A puzzle from an infrequent setter for the Indy, which I enjoyed solving and blogging. Her (at least I think it’s her) previous offerings have included themes, but I couldn’t see one here.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Long Island seafront has iron fence for those who work there?
LIFEGUARDS
An insertion of FE and GUARDS in LI and S. The insertion indicator, rather unconvincingly, is ‘has’; and you need to do a lift and separate manoeuvre on ‘seafront’ to get the initial letter S. An extended definition.
6 Bird watching, foolishly ignoring wing
CHAT
([W]ATCH[ING])* with ‘foolishly’ as the anagrind. Chats are a group of birds, with many genera and species, and are usually ground-dwelling and insectivorous. For the obligatory Pierre bird link, I have chosen the stonechat. If you coloured it in a bit differently, you’d get a robin.
9 Recast arch-villainous dramatis personae
CHARACTERS
(RECAST ARCH)* with ‘villainous’ as the anagrind.
10 Angel will reportedly land surrounded by water
ISLE
Aural wordplay (‘reportedly’) for I’LL or ‘Angel will’. Angel is the setter, of course.
12 Following UN Article, rebel saw Assembly as impossible to argue against
UNANSWERABLE
A charade of UN, AN and (REBEL SAW)* with ‘assembly’ as the anagrind.
15 Basic building blocks found in Spain, Luxembourg and El Salvador, after all
ALLELES
A charade of ALL, E, L and ES. ALLELES are alternative versions of genes, the ‘building blocks’ of life: simply put, we inherit one from each parent.
16 Brownie unavailable, but required for this competition?
BAKE-OFF
A charade of BAKE (which is a type of brownie, I suppose) and OFF. The television competition is [THE GREAT BRITISH] BAKE OFF, unhyphenated. Another extended definition.
17 Confirm complete reprimand
TICK OFF
A dd.
19 Back flipper twirled cane
FINANCE
A charade of FIN and (CANE)* The anagrind is ‘twirled’.
20 Recklessly serve alcohol for one who’s just turned 18, perhaps
SCHOOL LEAVER
(SERVE ALCOHOL)* with ‘recklessly’ as the anagrind. Great surface and clue.
23 Make a big noise when closing poetry event
SLAM
Another dd. My Chambers has:
poetry slam (n) a competitive event at which poets take turns to perform their work and are judged on content and delivery
So now you know.
24 Trips, and skirt splits
MINIBREAKS
A charade of MINI and BREAKS.
25 Table divides kitchen section
DESK
Hidden in diviDES Kitchen.
26 Test fools men caught by virtuous woman
ASSESSMENT
A charade of ASSES and MEN inserted into ST. The insertion indicator is ‘caught by’.
Down
1 Chance of bravery when losing power
LUCK
[P]LUCK
2 Weary following delay
FLAG
A charade of F and LAG.
3 Loan oligarch settled with whisky, for example
GRAIN ALCOHOL
(LOAN OLIGARCH)* with ‘settled’ as the anagrind.
4 Pays attention when the evening news is shown on a handheld console
ATTENDS
A charade of AT TEN (which is certainly when the ITV news is shown in the programme of that name) and DS. The DS is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo. So now you know that as well.
5 Black Widow might make this a place for criminal activity?
DARK WEB
A cd cum dd.
7 Bungle joins Paddington’s family for a bit of breakfast
HASH BROWNS
A charade of HASH and BROWNS. The BROWNS are indeed Paddington Bear’s adoptive family, and Bungle is a ten-year-old, large, brown furry bear in the British children’s television series Rainbow. We are learning some stuff this morning (well, I am, at least).
8 Last bit of pine inserted into the joist later
THEREAFTER
An insertion of E for the final letter of ‘pine’ in THE RAFTER. The insertion indicator is ‘inserted into’.
11 Cryptic haters? Agony for lovers!
BROKEN HEARTS
A reverse anagram thingy, or rat. A cryptic clue for ‘haters’ could be BROKEN HEARTS, with broken as the anagrind.
13 Dreamed of cool siesta at sea on date
FANTASISED
A charade of FAN, (SIESTA)* and D. The anagrind is ‘at sea’.
14 Chalk-based treatment for skin complaint
BLACKHEADS
(CHALK BASED)* with ‘treatment’ as the anagrind.
18 Sondheim’s work in ruins?
FOLLIES
A dd. Another dip into my Chambers shows:
folly (n) a building constructed merely for ornamental purposes, such as a mock ruin
19 Flimsy paper kept in folder
FRAGILE
An insertion of RAG in FILE. The insertion indicator is ‘kept in’.
21 Call for quiet time
PAGE
A charade of P and AGE.
22 In sex, empty seduction does not exist
ISN’T
An insertion of SN for the outside letters of ‘seduction’ in IT.
Many thanks to Angel for the start to the Indy puzzling week.
Very enjoyable. Had precious few in on first read through but nearly the lot after the second, just shows the value of checkers….and tuning in to the setter’s wavelength.
ALLELES and one meaning of SLAM and FOLLIES were new to me and ST for virtuous “woman” is not something often seen but why not.
My favourite was the reverse anagram BROKEN HEARTS.
Many thanks to Angel and Pierre for an enjoyable puzzle and blog.
Our setter is, indeed, a her, Pierre. And a poet, to boot, which means she probably did not need to look up poetry slam as we did. A nice gentle start to the week with favourites including SCHOOL LEAVER, MINIBREAKS, HASH BROWNS, THEREAFTER and BROKEN HEARTS.
Thanks Angel and Pierre
I second all of your favourites Postmark; it was good to be reminded of Bungle and there were some super anagramsto boot.
18d was a write-in as there was a near identical clue elsewhere this past weekend. But I was caught out by the unknown FOLLIES.
Thanks Angel for a fun puzzle and Pierre for a very thorough blog.
At 23A the only options seemed to be ‘snap’ or ‘slam’, neither of which made any sense to me, so I left it blank and DNF. Otherwise great fun so thanks Angel and Pierre.
Pierre – 1a LIFEGUARDS “An insertion of FE and GUARDS in LI and S” – has one too many esses,
Diane@3 – “18d was a write-in … caught out by the unknown FOLLIES.”?
Frankie @5,
Didn’t want to be responsible for a spoiler!
Enjoyed this – BLACKHEADS and SCHOOL LEAVER were both marvellous spots.
Thanks Angel and Pierre.
Didn’t know the Sondheim musical or the synonym at 18d so a DNF for me. Guessed at SLAM as hadn’t heard of the poetry competition, and a nho for ALLELES (or at least not remembered), but both of these were obvious from defn. or word play.
The 2 anagrams mentioned by Ameoba above were splendid works and particular favourites.
Thanks to Angel and Pierre.
Thanks both. SCHOOL LEAVER stands out, partly from the perspective that nobody to my knowledge has used the appealing anagram fodder before. Anything classical or high-brow tends to perturb me, so FOLLIES was a guess, and CHARACTERS went in with only a little more confidence, as I prefer clues wholly in English. In GRAIN ALCOHOL ‘settled’ as the anagrind still tasks my Monday brain, where ‘unsettled’ would be more obvious but would fail the wordplay
Fun puzzle. HASH BROWNS made me laugh for the charming surface.
“Has” in the sense of “eats” works perfectly well as an insertion indicator for me.
Thanks, Angel and Pierre.
All good, altho had to wait for some crossers to fill in 1ac with confidence. Similar with 13dn as I was trying to concoct something from C for cool n the OF.. instead of FAN. Anagrams are so much easier when the word’s already in your head, which it wasn’t.
Enjoyed it…
Thanks Angel n Pierre
I found this such an enjoyable puzzle, loads of great clues and some that made me smile or laugh. Particularly 16, 5 and 7.
Thanks Angel and Pierre.
Took me a while to get started on this and I did find it a bit of a slog. However, I’m a great Sondheim fan and FOLLIES was my first one in. Saw the first London staging back in the eighties with an all-star cast.
How fond I’m of Sondheim. Here’s Liza with a Zee’s version of Losing My Mind(1989) from FOLLIES(1971).
Thanks A&P
Thanks for the post. <a href="https://www.destinationiran.com/fa/?????-????-????% I will definitely return. <a href="https://www.destinationiran.com/fa/?????-????-????%