ARTEXLEN kicks off the week…
An enjoyable Monday morning puzzle, with some neat surfaces.
Thanks ARTEXLEN!
ACROSS
1. Gathered deceived guards very gullible in the end (8)
CONVENED
CONNED (deceived) guards (V (very) + [gullibl]E (in the end))
6. Happen to predict current date getting disheartened (6)
BETIDE
BET (predict) + I (current) + D[at]E (getting disheartened)
9. Fellows either side of trellis oddly overlooked bird (6)
MERLIN
MEN (fellows) either side of [t]R[e]L[l]I[s] (oddly overlooked)
10. Piece of cake somebody vacantly fed to each duck, say (4,4)
EASY GAME
S[omebod]Y (vacantly) fed to (EA (each) + GAME (duck, say))
11. Some ignored by good-looking worker (4)
HAND
HAND[some] (good looking, SOME ignored)
12. Vanishing muscles: disadvantage eating away from home (10)
ABSCONDING
ABS (muscles) + CON (disadvantage) + D[in]ING (eating, away from IN (home))
14. Piece of music playing, sure winner when in company (8)
CONCERTO
(ON (playing) + CERT (sure winner)) in CO (company)
16. Hollow articulated apparatus (4)
SETT
"set" = SETT (apparatus, "articulated")
18. I’m disappointed by satellite’s state (4)
OHIO
OH (I'm disappointed) by IO (satellite)
19. New senate’s amended order (8)
NEATNESS
N (new) + (SENATES)* (*amended)
21. Old men having Sage Derby with last of their crackers (10)
GREYBEARDS
(SAGE DERBY with [thei]R (last of))* (*crackers)
22. Want hems of baggy trousers to be cut (4)
LACK
[s]LACK[s] (baggy trousers, hems to be cut)
24. Dull colour was concerning (8)
MATTERED
MATTE (dull) + RED (colour)
26. Messed up losing line and stopped (6)
BUNGED
BUNG[l]ED (messed up, losing L (line))
27. Course where tee is found? (6)
AFTERS
AFTER S (where tee (T) is found, alphabetically)
28. Giving lie, dying to reform (8)
YIELDING
(LIE DYING)* (*to reform)
DOWN
2. Dramatic work couples read regularly (5)
OPERA
[c]O[u]P[l]E[s] R[e]A[d] (regularly)
3. Welshman aboard ship in Portsmouth saying farewell (11)
VALEDICTORY
ALED (Welshman) aboard VICTORY (ship in Portsmouth)
4. Bananas and nori unknown dietary option (3-5)
NON-DAIRY
(AND NORI)* (*bananas) + Y (unknown)
5. Rebuke island servant for casual affair (5-4,6)
DRESS-DOWN FRIDAY
DRESS-DOWN (rebuke) + FRIDAY (island servant)
6. Give choice over whiskey (6)
BESTOW
BEST (choice) + O (over) + W (whiskey)
7. Raised arm to give name (3)
TAG
8. Bit of wisdom in a test prevails (9)
DOMINATES
[wis]DOM IN A TES[t] (bit of)
13. Lacking enthusiasm in being upright? (11)
DISINCLINED
15. Unlimited concerns with AI computer following partner (5,4)
OTHER HALF
[b]OTHER[s] (concerns, unlimited) with HAL (AI computer) + F (following)
17. Upcoming singer bathed in light is not bad (8)
PASSABLE
(BASS)< (singer, <upcoming) bathed in PALE (light)
20. Ruins of French port city bar to left (6)
DEBRIS
DE (of, French) + BRIS[tol] (port city, bar TO + L (left))
23. Uncorrupted tribe defending base (5)
CLEAN
CLAN (tribe) defending E (base)
25. Picked up Asian garment (3)
TIE
"Thai" = TIE (Asian, "picked up")
A great crossword which I really had to work at. Took me twice as long as G and I put together.
Thanks Artexlan and Teacow
Dominates was a very neat clue – no obvious giveaway that it was hidden as the surface was so good
A really hard one today but I finished without understanding 26D. My knowledge of English slang isn’t all that great but the only definition of “bung” that I know is “he bung it in the bin” meaning “he threw it in the bin”.
9A – “Merlin” as a bird was new to me. I only know him as a magician.
Thanks Teacow.
I agree with Matthew Newell@1
My loi was AFTERS. I was foolishly thinking of golf courses.What an idiot.
Thanks to Artexlen for an ingenious puzzle and Teacow for an exemplary blog
I agree that this was a trifle harder than I expected but none the worse for that.
I liked HANDSOME, the surface for GREYBEARDS which made great use of that cheese, NEATNESS, MATTERED and AFTERS.
For ‘bung’, Fiona, think of a stopper in a bottle of wine or a cask.
Thanks for the challenge, Artexlen and to Teacow, as always for stopping the gaps!
Liked HAND, AFTERS and DISINCLINED.
DISINCLINED
Looks like a DD (one straightforward def and one cryptic def)
Lacking enthusiasm
being upright?
Thanks Artexlan and Teacow.
This one definitely required thought in places.
The English that was new to me was EASY GAME, DRESS DOWN FRIDAY (I have always heard casual Friday) and SETT (I am a stranger to the habits of the European badger). The existence and location of Victory was another learning opportunity. I needed Teacow’s help to parse SLACKS (which I always thought to be trousers, I am unclear about the baggy bit) and OTHER HALF.
I largely agree with the favourites mentioned so far. I best liked the surfaces of NONDAIRY, NEATNESS and MATTERED (LOI). I thought AFTERS was clever once I finally got it.
Thanks Artexlan and Teacow
Thanks Artexlen. That took a bit of work but I got there in the end except for the nho SETT. (I understand the occasional odd word due to grid constraints but ‘Seth’ or ‘sets’ could have done nicely.) In any event I thought this was very well-clued with my top picks being HAND, CONCERTO, MATTERED, the nicely hidden DOMINATES, DISINCLINED, and OTHER-HALF. Thanks Teacow for the blog.
I thought of SETT for 16a, but didn’t think hollow and apparatus were synonyms for sett and set so I didn’t write it in. My bad.
I especially liked the cheese and biscuits at 21a GREYBEARDS. Cheese and biscuits could also be the AFTERS at 27a. Apart from a bit of Brie in 20d DEBRIS I couldn’t see a cheese connection but I liked that clue anyway.
Thanks Artexlen for the challenge, and Teacow for meeting that challenge so well.
Most of this went in fairly smoothly apart from thw NE corner where we hot stuck for ages. We eventually got DOMINATES from checking letters but only later saw that it was a hidden. SETT was almost our LOI even though we guessed ‘articutaled’ was a homophone indicator. Actual LOI was down in the opposite corner – AFTERS; very neat once we saw it. Lots to like, though; cONCERTO and GREYBEARDS among our favourites.
Thanks, Artlexen and Teacow.
Never thought of sett! Also I thought sage was more green and so went off thinking about herb or even wise after badly assuming or men were PA s or dads! And that the clue was some British term for crackers! But thank you everyone!