As 2026 begins Eccles supplies the first Saturday savoury of the year.
Not quite a pice of cake, but a pleasing introduction to the new year – pardon the pathetic attempt at an Eccles joke.
24dn whilst not difficult was a very neat clue. 13dn (novel), 3dn (great surface) and 6dn(surface) are my top clues. A couple of new words also in the grid for me wheel animals and gridelin.
Many thanks Eccles and a happy new year to all.
DD double definition; * anagram; Rev. reversed; underline definition
Across
1 Alien beginning to eat toxic nuts (6)
e (beginning to eat) + (toxic)* = EXOTIC
5 I do parts playing in the style of others (8)
(I do parts)* = PARODIST
9 Violet-grey network of lines next to ebbing African river (8)
grid (network of lines) + Rev. Nile (African river) = GRIDELIN
10 Needle chap meeting family (6)
Bod (chap) + kin (family) = BODKIN
11 Boy will like Greece (6)
he’ll (boy will) + as (like) = HELLAS
12 Main wrappers removed from rare item: bread in Saudi Arabia (8)
rARe + iTEm + rial (bread in Saudi Arabia) = ARTERIAL
14 I’m travelling quickly in a small buggy to get microscopic creatures (5,7)
whee(I’m travelling quickly) + (in a small)* = WHEEL ANIMALS
17 Possibly rent rocks for crustacean (5,7)
(possibly rent)* = SPINY LOBSTER
20 Address a gentleman restricting competition (8)
Hiddem adDRESS A GEntleman = DRESSAGE
22 False statement by great German chemist (6)
lie (false statement) + big (great) = LIEBIG
23 Accompany group of women visiting barbarian (2,4)
wi (group of women) in goth (barbarian) = GO WITH
25 Spike welcomes surprisingly nice pacifist (8)
peak(spike) around (nice)* = PEACENIK
26 Criminal from American wing (8)
of (from) + fender (American wing) = OFFENDER
27 English largely behind festival (6)
e(English) + astern (behind) – n = EASTER
Down
2 The other king from the south is Persian ruler (6)
Rev. sex (the other) + rex(king) = XERXES
3 In game, small victory ends in frank exchanges (11)
tiddly (small) + win (victory) + ks (ends in frank exchanges) = TIDDLYWINKS
4 Caught Old Nick, reportedly, displaying bladed weapons (4,5)
c(caught) + old + homophone of steal(nick) = COLD STEEL
5 Friend left without recycling bin, creating flipping diversion (7)
pal (friend ) + l(left) around (bin) cycled = PINBALL
6 Quash underground resistance on return (5)
Rev. tube (underground) + r (resistance) = TUBER
7 Pop art movement snubbed (3)
dada (art movement) – a = DAD
8 Appropriate fur coats nudist regularly ignored (8)
sable (fur) around nUdIsT = SUITABLE
13 Uncompromising and concerning, like Lewis on eponymous TV series (11)
re(concerning) + Morse less (like Lewis on eponymous TV series) = REMORSELESS
15 Healthy and mature farming system (2-7)
not ill (healthy) + age (mature) = NO TILLAGE
16 Initiate fight very loudly, stopped by knockout (5,3)
spar(fight) + ff (very loudly) around ko (knockout) = SPARK OFF
18 Device to contact doctor, say: buzzer on a clothes line (7)
bee (buzzer) + per (a) around l (line) = BLEEPER
19 Minister to eat around six (6)
dine (to eat) around vi (six) = DIVINE
21 American priest secreted small insect (5)
a(American) + p (priest) + hid )secreted) = APHID
24 Anger in 75% of country (or perhaps 43%?) (3)
eIRE(75%) or IREland (43%) = IRE
Where has that colour been hiding for my nigh on 70 years on this planet? Not that, to my knowledge, I’ve ever been on any other planet.
Eccles on a Saturday for the second week running! In any event, Eccles on any day of the week is good news.
Three unknowns for me today: GRIDELIN, WHEEL ANIMALS, NO-TILLAGE but all fairly clued.
IRE was my favourite of many ticked clues.
Many thanks to Eccles and to twencelas.
Same two unknowns as our blogger but, yes, accessibly clued. PARODIST is a lovely CAD and REMORSELESS made me smile.
Thanks both
REMORSELESS made me laugh. I got hung up on getting ry or rail into GRIDELIN.
Our setter appears to have reverted to his habit of including a couple of answers that few people will recognise without doing some homework. Today’s little ‘gems’ for me were GRIDELIN & WHEEL ANIMALS. Topping my leader board were TIDDLYWINKS & REMORSELESS.
Many thanks to Eccles and also to twencelas for the review – a very Happy New Year to both of you.
Thanks Eccles for a suitable challenge. I missed BLEEPER but I managed all else including GRIDELIN, WHEEL ANIMALS, & LIEBIG, all previously unknown to me. My favourites were DRESSAGE, PEACENIK, EASTER, REBUT, & NO-TILLAGE. Thanks twencelas for the blog.