With spring almost on the horizon a puzzle from Knut to while away the last days of winter.
A pleasant solve it proved to be – not too hard – just right for my mood anyway.
Favourite clue was 20ac, oddest one was probably 9ac and neatest one probably 7dn. But plenty others to enjoy with lovely surfaces and complex derivations. Nothing hidden as far as I could see anyway.
Oh and 23ac was a little risque
Thanks Knut
Key: * anagram; Rev, reversed; underline definition
ACROSS
1 Party united? Nonsense – riven by tense insecurities! (6)
Do (party) + u (united) + BS (nonsense – think about it) around t (tense) = DOUBTS
5 Worthless Russian fighter turned to hard drug (8)
Rev, Mig (Russian fighter) + crack (hard drug) = GIMCRACK
9 Queen might have to cough up for this unfurnished vestibule, according to Spooner (8)
Homonym of Bare hall (unfurnished vestibule) indicated by according to as a Spoonerism i.e hare ball = HAIR BALL
10 Least demanding exam spanning the morning (6)
test (exam) around am (morning) = TAMEST
11 £51 retired authentic Hindu put through a blender (10)
Li (51) + quid + Rev. Desi (Hindu?) = LIQUIDISED
12 Oath once occasionally seen in England? (4)
EnGlAnD = EGAD
13 Beginning to frame a kerb crawling toff out of time (5-3)
(a kerb)* + toff – t(time) = BREAK OFF
15 Make one’s home chair less soft (6)
preside (chair) = p (soft) = RESIDE
16 Small vehicle by Autobahn, a Beetle (6)
s (small) + car(vehicle) + Ab(autobahn) = SCARAB
18 A Christian American lancing boils (8)
(a) + (lancing)* = ANGLICAN
20 Ursa Minor last seen in Banana Republic (4)
Cub (Ursa minor as in bear) + a (last seen in banana) = CUBA
21 Great cup tie broadcast run in wide vision mode? (3,7)
big (great) + (cup tie)* around r (run) = BIG PICTURE
23 After cycling, Ravi necks a good stiffener (6)
Cycle Ravi around a + g(good) = VIAGRA
24 Capital facial hair, Clark! (8)
tash (facial hair) + Kent (Clark!) = TASHKENT
25 Wake-up call dislodging one initially reluctant partygoer (8)
reveille (wake up call) – i (one) + r (initially reluctant) = REVELLER
26 That “one year wonder” failed at the outset (6)
y(year) + wonder – w (failed at the outset) = YONDER
DOWN
2 Arab shortly heading north (5)
Rev. In a mo (shortly) = OMANI
3 British admiral “Urgent – drifting English ships lost here” (7,8)
B+ (admiral + urgent)* + e(english) = BERMUDA TRIANGLE
4 Bastard offspring stealing a gallantry medal (2-3-2)
son (offspring) around a + DSO (gallantry medal) = SO AND SO
5 Thoreau’s gag! Fell about in fits of giggles! (5,2,8)
(Thoreau’s gag fell)* = GALES OF LAUGHTER
6 Spanish trained killer boring, humdrum, a tad ordinary (7)
Hidden humdruM A TAD ORdinary = MATADOR
7 Dwarf throwing? It’ll impress Knut! (15)
(itll impress knut)* = RUMPELSTILTSKIN
8 A pair of Charlies together with Romeo start to annoy doommonger (9)
C(Charlie) + ass (Charlie) + and (together with) + R(Romeo) + a (start to annoy) CASSANDRA
14 Eremitic Levi’s ulcers discovered when standing up (9)
Rev. hidden lEVIS ULCERs = RECLUSIVE
17 What might follow rag-tag old baronet detained by security? (7)
bail (security) around o(old) + bt (baronet) = BOBTAIL
19 Contradict article in spirit, perhaps (7)
a (article) in gin (spirit) + say (perhaps) = GAINSAY
22 Odd way to leave mountains (5)
strange(odd) – st (way) = RANGE
Fun solve. Needed the blog’s help with BOBTAIL and was stumped by CUBA which is very droll, now. Is Queen in the spooner a cat? Thanks twencelas and Knut.
I seem to have been, like our blogger, on the right wavelength today and this was a pleasant stroll as a result. Plenty of Knut’s trademark anagrams, especially for the three long ‘uns – and especially, especially for the sublime RUMPELSTILTSKIN. What a find. At the other end of the spectrum, I also like the &littish EGAD.
Sofamore @1: yes, I took Queen to signify CAT
Thanks Knut and Quirister
Thanks Knut and twencelas!
My faves today: HAIRBALL (all-round beauty), BREAK-OFF (the def), LIQUIDISED (Desi: I think the setter meant ‘authentic Indian’–Hindu and Indian are not the same), CUBA (the minor Ursa/bear), VIAGRA (the surface), BOBTAIL (the def) and GAINSAY (the surface as well as the wordplay).
HAIRBALL
Should the def not include the ‘for this’?
I assume ‘queen = cat’ in 9A refers to theatrical effeminacy? Thanks Knut and Twencelas.
Just a few quick comment on the blog parsings.
In 18a, I don’t think A is part of the anagrist.
In 21a, great = big, and R = ‘run’ is inserted into (cup tie)*.
In 3d, I don’t think B is part of the anagrist.
Thanks Knut and Quirister
Tatrasman @ 4: No, ‘Queen’ is a standard term for an adult female cat.
Such a good puzzle! RUMPELSTILTSKIN, GAINSAY, BOBTAIL, CUBA were all fine clues. Thanks, both.
Thanks Hovis – have amended accordingly
Another fine crossword from one of my favourite setters – albeit with yet another appearance of Crossword Setters’ Archaic Mild Expletive of the Month
Thanks very much to Knut and twencelas
Exactly what Postmark said (except it’s not Quirister today. 😉 )
Plus I particularly liked HAIR BALL – Knut is one of the few setters who can be relied upon to produce a Spoonerism that makes sense.
Especially liked 20a CUBA – a ‘lift and separate’ of a constellation to get a (female) animal …
… and its (her) comparative smallness — And all done in Latin.
Thanks K&T
Tatrasman @4 specifically queen is the female equivalent of a tom (cat)
Thanks for the blog, dear twencelas, and thanks to those who have left a comment.
This is my 100th puzzle for The Indy, so a big thank you to Eimi for persevering. My debut puzzle was themed around the retirement of Gordon Brown as a Member of Parliament – my, how times have changed…
Best wishes to all, Rob/Knut
Thanks both. I do try to remember capital cities so the clue for TASHKENT should be a useful aid. I wasn’t sure about the definition for BIG PICTURE i.e. is there such mode? The start of a frame of snooker or pool has always just been the break for me, but I guess it’s defined correctly somewhere as BREAK OFF?
Another tough Knut to crack. Congrats on the puzzle century! Thanks for the headaches and groans, often in equal measure.
Congratulations on your century, Knut – well batted! I thought the long entries were all top notch. Thx to you and twencelas.
Thanks Knut and congratulations on your achievement. I found this a very pleasant solve with my top picks being GIMCRACK, CUBA, VIAGRA, SO-AND-SO, RUMPLESTILTSKIN, and GAINSAY. I failed with ANGLICAN. Thanks twencelas for the blog.
Congratulations Knut. 100 not out and finding room for a wonderful word. GIMCRACK!
Very enjoyable puzzle.
Thanks to setter and blogger
Apologies to twencelas for the mistake. Just spotted on checking in here after watching the fine Italian victory in the rugby. Congrats to Knut on the century.
Congratulations Knut. I hope 8d doesn’t earn you a stay in the Tower of London.
Thanks Knut and Twencelas.
Thanks Knut for the first Indy puzzle I’ve solve entirely for a long time – admittedly I did guess some of the answers rather than completely parse them. So thanks Twenceslas for the clarifications.
Congratulations to Knut for reaching the century. Every one a winner.
We thought we would need the blog tonight. We filled most of the grid quickly but stalled on GAINSAY and YONDER. Simple really when we realised what was going on.
Thanks Twencelas.
Thank you Knut for a great fun puzzle. Wit galore and great surfaces along with some stonking constructions. 23a was a giggle, loved how LIQUIDISED was done, and the three long ones were awesome. Had to come here to see how BREAK OFF worked, though – I totally missed the snooker connection. Thanks twenceslas for the blog too.
I really enjoyed this and the anagram for RUMPELSTILTSKIN was utterly astonishing. Bravo, Knut.
BOBTAIL is a reference to a British children’s television show from the 1950s… so obscure that a reveal is not a cheat