A straightforward offering from a familiar Friday friend. Thanks Bradman!!
For some reason, I wasn’t able to get PD’s website app to pick up the crossword so had to download the crossword from the FT site, upload it into PDs application, and then used the blogging feature on his website so please bear with any inadvertent formatting issues.
DD: 6 FF : 8
| Across | ||
| 1 | MARYLANDER | American could be someone arriving at JFK by Virgin (10) |
| LANDER (someone arriving at JFK) after MARY (virgin) | ||
| 7 | GLIB | Enchanting Liberal – just a bit smooth-tongued (4) |
| hidden in “enchantinG LIBeral…” | ||
| 9 | COMA | The old woman backing firm in an unhealthy state (4) |
| MA (old woman) after CO (firm) | ||
| 10 | GHASTLIEST | Sight least awful or most awful? (10) |
| SIGHT LEAST* | ||
| 11 | FIANCE | Intended to join female at the match? (6) |
| cryptic def – same meaning | ||
| 12 | OVERLOOK | Neglect sees maiden maybe left with nothing, all right? (8) |
| OVER (maiden maybe, cricket) L (left) O (nothing) OK (all right) | ||
| 13 | REDACTED | Socialist took steps, being blue- pencilled? (8) |
| RED (socialist) ACTED (took steps) | ||
| 15 | CHER | Dear French instructor spilling drink (4) |
| teaCHER (instructor, without TEA – spilling drink) | ||
| 17 | GRAN | Relation called, last character to come forward (4) |
| RANG (called) with G moving up front | ||
| 19 | EASTERLY | Wind first thing in the morning? Set to swirl in (8) |
| SET* in EARLY (first thing in the morning) | ||
| 22 | REPUBLIC | Hesitation about open country (8) |
| RE (hesitation = ER, reversed) PUBLIC (open) | ||
| 23 | LAHORE | Stories about a hospital in Asian city (6) |
| LORE (stories) around A H (hospital) | ||
| 25 | PERCENTAGE | Returning agent gets a bit of money – time for share of profits? (10) |
| PER (agent = REP, reversed) CENT (bit of money) AGE (time) | ||
| 26 | YALE | Inventor making contribution to security in university (4) |
| double def; linus yale invented the yale locks. | ||
| 27 | PROD | Push only half the things made for sale (4) |
| PRODucts (things made for sale, half of) | ||
| 28 | ROTISSERIE | Restaurant serving rubbish is by southern lake (10) |
| ROT (rubbish) IS S (southern) ERIE (lake) | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | ACONITE | A notice about poison (7) |
| A NOTICE* | ||
| 3 | YEARN | Long time before start of night (5) |
| YEAR (time) N (start of Night) | ||
| 4 | AIGRETTE | Great tie, unusually decorative item (8) |
| GREAT TIE* | ||
| 5 | DIAMOND MERCHANT | Maybe one could actually sell ice to an Eskimo! (7,8) |
| cryptic clue | ||
| 6 | ROTTEN | Hill going up given X – bad! (6) |
| ROT (hill = TOR, reversed) TEN (X) | ||
| 7 | GUILLOCHE | Lake surrounded by cunning ornamental borders (9) |
| LOCH (lake) surrounded by GUILE (cunning) | ||
| 8 | INSHORE | Heron is flying away from the water (7) |
| HERON IS* | ||
| 14 | ANNOUNCED | Daughter needs to put a bit of weight on, woman at first declared (9) |
| ANN (woman) OUNCE (bit of weight) D (daughter) | ||
| 16 | PSALTERS | Church books badly produced with staplers (8) |
| STAPLERS* | ||
| 18 | ROE DEER | Wild animal getting eggs on grass turned over (3,4) |
| ROE (eggs) DEER (grass = REED, reversed) | ||
| 20 | LORELEI | Alluring female terribly rebellious, putting off characters in bus (7) |
| REbELLIOus* (without the letters of BUS) | ||
| 21 | PLANAR | Scheme artist set up in flat (6) |
| PLAN (scheme) AR (artist = RA, reversed) | ||
| 24 | HOYLE | Astrophysicist gives indication of unknown quantity in space (5) |
| Y (unknown quantity, algebra) in HOLE (space) | ||
*anagram
Yes, an easy but enjoyable solve. 4d and 7d were new to me but straightforward to guess. I think 11a should be taken as a single cryptic definition. Female at the match is normally fiancée.
An excellent puzzle as always from this dedicated and reliable setter.
Thanks to both Bradman and Turbolegs.
Thanks Bradman and Turbolegs
Like Hovis@1, I had 11a as a single cryptic definition, in the sense described. The same thing for 5d where the ‘to the Eskimos’ is really superfluous in a way, but understand what the Don has tried to do … and I liked it.
It was a puzzle not as hard as he can get with only a couple of his obscurities – GUILLOCHE (which I hadn’t seen before) and AIGRETTE (which I had) – both flawlessly clued as is his wont.
Really liked MARYLANDER (quite straightforward but clever), GHASTLIEST (an obvious anagram that I needed all crossers except for the A to finally resolve), HOYLE (for the surface as well as the neat charade) and PSALTERS (my last one in and another tricky obvious anagram).