Friday 13th has been and gone, so what does the day after bring in puzzling terms. Tees is the compiler to tussle with.
Tees’ puzzles are always fun. The clues are quirky and there are many novel devices in use
12ac is one to read precisely, 24ac has a lovely misdirection in the definition but for me 18dn is teh pick of the crop with its crypic use of numbers. 7dn was the last one I parsed and I think I have got the intention.
Many thanks Tees and a happy new year to all
Key: Definition, * anagram; Rev. reversed
ACROSS
1 Wednesday evening‘s little man? (9)
wee (little) + knight(man) = WEEKNIGHT
6 Second gear for takeoff (4)
s(second) + kit (gear) = SKIT
10 See smoke rolling back here’s reason (5)
lo (see) + Rev cig (smoke) = LOGIC
11 Ceremony associated with a severe hairstyle (9)
pomp(ceremony) + a + dour (severe) = POMPADOUR
12 Eagle cryptically revealing descent? (7)
l in eage (cryptically) = LINEAGE
13 Serving monarch, like any worker initially in current rule? (4,3)
OHMS (serving monarch) law (like any worker initially) = OHMS LAW
14 Shocked where flatbed barges drifting (13)
(flatbed barges)* = FLABBERGASTED
17 Decadent and dainty, covered in slippery sludge by conservationists (4-9)
elfin(dainty) in (sludge)* + nt(conservationists) = SELF-INDULGENT
21 Resilient European to remain in charge (7)
e (European) + last (remain) ic(in charge) = ELASTIC
22 Division having FBI agents positioned outside (7)
gmen(FBI agents) in set(positioned) = SEGMENT
24 Boat’s propeller from liner good at sea (9)
(liner good)* = GONDOLIER
25/20 Quiller actor delivered a meat sandwich we hear (5,6)
homonym of sent a burger = SENTA BERGER
26 Rough diamonds in Parisian street (4)
rue (Parisian street) around d (diamonds) = RUDE
27 After death, huge ape gets internal examination (9)
end(death) + os(huge) + copy (ape) = ENDOSCOPY
DOWN
1 Decision provided enclosure at last, confining 500 animals (8)
will(decision) + if(provide) + e (enclosure at last) around d (500) = WILDLIFE
2 British lord lines up drink (5)
el(lines up) + gin (drink) = ELGIN
3 Being out on one’s feet? (14)
Cryptic defintion = NOCTAMBULATION
4 Break before going up in space endlessly long (3,4)
gap(space) + yearn – n (endlessly long) = GAP YEAR
5 Drum roll to precede this lottery’s result? (7)
Cryptic definition = TOMBOLA
7 Ken say, key policy expert needing lift (9)
Rev. eg(say) + del (key) + wonk (policy expert) = KNOWLEDGE
8 Hurled from seat of power reportedly (6)
Homonym of throne(seat) = THROWN
9 Soho stag meal it’s arranged for bloody boffins? (14)
(soho stag meal it)* = HAEMATOLOGISTS
15 Sailor marked by disgrace avoided port? (9)
ab(sailor) + stained(marked) = ABSTAINED
16 Solid achievements by people good at figures? (8)
Cryptic definition STATUARY
18 Gradient obtained from 150 dividing 19? (7)
I nine (19) aroun cl (150) = INCLINE
19 Wanted something done about Elton’s title? (7)
deed (something done) around sir(Elton’s) = DESIRED
20 See 25 Across
23 Perhaps Morricone at home stops one climbing (5)
Rev. one around in (at home) = ENNIO
Thanks, T and t!
GAP YEAR:
A minor omission in the blog. YEARn-long and YEAR-endlessly long.
STATUARY:
The clue seems to be about ‘statues’ in both cases- ‘solid achievements’ as well as ‘figures’.
However, whimsically, ‘STATuary’ could mean ‘statistics/figures’.
Thanks Tees and twencelas
In 7, the WONK is a ‘policy expert’, otherwise ‘policy’ has no function.
Thanks both have updated blog
As to T and t (Tees and tyne perhaps). Agree about Statuary could be really be a DD but the second D is whimsical
9d. Minor typo in answer. The bloody boffins are HAEMATOLOGISTS to match the anagram fodder. I made the same spelling error.
Generally enjoyed. Is it just us or is 25/20 unfairly obscure? I have a vague memory of a long ago film called Quiller but the actress is a never heard of. I’m sure someone will enlighten me though.
A splendid puzzle in pretty much every respect. Lots of creativity and some challenging devices yet all delivered fairly and accessibly. Ticks all over my page but, if picking favourites, I’d have to nominate POMPADOUR, LINEAGE, GONDOLIER, ENDOSCOPY, GAP YEAR, TOMBOLA, INCLINE and DESIRED.
Ericw @6: I have sympathy for any setter who finds themselves forced to insert a tricky word but there were alternative options for both SANTA and BERGER so I’m not sure why Tees chose to include her. If there is a hidden theme that requires her name, it’s passing me by. The Quiller Memorandum came out in 1966 when I was three so I have no memory of it and, yes, I’d call that really tough GK.
Thanks Tees and twencelas
Oops, SENTA. SANTA was the seemingly obvious alternative
Ericw @6. It depends on your age. Senta Berger was well known in the 60s to 90s, and was the lead female role in ‘The Quiller Memorandum’ film of 1966. but, as sadly happens to many actresses, film parts dried up when she reached 50. However, she has since continued to appear quite often on German/Austrian TV. Oh, and I enjoyed the puzzle, so thanks Tees and Twencelas.
LINEAGE had to be right but it took me ages to sort out the parsing – silly girl! Didn’t know the actress in 26/20 so that was one of my last entries requiring input from Mr G.
Top three here were FLABBERGASTED (lovely word), GONDOLIER & WILDLIFE.
Thanks to Tees and to Twencelas for the review.
Apart from 25/20 this all came together fairly well, although we couldn’t fully parse INCLINE. We eventually got 25/20 from crossing letters, but thought it a tad unfair referring back to a 1960s film – actually our first thought was to the 1970s TV series until none of the names fitted. (Incidentally, 25/20 is a homophone, not a homonym – the latter is a word with the same spelling as another but a different meaning and possibly different pronunciation.)
That niggle apart we enjoyed this, particularly the two long answers, NOCTAMBULATION and HAEMATOLOGISTS, as well as ENDOSCOPY.
Thanks, Tees and Twencelas.
Excellent crossword, I thought, and I had no problem with 25/20 – nho her, but the wordplay led inexorably to the answer.
Could someone please put me out of my misery and explain why ‘el’ in 2d is ‘lines up’. I got the solution and ‘gin’ for ‘drink’, but I can’t for the life of me parse ‘el’.
Thanks Tees and Twencelas.
Sourdough @ 12 ‘el’ is the name for the elevated railway in, I think, Chicago.
Ah, yes, of course. Thank you. Now you mention it I’ve seen it more than once before in crosswords, just couldn’t dredge it up. Now I can relax and stop thinking about it. Just hope I’ll remember it for next time.
Thanks to Tees for another great crossword
Thanks also to Twencelas for the blog
Thanks both. Went astray for a while having entered somnambulation instead of the previously unknown NOCTAMBULATION which fails a spell-check on my iPad. For me SANTA BERGER fails wholesale, factoring in its obscurity and that I don’t see ‘sent’ and ‘delivered’ as synonyms,nor regard a burger as a meat sandwich (it may be the meat in the sandwich)
Thanks Tees for another excellent crossword. My top choices were WEEKNIGHT, POMPADOUR, OHMS LAW, ENDOSCOPY, ABSTAINED, and INCLINE. I used a dictionary to work out TOMBOLA, a new word for me. I never heard of Quiller or SENTA BERGER but I thought the amusing wordplay made the solution fairly obvious after I had a few crossing letters. I had a few parsing gaps in LINEAGE and KNOWLEDGE so thanks twencelas for the blog.
TFO @16: The package was delivered to my house; the package was sent to my house. Close enough for crossword land in my opinion.
Thanks Twence and all for comments.
Guess I should hold my hand up regarding SENTA, but I was just rolling around laughng at my own joke (again) so it had to go in. First. It was not even an afterthought! And I have a thing about spy movies, such as The Quiller Memorandum, so I probably think SB is a lot better known than she actually is. Absolutely stunning looks though, cripes.
TS @ 18
I see where you’re coming from, but don’t entirely agree.
Items (for want of a better word) can be sent but get lost along the way, so they’ve been sent but not delivered. I speak from experience, in both directions!
Thanks, Tees & Twencelas. Great fun, as usual. NW corner proved very tricky for reasons I can’t fathom – although initially entering SOMNAMBULATION at 3 certainly didn’t help.
I loved the Senta Berger clue. Like Sourdough @12, I’m not familiar with the name but was able to work it out from the clue. And it got a chuckle from me when I did.