Only Bluejacket’s second appearance in the Independent after a debut last month. I blogged that first puzzle and said very positive things about it, and I’m about to do the same for this one.
A thoughtfully constructed offering, I thought, with delightful surfaces throughout and pretty accessible general knowledge when you needed it. A couple of chestnuts in the mix, but all setters use them from time to time. Somebody, somewhere, will be seeing it for the first time.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Having issue with hearth, cooked boring meal
FATHERHOOD
An insertion of (HEARTH)* in FOOD. The insertion indicator is ‘boring’ and the anagrind is ‘cooked’.
7 Band of elite soldiers back on warpath
SASH
A charade of SAS and H for the final letter of ‘warpath’.
9 Spotted flatfish at bottom of river
DABBED
A charade of DAB and BED.
10 Warm fur coats start to outsell cold one
SOCIABLE
An insertion of O for the initial letter of ‘outsell’, C and I in SABLE. The insertion indicator is ‘coats’.
11 Stole evidence in Oxbridge row?
BOAT RACE
A charade of BOA and TRACE.
12 Hope is a small, quiet emotion
ASPIRE
A charade of A, S, P for the musically ‘quiet’ and IRE.
13 Betray group of spies as dictator
SELL
Aural wordplay (‘as dictator’) for CELL.
15 Bluffer’s expression perfect when holding decent card
POKER FACE
An insertion of OK in PERF followed by ACE. The insertion indicator is ‘when holding’. PERF for ‘perfect’ will come from grammar, referencing the perfect tense.
17 In a stupor, Tom perhaps needs a pick-me-up
CATATONIC
A charade of CAT, A and TONIC.
18 Couple performing outstanding tango
DUET
A charade of DUE and T for the phonetic alphabet ‘tango’.
20 Pointillist surfaces on some unfamiliar art
SEURAT
The outside letters of SomE UnfamiliaR ArT give you the French Post-Impressionist painter. Here‘s one of his best-known works.
22 Nancy’s very flirtatious act causes offence
TRESPASS
More French: a charade of TRÈS, which would be ‘very’ as spoken in Nancy, France and PASS.
24 Military ship worker who might deal with Green Berets
MILLINER
A charade of MIL and LINER. Nicely misleading surface.
25 Dash of medium strength liquor ultimately vermouth
ESPRIT
A charade of ESP, R for the final letter of ‘liquor’ and IT for ‘vermouth’ (only ever in gin and it, I fancy). ESP is short for Extra Sensory Perception, which might be said to be a strength of a medium that you encountered during a seance.
26 Upsilon and psi reversed in guessing game
I-SPY
A reversal of Y and PSI.
27 Checked others showered
RESTRAINED
A charade of REST and RAINED.
Down
2 Seafood close to sea bass and sole
ABALONE
A charade of A for the final letter of ‘sea’, B and ALONE.
3 Henry put on pretty dress
HABIT
A charade of H for the scientific measurement the ‘Henry’ and A BIT. ‘I was a bit/pretty fed up about it.’
4 Racecourse favourite gets VIP treatment
RED CARPET
This one’s been round the block a bit. A charade of REDCAR and PET.
5 Somewhat friendly pranks seeming to upset
ON SPEAKING TERMS
(PRANKS SEEMING TO)* with ‘upset’ as the anagrind.
6 Things said at police getting twisted
DICTA
A reversal of AT CID. Not a word that is probably in most folk’s active vocabulary, but you’ve got three crossing letters out of five, ‘say/said’ might prompt you to words like DICTATE or DICTION, and there’s an off-chance you might have come across the legal term obiter dicta in crosswords before. That’s how this solver got there, anyway.
7 Bog went by water on map, near delta
SWAMPLAND
A charade of SWAM, PLAN and D for the phonetic alphabet ‘delta’.
8 Special festival’s back with yen to spend extravagantly
SPLURGE
A charade of SP, L for the final letter of ‘festival’ and URGE.
14 Eleventh-hour comeback using creative thinking
LATERALLY
A charade of LATE and RALLY.
16 Runner smuggles ketamine and ecstasy for dodgy dealer
RACKETEER
An insertion of KET and E in RACER. The insertion indicator is ‘smuggles’.
17 Directs Rocky titles
CREDITS
(DIRECTS)* with ‘rocky’ as the anagrind. Referring to the titles/credits at the end of a film or TV show.
19 Beheaded queens wrongly over sex in private washroom
EN SUITE
An insertion of IT for ‘sex’ in ([Q]UEENS)* The insertion indicator is ‘over’ and the anagrind is ‘wrongly’.
21 He sings relatively high note for audience
TENOR
Aural wordplay (‘for audience’) of TENNER.
23 On the counter is energy drink
PEPSI
A reversal of IS PEP.
Many thanks to Bluejacket for another fine Independent puzzle.
Super puzzle. Difficult to single out clues as all of them combined excellent surfaces and clever disguises.
My top two favourites were the pointillist and the vermouth.
Thanks all
I did not parse the ESP element of ESPRIT so thanks to blogger for explaining that. Otherwise, all went in smoothly and I agree many of the surfaces shine. SOCIABLE, POKER FACE, SEURAT, DUET, HABIT and LATERALLY my favourites. Nice to have a relatively straightforward solve after my abject failure yesterday!
Thanks Bluejacket and Pierre
Agree with the introduction by Pierre. Needed help with ESP and also Perf for perfect. Thanks. A gentle Sunday morning solve. BOAT RACE and POKERFACE (now I understand the parsing) my favourites. Thanks Bluejacket.
Damn it, gsolphotog@1 has stolen my thunder.
A puzzle that I cannot find a fault with, I always put a tick against the clues which impress me after solving them.
Lots of ticks here.
No point in picking any clue out for man of the match.*
These days, I doubt “a tenner” is a “high note” (21d), unless you are as old as me.
*OK: motm 15(ac), POKER FACE. A perfect clue for the right definition.
Clever, clever stuff, and very enjoyable too.
Beret in the air, BJ et Pierre
Probably the tenor that’s singing relatively high. Very nice puzzle, thanks.
Thanks Bluejacket and Pierre
Good puzzle. Good blog.
My faves: SOCIABLE, POKER FACE, DUET, I-SPY, O S TERMS and LATERALLY.
I agree that the definition for 21d should be ‘He sings relatively high’.
Excellent puzzle by the way. Can’t remember what I thought of the last one.
Underlining corrected for 21d.
James@5 in my day, a fiver was high note.
These days, it’s a pony or a monkey that the bookmakers are looking for!
Great stuff. What a treat for the weekend. FATHERHOOD, BOAT RACE, ESPRIT, RED CARPET, RACKETEER, SWAMPLAND and many more beautifully clued.
Thanks both. A nice level for a warm Sunday, with a few unknowns which are generally welcome, e.g. ‘mil’ for military in MILLINER. I remembered neither pointillist nor SEURAT yet he was helpfully clued. I didn’t realise LATERALLY could refer to thinking other than when thinking is specifically mentioned.
Aces again, Jack — fantastic grid! Feel like I’m echoing many with favoriting ESPRIT (“medium strength”) and SEURAT; also fond of MILLINER and FATHERHOOD.
Thanks all for your lovely comments, and thanks especially to Pierre!
Thanks bluejacket et Pierre. Nicely tractable after a spell of gardening. Seurat took a while after being convinced the RAT part was ART* and struggling to justify the first bit.
Thanks Bluejacket, that slipped down quite nicely despite missing BOAT RACE & I-SPY. Top picks were FATHERHOOD, TRESPASS, MILLINER, HABIT, and PEPSI. Thanks Pierre for the blog.