal for learner driver? (9)
|
| GREEN ( where to be putting, golf ) HORN ( warning signal ) | ||
| 18 | JETTISON |
Eject from revolutionary model plane close to houses (8)
|
| [ JET ( plane ) ON ( close to ) ] containing TIS ( model = SIT, reversed ) ] | ||
| 20 | GRANITE |
Worked in French farmhouse made of stone (7)
|
| RAN ( worked ) in GITE ( french farmhouse ) | ||
| 21 | SALINE |
Wild sea lion misses nothing like the sea (6)
|
| [ SEA LIoN ( without O – missing nothing 0 ]* | ||
| 22 | WISDOM |
Perhaps Norman women’s lives depended on men originally (6)
|
| W ( women ) IS ( lives ) DOM ( “..Depended On Men”, originally ) | ||
| 24 | PAIRS |
Small groups lower resistance in capital (5)
|
| PArIS ( capital, with R – resistance, moving down one place ) | ||
| 26 | ACRE |
Expert provides coverage of right area (4)
|
| ACE ( expert ) contains R ( right ) |
3d must be FLEX. Basilisk’s customary Nina can be found in the inner perimeter.
Monk recently had a related nina. The reference is to the FT editor. In case my comment @1 wasn’t clear, FLEX/FLECKS.
Thanks Hovis@1. As promised, virtual hug to you! 🙂
Regards,
TL
I missed the Nina as well. Thanks for highlighting the same.
The inner nina reads “Colin, Enjoy your retirement”.
Regards,
TL
Yes, definitely FLEX.
A couple of things I was uncomfortable with. MEND/CORRECT & “supporting” in 8d.
I didn’t twig to the golf putting in 17d — makes more sense now.
Never heard of Norman Wisdom.
Otherwise good fun.
Geoff, my old mate, when I hear comments like “I’ve never heard of Norman Wisdom”, it makes me feel even older than I am.
I didn’t mind “mend” meaning ‘correct”. I was more concerned with the definition of “California” being an “area”. “State” may have been a better definition.
RE 2D: I have heard of “coitus”. Am I really allowed to use that word here? An internet search has revealed that “coition” has the same meaning. It’s been such a long time that I have been a party to either definition so I can be excused for not recognizing the parsing of this clue.
Seconded
I was reassured that my memory stretches as far back as two days ago and I was able to pick the inner perimeter Nina and to know what it referred to.
Yes, good to see Norman WISDOM make an appearance; I haven’t heard of him for years. It’s also been a while since we saw ‘I’ for IODINE and I almost missed it.
I thought TWIGGY would do for an &lit although admittedly the cryptic def isn’t very cryptic. When you comment “yet another learning from the internet today” T/L, do you mean that you hadn’t heard of TWIGGY before, didn’t know her real name or didn’t know she was a Dame? I remember her very well from the 60’s-70’s but didn’t know her real name or that she’d been made a Dame.
Thanks to Basilisk and Turbolegs
Very clearly presented blog, Turbolegs; ta.
Another beauty from the Prof Computey, with smooth surfaces, well-judged risqué wit and hermetically sealed wordplay — e.g. the seamless clue for SEAMLESS and use of the heteronym ‘putting’ for GREEN[HORN]. And tying together an entire grid of normal words with a pan-grid looped Nina such as this is a not only a remarkable feat from the Lord of the Ringed Squares but also a lovely tribute to the outgoing crossword editor. (Turbolegs: can you please add a completed, highlighted grid to your blog?)
Re GDU@5, Chambers has to correct defining mend and SOED has put right (an error or fault) defining correct (v.t.). Additionally, Chambers (effectively) has holding up defining supporting so all seems rock solid by the ‘substitution test’.
Thanks Basilisk for an excellent crossword. I knew there would be a nina and finding it actually helped me with a few answers. Still, I needed a word finder for JETTISON, WISDOM, and PENNON, I missed IMPROVABLE, and I guessed FLEX from its homophone component, not the definition. Favourites included IODINE, SHUTEYE, and ENDING. Thanks Turbolegs for the blog.
Thanks basilisk and turbolegs, I thought knot was quite brilliant, took me a long time to see it. I saw 16a as stick thin = twiggy, and Twiggy = thin model.
Thanks Turbolegs and Basilisk.
Great puzzle as always, and spotted the nina at the end.
Thanks to Colin Inman for having provided us the daily fun for 43 years ( I got that from a reliable source).
FT was my first source of cryptics. Deeply grateful, and wishing him the best.
Thanks for the blog, Turbolegs, but this was not enjoyable – far from it.
I struggled a lot with the top half and then lost the will to continue after looking up the answer to 15ac.
I don’t understand in what sense flex means lead? Like a cord? One of those UK things?
I completed this, so it was doable, but, sorry, not a fan of this style. ENDING was commendable, though. Did not spot the nina.
Thanks for the blog, really enjoyed this.
Cineraria@15 I did not know it was just a UK thing for FLEX but you are right, it is a lead/wire/cable such as comes out of the back of an iron and plugs into the wall socket.
I remember Twiggy as Leslie Hornby.
I didn’t actually know she’d changed her surname.