I thought I'd seen Hubble before but I can't find any previous puzzles on 225 which have appeared under that name, so maybe this is a new compiler.
The clues were all very sound and had a good variety. My favourite was 25D for the cunning use of Head – almost the last thing you'd expect is for it simply to be the person's name.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | APHID |
Flipping secretary kept quiet about pest in bed (5)
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PA<(=personal assistant i.e. secretary) + hid(=kept quiet about). Bed in the def refers to flower beds. |
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| 4 | DEADLINES |
Limits reasons why calls cannot be made (9)
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CD/DD (dead lines = why call cannot be made) |
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| 9 | ARISTOTLE |
One teacher taken aback by child introducing the French philosopher (9)
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A + sir<(=teacher) + tot(=child) + le(="the" in French) |
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| 10 | ANTES |
Bookie at last contributing to TV presenter’s bets (5)
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[Booki]e in Ant's(=TV presenter's, one half on Ant & Dec) |
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| 11 | TSUNAMI |
Is setter nuts about first wave? (7)
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(Am I)(=is setter) with nuts* in front of it(first) |
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| 12 | GENERAL |
Information age leaks at the outset not specific (7)
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Gen(=information) + era(=age) + l[eaks] |
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| 13 | ENTITLES |
Grants a right to settle in Mobile (8)
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(Settle in)* with mobile as the anagram indicator |
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| 15 | ADULTS |
Mature individuals saluted oddly after dropping ecstasy (6)
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Salut[e]d* |
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| 18 | DEAR ME |
Goodness! Comic Jack’s packing weapon (4,2)
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Dee(=Jack Dee, UK comic) around arm(=weapon) |
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| 20 | ANEURYSM |
Nurse Amy accidently produces swelling in vessel (8)
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(Nurse Amy)* |
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| 23 | VISITOR |
Tourist‘s permit terminated prematurely before riot breaks out (7)
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Vis[a] + riot* |
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| 24 | AUGMENT |
With half of month gone crew finally get increase (7)
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Aug[ust] + men(=crew) + [ge]t |
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| 26 | DROPS |
Doctor heading procedures providing solution for viewers (5)
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D{octo}r + Ops(=procedures). Def refers to eye drops. |
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| 27 | SOCIALISM |
Raison d’être of Labour Party this writer’s embracing, son (9)
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Social(=party) + (I'm(=this writer's) around s{on}) |
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| 28 | ON THE ROAD |
Dealing with tense champion getting publicity travelling (2,3,4)
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On(=dealing with) + t{ense}(abbev used in grammar) + hero(=champion) + ad(=publicity) |
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| 29 | ETHOS |
Spirit supplied by Newmarket hostelry (5)
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Hidden in "Newmarket hostelry" |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | APARTHEID |
Papers supporting articles covering equality and system suppressing it (9)
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ID(=papers) after ((a + the)(=articles) around par(=equality)) |
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| 2 | HAIKU |
Report of triumph at altitude in lines from the East (5)
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Hom of "high coup" |
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| 3 | DETRACT |
Take away tips from Dante passage (7)
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D[ant]e + tract(=passage) |
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| 4 | DETAILED |
Explained how follower is restricted by Act (8)
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Tail(=follower, as in tailing someone) in deed(=act) |
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| 5 | AVENGE |
Exact retribution on German hiding uniform during course of action (6)
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Avenue(=course of action) with G{erman} replacing(=hiding) u{niform} (abbrev from phonetic alphabet) |
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| 6 | LEARNED |
Discovered illegal run held periodically (7)
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Even letters of "illegal run held" |
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| 7 | NATURALLY |
Beat around Russian river extremely lonely of course (9)
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Tan<(=beat) + Ural(=Russian river) + l[onel]y |
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| 8 | SISAL |
One interupting girl climbing rope (5)
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I in lass< |
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| 14 | TRANSPORT |
Move coaches out of Italy to Marseilles for example (9)
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Tra[i]ns (I{taly} removed) + port(=Marseilles for example) |
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| 16 | SOMETIMES |
Note police turning over house at intervals (9)
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So(=note) + MET(=police) + semi<(=house) |
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| 17 | ENHANCED |
Conclude he can, receiving treatment inside, be made better (8)
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End(=conclude) around (he can)* |
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| 19 | MATISSE |
China welcoming International Space Station painter (7)
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China(=mate in the "my old china" sense) around I{nternational} S{pace} S{tation} |
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| 21 | UPGRADE |
Daughter in Prague working to pay for nicer accommodation perhaps (7)
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D{aughter} in Prague* |
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| 22 | PRESTO |
Break into Post Office quickly (6)
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Rest(=break, as in taking a break) in P{ost} O{ffice} |
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| 23 | VIDEO |
Film capital banning card game (5)
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[Monte]video. Monte is a gambling game in which the player bets that the next card drawn will match the suit of the previous two. |
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| 25 | EDITH |
Head of Hollywood costume department sailing north aboard yacht I’d equipped (5)
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Hidden, rev in "yacht I'd equipped". The def refers to Edith Head, who won a record 8 Oscars for costume design. |
The clue for 20 includes the alleged word “accidently”. To me this is a sign of illiteracy, but Fowler’s Modern English Usage generously (or perhaps sarcastically) comments, “it is very much a minority form”.
You may have seen Hubble on Big Dave’s blog where he started, as many other setter’s who have become nationally published began
Congratulations to him on making his national debut
In the spirit of welcoming a debut, I’d be more inclined to suspect a typo that both setter and editor missed due to its similarity with the correct word; it seems an odd choice to consciously make when the alternative would have conveyed exactly the same clue. Illiteracy seems rather a harsh judgement.
As our blogger notes, a solid set of clues – I did need to turn to Wiki for the nho costume designer. UPGRADE, AUGMENT and, COTD, TRANSPORT were my faves.
Thanks Hubble and NealH
An enjoyable puzzle to start the week.
I had lots of ticks, including ARISTOTLE, ANEURYSM (typo assumed),
VISITOR, SOCIALISM, APARTHEID, TRANSPORT and UPGRADE – lovely surfaces all round.
Thanks to Hubble and NealH.
Excellent clues, good level of difficulty for a Monday. I liked SOMETIMES and MATISSE.
To quibble – why else are we here? – I don’t think AVENGE = “exact retribution on”. If I avenge somebody, I exact retribution on someone else on their behalf, right?
Like PostMark, I suspect the setter made that error accidentally.
Thanks both. Very gentle in comparison to recent challenges. EDITH was my only uncertainty, but absolutely fair now I’ve updated my GK. I was not awake enough to identify anything untoward with ‘accidently’ and AVENGE for me fits at least one definition.
Maybe it’s the result of a new setter but I found it hard to break into this one but once a few dropped I found myself whizzing through it.
Liked ANEURYSM (missed the typo was just glad to see it straight away). EDITH as already said was clever misdirection.
Didn’t quite get TSUNAMI but could see all the notes just couldn’t play them in the right order so cheers for the blog.
Cheers Hubble and NealH
This puzzle pitched perfectly for me. My favourites were VISITOR, SOCIALISM, SISAL, TRANSPORT and VIDEO.
Cannot understand the fuss about ‘accidently’. It’s in OED, COLLINS, Merriam-Webster and does not get underlined in Notepad as I’m typing this. Thanks to Hubble and NealH
Welcome, Hubble, and thanks for the nice puzzle! Plenty to enjoy here, with lots of variety. Faves were APHID, AUGMENT, ADULTS and APARTHEID.
I did raise an eyebrow at AVENGE as per Digger@5, but if TFO@7 says there’s a definition that fits then I’ll take their word for it!
Just a couple of cryptic grammar points that struck me:
break (REST) into P[ost] O[ffice] would ordinarily need to be something like “inside” rather than “into” because the latter on its own is neither a positional adjective nor verb.
Police (MET) turning over house (SEMI<) would ordinarily need to be something like Police turned over house (with "turned over" interpreted adjectively) or possibly Police turn over house (with "turn over" interpreted as an imperative). Again, it's hard to see how to interpret "turning over" front-adjectively although perhaps cf upside-down cake.
And I think the "be" in the clue for 17a ENHANCED has no function in the cryptic reading. (I don't see how it can form part of the definition.)
Thanks again, and keep them coming!
A quickish solve, and I did finish, for the first time in days. I never noticed “accidently”.
Glad to see Edith Head used in a professional crossword. I write clues to share with friends (including here), but don’t have the bandwidth to come up with full puzzles. I once came up with “Head of costuming to alter halter top (5),” which is, I think, not as good as the version offered here.
The eight Oscars are both a record for any costumer and for any woman. (Walt Disney has the overall record; he owned the best animated short category for the best part of three decades.)
In 8 down, why is it interupting and not interrupting? Any significance?
not sure how those two literals got through – apologies