Our usual Wednesday setter is here again.
I think it’s fair to say Eccles is good at this. A couple of old favourite crossword tricks, clear wordplay for anything obscure (for example 28a and 2d), everything making sense when you finally see what’s intended, and plenty of laughs on the way. I liked the surface images of a Chancellor on horseback and a composer upset by negative reviews, but my favourite was the racing driver lying down. Thanks Eccles as always.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | DRAUGHT |
Pulling is fraught with danger, at first, for female (7)
|
| [f]RAUGHT, with the F (abbreviation for female) replaced by the first letter of D[anger].
As in a draught horse = one that pulls a heavy vehicle. |
||
| 5 | ON ORDER |
Awaited from supplier: fancy drone coated in gold (2,5)
|
| Anagram (fancy) of DRONE, contained in OR (heraldic term for the colour gold or yellow). | ||
| 9 | RONDO |
Movement from Republican working party (5)
|
| R (abbreviation for Republican) + ON (working, as in “is the power on?”) + DO (slang for a party).
Musical term for a piece of music featuring a repeated theme, which may be one movement of a longer piece. |
||
| 10 | GREENLAND |
Trump’s target regarding London home, with golf moving to the forefront (9)
|
| RE (regarding = on the subject of) + ENGLAND (where you’d find London = London home), with the G (Golf in the radio alphabet) moved to the front.
President Trump has repeatedly insisted that the US will buy Greenland, despite objections from its rightful owners – though he seems to have gone quiet about that lately while throwing his weight around elsewhere. |
||
| 11 | DAMASK ROSE |
A prickly individual, Duke happened to welcome cover-up (6,4)
|
| D (abbreviation for duke) + AROSE (happened), containing (welcoming) MASK (cover-up). The surface may suggest a reference to someone who is now neither a Duke nor a Prince; I wonder whether the puzzle was created before recent events?
A flowering plant with thorns. |
||
| 12 | SEEM |
Notice Mike appear (4)
|
| SEE (notice, as a verb) + M (Mike in the radio alphabet). | ||
| 14 | APPLICATION |
Diligence that may be required to get a job? (11)
|
| Double definition. Application = diligence = persistent hard work; or a letter, form, CV etc that may be required if you want a job. | ||
| 18 | CLEAN BOWLED |
British Member of Parliament, Conservative, listed nurses dismissed without interference (5,6)
|
| B (abbreviation for British) + OWL (Member of Parliament: an old crossword favourite, from the collective noun “a parliament of owls”), contained in (. . . nurses, as a verb) C (abbreviation for Conservative) + LEANED (listed = tilted to one side).
In cricket, a player is “clean bowled” by a ball that breaks the wicket without hitting the bat or the batter. |
||
| 21 | RASP |
Knock over small file (4)
|
| RAP (knock = to strike a door with the knuckles in order to attract attention), containing (over) S (abbreviation for small).
A coarse file used in woodworking. |
||
| 22 | STAGNATION |
Decline to name country after saint (10)
|
| TAG (as a verb = to give a name to something or someone) + NATION (country), after S (abbreviation for saint). | ||
| 25 | DOWNGRADE |
Belittle a way to express duvet quality (9)
|
| Eccles is suggesting that we could describe the GRADE (quality) of a duvet by reference to the DOWN (fine feathers) that it contains.
Belittle = downgrade= speak disparagingly of. |
||
| 26 | TENOR |
Singer‘s audible note (5)
|
| An old crossword favourite: sound-alike (audible) for TENNER (slang for a ten-pound note). | ||
| 27 | RENEGUE |
Frenchman and visitor, losing way, default (7)
|
| RENE (a French male name) + GUE[st] (visitor), without ST (abbreviation for street = way).
Renegue = default = fail to honour a commitment. |
||
| 28 | NUNATAK |
Reported onslaught by the convent in isolated mountain peak (7)
|
| Sound-alike (reported) of NUN ATTACK (an onslaught by the members of a convent).
A mountain peak surrounded by ice. The dictionaries disagree on whether the first syllable should rhyme with “sun” or “soon”, but the clue works better with the first of these. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | DERIDE |
Mock free river patrols (6)
|
| RID (free, for example to rid a dog of fleas), with DEE (one of several rivers with this name) surrounding it (patrolling). | ||
| 2 | AGNAME |
English comic book rejected additional monicker (6)
|
| E (abbreviation for English) + MANGA (Japanese comic book), all reversed (rejected).
An extra name used in addition to a first name and/or surname. |
||
| 3 | GLOSS PAINT |
German at sea around European ally gets shiny coat (5,5)
|
| G (abbreviation for German) + LOST (at sea = slang for confused), around SPAIN (a European ally). | ||
| 4 | TIGER |
Row about good, fierce competitor (5)
|
| TIER (row, as in a row of seats at the theatre) around G (abbreviation for good).
A determinedly competitive person. |
||
| 5 | OVERSPILL |
Excess material in partner’s tablet left out (9)
|
| [l]OVER’S (romantic partner’s) + PILL (medicinal tablet), without the initial L (abbreviation for left). | ||
| 6 | OINK |
Babe, perhaps, said this wearing fine clothes (4)
|
| IN (wearing, for example “in jeans and a T-shirt”), with OK (fine = satisfactory) around it (clothing).
Sound made by a pig: the reference is to Babe, the title character of a 1995 film about a pig, based on the children’s novel The Sheep-Pig by Dick King-Smith. |
||
| 7 | DIABETIC |
Quote introduction from Band Aid to lift sufferer (8)
|
| CITE (quote) + first letter (introduction) of B[and] + AID, all reversed (to lift = upwards in a down clue).
Sufferer = a person with a medical condition. |
||
| 8 | RUDIMENT |
First principle of change in America described by weakling (8)
|
| DIME (US term for a ten-cent coin = small change in America), contained in (described by) RUNT (weakling). | ||
| 13 | SAND MARTIN |
Kinky paintings, perhaps at home, to show bird (4,6)
|
| S and M = abbreviation for sadism and masochism, so Eccles is suggesting that S AND M ART = kinky paintings; then IN (at home).
A bird whose habitat is the sandy shores of lakes and rivers. |
||
| 15 | PROSTRATE |
Speed of F1 champion lying down? (9)
|
| Eccles is suggesting the RATE (speed) attained by the former motor racing champion Alain PROST. | ||
| 16 | SCHRODER |
Ex-Chancellor went on horseback during school run (8)
|
| RODE (went on horseback), contained in (during) SCH (abbreviation for school) + R (abbreviation for run, in cricket scoring).
Gerhard Schröder, former Chancellor of Germany. |
||
| 17 | GERSHWIN |
Whingers affected composer (8)
|
| Anagram (affected) of WHINGERS.
George Gershwin, US composer and pianist. |
||
| 19 | LINNET |
One who tweets allowed to drink in pub (6)
|
| LET (allowed), containing (to drink in = to swallow) INN (pub = drinking establishment).
A songbird. |
||
| 20 | ANORAK |
After removing outer layers, many wore fake coat (6)
|
| [m]AN[y] [w]OR[e] [f]AK[e] after removing the outer letters of each word. | ||
| 23 | GLEAN |
Discern new angle (5)
|
| Anagram (new) of ANGLE.
Discern = glean = discover through enquiry. |
||
| 24 | AGOG |
Excited, try silver rings (4)
|
| GO (try = an attempt, as in “have a go”), surrounded (ringed) by AG (Ag = chemical symbol for silver, from Latin argentum). |
All the usual fun from this setter with just one NHO for me today in 28a.
Does “London home” in 10a really lead to England?
My page is littered with ticks, and SAND MARTIN is my top pick.
Many thanks to Eccles and to Quirister
Draught horse, draught beer, both to do with pulling (Dutch dragen, tho German tragen is carry). Neat set of clues, loi was the martin, took ages to remember good old S and M, d’oh! Thanks E and Q.
16d should be Schröder or (written out) SCHROEDER, his name is not “SCHRODER”.