I think I have come up with a plausible parsing for the solutions in this offering from Bradman, but as always, I look forward to the comments.
Thank you to PeterO for covering my assignment last week.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | PARROT-FASHION |
Awful rainproof hats — lacking originality, in a manner of speaking? (6-7)
|
| Anagram of (awful) RAINPROOF HATS | ||
| 9 | REDRESS |
Soldiers needing attire to be correct (7)
|
| RE (soldiers) + DRESS (attire) | ||
| 10 | AUGUSTA |
Imposing area in state capital (7)
|
| AUGUST (imposing) + A (area), i.e., of Maine | ||
| 11 | DRUID |
Doctor associated with university, I had become priest (5)
|
| DR (doctor) + U (university) + I’D (I had) | ||
| 12 | EXTENSIVE |
One very reduced that’s no longer uneasy about being huge (9)
|
| {EX (no longer) + TENSE (uneasy)} around (that’s . . . about) {I (one) + V (very, “reduced,” indicating an abbreviation)} | ||
| 13 | TALENTED |
Gifted Edward keeping a holy fast (8)
|
| TED (Edward) around (keeping) {A + LENT (holy fast)} | ||
| 15 | TREBLE |
Singer to quiver, maiden being put off (6)
|
| TRE[M]BLE (quiver minus (being put off) M [maiden]) | ||
| 18 | DOTAGE |
Senility could make date go wrong (6)
|
| Anagram of (could make . . . wrong) DATE GO | ||
| 19 | COLLIERS |
Miners with dogs, right for protection (8)
|
| R (right) inside (for protection) COLLIES (dogs) | ||
| 22 | SPECTATOR |
Component of a gate? (9)
|
| Cryptic definition, i.e., in the sense of the paying public in attendance at an event | ||
| 24 | MOTTO |
Saw wild area mostly keeping dry (5)
|
| MOO[R] (wild area “mostly”) around (keeping) TT (dry) | ||
| 25 | ICEBERG |
Lettuce that is frozen solid? (7)
|
| Cryptic/double definition | ||
| 26 | BASSIST |
Bishop gets to help musician (7)
|
| B (bishop) + ASSIST (help) | ||
| 27 | THREATENINGLY |
Ten try healing drunk displaying menacing manner (13)
|
| Anagram of (drunk) TEN TRY HEALING | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | PERIDOT |
Fairy with something tiny, a gem (7)
|
| PERI (fairy) + DOT (something tiny) | ||
| 2 | RED MULLET |
Swimmer with dyed hairstyle (3,6)
|
| Cryptic/double definition | ||
| 3 | OREAD |
Nymph that’s old to get stuck in a book? (5)
|
| O (old) + READ (get stuck in a book) | ||
| 4 | FASTENED |
Time of abstinence with need somehow to be secure? (8)
|
| FAST (time of abstinence) + anagram of (somehow) NEED | ||
| 5 | SHANTY |
Attempt to engage worker in song? (6)
|
| SHY (attempt) around (to engage) ANT (worker) | ||
| 6 | IN GENERAL |
Learning a bit of English — it’s tricky, usually (2,7)
|
| Anagram of (it’s tricky) {LEARNING + first letter of (a bit of) E[NGLISH]} | ||
| 7 | NISEI |
Child of immigrants that is evil in revolution (5)
|
| I.E. (that is) + SIN (evil) all inverted (in revolution) | ||
| 8 | RACEME |
Cluster in marathon? Yours truly is last (6)
|
| RACE (marathon) + ME (yours truly, i.e., Bradman, the setter) | ||
| 14 | NIGHTWEAR |
Possible laundry items near running water (9)
|
| NIGH (near) + anagram of (running) WATER | ||
| 16 | BREATHING |
Wild bear, not fat and grand, still alive (9)
|
| Anagram of (wild) BEAR + THIN (not fat) + G (grand) | ||
| 17 | HORRIBLE |
Nasty b-bit of skeleton found in pit (8)
|
| R-RIB (b-bit of skeleton) inside (found in) HOLE (pit) | ||
| 18 | DISTIL |
Refine little daughter, one up to now falling short (6)
|
| D (little [i.e., abbreviation of] daughter) + I (one) + STIL[L] (up to now “falling short”) | ||
| 20 | SHORTLY |
In a while dwarfish person will acquire length (7)
|
| SHORTY (dwarfish person) around (will acquire) L (length) | ||
| 21 | STIGMA |
New mag — it’s making a mark (6)
|
| Anagram of (new) MAG IT’S | ||
| 23 | EVENT |
Outcome of e.g. long jump (5)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 24 | MASAI |
African mum’s tiptop (5)
|
| MA’S (mum’s) + AI (tiptop, i.e., “A1”) |
There were two that I’d never heard of: OREAD & NISEI, both gettable from the wordplay. I was convinced for a while that 12a must be EXPENSIVE, with “pensive” being the “uneasy” in the clue, but i eventually twigged. Likewise I thought the attempt in 5d was probably the more common “try”. I still don’t like outcome/event, but I had this argument some time ago, and lost.
Nothing too controversial or too puzzling; an enjoyable diversion. Thanks Bradman & Cineraria.
Is there a music theme?
Some bands are seen. DRUID, TREBLE, ICEBERG, STIGMA, MULLET…
Some words like BASSIST, SHANTY…
Or a fashion theme? FASHION, DRESS, MULLET, NIGHTWEAR …
It could be something else as I generally get themes wrong!!!
Thanks, Bradman and Cineraria!
I am with GDU on OREAD and NISEI. I would add PERIDOT as a word unknown to me, indeed so was PERI . But all gettable.
Thank you Bradman and Cineraria.
Knew OREADs were nymphs, like naiads and dryads – but shouldn’t it be “get stuck into a book”?
NISEI is a Japanese word I’ve learnt from crosswords and seen nowhere else. Issei, nisei, sansei, & yonsei – 1st, 2nd, 3rd, & 4th generation immigrants.
[That makes me an issei, and my brother a nisei.]
Thanks B&C
And I am with SM on PERI, PERIDOT, & OREAD and add RACEME as an unknown word. NISEI I knew
I used the app, so I could not write down the parsings, but I think I had the same as you Cineraria. I wondered about “get stuck in a book” as well FrankieG@4 (Let’s see if someone asks about you and your brother, by the way).
Favourites were REDRESS and b-bit in HORRIBLE
Thanks Cineraria and Bradman
Thanks for the blog, good set of clues, I did not know NISEI but the wordplay was clear.
In an accelerator the outcome of a collision is called an EVENT, the LHC produces millions of events every second. Perhaps the most famous EVENT is the bubble chamber photograph showing the Omega particle.
Interestingly (?), in statistics an ‘event’ is a set of outcomes. That set could contain just one (or even none) outcome.
I spent more time than I should on 14d (NIGHTWEAR) thinking that ‘running water’ would be WEAR and not knowing therefore where the ‘t’ came from. Only when I decided to bung it in anyway and wrote it in did I twig.
Thanks B and C.
Nice puzzle.
To expand GDU’s last sentence, nothing too controversial, too puzzling or that we didn’t know (although we only knew NISEI from crosswords); an enjoyable diversion.
We liked PARROT-FASHION, SPECTATOR and RED MULLET.
Thanks, Bradman & Cineraria.
Thanks Bradman for a solid crossword woth DOTAGE, COLLIERS, IN GENERAL (nice surface), and BREATHING being favourites. I didn’t correctly parse NIGHTWEAR, thinking “TWEAR” might be a river somewhere in Britain. Thanks Cineraria for the blog.
T’Wear is how a Yorkshireperson describes the main river in Sunderland.
Super puzzle, I thought. Like FrankieG, NISEI is a word I’ve encountered often in crosswords. Likewise PERIDOT and RACEME. I’ve probably encountered OREAD before too but have forgotten it. Everything was eminently gettable from the wordplay though.
Thanks, Bradman and Cineraria.