An enjoyable mix of clues, with several that I found quite tricky to parse. My favourites were 16ac, 19ac, 25ac, and 8dn. Thanks to Pasquale.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SOLITUDE |
Concern with one about to leave – leaving partner in this? (8)
|
| definition: leaving one’s partner might leave them in SOLITUDE
SOL-[I C]-ITUDE=”Concern”, with I=”one” and C (circa, “about”) removed (“to leave”) |
||
| 5 | GELATO |
Attempt to convey story about something refreshingly sweet? (6)
|
| GO=”Attempt”, around/containing (to convey) TALE=”story” reversed/”about” | ||
| 9 | ANAMNESIS |
Odd man is sane, as shown in medical record (9)
|
| definition: anamnesis is the process of collecting a patient’s medical history
anagram/”Odd” of (man is sane)* |
||
| 11 | DRUSE |
Trick by five hundred members of religious sect (5)
|
| definition: Druse or Druze are members of a religious sect [wiki]
RUSE=”Trick” by D=”five hundred” in Roman numerals |
||
| 12 | BREAKING NEWS |
The latest answer involves this action in a river (8,4)
|
| the word “AnsweR” is nswe in AR
NSWE is “this action”: BREAKING NEWS i.e. making an anagram of (news)* A R=”a river” as R is short for “river” |
||
| 15 | HOAX |
House with a sign of something wrong that fraudster perpetrates? (4)
|
| HO (House) + A (from surface) + X (cross symbol e.g. when marking a student’s work, “sign of something wrong” | ||
| 16 | MAKE AMENDS |
Sad men could do this to atone (4,6)
|
| we could MAKE AMENDS (i.e. “do this”) by using “Sad men” as anagram fodder to make the word ‘amends’ | ||
| 18 | ANTITHESES |
Social worker is embracing these opposite types (10)
|
| ANT=”Social worker”; plus IS (from surface) around THESE (from surface) | ||
| 19 | GLAM |
Alluring sparkle exuding energy (4)
|
| GL-[e]-AM=”sparkle” minus ‘e’ for “energy” | ||
| 21 | FRONTIERSMEN |
Finer monster upsetting chaps living on the edge? (12)
|
| anagram/”upsetting” of (Finer monster)* | ||
| 24 | EDITH |
Woman to change husband (5)
|
| EDIT=”change” + H (husband) | ||
| 25 | TREATABLE |
Nasty tear at front of furniture item that can be repaired? (9)
|
| anagram/”Nasty” of (tear)*; in front of TABLE=”furniture item” | ||
| 26 | DIGEST |
Review with snide remark is not British (6)
|
| DIG=”snide remark” (e.g. to take a dig at someone) + EST=”is” in French or in Latin (“not British”) | ||
| 27 | ASPERSED |
Somehow sad, blue inside, being defamed (8)
|
| anagram/”Somehow” of (sad)*, with PERSE (a dark “blue” colour) inside | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SEAL |
Secure underwater line (4)
|
| for definition, e.g. to seal/secure a deal
L for “line”, after/’under” SEA=”water” |
||
| 2 | LOAM |
Article buried by burrower endlessly turning up in soil (4)
|
| A (indefinite “Article”); buried inside MOL-[e]=”burrower endlessly”, reversed (“turning up”) | ||
| 3 | TENURE |
University gone round by number about to get secure position (6)
|
| U (University) inside (i.e. the following elements have “gone round” it): TEN=”number” + RE=”about” | ||
| 4 | DISPARAGEMENT |
Running down daughter, is dad with anger unkind, wasting a bit of time? (13)
|
| D (daughter) + IS (from surface) + PA=”dad” + RAGE=”anger”, plus ME-[a]-N=”unkind” removing/”wasting” the letter “a” (from surface); plus T=first letter/”bit” of t-[ime] | ||
| 6 | ENDOGAMY |
Finish with love, having spirited sort of marriage (8)
|
| definition: marrying within a group
END=”Finish” + O=zero score in tennis=”love” + GAMY=”spirited” |
||
| 7 | ACUTE ANGLE |
A cunning viewpoint that maths teacher may explain (5,5)
|
| definition: a part of geometry, covered in maths lessons
A (from surface) + CUTE=clever=”cunning” + ANGLE=”viewpoint” |
||
| 8 | OPEN SESAME |
Old writer’s English unchanged, words having magical effect (4,6)
|
| O (Old) + PEN’S=”writer’s” + E (English) + SAME=”unchanged” | ||
| 10 | SPINELESSNESS |
Lack of courage that is evident in wormy types (13)
|
| spinelessness could also refer to a lack of a literal spine in worms | ||
| 13 | WHEATFIELD |
Agricultural land to flourish, absorbing warmth with minimum of frost (10)
|
| WIELD=brandish=”flourish”; around HEAT=”warmth” + the minimum or smallest part of F-[rost] | ||
| 14 | CARTOONING |
Activity of artist, showing concern about Newcastle? (10)
|
| CARING=”concern” around TOON=nickname for Newcastle | ||
| 17 | STITCHES |
Fibrous products obtained from sewers? (8)
|
| cryptic definition: stitches are produced using fibre by those who sew (sew-ers)
surface can mislead if “sewers” is read as in sewerage |
||
| 20 | SEETHE |
What river rises, producing foam? (6)
|
| EH=exclamation of surprise=”What”; plus TEES=name of a “river”; all reversed upwards/”rises” | ||
| 22 | IBIS |
Bird – one beginning to breed on island (4)
|
| I=”one” + beginning of B-[reed] + IS (short for island) | ||
| 23 | VEND |
Trade very limited? Then pack up (4)
|
| “very” shortened/limited to V, plus END=”pack up” |
Good fun. Top ticks for CARTOONING, MAKE AMENDS & the elusive anagram for FRONTIERSMEN
Cheers M&P
A lovely mix of approachable and baffling which gave enough crossers to unfold slowly and with great satisfaction. Pasquale does like his reverse anagrams/clues (“breaking news”, “make amends”) and they are pleasing once spotted.
I always enjoy a clue like “tenure” where there is a hint of the answer within the wordplay – in this case “university” gets you thinking along the right lines even though it is really only there to supply a letter “u”.
Thanks manehi and Pasquale.
Enjoyable puzzle, quite tricky in parts. I could not parse:
12ac (oh wow, that’s tricky, thanks for the parsing, manehi)
27ac apart from PER SE in anagram of SAD (never heard of perse blue)
3d – I guessed it was something like that but did not get there!
14d apart from TOON (?) in CARING (did not know that TOON=nickname for Newcastle).
Favourites: DISPARAGEMENT, OPEN SESAME, DIGEST.
New for me: AMAMNESIS.
Took a while to crack the parsing of BREAKING NEWS but once it became clear I very nearly applauded.
This was at precisely my medium solver’s ability level and I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.
Perse meaning a dark blue colour was new to me, as was ANAMNESIS, but the latter was easily gettable from the fodder. Apart from that I agree with JOFT@2 that is was very approachable. Going through the across clues first as I usually do produced only TREATABLE, but the down clues yielded more easily and the crossers then led to the across solutions. Liked 7 as a reminder of my first job, SOLITUDE, LOAM and FRONTIERSMEN. Thanks to Pasquale and manehi.
One of those that I thought might defeat me, then it all gradually fell into place. I enjoyed CARTOONING when I got it but feel there must be something more to STITCHES than a slightly clunky cd.
Thanks to Pasquale and manehi
Great stuff from Pasquale.
Unfortunately, I got the anagram for the unheard of ANAMNESIS wrong in what was a mixture of hard and more straightforward clues.
Liked MAKES AMENDS and BREAKING NEWS which both got a “huh? Oh I see” from me.
Thanks Pasquale and manehi
The first proper challenge this week, I really enjoyed this last night and went to sleep raving about BREAKING NEWS, certainly apposite for the last few days. MAKE AMENDS, FRONTIERSMEN and CARTOONING weren’t half bad either, although ‘ TOON’ might be a bit obscure.
Ta Pasquale & manehi.
Thanks Pasquale and manehi
ANAMNESIS needed an anagram solver and a Google. I didn’t parse BREAKING NEWS and hadn’t heard of PERSE blue either.
I agree with Doofs @6 that the clue for STITCHES seems a bit weak. Is there more to it?
Otherwise surprisingly straightforward for a Pasquale.