Quince, a compiler whose work I am not that familiar with, has provided our cruciverbal challenge this Thursday morning.
And what a challenge it turned out to be! I found that I needed to work very hard at this puzzle, first to complete it and then to parse all the clues to my satisfaction. I think that I got there in the end, but readers should feel free to take me to task on my parsing if they see the need. The last one that I managed to parse was 7, where I was convinced that the answer was “revolting” until the penny dropped regard the t/v device. Similarly, I overthought the parsing of 4 for far too long.
As for my favourite clues today, I very much liked 11, for maintaining the cricket theme throughout the clue; 12, for the inspired use of John / Torode in the wordplay and for topicality; and 14 and 21, both for concision and, in the former case, for making me smirk; and 23, again for topicality.
I hope I will not have to wait too long before my next outing with a Quince crossword.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; a break in underlining separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| ACROSS
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||
| 1 | BLEACH |
Clean line in the sand (6)
|
| L (=line) in BEACH (=the sand) | ||
| 5 | PANORAMA |
Picture parents embracing and not beginning to argue (8)
|
| [NOR (=and not) + A<rgue> (“beginning to” means first letter only)] in [PA + MA (=parents, i.e. pa (=father) and ma (=mother))] | ||
| 9 | HEAVYSET |
They save cooking with some beef (8)
|
| *(THEY SAVE); “cooking” is anagram indicator; heavyset is well-built, beefy | ||
| 10 | DEVOUR |
Dispose of Tesla, perhaps charging without joy (6)
|
| EV (=Tesla, perhaps, i.e. electric vehicle) in DOUR (=without joy, dismal); here, to dispose of is to clear, wolf down, hence “devour” | ||
| 11 | PHILANDERS |
Bowler missing leg after Tufnell, say, plays the field (10)
|
| PHIL (=Tufnell, say, i.e. former England bowler) + ANDERS<on> (=bowler, i.e. Jimmy Anderson; “missing leg (=on, i.e. cricket side) means letters “on” are dropped) | ||
| 12 | LOOT |
Sack John Torode to start with (4)
|
| LOO (=john, lav) + T<orode> (“to start with” means first letter only) | ||
| 13 | ABU DHABI |
City friend wears a short dress (3,5)
|
| BUD (=friend, chum) in [A + HABI<t> (=dress, set of clothes, as in riding habit; “short” means last letter is dropped)] | ||
| 16 | SHIVER |
Feel cold start to ski season in Tignes (6)
|
| S<ki> (“start to” means first letter is dropped) + HIVER (=season in Tignes, a French ski resort, i.e. the French for winter) | ||
| 17 | ADHERE |
Bond made them fret endlessly (6)
|
| <m>AD<e> <t>HE<m> <f>RE<t>; “endlessly” means that the first and last letters are dropped; to bond is to stick, adhere, fuse | ||
| 19 | FAIR GAME |
It’s okay to laugh at ring toss? (4,4)
|
| A ring toss, hoopla is a “fair(ground) game” | ||
| 21 | TERM |
Spell word (4)
|
| Double definition: a spell in prison is a term of imprisonment AND a term is a word to describe something | ||
| 22 | ALL THE RAGE |
Every single number one released by entitled group is popular (3,3,4)
|
| ALL THE (=every single) + <pee>RAGE (=entitled group; “number one (=pee, wee) released” means letters “pee” are dropped!) | ||
| 25 | ITHACA |
End of a difficult passage in classical literature (6)
|
| Cryptic definition: the island of Ithaca represented the end(point) of a hazardous return journey (=difficult journey) back from Troy for Odysseus | ||
| 26 | ASSESSOR |
One testing tips from entrepreneurs invested in fool’s gold (8)
|
| E<ntrepreneur>S (“tips from” means first and last letters only) in [ASS’S (=fool’s) + OR (=gold, in heraldry)] | ||
| 27 | DRUDGERY |
Reform urged hard borders, frustrating Labour (8)
|
| *(URGED) in DRY (=hard, baked, of land, say); “reform” is anagram indicator | ||
| 28 | ERRAND |
President sending out Romney for one task (6)
|
| <mitt>ERRAND (=(former) President, of France); “sending out Romney for one (=Mitt, the US Republican politician)” means letters “mitt” are dropped | ||
| DOWN
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||
| 2 | LEECH |
General caught with howitzer at first, being out for blood (5)
|
| LEE (=general, i.e. Robert E. Lee in the American Civil War) + C (=caught, on a cricket scorecard) + H<owitzer> (“at first” means first letter only); the “being” of the definition is a creature, organism | ||
| 3 | ANVIL |
One gets hammered in Bavarian village (5)
|
| Hidden (“in”) in “bavariAN VILlage” | ||
| 4 | HOSANNA |
Praise query about Tolstoy character needing no introduction (7)
|
| <w>HO’S ANNA <?> (=query about Tolstoy character, i.e. Anna Karenina; “needing no introduction” means first letter is dropped) | ||
| 5 | PATHETIC FALLACY |
Fail at cycle path, struggling to find technique in howling wind? (8,7)
|
| *(FAIL AT CYCLE PATH); “struggling” is anagram indicator; pathetic fallacy is a literary term for the attribution of human attributes to natural phenomena, such as a howling wind, dancing leaves, sullen clouds, etc. | ||
| 6 | NUDISTS |
They’re not in the habit of going out (7)
|
| Cryptic definition: the “not in the habit of” implies that they are undressed! | ||
| 7 | REVOLVING |
Rebellious to make TV with regular repeats (9)
|
| REVOLTING (=rebellious, up in arms); “to make T (into a) V” means that the letter “t” becomes a “v”; e.g. revolving credit automatically repeats provided the maximum agreed amount is not exceeded | ||
| 8 | MAUSOLEUM |
Usual memo strangely remains to be seen (9)
|
| *(USUAL MEMO); “strangely” is anagram indicator; as an imposing memorial tomb, a mausoleum houses “remains to be seen” | ||
| 14 | BEDWETTER |
One goes out? (9)
|
| A bedwetter goes (=urinates) (while) out (=when asleep)! | ||
| 15 | DREAMLAND |
Adam Sandler cast wanting leads for fantastic plot (9)
|
| *(<a>DAM <s>ANDLER); “wanting leads” means first letter are dropped from anagram, indicated by “cast”, thrown; the “plot” of the definition is a plot of land! | ||
| 18 | EMANATE |
Swimmer’s bottom to top flow (7)
|
| MANATEE (=”swimmer”, i.e. aquatic mammal); “bottom to top” means last letter moves to start of word | ||
| 20 | IN HASTE |
Bachelor out of absinthe, getting drunk at some speed (2,5)
|
| *(A<b>SINTHE); “bachelor (=B, as in BA) out” means letter “b” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “getting drunk” | ||
| 23 | RISER |
Backtracking, Sir Keir occasionally delivers step change? (5)
|
| RIS (SIR; “backtracking” indicates reversal) + <k>E<i>R (“occasionally” means alternate letters only are used); as the upright portion of a step, a riser could be described as something that “delivers (a) step change” | ||
| 24 | GROIN |
Nothing to smile about — that’s a bit below the belt (5)
|
| O (=nothing) in GRIN (=to smile) |