Bluth is occupying the Thursday spot this week, treating us to another of his highly entertaining puzzles.
I thoroughly enjoyed this one, finding it perhaps less taxing than some of his earlier offerings. Perhaps I am getting more used to his style, or perhaps having a couple of extra longer solutions, split over two grid entries, helped a little with checked letters?
That said, I was almost about to give up on parsing 14A until I spotted “Aston” – sometimes we just can’t see for looking, can we?! I also needed Chambers to confirm the definition at 7. On 1D/17, I do hope that the Bible is what is being referred to in the wordplay here!
As for my favourite clues today, I would single out 5, for the “gilt” device; and then a slew of smooth surfaces at 10, 11, 15, 16 …
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | ADDITION | Initially doctors diagnosed impetigo though it’s only necessary to go on a supplement
A + D<octors> D<iagnosed> I<mpetigo> T<hough> I<t’s> O<nly> N<ecessary>; “initially” means first letters only are needed |
| 05 | GOLFED | Practised what a famous Norman did using gilt iron
Fe (=iron, i.e. chemical symbol) in GOLD (=gilt, i.e. (covered) in gold!); the reference is to Australian golfer Greg Norman (1955-) |
| 10 | AVALANCHE | No time to teach naval manoeuvres in flood
(<t>EACH NAVAL); “no time (=T)” means letter “t” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “maneouvres”; cf. a flood/avalanche of applications |
| 11 | GAUNT | Smallest amount of gin and relative’s wasted
G<in> (“smallest amount of” means first letter only) + AUNT (=relative); gaunt is wasted, haggard in appearance |
| 12 | HOARSER | Republican pursuing House seat getting increasingly gruff
HO (=house) + ARSE (=seat, i.e. backside) + R (=Republican) |
| 13 | FANATIC | Maniac putting a jerk on air
FAN (=air, cool, ventilate) + A + TIC (=jerk) |
| 14 | ROSETTA STONE | Ancient artefact and Villa’s location protected by political favour?
ASTON (=Villa’s location, i.e. the Birmingham football club) in ROSETTE (=political favour, worn at an election) |
| 19 | HIDDEN AGENDA | I need a hand with driving on vacation – somehow revealing ulterior motive
*(I NEED A HAND + D<rivin>G); “on vacation” means middle letters are dropped from anagram, indicated by “somehow” |
| 22 | IMAGINE | Fancy, fashionable picture frames
IN (=fashionable, trendy) in IMAGE (=picture); to imagine is to suppose, fancy |
| 24 | CHARADE | Fizzy tea? It’s absurd
Cryptically, charade could be seen as fizzy drink made from char=tea, cf. lemonade, orangeade |
| 25 | THERE | Present article about …
THE (=article, in grammar) + RE- (=about, regarding) |
| 26 | HOI POLLOI | … the people of Ohio struggling to hold independent vote
[I (=independent) + POLL (=vote)] in *(OHIO); “struggling” is anagram indicator |
| 27 | ENTITY | Space Oddity’s backing singer’s boring existence
EN (=space, in printing) + TIT (=singer, i.e. bird) + <oddit>Y (”backing” means last letter only) |
| 28 | NEBRASKA | State banks are in disarray
*(BANKS ARE); “in disarray” is anagram indicator |
| Down | ||
| 01/17 | AGATHA CHRISTIE | Novelist displaying range, putting character from bestseller in novel I hate
AGA (=range, in kitchen) + [CHRIST (=character from bestseller, i.e. the Bible!) in *(I HATE)]; “novel (=new)” is anagram indicator |
| 02 | DRAMAS | Male getting into retro blue movies?
RAM (=male, of sheep) in DAS (SAD=blue; “retro” indicates reversal) |
| 03 | THAT’S MORE LIKE IT | Make their lot sit out – now we’re getting somewhere
*(MAKE THEIR LOT SIT); “out” is anagram indicator |
| 04 | OCCUR | Occasionally force dog to come round
<f>O<r>C<e> (“occasionally” means alternate letters only are used) + CUR (=dog) |
| 06 | ORGANISED LABOUR | Unusually bourgeois lad ran union?
*(BOURGEOIS LAD RAN); “unusually” is anagram indicator |
| 07 | FRUITION | Enjoyment of father joining it for a night to begin with
FR (=father, in religion) + U<IT for N>ION (=joining; “it for night to begin with (=N, i.e. first letter)” means “n” is replaced by “it”) |
| 08/21 | DETACHED RETINA | Keep moving home following clinical condition
DETACHED (=clinical, cold, of attitude) + RETINA (RETAIN=keep, hold on to; “moving home (=in)” means letters “in” move to a different place in the word) |
| 09 | LEAF | Page’s title after being edited down
Hidden (“after being edited down”) in “titLE AFter” |
| 15 | ERA | Ultimately score after extra time
<scor>E <afte>R <extr>A; “ultimately” means last letters only are used |
| 16 | TEE | Defeat regularly upset supporter?
<d>E<f>E<a>T; “regularly” means alternate letters only; “upset” indicates vertical reversal; a tee is a ball support in golf |
| 18 | ADJACENT | Neighbouring Canada wanting an American jet for deployment
*(CANAD<a> + JET); “wanting an American (=A)” means one letter “a” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “for deployment” |
| 20 | VAULTS | Clears // cellars
Double definition: to vault (over) e.g. a wall is to clear it, get over it AND vaults in e.g. banks are cellars, underground storage rooms |
| 23 | ECHO | Memory of niece’s school essentially
<ni>EC<es> + <sc>HO<ol>; “essentially” means middle letters only are used; an echo can be a memory evoked, something that reminds one of something else |
| 24 | CHIME | Ring church about that man
HIM (=that man, i.e. pronoun) in CE (=church, i.e. Church of England) |
Unlike our blogger, I did not find this puzzle quite as approachable. Indeed, it took me fully twice as long to complete as it did for the same setter’s offering in the Guardian. The East was my undoing: I failed to spot the CHA-RADE whimsy, found the def for DETACHED RETINA too … detached and I never connected FRUITION with enjoyment. On the RHS, I also learned that ENTITY means existence which I have not encountered before. ADJACENT, THAT’S MORE LIKE IT and the delightful GOLFED were my podium today.
Thanks Bluth and RR
Top faves: GOLFED, CHARADE and DETACHED RETINA.
Thanks Bluth and RR!
Thanks RatkojaRiku. Needed your help with DETACHED RETINA. Just couldn’t see it. I also liked the ”gilt device” in GOLFED. Being Australian helped with the famous Norman. However these days I’d say he is more infamous.
THAT’S MORE LIKE IT made me laugh. ORGANISED LABOUR was a great find.
I’m ashamed of myself for not spotting 9D is a hidden word, which I usually do very easily. So DNF. Got 1/17D and 8/21D quickly but couldn’t fully parse either. Much enjoyed so thanks Bluth and RatkojaRiku.
Strange. I found this relatively easy for me and it didn’t take me as long as Bluth’s puzzles usually do. 1a and 1d went in very quickly and the rest seemed to follow. Very odd. I completed it after a brisk 2-hour walk around the hills of my city. 5a held out until I realised it was about the Great White Shark rather than conquering Vikings. However Fed in the other rag gave me an inordinate amount of trouble. Chalk and cheese. Maybe I was tired by then. Thanks for the blog RR and thanks Bluth. Love your work.
I’m with Sofamore @5 on this one in that I found it at the easier end of Bluth’s spectrum. Only the parsing of the second word of 8d/21d eluded me.
Thanks to Bluth for the fun and RR for the review.
I am another fan of GOLFED. ROSETTA STONE was great, too, but, like Tatrasman, I missed the hidden LEAF. Thanks, both.
Thanks both. Another setter I warm to based on the variety of devices and level of challenge. I took some time over the right side of the grid, wherein DETACHED RETINA was clever but looked for a while like something distinctly medical I might not have heard of. I got the right Norman soon enough, but it still held out for a while, as GOLFED arguably is little in use and sounds clumsy (like my game) and once putted wasn’t working I moved away from it until later.
Thanks RatkojaRiku, and thanks all
Thank you to Bluth for the entertainment (I loved “fizzy tea”!) and RatkojaRiku for explaining the famous Norman and FRUITION.
I didn’t find this straightforward. After seeing PostMark’s comment @1, I’m wondering if I chose the wrong Dave Gorman crossword to solve yesterday .…