With Autumn in full swing an offering from Morph
I felt there was a good variation in clue types in today’s crossword and many that made me chuckle. Always a good sign.
Many short clues, which can be the trickiest but are the most satisfying when you see the logic.
4ac; 14ac; 21dn for instance
Favourite clues could have been 25ac or 23dn but I think 21dn trumps both of them. Plenty of others to choose from too.
Thanks Morph for an amusing solve with some lovely clues.
Key:
* Anagram; DD Double definition; Underline definition; Rev. reverse
Across
1 Women shunning mattress on floor, having suitable place to carry out piercings? (5)
Low bed (mattress on floor) – w (women) = LOBED
4 Entrance with roguish manner (7)
Arch (roguish + way (manner) = ARCHWAY
8 Concerning hearing a cricket club’s holding to expel one (8)
A CC (Cricket club) around oust (expel) + I (one) = ACOUSTIC
9 Communications fibres aboard container vessel (6)
Hidden contaiNER VEssel = NERVES
10 Trawl nudes feverishly – need to get out more? (10)
(trawl nudes) = WANDERLUST
11 Channel with attitude (4)
DD SIDE
12 Singer endlessly nabbed by copper – it’s to do with what’s at bottom of trunk (6)
Elvis (singer) – s (endlessly) in PC (copper) = PELVIC
14 Ice-suit (8)
DD DIAMONDS
16 E.g. Leo Messi’s one to buy (4,4)
DD Eg. Leo and Messi’s a one to but = STAR SIGN
18 Draw back arm and pick up piece of chicken? (6)
Rev. Gun (arm) + net (pick up) = NUGGET
20 Conservative cut in scale for branch (4)
Climb (Scale) – c (conservative) = LIMB
22 Smarmy American infiltrating Russian international intelligence (10)
A (American) within Oleg (Russian) + I (international) + nous (intelligence) = OLEAGINOUS
24 Ex-Top Gear star masters black spot? (6)
Stig (Ex-Top Gear star) + ma (masters) = STIGMA
25 Spouting uncontrollably – swearing? (8)
F using (swearing) = EFFUSING
26 Give painting a break, then resume (7)
Rest (break) + art (painting) = RESTART
27 King of French captured and brought back (5)
Rex (Kind) around du (of French) = REDUX
Down
1 Provide liquid sustenance after hours when performers enter (7)
Act (performers) in Late (After hours) = LACTATE
2 Run enthusiastically across to get punished (5,4)
Bound (run enthusiastically) over (across) = BOUND OVER
3 Prevent date tree getting chopped (5)
D (date) + (tree)* = DETER
4 Money paid to investors expressing a kind of prurience? (7,8)
Homonym of a crude interest = ACCRUED INTEREST
5 Restrict what goes on in prison gym? (9)
Con’s train (what goes on in prison gym) = CONSTRAIN
6 Collected letters of poet without value (5)
Wordsworth (poet) – worth (value) = WORDS
7 Taking up home improvement, senior got into it but right away gave up (7)
Rev. DIY (home improvement) around elder(senior) – r = YIELDED
13 Air Transport Association supports Dutch airport not initially withdrawing hot sausage (9)
Schipol (Dutch airport) – s (not initially) + ata (air transport association) = CHIPOLATA
15 Rise and go out together (9)
(Rise and go)* = ORGANISED
17 Ball sees character at centre of social network taken down a notch? (7)
Twitter (social network) with T (character at centre) taken down a notch to S = TWISTER
19 Biannual event where horse is docked next to cow (7)
Equine (horse) – e (docked) + ox (cow) = EQUINOX
21 Can American counterfeit? (5)
Bog (can as in toilet) + us (American) = BOGUS
23 Who‘s involved in running of errands (5)
Hidden runninG OF ERrands = GOFER
We’re really spoiled in GIFT-land today with Morph, Rosa Klebb and Paul. I always enjoy Morph’s puzzles which are full of wit yet rock solid. He is a man who wears more than one hat and I detect a hint of a theme involving 4a, 6 and 17 – probably more – based on his Twitter feed.
Thanks to Morph and twencelas
Thanks Morph and Twencelas.
27ac: This should have been “King of the French”: DU means “of the” (masculine singular), not just “of”.
13dn: The airport is Schiphol. The indication for removing the (second) H is “withdrawing hot”, the definition being simply “sausage”.
A not too difficult but enjoyable Saturday evening solve. I like OLEAGINOUS as a word and it was good to see it for the first time in a crossword. The surface for WANDERLUST and def for PELVIC were also good. Didn’t know TWISTER as a sort of ‘ball’, ? eg as a ball bowled in cricket I presume.
Thanks to Morph and twencelas.
This took a bit of sorting out and some help, but an enjoyable offering from Morph.
PB@2: I agree with you about 27a; and, re 13dn, thanks for pointing out the correct spelling of Schiphol – I’d forgotten there was a second H so the clue didn’t seem to make sense.
1ac was my last one in – after ages trying to fathom something to do with a futon or the lack of one it was a facepalm moment to get LOBED and realise the parsing. It has to be my CoD.
Thanks, Morph and twencelas
Lots to smile at here.
Had most trouble with the NW corner. I kept trying to fit ‘cast’ into 1 down, and I’ve never heard BOUND OVER meaning getting punished.
Loved PELVIC, BOGUS and EFFUSING.