As August draws to a close – Wiglaf supplies some cerebral stimulation.
A slightly rushed blog this week as I’m just back from France so apologies in advance. 17 dn I have been unable to parse
Thanks Wiglaf – glad it wasn’t too taxing
Key: Rev. reverse; * anagram; Underline definition
Across
1 Lover of physicist has rubbish hair (7)
tat (rubbish) + lock (hair) = TATLOCK (lover of Oppenheimer)
5 I must stop tosser spinning yarns (7)
(tosser)* around I = STORIES
9 Religious type in boozer knocked back large short (5)
Rev. bar (boozer) + big (large) – g = RABBI
10 Minor Yankee republican tackles foreign tongues (9)
y(Yankee) + R(republican) around (tongues)* = YOUNGSTER
11 Criminal deeds in house belonging to priests repeatedly exposed (10)
villa (house) + in (belonging to) + ies (priests – pr/ts) = VILLAINIES
12 Wife having gone to Orleans regularly visited sailor (4)
w(wife) + oRlEaNs (regularly) = WREN
14 Item of clothing unconventional male displayed in a manner of speaking (12)
accent (manner of speaking) around outre (unconventional male) = ACCOUTREMENT
18 A lot of credit for intersecting two curved shapes in parallel (6,6)
arc + circle (two curved shapes) around tick (credit) – k = ARCTIC CIRCLE
21 Ordered wrong drug (4)
bad (wrong) + e (drug) = BADE
22 Sailors on course must find something to keep them moving (5,5)
salts (sailors) after Epsom (course) = EPSOM SALTS
25 Doctor left enthralled by attempt to reach the other side show (9)
mb (doctor) + l (left) in séance (attempt to reach the other side) = SEMBLANCE
26 A busy day going round temples primarily to see their most sacred parts (5)
a + (day)* around t (temples primarily) = ADYTA
27 Dead old stage performer lay exhausted (7)
ex (old) + act (stage performer) + ly (lay exhausted) = EXACTLY
28 President has fat philosopher castrated (7)
abe (President) + lard (fat) = ABELARD
Down
1 Flourish by the river after kicking the last ones out (6)
the river – last letters = THRIVE
2 Juliet’s cousin turned up by a lake with dry clothing (6)
TT *dry) around rev. by + a + l(lake) = TYBALT
3 Relating to nondemocratic rule, I coach girl to rebel (10)
(I coach girl)* = OLIGARCHIC
4 Type of whiskey ingredient (3,2)
hidden whisKEY INgredient = KEY IN
5 Wind towers use winds (9)
(towers use)* = SOUWESTER
6 Topless operatic hero in swinging party? (4)
Porgy(operatic hero) – p = ORGY
7 Most of the web initially enthralled prisoner (8)
internet (web) – t + e (initially enthralled) = INTERNEE
8 Goodness, that’s no good for women’s power (8)
strewth (goodness) swapping ng(no good) for w (women) = STRENGTH
13 Army branch beer, say, is US property (4,6)
Re (army branch) + ale (beer) + state (say) = REAL ESTATE
15 Coy about admitting backing politically correct party to secure university tenure (9)
(coy)* around up (backing) + ANC (politically correct party) = OCCUPANCY
16 Naked nurses kiss French novelist (8)
bare (naked) around buss (kiss) = BARBUSSE
17 A rebel with ambition to rise in the world of scholarship (8)
a + cad (rebel) + Rev. aim = ACADEMIA (unsure where the e comes from??)
19 Chucked up some heavy Algerian liqueur (6)
Rev. hidden heavy ALGerian = GLAYVA
20 One has to get key? (6)
I (one) + s (has) + land (get) = ISLAND
23 Greek character gets stood up two times (5)
Rev age + mo (two times) = OMEGA
24 Plan to provide parking place in France (4)
p (parking) + lot (place in France) = PLOT
In 17d we thought the rebel was CADE – he of the gunpowder plot.
That was super tough. I got the yellow tick but lots left unparsed / semi-parsed.
Will now study blog
Thanks Wiglaf and twenceslas (hope France was lovely)
14.a Accent around outré + m for male
15 Coy about admitting backing politically correct party to secure university tenure (9)
(coy)* around PUC reversed (backing pc around U for university + ANC (party) = OCCUPANCY
@skt №1.
I don’t know of a Cade in Gunpowder Plot. But a bit of searching turns up Jack Cade the revolutionary of 1450
Thanks that was one if my missing pieces
Goodness me, that was tough. I certainly did not find it the ‘not too taxing’ puzzle solved by our blogger! Quite a lot of unknowns for me – TATLOCK, BARBUSSE, ABELARD, ADYTA and, whichever rebel he turns out to be, CADE – together with not knowing ‘kiss’ = BUSS. I did not spot the ‘parallel’ def for ARCTIC CIRCLE nor the ‘belonging to’= IN in VILLAINIES. I was surprised to drag TYBALT from the depths of memory and have seen GLAYVA on sale, even if I’ve never tasted it. So, comprehensively beaten by the setter today. I thought the unusual words might have been forced by a theme but can spot nothing that looks like one.
Thanks Wiglaf and twencelas
Yes.. a toughie… I thought Jack Cade from his infamous rebellion also… failed utterly on 8dn I put SERENITY as some kind of garbled play on serendipity, n maybe serenity is a female trait… probably best not to go there.. the rest was painfully slow, but teased out in the end… I had to look up Tatlock, I’m guessing she featured in the recent film, which I have yet to see, I’d have been disappointed to find she wasn’t involved, given the wordplay. Trusting the wordplay helped a lot for many, particularly happy with ACCOUTREMENT, just had to wait for crossers to confirm many… so I needed 10ac to confirm ORGY (I was thinking OSCA!), n needed 4dn to confirm 10ac, etc… not complaining, so thanks Wiglaf n twencelas
Apologies for implying it was easy – in hindsight it wasn’t but as I was writing the blog at around 3am the middle of the night focus made it seem easier than it actually was. Google assisted with explaining to me the unfamiliar names in the puzzle.
Thanks to Wiglaf and twencelas
Cade: Not in my VOCAB book but here is an entry from Collins INTERNET free dictionary
Cade
in British English
noun
Jack. died 1450, English leader of the Kentish rebellion against the misgovernment of Henry VI (1450)