Gozo is this morning’s setter.
I was about to type that this was a trademark pangram from Gozo, but actually there is no P among the solutions as far as I can see). There were, however, some excellent clues, including those for SOCRATES and GLOUCESTERSHIRE, and fewer obscurities than the last Gozo puzzle I blogged. I wasn’t convinced by the QUAD part of QUADRANGLE, as the two come from the same root, the prison being short for quadrangle, but let that pass. However, I think the definition of D-DAY is wrong, as D-Day was the start of an invasion of France by Allied forces which may eventually have ended the war, but it was not the end of the war per se.
Thanks, Gozo.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | QUADRANGLE |
Prison dispute heard in courtyard (10)
|
| QUAD (old slang for “prison”) + homophone [heard] of WRANGLE (“dispute”) | ||
| 7 | OHMS |
Resistance units — I see thousands (4)
|
| OH (“I see”) + Ms (M is 1000 in Roman numerals)
The ohm is the SI unit of resistance in electronics. |
||
| 9 | D-DAY |
Unknown tot turning back at end of war (1-3)
|
| <= (Y (unknown, in maths) + ADD (“tot”))
I think this is a mistake by the setter – D-Day was not the end of any war. I wonder if Gozo originally meant V-DAY, but couldn’t find an appropriate clue. |
||
| 10 | FLORENTINE |
Like the Medici family’s chocolate-covered biscuit (10)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 11 | BRONCO |
Ella goes and breaks collarbone on rough ride (6)
|
| *(corbon) [anag:breaks] where CORBON is CO(lla)RBON(e) without the letters ELLA [Ella goes] | ||
| 12 | CLEANSED |
Freed from sin, is inclined to enter church that’s deserted (8)
|
| LEANS (“is inclined”) to enter CE (“Church” of England) + D (deserted, on a military record) | ||
| 13 | SOCRATES |
Old philosopher inside an emergency call box (8)
|
| CRATE (“box”) inside SOS (“an emergency call”) | ||
| 15 | QUAY |
Landing-stage is vital, we hear (4)
|
| Homophone [we hear] of KEY (“vital”) | ||
| 17 | BERG |
Tailless diver comes back to composer (4)
|
| <=GREB(e) (“diver”, tailless (i.e missing its final letter), comes back)
Alban Berg (1885-1935) was an Austrian composer. |
||
| 19 | ETAGERES |
Very dry wicket perhaps upset the stands (8)
|
| [upset] <=(SERE (“very dry”) + GATE (“wicket perhaps”)
An étagère is a sheved display stand for ornaments. |
||
| 22 | WINNINGS |
Spoils Warwickshire opener’s time at the crease (8)
|
| W(arwickshire) [opener] + INNINGS (“time at the crease”, in cricket) | ||
| 23 | DVORAK |
Composer, having drunk vodka, runs inside (6)
|
| *(vodka) [anag:drunk] with R (runs, in cricket) inside | ||
| 25 | REVOLUTION |
Spin doctor live, on tour (10)
|
| *(live on tour) [anag:doctor] | ||
| 26 | GRAZ |
Eat snacks during the day, mostly in Austrian city (4)
|
| GRAZ(e) (“eat snacks during the day”, mostly) | ||
| 27 | UTAH |
State of posh hat that’s returned (4)
|
| U (upper-class, so “posh”) + <=HAT that’s returned | ||
| 28 | THE BRONTES |
Shorten bet about literary family (3,7)
|
| *(shorten bet) [anag:about]
Very topical given the recent release of the new Wuthering Heights film. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | UNDERGO |
Subject to vitality, gains experience (7)
|
| UNDER (“subject to”) + GO (“vitality”) | ||
| 3 | DOYEN |
Party craving senior member (5)
|
| DO (“party”) + YEN (“craving”) | ||
| 4 | AFFRONTS |
Insults workers holding very loud unending argument (8)
|
| ANTS (“workers”) holding FF (fortissimo, so “very loud”) + [unending] RO(w) (“argument”) | ||
| 5 | GLOUCESTERSHIRE |
Home patch for the Avon lady? (15)
|
| Cryptic definition – the river Avon runs through Gloucestershire,
Avon ladies were women who sold Avon cosmetics and skin care products door-to-door. |
||
| 6 | ELEVEN |
Number of personnel eventually included (6)
|
| Hidden [included] in “personnEL EVENtually” | ||
| 7 | ORTANIQUE |
Fruit cultivated near Quito (9)
|
| *(near quito) [anag:cultivated]
A cross between an orange and a tangerine. |
||
| 8 | MANDELA |
Former President from island meeting endless hold-up (7)
|
| MAN (“island”, Isle of Man) meeting [endless] DELA(y) (“hold-up”) | ||
| 14 | ROGAN JOSH |
Jo, in new sarong, has hot Indian dish (5,4)
|
| JO in *(sarong) has H (hot) | ||
| 16 | GARDENER |
One who goes to bed to work (8)
|
| Cryptic definition, referring to flower beds. | ||
| 18 | EXIGENT |
Demanding leave to absorb information (7)
|
| EXIT (“leave”) to absorb GEN (“information”) | ||
| 20 | EDAMAME |
Bean-cheese and pheasant, say. No good (7)
|
| EDAM (“cheese”) and (g)AME (“pheasant, say”) with no G (good) | ||
| 21 | UNHURT |
King in a French shack, not harmed (6)
|
| R (Rex, so “king”) in (UN (“a” in “French”) + HUT (“shack”)) | ||
| 24 | ORGAN |
The church keys? (5)
|
| Cryptic definition |
Liked Socrates, but not d-day ((1-3) surely, not (4), and not the end), or etageres (obscure word clued by obscure). Nevertheless enjoyable overall. Thanks both.
I also wasted time trying to cram in a p