Umpire back again, as he seems to be quarterly or so
I found this on the easier side of Indy puzzles and so more suited to the traditional Monday slot, can’t see any themes or Ninas but you might know better, thanks Umpire
ACROSS
8. Sailors wasting five years at sea? They probably won’t agree! (8)
NAYSAYER
V=five removed from NA(v)Y – sailors & YEARS* at sea
9. Beast that’s fussy I’m breaking in (6)
ANIMAL
I’M breaking into ANAL – fussy
10. Bar writer pens two fifths of story (6)
BISTRO
Two of the five letters of ST(ory) inside BIRO – type of pen
11. Laughed introducing a king? Be careful! (4,4)
TAKE HEED
TE HEED – laughed – with A & K(ing) inside
12. Sadly I regret drinking French wine, recovering (10)
RETRIEVING
VIN – French wine – in [I REGRET]* sadly
15. Some tea blend’s strong enough (4)
ABLE
16. Drain part of eye, admitting problem (7)
CONSUME
CONE – part of the eye that detects light – with SUM inserted
18. Attempt to claim one record that’s in three parts (7)
TRILOGY
I – one & LOG – record all in TRY – attempt
20. Close predator (4)
SEAL
Double definition – I guess if you’re fish you’ll see them as predators
21. Present caught rabbit cake (7,3)
CURRANT BUN
Sounds like – “caught” CURRENT – present & BUN(ny) – rabbit
23. Form bad pathogen (8)
HEPTAGON
25. Where pigs presumably go to sleep warm (6)
TOASTY
27. Item of footwear that is in good condition swapped (6)
WELLIE
IE – that is – & WELL swapped places
28. Large sun scattered particles (8)
GRANULES
DOWN
1. Gorge, mostly mad with energy (6)
RAVINE
Most of RAVIN(g) – mad & E(nergy)
2. Ship docks in empty port over here (4)
PSST
SS – ship inside an empty P(or)T
3. Surprisingly copy him, red under the skin (10)
HYPODERMIC
[COPY HIM RED]* surprisingly
4. Supporting number to accommodate one part of diet (7)
PROTEIN
PRO – for, supporting & I – one inside TEN – a number
5. War vehicle‘s function: kill, primarily (4)
TANK
TAN(gent) – mathematics function & first letter of K(ill)
6. Flee Tahiti hotel with girl, run away excited (8,2)
HIGHTAIL IT
[TAHITI H(otel) GI(r)L]* excited. The R(un) is away
7. Saturate large part of battlefield ending in bog (8)
WATERLOG
Most of WATERLO(o) & end of (bo)G
13. Before end of symphony, loser turns up gripping instrument with determination (10)
RESOLUTELY
LUTE in LOSER reversed & end of (symphon)Y
14. Joke about face of ruthless islander, heartless as a giant (10)
GARGANTUAN
Face of R(uthless) inside GAG – joke & a heartless ANT(ig)UAN – an islander
17. Aware of Cockney’s hide and seek tactic? (4-4)
OPEN-EYED
The cockney tactic would be of (h)OPE ‘N’ (h)IDE
19. I speak angrily about working for a period of time (4,3)
IRON AGE
ON – working – inside I RAGE
22. Performing in duet without restraint (6)
UNTIED
24. Dull lawyer gives up part-way through (4)
GREY
Hidden reversed in lawYER Gives
26. American to drink deeply (but not very loud) water (4)
AQUA
A(merican) & FF- very loudly removed from QUA(ff). In the Terry Pratchett Discworld series to quaff was a bit like to drink but where you spill most of it.
Lovely Monday puzzle. Revealed SEAL at the end as I ran out of time and animals. Fave was HEPTAGON; the list of surprising one-word anagrams grows ever larger.
Thanks both
Very good Monday morning wakener. Thanks Umpire and flashling.
Only weakish clue was (as pointed out in blog and ap @1) was seal.
[24d & 20a: ‘Exposing the GREY SEAL as a major predator of harbour porpoises’]
[‘The leopard SEAL is one of the largest seal species and an apex predator.’]
8a NAYSAYER: “They” – In Pride of place, in the first clue, one of those sneaky new-fangled singular pronouns that look like they’re plural. Nice. Oed.com:
‘…I.2. In anaphoric reference to a singular noun or pronoun. Use of they to refer to a singular antecedent has sometimes been considered erroneous.’
(50 years ago we’d’ve replaced it with “he/she”.)
‘…I.2.c. 2009– Used with reference to a person whose sense of personal identity does not correspond to conventional sex and gender distinctions,
and who has typically asked to be referred to as they (rather than as he or she).’
Thanks both. SW corner took me the longest, including the not-very-predatory SEAL, and OPEN EYED in respect of which I am still unsure about the ‘hope and hide’ piece, partly as if you’re being tactical, hope shouldn’t be a big part of your approach, however, like the game itself, I am possibly missing something.
[Yes, It should be ‘ide ‘n’ ‘ope nobody finds you. There are various pubs in London called Hope & Anchor, but the ones called Anchor & Hope get the order right.]
“HEPTAGON” “PATHOGEN” site:www.fifteensquared.net
– only seen in 2 Mudds (FT), 7 & 8 years ago. I expected to find it in Jay/Jono’s Observer Everyman list.
[Remember being amazed to find out, years ago, that today is an anagram of dynaMo]
Thanks U&f
Thanks Umpire for an enjoyably gentle crossword. My favourites were NAYSAYER, WELLIE, TANK, WATERLOG, and IRON AGE. Thanks flashling for the blog.
Thanks to flashling for the blog and to the commenters as well for the kind words.
Nice puzzle.. perfectly happy with “They” being used in a singular context.. I don’t think its modern in any real sense, “If you were to ask that person, they would say black is white.”, would, I feel be understood by all. English has the complete capacity to be gender neutral, as Italian is with “lei”..
Thanks Umpire n flashling
[Reverse the clue for 23a: “Pathogen: ‘bad form’ (8)” and you’d’ve had a ‘lift and separate’ (I like them) of “bad form“.]