Guinevere has appeared as an Independent setter a couple of times (one of which I blogged), so it’s good to meet her again.
A couple of unfamiliar but guessable words here: I haven’t come across 14a, nor 17d but it was easy to work out from the root word. I liked the problem URL, the misdirection of the typical pairing in 19d, and the bizarre-sounding cocktail in 15d.
Guinevere’s previous puzzles included themes, and there’s a fairly obvious one today. We have a number of different species of shark: GOBLIN, BULL, TIGER, EAGLE (although that one’s extinct), SPECKLEd smooth-hound (at a stretch), NURSE, WHALE, REEF, ZEBRA, GREAT WHITE and BASKING. We also have the fictional shark JAWS, and some (probably) related entries OCEANIC, BAITing, SEVEN SEAS and TANK. That’s a lot of teeth. Thanks Guinevere for an enjoyable puzzle.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | GOBLIN |
Unpleasant creature, mouth large and pink, shedding skin (6)
|
| GOB (slang for mouth) + L (abbreviation for large) + [p]IN[k] without the outer letters (skin). | ||
| 4 | GUITAR |
Bass is one fish inspiring cubist occasionally (6)
|
| GAR (a type of fish), containing (inspiring = breathing in) alternate letters (occasionally) from [c]U[b]I[s]T. | ||
| 8 | BEESWAX |
Worker’s output that may be wasted by burning candle at both ends? (7)
|
| Definition and cryptic definition, or perhaps just one long cryptic definition. Worker bees produce beeswax, which can be made into candles, which would be used up too quickly if lit at both ends at once. | ||
| 9 | RIPOSTE |
Quick reply to Spire careers (7)
|
| Anagram (careers, as a verb = runs out of control) of TO SPIRE.
A quick and witty response to something just said. |
||
| 11 | STRING BEAN |
Stone circle brusque American cleared out for green vegetable (6,4)
|
| ST (abbreviation for stone, as a measure of weight = 14 pounds) + RING (circle) + B[rusqu]E A[merica]N (cleared out = inner letters removed). | ||
| 12 | BULL |
Projectile eliminating extraterrestrial beast (4)
|
| BULL[et] (projectile launched from a firearm) without ET (abbreviation for extraterrestrial, especially in the Spielberg film). | ||
| 13 | TIGER |
Catty individual in row involving government (5)
|
| TIER (row = a line, for example of seats in a banked seating area) containing G (abbreviation for government).
A large animal of the cat family. |
||
| 14 | EAGLE RAY |
Large type regularly swimming around Australia? (5,3)
|
| Anagram (swimming) of LARGE + alternate letters (regularly) of [t]Y[p]E, around A (abbreviation for Australia).
Clue-as-definition: a type of large sea fish, some species of which are found in the Pacific Ocean or Indian Ocean (which border Australia). |
||
| 16 | SPECKLES |
Spots deer – flipping wearing glasses! (8)
|
| ELK (a species of deer) reversed (flipping), contained in (wearing) SPECS (short for spectacles = eyeglasses). | ||
| 18 | NURSE |
Dress alternately in new uniform, elasticated at the front to breastfeed (5)
|
| Alternate letters of [d]R[e]S[s], inserted into N (abbreviation for new) + U (Uniform in the radio alphabet) + first (front) letter of E[lasticated]. | ||
| 20 | JAWS |
Lectures persistent callers defending onset of Armageddon (4)
|
| JWS (plural of JW, abbreviation for Jehovah’s Witnesses, known for frequent doorstep calls), containing the first letter (onset) of A[rmageddon].
Jaw, as a verb = talk emphatically or at length = lecture. |
||
| 21 | WHALEBOATS |
What about the French snake heading for surveillance vessels? (10)
|
| WHAT containing LE (a form of “the” in French) + BOA (a snake), then the first letter (heading) of S[urveillance]. | ||
| 23 | OCEANIC |
Marine once exercised with CIA (7)
|
| Anagram (exercised) of ONCE + CIA. | ||
| 24 | BAITING |
Book delivery of food when wife’s away? Tempting… (7)
|
| B (abbreviation for book) + [w]AITING (bringing food to a restaurant table) without W (abbreviation for wife).
Bait, as a verb = provoke someone to a response = tempt. |
||
| 25 | REEFER |
Taking drug, pass on spliff (6)
|
| REFER (to pass on to someone else) containing E (abbreviation for the drug ecstasy).
Spliff = reefer = slang for a cannabis cigarette. |
||
| 26 | ZEBRAS |
Just a glimpse of zany European undergarments – they’ve got stripes and a tail! (6)
|
| First letter (just a glimpse) of Z[any] + E (abbreviation for European) + BRAS (women’s undergarments). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | GREAT |
Outstanding grid, or so we heard? (5)
|
| Sound-alike (or so we heard) of GRATE (grid = metal lattice). | ||
| 2 | BASKING |
Enjoying the sun outside, packing case (7)
|
| SKIN (outside = the outer layer) inserted into (packing) BAG (case). | ||
| 3 | INAUGURAL |
First hot part of summer on river (9)
|
| IN (hot = currently popular) + AUG (abbreviation for the month of August = part of summer in the UK) + URAL (a river in Russia and Kazakhstan). | ||
| 5 | UNION |
Initially upset, naturally, no one’s coming up for wedding (5)
|
| Initial letters of U[pset] N[aturally], then NO + I (one in Roman numerals) reversed (coming up = upwards in a down clue). | ||
| 6 | TROUBLE |
Problem URL to be reformatted (7)
|
| Anagram (reformatted) of URL TO BE. | ||
| 7 | RETALIATE |
Return the same way, blending in to lose tail at Erdington, heading north (9)
|
| Hidden answer (blending in to . . .), reversed (heading north = upwards in a down clue), in [los]E TAIL AT ER[dington]. (It’s a suburb of Birmingham, if you’re wondering.)
Retaliate = to respond to an attack by attacking back in the same way. |
||
| 10 | SEVEN SEAS |
Special plane catching spies, they cover most of the earth (5,4)
|
| S (abbreviation for special) + PLANE (as an adjective = even = flat and smooth) + sound-alike (catching = hearing) of SEES (spies, as a verb). | ||
| 13 | TAP DANCER |
Bug Santa’s reindeer, a noisy but nifty mover (3,6)
|
| TAP (bug, as a verb = intercept communications) + DANCER (one of the named reindeer in the poem A Visit from St. Nicholas: “‘Twas the night before Christmas . . .”).
A dancer whose footwork can be heard as well as seen. |
||
| 15 | GINGER ALE |
Gordon’s, perhaps, and lager, shaken up with dash of elderflower mixer? (6,3)
|
| GIN (perhaps the popular gin brand Gordon’s), then an anagram (shaken up) of LAGER + first letter (a dash) of E[lderflower].
Mixer = a sparkling soft drink usually mixed with alcohol, for example ginger ale. |
||
| 17 | CUSPATE |
Pointed nod, admitting argument (7)
|
| CUE (nod = a signal that it’s time to do something) containing SPAT (an argument).
With a cusp (a point or a change of direction). |
||
| 19 | ROOSTER |
Cock and balls tucked into middle of undersized velvet lingerie disappear, ultimately (7)
|
| O O (two circles = balls), inserted into the middle letters of [unde]RS[ized], then the last letters (ultimately) of [velve]T [lingeri]E [disappea]R. | ||
| 21 | WHITE |
Colour a little bit red when clothing’s removed (5)
|
| WHIT (a little bit, as in “not a whit” = not in the slightest) + [r]E[d] with the outer letters (clothing) removed. | ||
| 22 | TANKS |
Containers for fish smelled awful, top to bottom (5)
|
| STANK (smelled awful), with the first letter moved to the end (top to bottom, in a down clue). |