SLORMGORM kicks off the week…
A very solid and enjoyable puzzle, as one expects from this setter.
Thanks SLORMGORM!
ACROSS
7. Colonel with bit of irksome trapped wind (4)
COIL
COL (colonel) with I[rksome] (bit of) trapped
8. Lady’s partner has row about old bouncer (10)
TRAMPOLINE
(TRAMP (Lady's partner) has LINE (row)) about O (old)
10. Criminal after US agency is religious type (6)
DEACON
CON (criminal) after DEA (US agency)
11. Issue scolded soldiers brought about large knight (8)
CHILDREN
((CHID (scolded) + RE (soldiers)) brought about L (large)) + N (knight)
12. PM head of Decca sent to Foreigner (8)
DISRAELI
D[ecca] (head of) sent to ISRAELI (foreigner)
13. Excessively desirous of good grass? Yes! (6)
GREEDY
G (good) + REED (grass) + Y (yes)
15. Cook flappers picked up in Boots? (6,7)
DOCTOR MARTENS
DOCTOR (cook) + "martins" = MARTENS (flappers, "picked up")
18. Steer clear of wife involved in suit (6)
SWERVE
W (wife) involved in SERVE (suit)
20. Reactionary lot understood justice in hearing (3,5)
NEW RIGHT
"knew right" = NEW RIGHT (understood justice, "in hearing")
22. Grotesque individual or a leggy criminal (8)
GARGOYLE
(OR A LEGGY)* (*criminal)
24. Mostly speak with others about a flying saucer (6)
DISCUS
DISCUS[s] (speak with others, mostly)
25. Some artists perhaps mind stores after work (10)
MODERNISTS
(MIND STORES)* (*after work)
26. Is indebted to content of audiobook! (4)
OWES
"O's" = OWES (content of book, "audio")
DOWN
1. Light snow and wider storms around Ohio (4,6)
ROSE WINDOW
(SNOW and WIDER)* (*storms) around O (Ohio)
2. Playing through an amp is very exciting (8)
ELECTRIC
3. When many have lunch outside clubs together (2,4)
AT ONCE
AT ONE (when many have lunch) outside C (clubs)
4. Dog or rat bites perhaps reported at front (8)
SPRINGER
SINGER (rat) bites P[erhaps] R[eported] (at the front)
5. Promise of power book ultimately overlooked (6)
PLEDGE
P (power) + LEDGE[r] (book, ultimately overlooked)
6. King born in the joint? (4)
KNEE
9. Can its mockery put off musical group? (6,7)
ARCTIC MONKEYS
(CAN ITS MOCKERY)* (*put off)
14. Contrary git puts up with small vagrants’ digs (10)
DOSSHOUSES
(SOD)< (git, <contrary) + (HOUSES (puts up) with S (small))
16. How 11 might be described individually? (3,2,3)
ONE BY ONE
Double (cryptic) definition
17. Discharge leader of Ethiopian ministry (8)
EMISSION
E[thiopian] (leader of) + MISSION (ministry)
19. Was very angry about government in tatters (6)
RAGGED
RAGED (was very angry) about G (government)
21. Most extensive documents in Europe and US? (6)
WIDEST
ID (documents) in WEST (Europe and US)
23. Age is a number, vacuous Eskimo admitted (4)
AEON
(A + N (number)), E[skim]O (vacuous) admitted
If 15a and 9d are anything to go by, the average age of The FT’s setters is getting younger or Slormgorm is one cool dude! (Or both) Besides these, I thought TRAMPOLINE was cute but my favourite was 25a for the clever use of ‘audio book’.
Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow.
Enjoyable crossword today
thanks Slormgorm and Teacow
Thanks for the blog, enjoyable as ever, numerous neat clues.
I agree with Diane @1 for OWES , very clever indeed.
DOCTOR MARTENS very popular now with the female students, I am back in fashion again after 30 years.
Not totally convinced that DOSSHOUSES works properly.
Never heard of dosshouses. Collins says it’s British slang. Nor DEA, until I did a bit of sleuthing. Couldn’t parse CHILDREN. All else was tickety-boo and enjoyed.
[Roz, Hope you continue to wear them, complete with enviable vintage patina]
Diane – should you ever find yourself on the wrong end of a kicking from Roz, you will know for sure that she still wears her Docs! I think I’ve only ever experienced a fairly gentle boot but I still bear the bruises 😊
Lovely puzzle from Slormgorm today. Always sounds rather patronising to say one of his better ones – which is NOT the intent – but this one felt a tad smoother than some other Slormgorms I have done. COIL, TRAMPOLINE, SWERVE, GARGOYLE, MODERNISTS, AT ONE, EMISSION and AEON were my faves.
Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow
Kick-ass cruciverbalism?!
Whatever did you say, Postmark?
[I vaguely recall spinning her an entirely improvised derivation for something like catcall or wolf-whistle which was sufficiently plausible to be swallowed. She now doesn’t believe a word I say …]
Thanks Teacow
I had no problem with 14dn. Chambers 2016 p. 1800 gives “immediately after” as a meaning of with, so we can have HOUSES immediately after the S to follow the contrary git.
The one that did not quite work for me was 26ac. We need to take the content of book as (two) Os, and then a homophone of that gives OWES. That means that “audio” should not be in the middle of “content of book”. The main idea of this clue, which I agree was clever, could have been expressed impeccably as “audio book’s content(s)” with or without the final S.
Thanks Slormgorm for everything else in the crossword.
what Diane@1 said
(with PB@9’s suggestion for OWES)
Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow
Please help re Paul 29,440 which was online, not the Kite one. I have failed to crack these two for two weeks.
I see you getting cooler having rolled over tongue (8) Could it be FANAKALO?
Announcer’s prompting British obsession?(8)
The second is queueing .
I have not seen this puzzle , do you have letters for the first .
.u.a.a.o
It is GUJARATI . I TARA ( means goodbye , see you , ) JUG ( cooler/prison ) all rolled over.
I think TARA is very UK specific, and only limited locations here.
Thanks Roz, you are a sport
You are very welcome, I always like solving clues , I wonder if this puzzle will ever turn up officially .
It did – as the Guardian Prize, 29452, 3rd August. Bit disappointing as I had already completed it! That said, I didn’t realise it had been erroneously published early, so I hadn’t seen the Kite puzzle. I thought I was going mad!