A Prize-worthy Saturday puzzle from Vlad
I am indebted to bridgesong for standing in for me for two Prize blogs – the more recent of them being one of a Vlad puzzle – during my stay in hospital and subsequent convalescence. It’s good to be back – especially with a Vlad puzzle to blog: it appears that he’s been away quite a while too!
As always, this was a challenge and, as always, a rewarding one. Apart from a couple of ingenious references in 12,29 and 6dn, Vlad seems to have eased back a little on his customary target(s) but there’s still enough wit and ingenuity, especially in the long clues, to keep us absorbed and interested and raise a smile or three – with the usual nifty misdirection and great surfaces throughout.
Apart from the long clues, my ticks (and there could have been more) were for BAH HUMBUG, TRESPASSES, ALL-IMPORTANT, KENYAN, DIEGO, GENERALIST and, of course, IMPALE. Two favourite synonyms from my childhood for ‘make oneself scarce’, in SCRAMMED and VAMOOSES, made me half expect ‘scarper’ to continue the ‘theme’.
Thanks to Vlad, as ever, for an absorbing and enjoyable puzzle.
Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
9 Having conned rook inside, made oneself scarce (8)
SCRAMMED
R (rook, chess notation) in SCAMMED (conned)
10 Why ‘noble’ misrepresented royal (6)
BOLEYN
An anagram (misrepresented) of Y (why) + NOBLE for Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne
12, 29 Taking over in charge, monster emergin’ – you bastard! (2,4,6,4,3)
NO MORE MISTER NICE GUY
An anagram (bastard) of IC (in charge) + MONSTER EMERGIN YOU – a neat definition
15 Method of selection for school team an asset (6-4)
ELEVEN-PLUS
ELEVEN (team) + PLUS (an asset)
17 See about including a little incentive – it should help things go smoothly (3)
OIL
A reversal (about) of LO (see) round I[ncentive]
19, 5 With no time for a good wash, smell an irritation? Rubbish! (3,6)
BAH HUMBUG
BA[t]H (good wash) minus t (time) + HUM (smell) + BUG (irritation)
20 Right about sixth sense? Fools – they’re wrong! (10)
TRESPASSES
A reversal (about) of RT (right) + ESP (Extra-Sensory Perception – sixth sense) + ASSES (fools)
22 Vital mail-order left inside by dock worker (3-9)
ALL-IMPORTANT
An anagram (order) of MAIL – neat ‘lift and separate’) round L (left) + PORT (dock) + ANT (worker)
26 African’s principal relative a bit mixed up (6)
KENYAN
KEY (principal) + NAN (relative) with the middle letters reversed (a bit mixed up)
27 He designs rubbish as well, I think (8)
TATTOER
TAT (rubbish) + TOO (as well) + ER (I think)
28 Offensive female’s on moor (6)
TETHER
TET (offensive) + HER (female’s) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tet_Offensive
Down
1 Bored due to frequent exposure, ignoring large bottom (4)
BASE
BLAS[é] (bored due to frequent exposure) minus l (large)
2 Mount Everest’s peak undergoes damage (4)
MARE
MAR (damage) + E[verest]
3 Victory when animal locked up runs off (8)
VAMOOSES
V (victory) + AS (when) round MOOSE (animal)
4 Spanish guy departs (5)
DIEGO
DIE GO (two words for ‘depart’)
6 Lovely place Surinam, occasionally Trump admitted (6)
UTOPIA
TOP (Trump) in alternate letters (occasionally) of sUrInAam – a perhaps welcome change of definition from ‘More work’, although I always enjoy seeing that one
7 One paying flying visit from Oregon best getting busy (5,5)
BRENT GOOSE
An anagram (getting busy) of OREGON BEST
8 He’s not particularly concerned about upsetting celebs with intelligence (10)
GENERALIST
GEN (intelligence) + a reversal (upsetting, in a down clue) of RE (about) + A-LIST (celebs)
11 Attempts to prove wrong tense used in puzzle (6)
REBUTS
T (tense) in REBUS (puzzle)
13 Angry tweet about empty fire extinguisher? (3,7)
WET BLANKET
An anagram (angry) of TWEET round BLANK (empty)
14, 1 Expression of defiance suggested by nobles’ wealth (2,5,3,2,5)
WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED
NOBLES WEALTH is an anagram (MOVED) of WE SHALL NOT BE
16 Time for a party, I reflected (6)
PERIOD
PER (a) + a reversal (reflected) of DO (party) + I
18 Commend school over accepting small number good at drawing (8)
MAGNETIC
A reversal (over) of CITE (commend) + N (small number) + GAM (school of whales)
21 Stick around, mate – Vlad’s close to finish (6)
IMPALE
I’M (Vlad’s) + [clos]E round PAL (mate)
23 Coach drops team leader for a start (5)
TRAIN
T[eam] + RAIN (drops)
24 Leaving, I wanted knighthood possibly? (4)
GONG
GO[i]NG (leaving) minus i
25 Pub finally sacked crazy host (4)
ARMY
[b]ARMY (crazy) minus [pu]b
Very tough. I nearly conceded defeat but kept coming back and chipping away at it until the grid was filled
Top ticks for the bastard, MAGNETIC & DIEGO
And the self-referential IMPALE 🙂
Cheers E&V
I was really slow to get started on this and it took several sessions but eventually I nearly got there – didn’t get BOLEYN and a couple weren’t parsed.
Lots of aha and smile moments.
Liked: IMPALE, TRESPASSES, BAH HUMBUG, TETHER, BASE, VAMOOSES, MAGNETIC
Thanks Vlad and Eileen
I got through this last Saturday. It was definitely a challenge, looking back through it last night, I could barely remember how I worked it all out. Luckily Eileen was here to bring it all flooding back. Having read the blog, I realise I had 3 letters unparsed, the reversed GAM for MAGNETIC. It was potentially LOI though and I was at dad’s, so I’ll forgive myself.
I liked DIEGO, IMPALE, KENYAN (big delay between thinking, then knowing, then justifying it was correct) and NO MORE MISTER NICE GUY.
Thanks Vlad and Eileen for the excellent blog.
Martin
[Oh god, Pangakupu today. I find him harder than Vlad. Fingers crossed.]
A tough challenge that took several days, but not complete. Missed 1d BASE (looking at the wrong end for the definition) and 2d MARE (“Mount” as a noun), and couldn’t parse a few
Favourites, several overlapping with Eileen’s: 22a ALL-IMPORTANT (follow the instructions), 26a KENYAN (tricky little switcheroo, treading on dangerous territory), 3d VAMOOSES (run MOOSE, be free!), 4d DIEGO (succinct), 8d GENERALIST (“not particularly concerned”), 13d WET BLANKET (an actual fire extinguisher, not wordplay), 14/1 WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED (great reverse anagram)
16d PERIOD, could it be “for a” = PER?
Thanks Eileen for a great blog (and all the links!), and Vlad for the invigorating mental workout