My apologies for the very late posting of the blog on what was a crazy day at work.
I enjoy solving puzzles on this grid, which accommodates many shorter entries, although it always makes for a time-consuming blog – and this is especially true when you are dealing with a compiler like Tees, whose wordplay can be somewhat intricate. You normally realise when have actually arrived at the correct parsing, though, so it is worth battling through.
There was a lot to entertain as well as to tease me here. I struggled with 17, as I wasn’t sure of the geographical names, and I was also ignorant of the Biblical witch at 22. As for my preferred clues, I liked 5, for the unexpected two-word equivalent “had on” for “wore” in the wordplay; 6, for hiding its sauciness by linking wordplay and definition through craft references; 9, for the ingenious wordplay; and 12, for construction, with its “duo” device.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| ACROSS
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||
| 9 | INANE |
Senseless how burlesque ends (5)
|
| Cryptically, the word “burlesquE” ends in an ‘e’! | ||
| 10 | HEARTFELT |
Explosive material about creativity sincere (9)
|
| ART (=creativity) in [HE (=explosive) + FELT (=material, fabric)] | ||
| 11 | LANCASTER |
Crouchback for one thrown in road by king (9)
|
| CAST (=thrown, hurled) in [LANE (=road) + R (=king, i.e. rex)]; the reference is to Edmund Crouchback, the 1st Earl of Lancaster, member of the Plantagenet Dynasty | ||
| 12 | IMPEL |
Mischievous duo taking female out for drive (5)
|
| IMP + EL<f> (=mischievous duo, i.e. two mischievous characters; “taking female (=F) out” means letter “f” is dropped; to impel is to urge, instigate, drive (forward) | ||
| 13 | NOVELLO |
Look after book for Welsh entertainer (7)
|
| NOVEL (=book) + LO (=look!, i.e. exclamation); the reference is to Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello (1893-1951) | ||
| 15/1/2 | NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL |
Four in romcom linked with sexual celebration (7,4,8)
|
| IV (=four, in Roman numerals) in [NOTTING HILL (romcom, i.e. 1999 film starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts) + CARNAL (=sexual)] | ||
| 17 | CELEB |
Tabloid target in Sulawesi — French are leaving (5)
|
| CELEB<es> (=Sulawesi, the original Indonesian name of the island known in Portuguese as Celebes; French are (=es, from you are=tu es) leaving” means letters “es” are dropped) | ||
| 18 | MIX |
Cheeky Girl shunning any number to be sociable? (3)
|
| MI<n>X (=cheeky girl; “shunning any number (=N, i.e. an indefinite number, in maths)” means letter “n” is dropped) | ||
| 20 | AROMA |
Charm gypsy man among reformed drinkers (5)
|
| ROM (=gypsy man) in AA (=reformed drinkers, i.e. Alcoholics Anonymous); figuratively, an aroma can be a flavour or peculiar charm | ||
| 22 | ENDORSE |
Back where witch lived — she heartless (7)
|
| ENDOR (=where witch lived; the Witch of Endor is to be found in the OT in 1 Samuel, and is consulted by Saul for advice following the death of the prophet Samuel) + S<h>E (“heartless” means middle letter is dropped) | ||
| 25 | NEEDLED |
Dander raised, wanted to strangle learner driver (7)
|
| L (=learner driver) in NEEDED (=wanted, lacked); you are needled, annoyed when you have your dander raised | ||
| 26 | BEAST |
American devoured by worst animal (5)
|
| A (=American) in BEST (worst, colloquially) | ||
| 27 | UNLEASHED |
Use handle wrongly — let go (9)
|
| *(USE HANDLE); “wrongly” is anagram indicator | ||
| 30 | REMBRANDT |
Painting class in new term (9)
|
| BRAND (=class, sort) in *(TERM); “new” is anagram indicator; cf. A (painting by) Rembrandt brought millions at auction yesterday. | ||
| 31 | PUMPS |
Repeatedly questions MP involved in discharge (5)
|
| MP in PUS (=discharge, infected fluid from a sore, say) | ||
| DOWN
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||
| 1 |
See 15 Across
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|
| 2 |
See 15 Across
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|
| 3 | HERA |
Letters from Brother Aldhelm deceived goddess (4)
|
| Hidden (“letters from”) in “brotHER Aldhelm; in Greek mythology, Hera is the wife of Zeus, deceived by him on numerous occasions and known for taking vengeance on his lovers and their children | ||
| 4 | CHAT ROOM |
Online space strange to M Roach (4,4)
|
| *(TO M ROACH); “strange” is anagram indicator | ||
| 5 | HADRON |
Something tiny Romeo wore outside (6)
|
| R (=Romeo, in NATO alphabet) in HAD ON (=wore, e.g. clothes); a hadron is one of a class of subatomic particles, hence “something tiny” | ||
| 6 | STRIPTEASE |
Tapestries restored where threads gradually removed? (10)
|
| *(TAPESTRIES); “restored” is anagram indicator; the “threads” of the definition should be read as a slang word for “clothes” | ||
| 7 | DELPHI |
Parking in Asian metropolis for sacred site (6)
|
| P (=parking, car park) in DELHI (=Asian metropolis, i.e. capital of India); Delphi was a sacred site in Ancient Greece | ||
| 8 | ET AL |
Lead removed from silver say and elsewhere (2,2)
|
| <m>ETAL (=silver, say); “lead (=first letter) from” means letter “m” is dropped; “et al” is an abbreviation of “et alibi” in this instance | ||
| 13 | NICHE |
Husband in delicate position (5)
|
| H (=husband) in NICE (=delicate, fine) | ||
| 14 | LABORATORY |
Room for experimentation in party rhetoric (10)
|
| LAB (=political, i.e. labour) + ORATORY (=rhetoric) | ||
| 16 | GLAND |
Good boy receiving new organ (5)
|
| N (=new, as in NT) in [G (=good) + LAD (=boy)] | ||
| 19 | XENOLITH |
Times Cryptic Hotline gives ‘rock fragment‘ (8)
|
| x (=times, as in 5 x 4 = 20) + *(HOTLINE); “cryptic” is anagram indicator; in Chambers, a xenolith is a rock fragment of extraneous origin which has been incorporated into magma | ||
| 21 | OKLAHOMA |
State in which goodish priest keeps house (8)
|
| HO (=house, as abbreviation) in OK (=goodish, reasonable) +n LAMA (=priest)] | ||
| 23 | DEAR ME |
Limb found in river and well (4,2)
|
| ARM (=limb) in DEE (=river, in Scotland); both Well! and Dear me! are exclamations expressing shock, dismay | ||
| 24 | EQUINE |
Horse one Queen maltreated (6)
|
| *(I (=one) + QUEEN); “maltreated” is anagram indicator | ||
| 26 | BURT |
One called 11 baronet encircling old city (4)
|
| UR (=old city, in OT) in BT (=baronet, i.e. an abbreviation); the definition alludes to the American actor Burt Lancaster (=entry at 11) (1913-94) | ||
| 28 | ASPS |
Deadly reptiles spring up to claim son (4)
|
| S (=son) in APS (SPA=spring, for water, well; “up” indicates vertical reversal) | ||
| 29 | DUSK |
Many a Welsh runner in the gloaming (4)
|
| D (=many, i.e. 500 in Roman numerals) + USK (= a Welsh “runner”, i.e. river); gloaming is dusk, twilight |
Thanks both. Some tricky GK in here; some unknown, and some forgotten, even including HE for explosive in HEARTFELT, even though it stands for ‘high explosive’ which refers to an explosive material, the word appearing for other purposes in the clue. Ultimately, I only needed assistance with HADRON – I routinely overlook two word options, in this case ‘had on’ for wore, and I wouldn’t say the definition of ‘something tiny’ was uber generous, given that the D in DUSK was represented as ‘many’….rats in the garden, yes, Earth pounds in the pocket, alas no longer.
I. too, got stuck on HADRON, which is slightly embarrassing as I have a degree in physics. As to the witch of Endor, those of us who remember the sixties TV series will recall that Samantha’s mother was called Endora.
I enjoyed this puzzle. Once or twice I had to check my solutions (the rock, the HADRON and LANCASTER) on Google to make sure of the GK but the parsing, albeit ‘intricate’, always led me in the right direction. If I had to pick a favourite I would choose the long entry for the sexual / celebration. Very smooth puzzle as always from Tees. Thanks and thanks RR for a great blog at the end of your busy day.
It would have been fairer to have Ewoks rather than witches living in Endor; I’m sure there are many more Star Wars fans than Biblical scholars in the audience. (But do the Ewoks really live on Endor? The screenplay only says “the forest moon of Endor”; is Endor the name of the moon, or of the planet which has an unnamed forested moon?)
Anyway, I got there, and it was fun along the way. I left DUSK unparsed; it’s a cliched joke around here that anything can be the name of either a river or a fish, but the USK is a new one for me. And I agree with TFO that 500 is only “many” given appropriate context; he said it better than I was going to.