Wire has supplied this week’s Thursday puzzle.
I found this to be a pleasurable, medium-difficulty puzzle through which I made steady progress. I think that I have managed to parse everything successfully, but I would appreciate confirmation of 16.
My favourite clues today were 5, for the misdirection around “saw”; 6, for overall construction and the “demi (=half)” removal; and 12, for surface reading. 9 raised a big smile – how often would Mary Berry and George Bush ever be mentioned in the same sentence?!
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in double-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | AUTOMATON | Relative partly installs fruit machine that talks?
TOMATO (=fruit) in AUN<t> (=relative, family member; “partly” means last letter is dropped) |
| 06 | EPIC | Heroic tale of half fleeing perhaps outbreak
EPI<demi>C (=outbreak; “demi– (=half) fleeing” means letters “demi” are dropped) |
| 10 | ATLAS | Jack turned on one supporter at top of column
A (=one) + TLAS (SALT=jack, sailor; “turned” indicates reversal); an Atlas is a figure of a man serving as a column in a building |
| 11 | METEORITE | Rock destroyed remote locations lacking cover
*(REMOTE) + <s>ITE<s> (“lacking cover” means first and last letters are dropped; “destroyed” is anagram indicator) |
| 12 | RUN INTO | Come across smallest pig eating in ring
[IN in RUNT (=smallest pig, of litter)] + O (=ring, i.e. pictorially) |
| 13 | CASHIER | Person handling notes more like a country singer?
Cryptically, “Cash-ier” could mean more like the country singer Johnny Cash (1932-2003)! |
| 14 | BIODEGRADABLE | Adage Rod composed in book fit for composting
*(ADAGE ROD) in BIBLE (=book); “composed” is anagram indicator |
| 17 | SUSPENDER BELT | Poet Stephen welcoming American hit Lingerie
[US (=American) in SPENDER (=(English) poet Stephen)] + BELT (=hit, clout, strike) |
| 21 | MUSTANG | Equine character of Aesop flies around
MU (=character of Aesop) + STANG (GNATS=flies; “around” indicates reversal) |
| 22 | WAYLAID | Ambushed far west of city with papers
WAY (=far, as in far off/way off) + LA (=city, i.e. Los Angeles) + ID (=papers, for identification purposes) |
| 24 | EVIL-DOING | Wickedness of six stopping in lodge naughtily
VI (=six, in Roman numerals) in *(IN LODGE); “naughtily” is anagram indicator |
| 25 | URBAN | You’re texted by Nick about living in town?
UR (=you’re texted, i.e. in textspeak) + BAN (NAB=(to) nick, catch, cop; “about” indicates reversal) |
| 26 | SANK | Quickly downed five in Le Café, we hear
Homophone (“we hear”) of “cinq (=five in Le Café, i.e. in French)” |
| 27 | HARSHNESS | Severity of exploit overwhelming first couple of sherpas
SH<erpas> (“first couple” means first two letters only) in HARNESS (=(to) exploit, e.g. the potential of) |
| Down | ||
| 01 | ANAEROBE | Section of mounted slide bore a nasty bug?
Vertically reversed (“mounted”) and hidden (“section of”) in “slidE BORE A NAsty”; an anaerobe is a micro-organism that grows in an oxygen-free environment |
| 02 | TALON | Claw oddly scratched floor coated with bronze
<f>L<o>O<r> (“oddly scratched” means odd letters are dropped) in TAN (=bronze, as verb) |
| 03 | MISUNDERSTANDS | Female crosses further down: bear doesn’t follow
[UNDER (=further down, below) + STAND (=bear, endure)] in MISS (=female) |
| 04 | TAMBOUR | Drum in time with game old doctors travelling north
T (=time) + AMBOUR (RU=game, i.e. rugby union + O (=old, as in OT) + BMA (=doctors, i.e. British Medical Association); “travelling north” indicates vertical reversal) |
| 05 | NOTICED | Saw clumsily into 50% of trees
*(INTO) + CED<ars> (=trees; “50% of” means 3 of 6 letters only are used); “clumsily” is anagram indicator |
| 07 | PRIVILEGE | Horrid wearing stuffed shirt close to fire, right?
[VILE (=horrid) in PRIG (=stuffed shirt, prude)] + <fir>E (“close to” means last letter only) |
| 08 | CHERRY | Fruit drink primarily avoided after cold
C (=cold, on tap) + <s>HERRY (=drink; “primarily avoided” means first letter is dropped) |
| 09 | GOOSEBERRY BUSH | Shrub Mary and George maybe covered with layer?
GOOSE (=layer, of eggs!) + BERRY (=Mary, i.e. TV cook) + BUSH (=George, maybe, i.e. former US President) |
| 15 | OBSESSION | Toby unwrapped hearing thing
<t>OB<y> (“unwrapped” means first and last letters are dropped) + SESSION (=hearing, of court); to have a thing about someone or something is to have an obsession with |
| 16 | STUDENTS | Learners cycling naked in streets facing each another
UDE-N (NUDE=naked; “cycling” means first letter moves to the end) in [ST (=street) + TS (ST=street; “facing each other” involves the second “st” being reversed)] |
| 18 | ENGLISH | People sort of supporting Glen actively
*(GLEN) + -ISH (=sort of, more or less); “actively” is anagram indicator |
| 19 | DOWAGER | Widow bet on event? On the contrary
DO (=event, function) + WAGER (=bet) |
| 20 | IMPELS | Mischief-makers infiltrated by the Spanish forces
EL (=the Spanish, i.e. a Spanish word for the) in IMPS (=mischief-makers) |
| 23 | AMBLE | One replaced by bishop in a 1760-yard walk
A + MILE (=1760-yard); “one (=I) replaced by bishop (=B, in chess)” means letter “i” becomes “b” |
Great start to Thursday!! I had 16dn as the blog.. couldn’t parse 10ac very well, didn’t see the SALT thing.. but with the crossers, ATLAS n axis are the 2 vertebrae at the top of the spinal column, so it seemed to make sense…
Lots to like, CASHIER made me laugh as did the BERRY BUSH thing…
Thanks Wire n RatkojaRiku
Thanks to wire and RatkojaRiku
One of those puzzles for me when two misentries made it doubly hard – it was only upon rereading my previous work that all became clear.
Cannot see any other or better way to parse 16.
Liked gooseberry bush a lot.
That makes three of us agreeing with your parsing of 16d, RR, so I think that gets a tick. Another highly accomplished and very smooth puzzle from Wire. Reminded me somewhat of Eccles yesterday. Same combo of amusing constructions, smooth surfaces and the odd left-field idea to keep us on our toes. And nicely approachable overall with little to cause me delay.
Faves today – of many – include AUTOMATON, CASHIER, SUSPENDER BELT, HARSHNESS, MISUNDERSTANDS, PRIVILEGE, GOOSEBERRY BUSH and OBSESSION.
Thanks Wire and RR
Smooth surfaces and amusing clues as PostMark said. A very enjoyable puzzle.
An enjoyable puzzle! Alas I had to reveal ATLAS and MUSTANG in order to progress, due to architectural and literary ignorance; and I needed the blog for the parsing of EPIC (whose surface may have been smoother with “outbreak?” instead of “perhaps outbreak”).
Thanks both
I’ve got rather a lot on today and so, like Petert, I’ll just go along with what PostMark said.
Lovely puzzle and blog – many thanks, both.
Liked 1a AUTOMATON for the ‘lift and separate’ of “fruit machine”. Also because the solution is Greek…
…as is 10a ATLAS – synonym: Telamon, feminine equivalent: Caryatid.
Don’t usually like whimsical clues, where we have to invent a word and its comparative, but 13a CASHIER was fun! 😀
16d STUDENTS – “each another“: just an old-fashioned way of saying “each other”. No separate entry at Oed.com, but this 1646 quote:
‘There being two opinions repugnant to each another, it may not be presumptive or sceptical to doubt of both. Sir T'(homas)’. Browne, Pseudodoxia EPI[demi]C[a]‘
Thanks W&RR
Lovely puzzle, and no doubts over 16D.
I parsed ATLAS as Undrell@1 did – the first cervical vertebra (ie the one at the top of the vertebral column) on which the skull base nestles. I thought this an especially elegantly written clue, and it was my LOI.
Thanks to RR for the blog and to everyone for the comments today. The ATLAS I had in mind was anatomical rather than architectural.
See you all next time. Wire
A week later, working thru back numbers, I learnt a bit of anatomy, and etymology: yes, as so often. it’s the Grerks! (I thought Well Atlas held up the world, but dunno if he stood on a column 🙂 ).