The puzzle is available here.
Hello everyone. Bluth takes us on a cycling tour today, and what great scenery! I liked the novelty of the double cycle in 10a, and also enjoyed 7d’s buffet menu and the &lit anagram in 8d. Not to mention the topicality of the 23d FARCE. Thanks Bluth!
Definitions are underlined in the clues below. In the explanations, quoted indicators are in italics, specified [deletions] are in square brackets, and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER. For clarity, I omit most link words and some juxtaposition indicators.
Across
1a Hard part about shrink reforming member of sect (4,7)
HARE KRISHNA
H (hard) + AREA (part) around (about) an anagram of (… reforming) SHRINK
7a Who bought nurses rings? (3)
HOB
wHO Bought holds (nurses) the answer. Gas rings
9a Bell’s found here sometimes work with jerk (5)
OPTIC
OP (work) + TIC (jerk)
10a Earmarked pub and time to meet after both cycling different amounts (9)
ALLOCATED
LOCAL (pub) and DATE (time to meet), after each part has “cycled” round by a different number of letters (both cycling different amounts)
11a Disperse a looser spray (7)
AEROSOL
Make an anagram of (disperse) A LOOSER
12a Statistical oddity revealed by storyteller on the radio (7)
OUTLIER
OUT (revealed) + LIER, which here sounds like (… on the radio) LIAR (storyteller)
13a Home help returning to country (5)
INDIA
IN (home) + AID (help) going back (returning)
14a Angry tirade assuming machinery gets wet (9)
IRRIGATED
An anagram of (angry) TIRADE taking in (assuming) RIG (machinery)
16a Levity without admitting blasted thing (9)
LIGHTNESS
LESS (without) admitting an anagram of (blasted) THING
18a I perform in theatre bar (5)
INGOT
I + GO (perform) in NT (theatre – National Theatre)
20a Saw me leaving with trendy cycling food (7)
GNOCCHI
GNO[me] (saw) with ME leaving + CHIC (trendy) with the last letter cycling round to the front
22a Abruptly leave a pipe down inside shed (4,3)
DASH OFF
A and SH (pipe down) inside DOFF (shed)
24a Sign top hat’s timeless (9)
CAPRICORN
CAP (top) + [t]RICORN (hat) which is lacking T (timeless)
25a Dye’s covering my furnishings etc (5)
DECOR
DyE’s outer letters (covering) + COR (my)
26a In Cannes the director’s debut was winning (3)
LED
LE (In Cannes, the) + Director’s first letter (debut)
27a Perhaps organ stopper‘s occasionally hidden within foundation? (6,5)
KIDNEY STONE
Regular letters of (occasionally) hIdDeN within KEYSTONE (foundation)
Down
1d Commotion in photo shoot as only prime locations are needed (3-2)
HOO-HA
Only prime locations are needed – i.e. letters at prime-numbered positions – in pHOtO sHoot As
2d Wine drinking ceremony about to be withdrawn (7)
RETIRED
RED (wine) taking in (drinking) the reversal of (… about) RITE (ceremony)
3d Secure vehicle for Spooner’s trip? (4,5)
KICK START
A Spoonerism of STICK (secure) with CART (vehicle)
4d Probably hash I inhaled – I’ll look (2,3,10)
IN ALL LIKELIHOOD
Make an anagram of (hash) I INHALED – I‘LL LOOK
5d Dodgy leaseholder fine making European college students live here (4,2,9)
HALL OF RESIDENCE
An anagram of (dodgy) LEAS[e]HOLDER FINE making E (European) C (college)
6d Talisman not starting tie? (5)
ASCOT
mASCOT (talisman) without the first letter (not starting)
7d Quarry ordered buffet menu for example (3,4)
HIT LIST
HIT (buffet) + LIST (menu for example)
8d Possible outcome of abusing debit card? (3,6)
BAD CREDIT
An anagram of (possible outcome of abusing) DEBIT CARD
13d Sinister old soldier clubs gangster senseless (9)
ILLOGICAL
A charade of ILL (sinister), O (old), GI (soldier), C (clubs) and AL (gangster)
15d Smooth steps as Dell Technologies finally acquires satellite (9)
GLISSADES
GLADE (dell) and the last letter of (… finally) technologieS has inserted (acquires) ISS (satellite)
17d Gathered Greek leader’s opposite number is touring university (7)
GROUPED
GR (Greek) + OP ED (leader’s opposite number) is going around (touring) U (university)
19d Get one from A Night at the Opera – or cough up (7)
GROUCHO
We get the answer from an anagram of (… up) OR COUGH
21d To begin with, cook sausage and porridge (5)
CLINK
The first letter of (to begin with) Cook + LINK (sausage)
23d Absurdity of Farage making case for axing head of Coutts (5)
FARCE
FAR[ag]E making the outer letters of (case for) AxinG the first letter (head) of Coutts
Think 23d needs a bit more explanation. Making AxinG (case for ‘axing’, AG) the first letter (head) of Coutts.
Loved the picture for ‘senseless’ once I spotted what was in the background. Lol.
Thanks Hovis – 23d explanation now expanded.
There are a lot of choice examples of cat logic on the internet – it was hard to choose one.
(Of course it’s perfectly logical – the stepladder is higher! And sturdier.)
Great fun and a good cranial work out as usual with this setter.
My repetition radar bleeped with the double mention of cycling.
It is insignificant. but both Chambers and Collins enumerate 3d as (4-5).
I couldn’t parse GLISSADES, so thanks to Kitty for her review and particularly for the explanation of this one.
FARCE was my favourite for lots of reasons.
Many thanks to Bluth for the entertainment.
Where is everyone today? My favourites were: IN ALL LIKELIHOOD & FARCE. I do like the ‘Debit Card’/‘Bad Credit’ anagram but have seen it before.
“Where is everyone today?” – well, we’re here but it was a bit of a busy morning. Anyhow, we managed to fit in a couple of sessions at this and did eventually finish. We couldn’t parse FARCE but nevertheless loved its topicality.
Thanks, Bluth and Kitty.
I, too, thought FARCE was brilliant, and the whole puzzle very entertaining, as was the blog. Thanks, both.
Great puzzle and blog – thanks both! Had to laugh at the picture for ILLOGICAL. We have perfectly good scratching pads dotted around the house, but nothing but the best armchair will do for our cat.
Excellent puzzle and blog thanks both
Thanks Kitty and thanks all.
Rabbit Dave @4 you’re right about the repetition of cycling. I was asked to change the clue for GNOCCHI and came up with that without realising that I’d used the device elsewhere. I think that, as ‘cycling’ is one of those less frequently seen devices I didn’t think to check – but should have done and would have swapped one or the other out if I had done.
Thanks Bluth for a satisfying crossword. I missed HOB and HIT LIST, not knowing the latter as “quarry ordered”. My top picks were LIGHTNESS, GNOCCHI, LED, KIDNER STONE, and BAD CREDIT, the latter for its surface. If cycling is used twice in a crossword wouldn’t that be bicycling? Thanks Kitty for the blog and filling in several parsing gaps I had. I liked the cats on the ladder — OMG! Confused cat (3)
Bluth @10. I took that repetition to be what Kitty meant in her ‘cycling tour’. Didn’t object to it myself but can see why setters prefer to avoid such repetitions.
Hovis @12 yes, I’m sure that is what Kitty was referring to. I was agreeing with Rabbit Dave’s observation, not that it existed, but that it’s less than ideal. Not a big issue by any means.
If I’d written the clue for GNOCCHI on my first pass I’d have spotted it, filed one of the ‘cycling’ clues away for future use and come up with a replacement. It’s only because GNOCCHI was written some time after the rest that it slipped through. I certainly won’t lose sleep over it and I don’t think it’s spoiled anyone’s fun too much!
Thanks all for comments. Indy puzzles may not get dozens, but the quality is high.
Tony Santucci @ 11 – Nice! I might use “OMG! Confused Kitty (3)” in a blog sometime. With attribution of course. 🙂
Bluth @13 – indeed, no fun spoiled here.
I like variety in a puzzle, but I also like variety across puzzles.
[Repetition radar bleep at “variety”!]
Of course setters want to keep an eye on clue types, but repetition for me is only an issue if it feels repetitive and samey. The “ooh, two cycling clues, and one a tandem!” moment here was simply a notable feature. (This time. My antenna for cycling in future Bluth/Fed/Django puzzles has now been attuned!)
On average I’d want no more than one cycling clue per puzzle (indeed, rather less than one) but I would actually prefer things not to be so tightly controlled that if you have encountered one of certain rarer clue types in a puzzle you can be 100% sure there won’t be another.
Randomness is lumpy (as editors will know from trying to avoid repeated answers across puzzles in a series), and I’d be happy to live with that rather than trying too hard to fight it.
Bluth@10&13 – leaves me wondering what the previous clue for G?O?C?I was, and why you would have been asked to change it.
Completely agree with everything Kitty says @14. Fine puzzle. Thanks, Bluth and Kitty.
Finally finished it this evening. Well, except I had Dash Out, not Off, which meant I also got Farce wrong. As there were a handful I couldn’t parse (but was semi-sure I had right) I just assumed this was another I couldn’t.
Am very pleased I got only those wrong as this was *way* being my ability of six months ago.
Thank goodness for 15^2 and the blogs to help us improve.
Indeed thanks to Bluth and Kitty, you clever people!