Happy Easter, Shabbo returns for the Sunday run out.
Quite frankly I found this extraordinarily easy with many, many old chestnuts or trivial constructs. perhaps it was just me. Thanks Shabbo
ACROSS
1. Time to review recent pensions (6,8)
PRISON SENTENCE
Very nice one. A reviewed [RECENT PENSIONS]*
10. Car gets temperature check (5)
AUDIT
Bit of an old chestnut this. AUDI – car maker & T(emperature)
11. Strongest eight lost in fog (9)
MIGHTIEST
EIGHT* lost in MIST – fog
12. Give up wearing a ring? (7)
ABANDON
A BAND ON, wearing a ring/band
13. Delaware taking part in school exchange (5-2)
TRADE-IN
DE code for Delaware in TRAIN for school
14. Secures band’s records (5)
TAPES
16. Moderate hated being exposed as abstemious (9)
TEMPERATE
TEMPER – moderate & an exposed – without its outer sides (h)ATE(d)
19. Takes off bloomers, having posed at the outset (9)
SATIRISES
SAT – posed & IRISES – flowers, bloomers
20. Discharge pollution initially in river and lake (5)
EXPEL
P(ollution) in the river EXE & L(ake)
22. Deep sea carbon in a green revolution (7)
OCEANIC
C(arbon) & IN & A & ECO all reversed
25. Practical software misrepresented (7)
APPLIED
APP – typically a small program & LIED – misrepresented
27. Ginger nut consumed by Morning Star journalist? (3-6)
RED-HEADED
HEAD – nut inside a RED – ED. The Morning Star is the paper for Socialists hence RED
28. Byword of advertising era? (5)
ADAGE
29. Dispirited and spitting feathers, perhaps? (4,2,3,5)
DOWN IN THE MOUTH
DOWN
2. Yorkshire town favourite for celebrity promenade (3,6)
RED CARPET
REDCAR – town & PET – especially say teacher’s favourite
3. Seasoned student scarpers satisfied (5)
SATED
L for student scarpering from SA(L)TED – seasoned
4. Chooses pub closing early, having no friends around (9)
NOMINATES
Most of IN(n) inside NO MATES
5. Rowing crew fed noisily (5)
EIGHT
6. Write notes repeatedly about a private conversation (4-1-4)
TETE-A-TETE
A inside 4 x TE musical note
7. French city welcomes English family member (5)
NIECE
E(nglish) in French city NICE
8. Energy conservationists doubled European understanding (7)
ENTENTE
E(nergy) & N(ational) T(rust) repeated & E(uropean)
9. Toilet blocks tax free (6)
VACANT
CAN for toilet inside VAT- tax.
15. National Park regenerated green site (9)
SERENGETI
[GREEN SITE]* regenerated
17. Screw up road’s name (9)
MISHANDLE
The road being the M1 so MI’S & HANDLE for name
18. Competitor of tech giant detailed international hypocrisy (9)
APPLICANT
APPL(e) without its tail, de-tailed as it were & I(nternational) & CANT – hypocrisy
19. Searched for company in certain difficulties initially (7)
SCOURED
CO(mpany) in SURE – certain & D(ifficulties)
21. Run from large snake (6)
LADDER
23. Finance written down internally (5)
ENDOW
24. Trainee acted badly (5)
CADET
26. Scotsman enters Post Office quietly (5)
PIANO
IAN a crosswordese typical Scotsman in P.O. Post Office
Until I had completed this puzzle I had never completed a puzzle without using a dictionary and/or a word search at least once. I second flashling’s comments but I enjoyed the puzzle. Tops maybe RED CARPET and, working off ‘pet’ I did need to confirm that Redcar was a town. And it was. Thanks Shabbo.
Agree with flashling’s intro.
Thanks Shabbo and flashling!
DOWN IN THE MOUTH is pretty good but I have seen the trick before. Of course, the idea might have occurred independently to this setter. No credit taken away.
Fed up and ready to spit feathers? (4,2,3,5) Jack (G)
SCOURED (a minuscule point)
Def: searched or searched for?
Yes, this was light but, much more importantly, it was fun to solve.
Top picks for me were RED CARPET, the triple definition TAPES, and DOWN IN THE MOUTH.
Many thanks to Shabbo and to flashling.
Loved ‘DOWN IN THE MOUTH’. It was easier than usual but a relief after what were mostly DNFs for me last week, especially having lost an hour’s sleep last night! Thanks Shabbo and Flashling.
Thanks both. Completed in about 15 minutes despite three late nights on the run and the hour change, so would agree with Tatrasman@4 that this was the opposite end of the scale compared to many recent puzzles. I hesitated only in parsing TEMPERATE as I took moderate to be the definition as I can never seem to remember what abstemious means
I’m not in the ‘it has to be tough’ camp, give me enjoyment every time, and this puzzle certainly provided plenty of that. I had many ticks on my sheet and my favourites were probably PRISON SENTENCE and RED CARPET.
Many thanks to Shabbo for a lovely Easter Sunday puzzle and to flashling for the review.
I enjoyed this because it was fun and I was in a hurry. Thanks Shabbo and Flashling.
Same as others for me. I definitely don’t want to be the one in the pub with no mates to talk to.
Thanks Shabbo and Flashling.
I agree with Flashling that there were some chestnuts here – Down in the Mouth and the Yorkshire town in Red Carpet both particularly familiar – but it was mostly a sound puzzle that I would have recommended to a relative beginner.
I’m still struggling to see how ABANDON fits ‘wearing a ring’ grammatically, but there might be a way it works that I haven’t spotted.
MR @ 9 If you are wearing a ring you have a band on. QED
I understand the pun, I’m just not able to match the second definition to the solution.
Wearing a ring = a band on – it doesn’t seem to work. ‘Wearing a ring’ would be ‘having a band on’ for the grammar to be right.
I’m sure a lot of people would say it’s obvious what’s meant, though. Magister dixit 🙂
What Jane & RD said. Very enjoyable.