An unusually tough challenge from NEO this Friday.
FF: 7 DD: 10
Apologies for the late blog. Been a very busy Friday.
| ACROSS | ||
| 9 | ITINERATE |
Travel to assess passing international point (9)
|
| I ( international ) TINE ( point ) RATE ( assess ) ; ‘tine’ was new to me | ||
| 11 | HEMLOCK |
Edge forward in preparation to kill? (7)
|
| HEM ( edge ) LOCK ( forward, rugby ) ; socrates’ poison | ||
| 12 | LUNGI |
Wobbly content of bulging loincloth (5)
|
| b[ULGIN]*g ( content of i.e. without end letters ) | ||
| 13 | SWARM |
Crowd on move in Foyle’s War maybe (5)
|
| hidden in “..foyle’S WAR Maybe..” | ||
| 14 | AILMENT |
First-class lieutenant keeping soldiers in disorder (7)
|
| AI ( first class, A1 ) [ LT ( lieutenant ) containing MEN ( soldiers ) ] | ||
| 15 | AMONG |
Surrounded by characters in team on grass (5)
|
| hidden in “..teAM ON Grass” | ||
| 17 | HEREWARD THE WAKE |
30 8 20 male with Bounty cut down in capture (8,3,4)
|
| HE ( male ) REWARD ( bounty ) [ HEW ( cut down ) in TAKE ( capture ) ] ; 30 8 20 = anglo saxon noble; had no idea about this one and needed help for the solve | ||
| 20 | NOBLE |
Head seen with pound, English coin (5)
|
| NOB ( head ) L ( pound ) E ( english ) | ||
| 22 | ARTEMIS |
Goddess: smartie pants? (7)
|
| [ SMARTIE ]* | ||
| 25 | CRAMP |
Romeo gripped by theatrical muscle pain (5)
|
| R ( romeo ) in CAMP ( theatrical ) | ||
| 27 | HOICK |
Rustic devouring duck in lift (5)
|
| O ( duck, zero ) in HICK ( rustic ) | ||
| 28 | LUNATIC |
Nuts, plum and date nice where all discovered? (7)
|
| “..p[LU]m a[N]d d[AT]e n[IC]e..”, discovered i.e. without end letters | ||
| 29 | RELIGIOUS |
Scrupulous one bound by monastic vows (9)
|
| double def | ||
| 30/8 | ANGLO-SAXON |
Slogan abused American feller using blunt language (5-5)
|
| [ SLOGAN ]* in [ AX ( american feller, without e ) ON ( using ) ] | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | ASTHMA |
Time in volcanic dust, mum wheezing (6)
|
| [ T ( time ) in ASH ( volcanic dust ) ] MA ( mum ) | ||
| 2 | EXEMPLAR |
Type old Marple reformed (8)
|
| EX ( old ) [ MARPLE ]* | ||
| 3 | SNOOZE |
Little Kip put slimy mud under tin (6)
|
| SN ( tin, chemical symbol, stannum ) OOZE ( slimy mud ) | ||
| 4 | KICK-START |
Gives up bitter to provide sudden impulse (4-5)
|
| KICKS ( gives up ) TART ( bitter ) | ||
| 5 | CELLMATE |
Someone with whom to pass time? (8)
|
| cryptic def | ||
| 6 | BAGNIO |
Nothing in idle talk arises in brothel (6)
|
| O ( nothing ) IN GAB ( idle talk ), reversed | ||
| 7 | MERINGUE |
Sweet animated penguin beheaded in pool (8)
|
| pINGU ( animated penguin, without first letter ) in MERE ( pool ) | ||
| 10 | IOTA |
Bit for you in Paris coming up (4)
|
| reverse of ATOI ( for you, in french ) | ||
| 16 | STRAPLESS |
Without support, Walpole regularly beset by anxiety (9)
|
| APL ( wAlPoLe, alternate letters of ) in STRESS ( anxiety ) | ||
| 17 | HENCHARD |
Chicken and vegetable for Casterbridge citizen (8)
|
| HEN ( chicken ) CHARD ( vegetable ) ; refers to the novel ‘the mayor of casterbridge’ by thomas hardy. i had to google to get this sorted. | ||
| 18 | WRECKAGE |
Debris from clubs in crazy rag week (8)
|
| C ( clubs ) in [ RAG WEEK ]* | ||
| 19 | ARMITAGE |
Lively Margate entertains one Xanadu poet (8)
|
| I ( one ) in [ MARGATE ]* | ||
| 21 | BRIDLE |
Check line penned by woman new to Union? (6)
|
| L ( line ) in BRIDE ( woman new to union ) | ||
| 23 | TINCAN |
Temperature of old Peruvian container (3,3)
|
| T ( temperature ) INCAN ( of old peruvian ) | ||
| 24 | SECTOR |
Dry and rocky peak in area (6)
|
| SEC ( dry, french ) TOR ( rocky peak ) | ||
| 26 | ARGO |
Bark associated with golden retriever? (4)
|
| cryptic def; name of the ship in greek mythology used to retrieve the golden fleece; bark/barque is an old name for a sailing ship |
5dn: I could not find either gaolmate or jailmate in any dictionary, but they seemed plausible answers when I was solving, and had four of the five checked letters agreeing with the intended answer.
26dn: In my view, far too obscure for a one-part clue.
Thanks Neo for everything else in the puzzle, and Turbolegs for the whole of the blog.
I think the definition for SWARM is “crowd on the move”. ARTEMIS is a great find. The wordplay for HENCHARD was enough to jog my memory. I sort of liked ARGO, even though I needed a wordsearch to find it, once I had established that Auss, was meaningless.
Thanks Neo for a challenging crossword. I failed with ARGO and 17a, unknown to me. A few other clues were guesswork but most of this was satisfying with my favourites being LUNGI, SWARM, ARTEMIS, and STRAPLESS. Thanks Turbolegs for the blog.
13ac: I agree with Petert@2 about the definition for SWARM.
[17dn: I read The Mayor of Casterbridge some years ago, after a copy of it was posted to me in a padded envelope with no sort of covering letter. I have never found out who sent it.]
Thanks for the blog , interesting clues requiring a lot of thought . Agree with Peter@2 for ARTEMIS , good to see the legendary Pingu in MERINGUE , ANGLO-SAXON is clever and precise for the AX bit .
I think ARGO is a brilliant definition and bark is needed for deception with the dog , but I think the Argo was a galley , but only from the famous film .
It was a challenge . I worked out HEREWARD THE WAKE from the crossers after which 30 and 8 were obvious. My parents gave me a lungi from Aden when I was a child. Glad to encounter the word again.
Thanks Neo and Turbolegs.
I best liked TIN CAN, ARTEMIS and LUNATIC. Overall there were several satisfying clues, but too many obscurities for my liking.
Thanks Neo and Turbolegs
I enjoyed this one, though it was certainly a challenge.
Hereward the Wake reminded me of the novel of the same name by Charles Kingsley. It’s a great story very well told about a distant time in our history.
I wonder if anyone else remembers the brilliant serialization of the book by the BBC in the mid sixties? It starred Alfred Lynch as Hereward and Bryan Pringle (Jack in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning) as Lightfoot.