Even by Chifonie’s standards this was a very quick and easy solve, but also a nice display of some elegant and sound clueing. Thanks to Chifonie.
| Across | ||||||||
| 1. | TITIAN | Man of strength holds information for painter (6) I[nformation] in TITAN |
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| 4. | SOPRANO | Singer given concession dashed round (7) SOP (concession) + RAN + O |
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| 9. | FREIGHTER | About to enter aircraft carrier (9) RE in FIGHTER |
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| 10. | SWELL | Old Bob kindly provides balloon (5) S (Shilling, old ‘bob’) + WELL (kindly) |
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| 11. | ACTON | Change a place in West London (5) To ACT ON something can be to change it |
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| 12. | IN BAD PART | Performing a poor role unfavourably (2,3,4) ‘Performing a poor role’ is to be IN a BAD PART |
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| 13. | YOGHURT | Hugo! Try exotic food (7) (HUGO TRY)* |
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| 15. | SHODDY | Chuck set about old clergyman? That’s badly done! (6) O DD in SHY (to throw, chuck) |
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| 17. | BOOSTS | Encourages catcalls around the street (6) ST in BOOS |
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| 19. | DEFIANT | Dicky fainted when challenging (7) FAINTED* |
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| 22. | CANTILENA | In Spanish bar the French demonstrate vocal style (9) LE in CANTINA |
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| 24. | RISER | One getting up in the middle of a flight (5) Double definition, the ‘flight’ being a staircase |
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| 26. | TOSCA | Part of Boito’s cast in opera (5) Hidden in boiTO’S CAst. Arrigo Boito wrote the librettos for several of Verdi’s operas, but not for Puccini’s Tosca |
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| 27. | PROMOTION | Pushing for progress (9) Double definition |
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| 28. | HOLSTER | Composer’s given the Queen the case for carrying a weapon (7) [Gustav] HOLST + ER |
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| 29. | MYRTLE | Looking for a woody plant to train? Try elm (6) (TRY ELM)* |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 1. | TIFFANY | Argument with one US jeweller (7) TIFF + ANY |
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| 2. | TRENT | English flower Romeo found in temporary accommodation (5) R in TENT – three very familiar crossword elements here! |
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| 3. | ARGONAUTS | Sailors demolished angostura (9) ANGOSTURA* |
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| 4. | SCRIBES | Nazi bodyguard about to plagiarise eastern writers (7) CRIB E in SS |
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| 5. | POSED | Sat and asked (5) Double definition (‘asked’ as in ‘posed a question’) |
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| 6. | ALEXANDRA | I left Egyptian city for a girl (9) ALEXANDRIA less I |
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| 7. | OF LATE | Recently Oscar got deflated by egghead (2,4) O + FLAT + E[gg] |
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| 8. | STRICT | Hard to control soldier leaving (6) RESTRICT (control) less R[oyal] E[ngineer] |
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| 14. | GROUNDSEL | Plant the Spanish gardens first (9) GROUNDS + EL |
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| 16. | OFFERTORY | Tender right-winger makes charitable donations (9) OFFER (to tender) + TORY |
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| 18. | SWEEPER | Society keener to get cleaner (7) S + WEEPER (one who keens) |
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| 19. | DEACON | Clergyman receiving company of clergyman (6) CO in DEAN |
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| 20. | TERENCE | Dramatist has entree cooked with a tiny slice of chervil (7) Anagram of ENTREE + C, for the Roman playwright |
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| 21. | SCOTCH | Church supports tax for drink (6) SCOT (tax – origin of the phrase “scot free”) + CH |
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| 23. | INAPT | It’s not appropriate to sleep in it (5) NAP in IT |
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| 25. | SKINT | Broke the surface with triathlon leader (5)\t SKIN + T[riathlon] |
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After being made to work earlier in the week this was a comfortable stroll, apart from CANTILENA – a new word to me but obvious from the clue.
Thanks, Chifonie and Andrew.
Yes, bit of a write-in but enjoyable nonetheless. I liked INAPT, SWEEPER and YOGHURT. Thanks to C and A.
Thank you to Chifinie and Andrew.
Like Chris in France@1, I didn’t know the word in 22a, CANTILENA, but once I saw “cantina” fitted with the crossers, I got it – my LOI.
The other one that I had hesitated on, but which sounded right given the cross letters, was 12a IN BAD PART for “unfavourably”.
A slight slip up caused me a delay in the SE when I rashly stuck in OFFERINGS at 16d, for some daft reason having ignored the “right-winger” part. A reminder to consider each detail in every clue.
I agree with drofle@2 in liking 18d SWEEPER.
Thanks Chifonie and Andrew
Mainly very pleasant, with INAPT my favourite. I didn’t know the expression IN BAD PART for “unfavourably”, but it was obvious enough from the wordplay.
“Looking for” in 29a seems odd, as it moves the definition to the middle of the clue. 7d is a bit clumsy, as FLAT is in deFLATed.
All very straightforward – CANTILENA was unfamiliar but very easy to deduce and check. The only one that held me up a little was IN BAD PART – not a phrase I would ever use…
Thanks to Chifonie and Andrew
Thank you Chifonie and Andrew.
An enjoyable puzzle for me since I am a slow solver. I was confused to start with by “Man of strength” since there was no-one among the Titans called Titan, so to start with I tried to think of an artist’s name incorporating Atlas.
Thanks Andrew.
Raised eyebrows over a couple of the looser defs. ACT ON for ‘change’; and ANY for ‘one’ for example.
Other than those, a pretty quick solve.
Liked Dicky fainted for DEFIANT, and also drofle’s SWEEPER.
Thank you Chifonie, nice week, all.
I didn’t know GROUNDSEL but otherwise even I managed to finish this one!
Many thanks Chifonie and Andrew.
Fell at the last hurdle, as I thought of a “harper” as one who keens, giving “sharper”, which seemed like it could mean “cleaner” (“this design has cleaner lines than the old model…”, so the unknown vocal style *must* have been “cantilana”. Shame that also fits perfectly with the wordplay! Damn. Oh well, I suppose I shouldn’t harp on about it 😀
@3 I did the same with offerings. It’s easy to guess there could have been a footballer called Ings (I was probably thinking of Paul Ince), and a footballer could be a right winger! The correct answer is more satisfying.
Enjoyed this. Favourites 19a and 23d.
William @7: I think those defs are fine. ACT ON can mean “implement” (my first thought), but can also mean “change”, as in “Government to act on homeless situation”.
“One” seems ok for ANY, as in “Is there any person who…” / “Is there a person who…” / “Is there one person who…”
Howard March@10.
There is, actually, a footballer called ” Ings ” [ Danny]. He’s with Liverpool FC; a forward but not necessarily a winger.
Thanks to Chifonie and Andrew. Like others, I was unfamiliar with GROUNDSEL, CANTILENA, and IN BAD PART, but I agree that the clueing (or cluing? I can’t decide on the right spelling) was clear. Very enjoyable.
Thanks all
As others I did not know cantilena.Has the anagram in 3d been used before?
In 12 AC I took performing to be on not in.
Too futurism for my taste.
Sorry auto correct : should be rufusian.
CANTINA is not, strictly speaking, the Spanish for bar: it means ‘buffet’ or ‘canteen’ – though it might mean ‘bar’ in Benidorm I suppose. In Spain, the most common word is (you guessed it!) “BAR”.
Maybe some folks have gone a bit too Star Wars Episode IV for their own good?
“Grunt grunt grunt.”
“He doesn’t like you.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I don’t like you either…..”
@RCWhiting
Rufus 27047 back in November
Nice and gentle but none the worse for that. This setter’s puzzles are usually nicely crafted and this was no exception. Solved while listening to some rather good Bill Frisell and the two fitted together very nicely.
Thanks Chifonie
Thanks Chifonie and Andrew – an enjoyable puzzle that revealed itself readily despite the presence of beer and absence of Suzee – FOI 13A LOI 8D (took a while to see the wordplay) – as with others 22A was new word for me and 12A was unfamiliar – I have a question – I seem to recall the first time I encountered Chifonie it was a real stinker – I couldn’t make any headway – but this must be years ago – so was it me or was it Chifonie (I’ve been doing Guardian crosswords for 40+ years) – these days I look forward to Chifonie crosswords as a gentle solve with proper Guardian clues (cf. Rufus – I never look at his crosswords).
Thanks to Chifonie for a crossword with short and clear surfaces and to Andrew for the blog. I don’t often comment as I normally don’t start solving until most have stopped looking.
FirmlyDirac @ 16. Noticed that, in addition to your knowledge of Spanish drinking establishments, you are also well-versed in which fungi are most desrable to worms! (Notes and Queries: G2 today. Some of us read more than the crossword).
Newbie here, just starting cryptics. Can someone tell me why Trent is English flower?
Covie@21
Trent is the name of a river which is something that flows. You’ll discover that it is a common device.
@Covie
Flower = something that flows, e.g. a river as in the river Trent which is in England
this crops up a lot so look out for it 😉
Thanks! Obvious once you know
@Covie says: Same way a tractor is a tower. It tows! Flower for river is used a lot. Strangely the trivia quiz masquerading as crossword puzzle, the new york times crossword, used tower = the thing that tows once!