Bluebird provides us with the Saturday challenge this week.
This was something of a curate’s egg of a puzzle. with some write-ins (1ac, 10ac, 5d) and some unusual (for us) words (14ac, 24ac).
We tend to expect a theme or nina in a Saturday puzzle and fortunately Bluebird explained the usp of the puzzle in 17d – CORNERS. Reading round the four corners of the grid we have CORNER KICK, CORNERSTONE, CORNER SHOP and POETS’ CORNER.
lICK missing the first letter or ‘top’
An anagram (‘performing’) of CHOIR before or ‘west of’ POD (hull – as in a husk or outer covering) + IST (first)
OST (German for ‘east’) + IS in or ‘framed by’ RACE (trial)
S (small) TERN (seabird)
SCH (school) + an anagram (‘crackers’) of MEAL RITZ
LI (fifty-one) P (pence) = ‘just over half a pound’ (sterling)
An anagram (‘tiddly’) of NUN in or ‘drunk by’ a reversal (‘returning’) of I E (id est – ‘that is’)
B AND E (first and last letters or ‘both ends’ of blue) ROLE (post)
B L (first or ‘initial’ letters of badminton lessons) IN (at home) D D (daughters) ATE (had)
A homophone (‘on the radio’) of SIGHTS (scenes)
LEeK (vegetable) with one ‘e’ (earth) removed
OK (fine) T (time) + an anagram (‘carousing’) of BEFORE + ST (street)
I (India – in the phonetic alphabet) + a reversal (‘revolutionary’) of HAD (harboured) + O (circle)
An anagram (‘after travelling’) of BEOWULF’S round or ‘protecting’ R (last letter or ‘backside’ of Hrothgar)
An anagram (‘dancing’) of OF LUSH SEEN round P (penny)
POEm (verse) missing the last letter or ‘left unfinished’
Hidden (‘smuggled by’) in BolshevIK ON Ship
A homophone of KITSCH (trashy) NSYNC (American boy band) – we did have to check the band though – we’re definitely not into boy bands of any nationality.
CHAP (man) AT I (last letter or ‘back’ of Aldi)
IT (Stephen King novel) round or ‘comprehending’ D I O (first letters or ‘origins’ of depravity in ourselves)
BED IE (that is) inside ONCE
O (old) B (bishop) SERVE (‘beginning to rally’ – in tennis)
dICE (cut) missing or ‘cutting’ ‘d’ (diamonds)
T (last letter or ‘tail’ of rat) + P (quietly) in or ‘consumed by’ an anagram (‘struggling’) of SOMEONE
A reversal (‘heading north’) of POOL POOL (small lakes) round or ‘bored by’ THEm missing the last letter or ‘most of’
EM (‘those people’ – ‘them’ as might be pronounced by an East Londoner) + BELLISH (‘like a bell’ – such as Big Ben)
B (black) + an anagram (‘broken’) of FAUTEUIL
To get ‘ice’ (7d) from ‘office’ you must DROP or take away OFF
CORN (ears) + EaRS with the ‘a’ (are) missing or ‘going’ – the clue that gives away the ‘theme’
A reversal (‘up’) of GRAB (get) + E (‘get’ missing the outside letters or ‘undressed’)
Hidden (‘some’) in detesT A STEak
A clue-as-definition: A (last letter or ‘end’ of Cleopatra) P (middle letter or ‘heart’ of Cleopatra) round or ‘stopped by’ S (‘serpentine character’) – Cleopatra was killed by an asp
Thanks Bluebird and BertandJoyce
Really nice puzzle. My theme blindness continues in that I put in corners and thought “corners have to be a feature of a grid really – oh well”.
Loved Drop Off and many others. Thought a few were a bit to easy for Independent – ended up looking for alternatives. But that’s not a fault.
I liked ASP and EMBELLISH. I saw there were words in the corners but missed how they combined with corners. Thanks, both.
I enjoyed this a lot – but then I generally enjoy Bluebird. An imaginative approach to definitions/synonyms which is right up my street. And some delightful surfaces. I don’t object to the occasional easier one in amongst the rest. TONE POEMS beat me in the end – I just did not break the clue in the right place and this time the def – Pieces – did not stand out. I wondered about an anagram of ‘someone’ + P but could not account for the opening T, having missed ‘rat’s tail’. I thought I was looking for something to do with split ends! My bad.
Faves include CHIROPODIST, LIP, BLIND DATE (COTD), OKTOBERFEST (podium), KITCHEN SINK, IDIOT, LOOP-THE-LOOP (podium), CORNERS and DROP OFF (commendation – but I rarely give awards to clues with cross-references to other clue numbers. It’s very rare for the number not to detract slightly from the surface)
Thanks Bluebird and B&J
American boy bands – moi? Well done B&J for persevering with that. That apart, all very gettable, though I missed the theme due to having to rush to finish. Thanks Bluebird and B&J.
Thanks both. I also suffered CORNER blindness despite the clear indication to find something there. I was beaten by FURBELOWS having opted for furlebows which works just as well other than for its non-existence.Particularly liked OKTOBERFEST and KITCHEN SINK wherein N’Sync was known to me, although I did wonder for a while whether trashy was an opinion rather than part of the necessary wordplay.
Nsync are back in the charts right now after a 20 year absence because one of their songs is in the new Deadpool & Wolverine film. Surely you all knew that? Very topical clueing from Bluebird!
Have to say they are now more of a middle-aged men band than a boy band though.
Nice fun puzzle. Thanks, Bluebird and B&J.
Thanks Bluebird for a creative crossword. Even though I failed to see the full significance of the corners I enjoyed this with my top picks being BLIND DATE, POE, KITCHEN SINK, TONE POEMS, and LOOP-THE-LOOP. I needed a word finder for the nho BANDEROLE and FURBELOWS. Thanks B&J for the blog.
Solved it but missed the Nina and couldn’t parse ICE satisfactorily so the blog has been much appreciated. Good puzzle, and the CORNER theme was very nicely done, I now realise.