The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29820.
A prime example of what to expect of a Pasquale crossword: sound clues and an exploration of the dustier corners of your vocabularly (or maybe corners that you had not visited before) – the latter on overdrive in this puzzle, and the former definitely up to par. I particularly liked 1A CERVANTES, and 12A CENTRE STAGE – a good spot anagram.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | CERVANTES |
Writer of prose can start to turn verse out (9)
|
| An anagram (‘out’) of ‘can’ plus T (‘start to Turn’) plus ‘verse’. Miguel de Cervantes, whose masterwork is Don Quixote, also published a long poem Viaje del Parnaso. | ||
| 6 | REBUS |
Problem has engineers attending vehicle (5)
|
| A charade of RE (Royal ‘Engineers’) plus BUS (‘vehicle’). | ||
| 9 | CUBIT |
Measure copper coin (5)
|
| A charade of CU (chemical symbol, ‘copper’) plus BIT (‘coin’).12A | ||
| 10 | UROLOGIST |
Our unusual day-to-day record is beginning to trouble medical expert (9)
|
| A charade of URO, an anagram (‘unusual’) of ‘our’ plus LOG (‘day-to-day record’) plus ‘is’ plus T (‘beginning to Trouble’). | ||
| 11 | DOT |
Point made by idiot, learner expelled (3)
|
| DOLT (‘idiot’) minus the L (‘learner expelled’). | ||
| 12 | CENTRE STAGE |
Secret agent put out in prominent position (6,5)
|
| An anagram (‘put out’) of ‘secret agent’. | ||
| 14 | SECTARY |
Office worker about to be dismissed as member of religious group (7)
|
| A subtraction: SEC[re]TARY (‘office worker’) minus RE (‘about to be dismissed’). | ||
| 15 | ETHANOL |
New hotel bringing in a new intoxicant (7)
|
| An envelope (‘bringing in’) of ‘a’ plus N (‘new’) in ETHOL, an anagram (‘new’ – the first one) of ‘hotel’. The chemical name for what is commonly called alcohol. | ||
| 16 | PLUMBED |
Examined excellent item of furniture (7)
|
| A charade of PLUM (‘excellent’) plus BED (‘item of furniture’). | ||
| 19 | FEMORAL |
What’s exciting for male? It’s to do with what mini reveals (7)
|
| An anagram (‘what’s exciting’) of ‘for male’. FEMORAL is of the femur, the thigh bone, or more generally, of the fhigh. | ||
| 22 | MATERIALIST |
Mum, one of the celebs who values goods above godliness? (11)
|
| A charade of MATER (Latin mother, ‘mum’) plus I (‘one’) plus A-LIST (‘the celebs’). | ||
| 23 | CAM |
River settlement not quiet (3)
|
| A subtraction: CAM[p] (‘settlement’) minus the P (‘not quiet’). | ||
| 24 | ADULATION |
Grown-up, one getting on, receiving a fan’s fawning (9)
|
| An envelope (‘receiving’) of ‘a’ in ADULT (‘grown-up’) plus I (‘one’) plus (‘getting’) ‘on’. | ||
| 26 | SAUTE |
Cooked a suet dish (5)
|
| An anagram (‘cooked’) of ‘a suet’. | ||
| 27 | OGHAM |
Old characters travel around to get meat (5)
|
| A charade of OG, a reversal (‘around’) of GO (‘travel’) plus (‘to get’) HAM (‘meat’). | ||
| 28 | TWEEDIEST |
Most fond of outdoor life, stops delving into screen message (9)
|
| An envelope (‘delving into’) of DIES (‘stops’) in TWEET (‘screen message’). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | CICADAS |
Baddy captured by American agency’s chirpy types (7)
|
| An envelope (‘captured by’) of CAD (‘baddy’) in CIA’S (‘American agency’s’). | ||
| 2 | ROBOTIC |
Bishop into something radical, mostly very cold and inhuman (7)
|
| A charade of ROBOT, an envelope (‘into’) of B (‘bishop’, chess notation) in ROOT (‘something radical’); plus IC[y] (‘very cold’) mnus its last letter (‘mostly’). | ||
| 3 | ANTECHAMBER |
Be got hold of by a merchant working in reception area (11)
|
| A envelope (‘got hold of by’) of ‘be’ in ANTECHAMR, an anagram (‘working’) of ‘a merchant’. | ||
| 4 | TOURNEY |
Sporting contest – time for Jack to travel (7)
|
| JOURNEY (‘to travel’) with the J replaced by T (‘time for Jack’). | ||
| 5 | SCOURGE |
Curse of firm limited in growth (7)
|
| An envelope (‘in’ – or just possibly ‘limited in’?) of CO (‘firm’ – I interpret ‘limited’ as indicating the abbreiation) in SURGE (‘growth’). | ||
| 6 | RIO |
Port imbibed by patriot (3)
|
| A hidden (‘imbibed by’) answer in ‘patRIOt’. | ||
| 7 | BRITAIN |
Country woman given education in statistics group (7)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of RITA (‘woman given education’ – a reference to the play and film Educating Rita) in BIN (‘statistics group’). | ||
| 8 | SITWELL |
Poet not to lounge? (7)
|
| Definition and literal interpretation. The ‘poet’ is probably Edith Sitwell, although her brothers Osbert and Sacheverell aslo both wrote poetry. | ||
| 13 | SCHEMATISED |
Maybe like things put into boxes or chests I made specially (11)
|
| An anagram (‘specially’) of ‘chests I made’. | ||
| 16 | POMPANO |
Fish old fellow catches quietly in Italian river (7)
|
| A double envelope (‘catches’ and ‘in’) of P (‘quietly’) in O (‘old’) plus MAN (‘fellow’) in PO (‘Italian river’). | ||
| 17 | UNTRUTH |
Story told originally in a French book about a Moabite woman (7)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of T (‘Told originally’) in UN (‘a French’) plus RUTH (‘book about a Moabite woman’). | ||
| 18 | DIARIST |
Nobody was such a writer (7)
|
| A reference to the comic novel The Diary of a Nobody by the Grossmith brothers. Nobody lived at The Laurels, Brickfield Terrace, Holloway. Who was he? | ||
| 19 | FAIENCE |
Receiver gets hold of excellent glazed earthenware (7)
|
| An envelope (‘gets hold of’) of AI (A1, ‘excellent’) in FENCE (‘receiver’ of stolen goods) | ||
| 20 | RECLUSE |
Hermit with cunning plan to eat half a cake (7)
|
| An envelope (‘to eat’) of ECL[air] (‘cake’), taking just the first three letters (‘half of’), in RUSE (‘cunning plan’). | ||
| 21 | LAMBENT |
Shining, keen to hide slightest bit of blackness (7)
|
| An envelope (‘to hide’) of B (‘slightest bit of Blackness’) in LAMENT (‘keen’). | ||
| 25 | AIM |
This writer’s going after a goal (3)
|
| A charade of ‘a’ plus I’M (‘this writer’s’). |
Nonplussed by nhho Nobody, but with crossers the writer was clear. Also loi, tweediest … eventually an image, tweed jacket, shotgun, “All Creatures .. ” -ish, came to mind. Or is the ref more horsey, Henley On … -ish? Perfectly nice, I’m sure some do this xwd. Otherwise all pretty straight, oh except the put-together fish. Faience I knew … mrs ginf had a necklace of faience beads. All good fun, ta to the Don and Peter.
COTD: FEMORAL
Liked the extended def. Someone may call it below the belt?
Also liked MATERIALIST, SCHEMATISED and LAMBENT.
SCOURGE
Like PeterO, I too thought ‘firm limited’=CO (abbreviated ‘company’).
Thanks Pasquale and PeterO.
Thanks PeterO. Needed you for ”Nobody” the diarist. Thought it was a bit more like a nom de plume or ghost writer. Also needed help with FEMORAL, and POMPANO, despite my nearly-there attempts. Had the parsing for FAIENCE but didn’t know the word. Thanks to Pasquale’s cluing, I got there in the end.
The chirpy types, CICADAS, are familiar to me. Loved the clue. ”Cad” not in my idiom, but it comes up often in cryptic crossword land. They come out here every seven years or so, depending on local and planetary goings-on. It’s such a relief when they rise above my tinnitus, and I know they’re real, not imagined.
A few too many obscurities for my liking. DIARIST, especially, was a bit mean.
FEMORAL, agree with KVa@2, great clue.
For the history of the miniskirt. … Apparently it goes back thousands of years.
We had Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton coming down here and stirring things up. But their miniskirts weren’t really all that mini. It’s amazing in retrospect that they caused such a fuss. I remember when our school tunics were measured for acceptability at so many inches above the knee line. They did that with our hair length as well, above the collar. Clue earworm. Those were the days ……. (another mini skirt wearing Brit of that era).
[Rainforest cicadas are amazing, pdm @3: big downpour, silence, then one, then two, then a deafening chorus. Here in the west we had the clicking type, reliable heralds of summer. Sadly, haven’t heard one in decades]