The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27171.
After being out most of the evening, I was happy to see Chifonie’s name, rather than the Enigmatist, say. He did not let me down, giving me perhaps the quickest blog that I have done. The startling number of double definitions obviously helped.
| Across | ||
| 1 | STRICT | Uncompromising way religious teaching gets to court (6) |
| A charade of ST (street, ‘way’) plus RI (‘religious teaching’ instruction) plus CT (‘court’). | ||
| 4 | RESISTS | Avoids breaks when touring island (7) |
| An envelope (‘when touring’) of IS (‘island’) in RESTS (‘breaks’). | ||
| 9 | FLOWER BED | Plot in world beef organisation (6,3) |
| An anagram (‘organisation’) of ‘world beef’. | ||
| 10 | TRACE | Follow a suggestion … (5) |
| Double definition. | ||
| 11 | TRACK | … follow the railway line (5) |
| Double definition. | ||
| 12 | IN CONCERT | Performing together (2,7) |
| Somewhere between a cryptic and double definition. | ||
| 13 | PRIVATE | Tommy‘s secret (7) |
| Double definition, the first being a British army private. | ||
| 15 | LEGUME | Plant tree in shelter (6) |
| An envelope (‘in’) of GUM (‘tree’) in LEE (‘shelter’). | ||
| 17 | STREET | Way in which a good man catches a plane, for example (6) |
| An envelope (‘catches’) of TREE (‘a plane, for example) in ST (‘saint’). | ||
| 19 | ABSINTH | Ban this fermented drink (7) |
| An anagram (‘fermented’) of ‘ban this’. More commonly spelled absinthe – and it has been subjected to bans, now largely lifted. | ||
| 22 | HANDS DOWN | Passes on with ease (5,4) |
| Double definition. | ||
| 24 | EASEL | Stand for carnivore being beheaded (5) |
| [w]EASEL (‘carnivore’) minus its first letter (‘being beheaded’). | ||
| 26 | ASIDE | American team is out of the way (5) |
| A charade of A (‘American’) plus SIDE (‘team’). | ||
| 27 | STARTLING | Winger receives tackle, initially producing a shock (9) |
| An envelope (‘receives’) of T (‘Tackle, initially’) in STARLING (bird, ‘winger’). | ||
| 28 | SHELLEY | Girl to cry about poet (7) |
| A charade of SHE (‘girl’) plus LLEY, a reversal (‘about’) of YELL (‘cry’). | ||
| 29 | DRAGON | Pull leg of battleaxe (6) |
| A charade of DRAG (‘pull’) plus ON (‘leg’, cricket). The disparaging definition raised an eyebrow. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SOFT TOP | Car frequently arriving in station (4,3) |
| An envelope (‘arriving in’) of OFT (‘frequently’) in STOP (‘station’). | ||
| 2 | RIOJA | Wine (South American port) gets German approval (5) |
| A charade of RIO (‘South American port’) plus JA (‘German approval’), for the Spanish wine. | ||
| 3 | CHECKMATE | Stop partner signalling end of engagement on board (9) |
| A charade of CHECK (‘stop’) plus MATE (‘partner’). | ||
| 4 | RADICAL | Revolutionary caught slashing tyre (7) |
| An envelope (‘slashing’) of C (‘caught’) in RADIAL (‘tyre’). | ||
| 5 | SATIN | Attended a meeting of the cloth (5) |
| SAT IN (‘attended a meeting’). | ||
| 6 | STATESMAN | American chap, a respected politician (9) |
| Double definition. | ||
| 7 | SIESTA | Seat is adjusted for sleep (6) |
| An anagram (‘adjusted’) of ‘seat is’. | ||
| 8 | OBLIGE | Do a favour and repair big ’ole (6) |
| An anagram (‘repair’) of ‘big ole’. | ||
| 14 | INTENSIVE | Popular numbers I have detailed (9) |
| A charade of IN (‘popular’) plus TENS (‘numbers’) plus I’VE (‘I have’). | ||
| 16 | GAS HEATER | Girl remains with diner — that’ll warm things up (3,6) |
| A charade of G (‘girl’) plus ASH (‘remains’) plus EATER (‘diner’). | ||
| 18 | TROTSKY | Communist gets to run? Heavens! (7) |
| A charade of TROT (‘run’) plus SKY (‘heavens’). | ||
| 19 | ANNEAL | British queen with a Latin temper (6) |
| A charade of ANNE (‘British queen’) plus ‘a’ plus L (‘Latin’). | ||
| 20 | HALOGEN | Gloria has information on a non-metallic element (7) |
| A charade of HALO (‘gloria’) plus GEN (‘information’). | ||
| 21 | SHEARS | Son picks up tool (6) |
| A charade of S (‘son’) plus HEARS (‘picks up’). | ||
| 23 | SPELL | Penny goes into market for a while (5) |
| An envelope (‘goes into’) of P (‘penny’) in SELL (‘market’). | ||
| 25 | SWING | Influence head of subversive faction (5) |
| A charade of S (‘head of Subversive’) plus WING (‘faction’). | ||
Thanks PeterO and Chifonie!
Beautiful surfaces throughout.
Liked SA port with German approval, the British queen, the Ametican chap, tree in shelter and fermented drink!
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Absinth(e) makes the mind grow number.
Undoubtedly my quickest solve ever. The upper half was nearly a write-in. Puzzled a bit over alternative spelling of ABSINTH / ABSINTHE.
Thanks PeterO and Chifonie!
Thanks Chifonie and PeterO
Easy but very pleasant, with HALOGEN my favourite. I didn’t parse SHELLEY, as I took the girl to be ELLE, leaving a puzzling SHY.
I hadn’t seen the ABSINTH spelling before. Google tells me that it’s the Bohemian variant.
OBLIGE stands out for the ugliness of the clue!
I echo muffin’s comments! I also wondered about ABSINTH for a bit. Thanks to C and P.
Like slipstream @3 this was definitely my fastest ever completion which can only mean that it was a very simple puzzle! Enjoyable nonetheless. Thanks to Chifonie and PeterO
Thank you Chifonie and PeterO.
My fastest solve ever also, but most enjoyable. I appreciated the lovely smooth surfaces of the clues, those for FLOWERBED, STARTLING, CHECKMATE and HALOGEN being my favourites.
This was enjoyable and relatively gentle. No doubt there is something more fiendish in store for us over the weekend.
Re 16d: in what circumstances is G a standard abbreviation for “girl”?
A nice little palate-cleanser before tomorrow’s main course, no doubt. Nothing wrong with that.
JimS @8, the only example I have come across is in primary school lists of pupils that teachers write up for the benefit of parents, it helps when sending out party invitations etc., one does not want a child to be the only boy or girl for instance.
whoops, threw out my notes by mistake but I think my favourite was STARTLING.
Enjoyed this puzzle – it was nice to do a quick solve for once 🙂
Thanks Chifonie and PeterO.
Yes, a rapid solve but lots of nice surfaces to appreciate (8d excepted). My favourites were STREET for the plane misdirection (it took me some time to think of it is as a tree not an aero) and TROTSKY which brought a big smile for its frivolity. I hope tomorrow is as elegant if a bit more challenging. Thanks Chifonie and PeterO.
A surprising end to the week for me, with a certain Rufuseske feel to it. I wondered about G for girl, and I usually think of Halogens as a group of elements, not an element. SW corner last to finish as the plane misdirection worked, and i took ages to accept 22a and 26a.
Thanks Chifonie and PeterO
You hear GF for girlfriend, so I suppose G=girl is fair enough
I was struck too by the number of double definitions, so I counted them. There were seven, along with 21 charades and four anagrams.
How does HALO = GLORIA?
It was a lovely puzzle. I finished the whole thing last night, unusual except for a Rufus.
Thanks, Chifonie and PeterO.
Valentine @15
See (4) here
Also known as a “glory”.
Disappointingly easy for a holiday Friday.
Thanks to Chifonie and PeterO
Mr Beaver @14: that raises an interesting point. If “girl” can be used to clue G because that’s what it stands for in GF, can “friend” be used to clue F? Can “genetically” be used to clue G, or “modified” be used to clue M, because of GM?
This is a genuine question – I’m not pretending to know the answer!
My guess is that, deep in Chambers or Collins etc (though I don’t have them beside me to check), g is shown as an abbreviation for girl. A setter leaps on this as manna, regardless of how little it might be used in real life. But m for modified won’t so appear.
Thanks to Chifonie and PeterO. Yes, easier than expected but very enjoyable. One of the rare times I did not need help with parsing, though I was slowed down a bit by Gloria = halo and faction = wing.
I agree with all the above comments.I tried Absinthe once not recommended nearly blew my head off. Cookie is correct re lists for parents I used to get requests from parents quite often and then was asked to give out party packs to the whole class so that those not invited didn’t miss out.Many thanks Peter O and Chifonie
JimS and others
re: G for girl
This has become a fraught subject with the increasing, and increasingly imaginative, use of abbreviatons in crossword clues. I think some of those you find, particularly in Chambers, should not really be counted as having become established and acceptable. I’ve just finished compiling a couple of crosswords, and I decided to rely on Collins rather than Chambers for confirmation in the few cases where I had to check whether a single-letter abbreviation was valid.
The examples G/F from girlfriend and G/M from ‘genetically modified’ look ridiculous and are. If G=girl is valid (I couldn’t actually find it in either Collins or Chambers) it is not by reasoning from that example. The example I came up with recently was B=broadcasting, because that is what the middle letter stands for in BBC, but that also, obviously, doesn’t wash.
I have a similar question to yours, Jim: on what authority is G=girl a standard abbreviation?
ABSINTH was my FOI but I rather thought it would prove to be wrong. However the crossers confirmed it so—.
I rather enjoyed this having come late to the party as a result of lawn mowing. With any luck it will rain tomorrow! I liked SHELLEY and LEGUME- and the latter made me laugh for some reason. Second childhood, perhaps?
Thanks Chifonie.
It was a nice change from the chestnut (though originally great) “Sailors in the drink (8)”
Hasn’t this puzzle been set recently? It seemed really familiar .