Many apologies for the lateness. I was due to post this last Tuesday but the crossword gods saw things a little differently.
The blog appears below and the puzzle can be found here: 2306 Nottingham S&B 23
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| Acroos | ||
| Clue | Entry | Wordplay |
| 7 Olympic Champions once surprisingly lived at Arnold before heading to Nottingham (7,3,4) | TORVILL AND DEAN | LIVED AT ARNOLD (anag: surprisingly)+N[ottingham] (heading to) |
| 9 Ancient letter-writer, secretary and university lecturer (4) | PAUL | PA (secretary)+University+Lecturer |
| 10 Forging is my thing (9) | SMITHYING | IS MY THING (anag: forging) Very clever &lit. |
| 11 Left goes wild about outset of obviously hopeless case for Trump (4,5) | GONE GOOSE | GONE (left)+GOES (anag: wild) around O[bviously] (outset) |
| 13 Just about average (4) | FAIR | (double def) |
| 15 Old explorer heard in conference (7) | RALEIGH | Sounds like RALLY (conference) |
| 17 Amateur in theatre company making comeback to lead in star cast (7) | PLAYERS | REP (theatre company)+S[tar] (leader) around LAY (amateur) |
| 20 On paper this Nottingham band may appear in marketplaces and some Boots (4) | LACE | Ref; Paper Lace (Nottingham band) Also hidden in marketpLACEs And laces are often found in footwear |
| 21 When stalls are set up, weekend trade may suffer (6-3) | MARKET DAY | [wee]K (end)+TRADE MAY (anag: suffer) |
| 24 Dancing class to be held in Cornish fishing port (9) | BOSCASTLE | CLASS TO BE (anag: dancing) |
| 26 Surprise take-over by designer label (4) | ROCK | R (take)+Over+CK (Calvin Klein) |
| 27 Local area demonstrates how different and unusual sorts of deer mix together (8,6) | SHERWOOD FOREST | HOW+SORTS OF DEER (anag: different & mix together) |
| Down | ||
| 1 Multinational company’s about to abandon coal (4- 4) | COCA-COLA | COmpany+CA (about)+COAL (anag: to abandon) (company arguably doing double-duty) |
| 2 To develop gradually, phone company’s to incorporate 80% of foreign car company (6) | EVOLVE | EE (phone company) around VOLV[o] (Swedish car company; 80%) |
| 3 Local establishment supplies these for ‘The Embankment’ (4) | ALES | locAL EStablishment (hidden: supplies) The Embankment being the venue for S&B do) |
| 4 Least demanding interpretation of ‘East is East’ (7) | EASIEST | EAST IS East (anag: interpretation of) |
| 5 State‘s international lawyer takes on Braverman’s department (5) | IDAHO | International+DA (lawyer)+HO (Home Office: department of some female politician) |
| 6 Theological college‘s 25th discussion group? (8) | SEMINARY | Y is 25th letter – so SEMINAR Y (possibly) |
| 8 Revolutionary reign in African state (5) | NIGER | REIGN (anag: revolutionary) |
| 12 Rave review of City Ground enclosure (4) | ORGY | citY GROund (hidden: enclosure; rev: review) |
| 14 Adverse criticism when Columbo actor has a change of heart (4) | FLAK | The late, great, Peter FALK with A & L swapped around |
| 16 Formers taxes produce surpluses (8) | EXCESSES | EX (former)+CESSES (taxes) |
| 18 Race madly about, then take drugs to recharge (2-6) | REACCUSE | RACE (anag: madly)+C (about)+USE (take drugs) |
| 19 Skipper’s one going for title (7) | CAPTION | CAPT[ain] (skipper)+I (one)+ON (going) |
| 20 Layabout cycles round Spain to find attachments to hearing aids (5) | LOBES | SLOB (layabout; anag: cycles) around E (Spain) |
| 22 Bullfighter ripped bits of bolero at the back (6) | TORERO | TORE (ripped)+[bole]+RO |
| 23 Potential death threat leads to fanatic Afghan Taliban warlord’s assassination (5) | FATWA | Fanatic Afghan Taliban Warlord Assassination (leads to) |
| 25 Swears aloud – very loud! (4) | EFFS | (double cryptic definition) |
I attempted this three days ago but was waiting for others to comment first so that my contribution might be less noticeable.
The truth is, I failed to get GONE GOOSE, LACE, LOBES, BOSCASTLE, ROCK and EFFS. I had no references around me (which is my normal mode of working on weekday newspaper puzzles), but I really should have got BOSCASTLE, which would have made LOBES, LACE and EFFS ripe for picking, leaving only GONE GOOSE (which I didn’t know) and ROCK.
Thanks to Egbert for the entertaining puzzle, and to kenmac for the blog and for making this site work again.
For those who know Nottingham, the themed entries will have helped in the solve:
TORVILL AND DEAN are from Nottingham (Arnold – in the clue- is a Nottingham suburb)
PAUL SMITH(ying), the fashion designer, is also Nottingham lad.
(gone) GOOSE FAIR is a long-held annual event in Nottingham.
RALEIGH cycles are based in Nottingham, although now manufactured in the far east.
PLAYERS cigarettes were also made in Nottingham until the 90s.
The LACE MARKET(-day) is an area in central Nottingham where lace was originally manufactured- now a Conservation Area with lace factories converted to office or residential use.
(Bos)CASTLE ROCK is the local real ale brewery in Nottingham (supplying ‘The Embankment’ and many other local pubs), and named after the outcrop on which what’s left of Nottingham Castle stands.
SHERWOOD FOREST will forever be associated with Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham.
The City Ground, referred to in the clue for 12d is Nottingham Forest’s home ground.
Boots (mentioned in the clue for 20ac), the chemists, was founded in Nottingham by Jessie Boot.
Thanks to all who tackled the puzzle and to Ken for the blog (when he has more pressing demands on his time).
Thanks for republishing the grid, kenmac. It seems a long time ago I solved this one – though I was beaten by the nho GONE GOOSE and, as a result, did not have the vital opening letter to help me spot the cunningly hidden ORGY. I did think I was missing some local knowledge about Nottingham’s football ground. Thanks also for pointing out the various local connections: I was aware of RALEIGH (misspelled in the grid above) and guessed at CASTLE ROCK being a local brew. And SHERWOOD FOREST I did know! But the others passed me by. I thought the double indication of LACE was quite unusual and loved the &lit SMITHYING.
Thanks Egbert & kenmac