July is with us. Half decent temperatures – some cerebral accompaniment from Amoeba.
My first blog of an Amoeba puzzle – certainly more than a single celled organism. 1ac I had to read three times to realise I had the right answer the first time – a classic misdirection and like the other clues, a great surface reading. Many of the surfaces were not just smooth but humorous too – 11ac and 13ac spring to mind but most clues made me chuckle. All eminently fair too.
Many thanks Amoeba – hope to catch you again soon.
Key * anagram; underline definition; Rev. reversed; DD double definition
Across
1 More work inspired by uncut opiate (6)
Hidden uncUT OPIAte = UTOPIA (as in Thomas More)
5 Notices banker’s out of line and arrogant (8)
clock(notices) + Ure(banker as in river) – l(line) = COCKSURE
9 Increasingly eccentric Conservative stood by Starmer after a change of heart? (8)
c(Conservative) + ran (stood) + keir (starmer) swapping I and e = CRANKIER
10 Journalists pursue naked handsome chap (6)
ap(journalists) + follow(pursue) – fw = APOLLO
11 White powder tastes alarmingly like cocaine at first (4)
Tastes Alarmingly Like Cocaine at first = TALC
12 Sits alone, refreshed after hot shower in winter (10)
(sits alone)* after h(hot) = HAILSTONES
13 Pacific island hotels welcoming statisticians, you heard (6)
hh(hotels) around ons (statisticians) + u (you heard) = HONSHU
15 Flying to Peru in outbreak (8)
(to peru in)* = ERUPTION
18 Abuse whisky on a boat in the end (8)
malt(whisky) + re(on) + a = t (boat in the end) = MALTREAT
22 Pounce on black cat tactically going round traps (6)
Hidden Rev. blacK CAT TActically = ATTACK
24 The state clears up every other bit of bail reforms (3,7)
(clears up + BaIl)* = RES PUBLICA
26 Barrel out of wide street (4)
broad(wide) – b (barrel) = ROAD
27 Family purchasing flash old garment from the East (6)
kin (family) around mo(flash) + o (old) = KIMONO
28 Run away from introduction to jungle-dweller full of love of most animals (8)
me Tarzan(introduction to jungle dweller) – r + o = METAZOAN
29 People mostly accepting National Insurance model (8)
mankind(people) – d (mostly) around ni(national insurance) = MANNIKIN
30 Work at home, drinking relatively badly (6)
diy(work at home) around rel(relatively) = DIRELY
Down
2 In Tobago, having left land, sailors notice strong wind (7)
Tobago – bag(land) around rn(sailors) + ad(notice) = TORNADO
3 Still shuts up an alarm (5)
Pic (still) around an = PANIC
4 Suspect a huge disco has no good music for a rave? (4,5)
(a huge disco -g)* = ACID HOUSE
5 Compound anxiety about offer (7)
care(anxiety) around bid(offer) = CARBIDE
6 In due course I see the last of chronic back disorder (5)
Rev. so (in due course) + ah (I see) + c (last of chronic) = CHAOS
7 Empty bucket put with loos after an accident? (4,3)
(put loos)* = SLOP OUT
8 Extremely replete, sit against Oslo’s foremost sculpture (7)
re(extremely replete) + lie(sit) + v(against) + o (Oslo’s foremost) = RELIEVO
14 Remove flower’s root for nothing (3)
nile(flower) – e (root) = NIL
16 In the Vatican, one old priest bores, not having changed (9)
una(in the Vatican one) + dated(old) around p(priest) = UNADAPTED
17 Occasionally maudlin when climbing mountain (3)
Rev. mAuDlIn (occasionally) = IDA
19 Country elected politician with a cold anger after revolution (7)
am (elected politician – Assembly member) + Rev. a + c (cold) + ire(anger) = AMERICA
20 Husband admitted to mistake about storm (7)
typo(mistake) around h(husband) + on (about) = TYPHOON
21 This African dictator bans special health supplement (7)
this + Amin (African dictator) – s (special) = THIAMIN
23 Stained glass expert leaves, sore (7)
cha(leaves) + gall(sore) = CHAGALL
25 Stop retired military man entering storage unit (5)
kb(storage unit) around col(military man) = BLOCK
26 One who demolishes almost nothing artist’s put in the van (5)
zero – o (almost nothing) after ra(artist) = RAZER
Phew! The setter was making us work hard with this one, but what a lot of fun it was.
Many thanks to Amoeba and to twencelas.
Excellent blog, Twencelas, and well done for providing it so early! I found this puzzle relentlessly difficult, and slow-going, but I have the unfair advantage of living in Greece, so I get a two-hour head start.
I would say, Amoeba was not feeling very solver-friendly when setting this challenge; some very skilful touches, but not all of the wordplays ( or the surfaces) seemed accessible, and some a bit “off”.
26(ac), for ROAD, is not the best bit of setting: OK, I’m sure that “barrel” = B is in Chambers, but a poor effort.
Ditto, “relatively” = REL, “special” = S, “politician” = AM. Etc.
“Me Tarzan” ( 28ac); brilliant idea, but “introduction TO Tarzan”, is either “He Tarzan” or “Meet Tarzan”, surely? When the solutions are this tough ( METAZOAN ), even a tad of ? in the wordplay is frustrating.
I can see the merit in the likes of RELIEVO and CHAGALL, but overall this crossword was a bit too arch, for me.
One for the experts, which I am not.
Impressive ‘though. Thanks to Amoeba and Twence.
Enjoyed the puzzle. Excellent blog.
Thanks Amoeba and twencelas.
My top faves: COCKSURE, APOLLO, METAZOAN, TORNADO, UNADAPTED and THIAMIN.
COCKSURE
clocks
RES PUBLICA
(clearsup+bi)*
METAZOAN
I think ‘of most animals’ works better.
Super stuff, as ever. UTOPIA, COCKSURE, APOLLO, METAZOAN, TORNADO, UNADAPTED – lovely little touches all over the shop. Erm, is Amoeba a fan of Robot Wars by any chance? Some of those words look oddly familiar! Ta lots both.
Couple of bits of dnk, the ONS in Honshu and Mount Ida: nho either of the Greek ones nor the gold mining one in my home state, hey ho.
Agree, ENB @2, “introduction of jungle dweller” would’ve been better in 27ac … minor misdemeanor, not a hanging.
Lots of fun, ta Amoeba and Twencelas.
[PS Love single-celled organisms, tiny life-mysteries: they hunt when they’re hungry yet haven’t a single neuron, let alone a brain. Might’ve said this before .. one of my things!]
Can someone enlighten me why Ida is a mountain. Not one I know.
Thanks twencelas for the blog, and to commenters & solvers. I’m off out into the heat now, so commenting early, but I can confirm all single-letter abbreviations appear in Chambers.
Regarding Tarzan-gate, I think someone’s first words to you are your introduction to them. I’d hoped the PDM might have raised some smiles to compensate for the admittedly difficult word, but perhaps it’s a bit hot for such things.
As for the theme, I was just relieved Hypno-Disc never won!
Ericw@6, I got lucky with Mount Ida. It is a Cretan mountain and Mrs RD & I holidayed in Crete last Autumn.
Amoeba, I love “Tarzan-gate”, more than you’ll know.
After all, the introduction in Dr. No, was ” My name’s Bond, James Bond”
But still, ROAD, is not a classic. And I did have a smile on my face, after cracking a few. IanB.
This one was way to tough for me – a mix of tricky clueing, nho solutions (CHAGALL, IDA, RELIEVO), and unfamiliar abbreviations (am for assembly member).
Can someone explain what “traps” is doing in 22?
Of the few I did manage to solve, UTOPIA was my favorite, I like the misleading clue. Thanks Amoeba and twencelas!
“traps” in 22 is the indicator of a hidden word (trapped inside), reversed in this case (going round).
Thanks Amoeba and twencelas. I was good with 28; took the clue construction in the same vein as, e.g., “friend to Pierre” = “ami”, i.e. a context-indicator. Robot Wars? Who knew?
[Belated nod to ALP@4]
A day late, but I’m compelled to point out that the meteorological conditions necessary for hail are far more likely in spring than winter. (As I understand it, you need an inversion with warmer air under cooler air, plus a strong updraft, such that would-be rain is repeatedly re-frozen in the upper atmosphere until it is too heavy for the updraft, causing it to fall as ice. The necessary warm air isn’t likely in winter.)