Bluth has provided us with a real cruciverbal treat this Thursday.
This was an unusual grid that accommodated a large number of clues with a wide variety of word lengths and as many as six 3-letter words.
I had to plug away at this crossword clue by clue, with no single solution generating a flurry of others. I think that I got there in the end with the exception of 19, which surely has to be the solution that I have given, but I just cannot tease out the connection with 2D. I look forward to hearing what I missed – thanks for the enlightenment, blog now amended 🙂
There was a lot to enjoy in this puzzle, but my absolute favourite clues today were 4, for including so much US-related content; 5, for the misdirection around “bent”; 16, for making me smirk; and 21, for managing to combine Arnie and California in the wordplay of the clue!
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | Â | |
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| 02 | WELL-APPOINTED | Repositioning downpipe a little – wanting it to be impressively kitted out
*(DOWNPIPE A L<it>TLE; “wanting it” means letters “it” are dropped from anagram, indicated by “repositioning” |
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| 09 | SEA | Main witness by the sound of it
Homophone (“by the sound of it”) of “see (=(to) witness)” |
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| 10 | TESTATE | Took exam earlier having made plans to pass
TEST (=exam) + ATE (=took, i.e. consumed); the “pass” of the definition refers to passing away, dying, i.e. in possession of a will |
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| 11 | CYNIC | One who scoffs as fashionable fancy man finally takes husand’s place
CHIC (=fashionable); “fancy man ultimately (=last letters) takes husband (=h)’s place” means letters “yn” replace “h” |
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| 12 | DUE | Expected refund occasionally in recession
<r>E<f>U<n>D; “occasionally” means alternate letters only are used; “in recession” indicates reversal |
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| 13 | RIOJA | Vessel docked next to port delivers wine
RIO (=port, i.e. in Brazil) + JA<r> (=(storage) vessel; ”docked” means last letter is dropped) |
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| 14 | INEXACT | Erroneous fines discovered by a court
<f>INE<s> (“dis-cover-ed” means first and last letters are dropped) + X (=by, as in 6ft by 4ft) + A + CT (=court, in addresses) |
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| 15 | MOO | In just seconds, American politician’s polling is low
<a>M<erican> <p>O<litician> <p>O<lling>; “just seconds” means second letters only are used; cf. the cattle are lowing, mooing |
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| 16 | STOP SIGNAL | Red light district’s close – a snog with lips can be arranged
*(<district>T (“close” means last letter only) + A SNOG + LIPS); “can be arranged” is anagram indicator |
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| 19 | SPOONERISM | What 2 down is to provide settlement in other words
“2 down” is a Spoonerism of “do (=provide, e.g. food) + town (=settlement)”! |
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| 20 | URN | Navy uniform initially remains here?
U (=uniform, in radio telecommunications) + RN (=navy, i.e. Royal Navy); cremated remains are often stored in an urn |
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| 22 | NOT HALF | Very much hate felon working without any electronics
*(HAT<e> F<e>LON); “without any electronics (E)” means both “e” s dropped from anagram, indicated by “working” |
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| 24 | TARSI | Recalled first regiment breaking bones
RA (=regiment, i.e. Royal Artilley) in 1ST (=first); “recalled” indicates reversal |
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| 26 | SIX | Number nine’s on son
S (=son) + IX (=nine, in Roman numerals) |
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| 27 | OARED | Rowed as terms from opera singer enter dictionary
<oper>A <singe>R (“terms from” means last letters only) in OED (=dictionary, i.e. Oxford English Dictionary) |
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| 28 | ABOLISH | Put an end to a book and finish page off
A + B (=book) + <p>OLISH (=finish, on furniture; “page (=P) off” means letter “p” is dropped) |
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| 29 | EGO | Self-confidence therefore runs out
E<r>GO (=therefore); “runs (=R, in cricket) out” means letter “r” is dropped |
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| 30 | MADAME TUSSAUD | Model adds to a museum – making over area for one’s founder?
(ADDS T<A (for O)> MUSEUM); “making over (=O, in cricket) area (=A)” means letter “o” is replaced by “o” in anagram, indicated by “model”; semi- & lit. |
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| Down | Â | |
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| 01 | A-SIDE | Main track in thoughts when cycling
IDEAS (=thoughts); “cycling” means that the first letters moves to the end, then the second, etc |
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| 02 | WATER POLO | At least 14 people swim in this sea with biosolids left inside
WATER (=sea) + [L (=left) in POO (=biosolids)]; there are two teams of 7 in a water polo match |
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| 03 | LESION | Student having talk about injury
L (=student, i.e. learner) + ESOIN (NOISE=frequent or public talk; “about” indicates reversal) |
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| 04 | AS A MATTER OF FACT | Actually, ignoring Trump, perhaps statecraft of America is struggling
*(STATECRAFT OF AM<eric>A); “ignoring Trump, perhaps (=Eric, businessman son of Donald)” means letters “eric” are dropped from anagram, indicated by “is struggling” |
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| 05 | PREDISPOSITIONS | More than one bent police officer put under pressure regarding second jobs
P (=pressure, in physics) + RE- (=regarding) + DI (=police officer, i.e. Detective Inspector) + S (=second) + POSITIONS (=jobs, posts) |
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| 06 | IN CREDIT | Overdrawn clubs must replace the computers etc to get out of debt
IN C for <the> RED (=overdrawn; “clubs (=C, in cards) must replace the) + IT (=computers etc) means letter “c” replaces “the” |
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| 07 | TINEA | Ace point to start complaint
TINE (=point, prong) + A; tinea is the scientific name for ringworm |
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| 08 | DECATHLON | Head of Dorchester hotel can supply various events
*(D<orchester> (“head of” means first letter only) + HOTEL CAN); “supply”, i.e. flexibly, is anagram indicator |
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| 15 | MISINFORM | Badly steer most of spray over grass
MIS<t> (=spray; “most of” means last letter is dropped) + INFORM (=grass (on), report) |
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| 17 | NOURISHED | Press covering university uprising quiet journalist supported
[U (=university) in NORI ((to) IRON=(to)press; “uprising” indicates vertical reversal)] + SH (=quiet, as exclamation) + ED. (=journalist, i.e. editor) |
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| 18 | IN TANDEM | Together throughout time and space
IN (=throughout) + T (=time) + AND + EM (=space, in printing) |
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| 21 | ARNICA | California supports Schwarzenegger rejecting drug for herbal remedy?
ARNI<e> (=Schwarzenegger; “rejecting drug (=E, for Ecstasy) means letter “e“ is dropped) + CA (=California |
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| 23 | TIRED | Bound over river- it’s drained
R (=river) in TIED (=bound, with e.g. rope) |
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| 25 | AXIOM | Principle of 1 with old money at the start
A + XI (=side, i.e. eleven players; A-SIDE is the entry at 1) + O<ld> M<oney> (“at the start” means first letters only) |
| Â | Â |
2 down spooner=DO TOWN (provide settlement)
Unusually for a Bluth, 9 found this the easiest of today’s GiFT crosswords. More a comment on the difficulty of the other two really. Very much enjoyed this. Had to check TINEA (think I’ve seen it before) and I have to admit I didn’t know who Eric Trump was but didn’t need to in order to solve. Parsed 19a as KVa (no surprises there).
Whoops! 9 should be I.
14A need by = “X” for full parsing. INE + X + A + CT
This was certainly a challenge and mostly enjoyable with a lot of very clever clueing although I felt that 4d was a bit OTT with its reference to Eric Trump.
It’s certainly OK for a setter to include as it appears in all main dictionaries but using oar as a verb puts my teeth on edge.
MOO gets my vote as favourite – brilliant, and I admired SPOONERISM but I can’t quite decide whether or not I like it. Pushing the boundaries!
Many thanks to Bluth and to RR.
Tricky but very enjoyable
Thanks to Bluth and RR
Took ages to see the DO TOWN trick. I like it.
For AS A MATTER OF FACT – I thought we might be losing Trump = fart from the anagram fodder. Disappointed to find it was just Eric.
Also disappointed not to find a Doctor Who theme somewhere in the GiFTs today. The clue for 18d came close.
IN TANDEM, the Doctor and his Tardis. “Together throughout time and space”
Thanks B&RR
Spent ages trying to make sense of Porter Rolo and Madame Tussaud came to mind because of a clue elsewhere. TESTATE was, for me, the pick of a very fine bunch. Thanks, both.
Thanks to KVa at 1 for explaining the spoonerism at 19 and to GrahamS at 4 for spotting the omission at 14.
I found this hard going – much harder & not nearly as much fun as his DT Toughie. Maybe just sour grapes because of the number left unparsed & a letter reveal to complete. Still lots to enjoy of course. Thanks all
Thanks RatkojaRiku and thanks all!