This is my fourth Shed blog in a row – but I’m not complaining. His appearances are getting steadily more regular, which has to be good news.
It has been generally agreed , I think, that Shed’s puzzles are usually more straightforward than they used to be but, although most of the answers here went in with no bother, there were a couple of parsings which gave some pause for thought .
Altogether, a most enjoyable puzzle, with several smiles along the way. Many thanks to Shed.
[Definitions are underlined in the clues.]
Across
1 Svelte supermodel turning 51, previously (6)
LISSOM
LI [51] + a reversal [turning] of [Kate] MOSS [supermodel]
5 Unfinished request to get reflux set in stone (6)
PEBBLE
PLE[a] [unfinished request] round EBB [reflux]
8 Policy changes party leader welcomed as improvements (7)
UPTURNS
U-TURNS [policy changes] round P[arty] – nice surface
9 Salad‘s defect incurs punishment, going west (7)
WALDORF
A reversal [going west] of FLAW [defect] round ROD [punishment]
11 Fenland hero‘s English dessert — muscle coated with fish (8,3,4)
HEREWARD THE WAKE
E [English] REWARD [dessert??] + THEW [muscle] in HAKE [fish] – I had to get my red pen out last week to correct a spelling mistake – but is this a wry nod to 4dn? [I’ve always been puzzled by the pronunciation of ‘dessert’.] I learned about Hereward the Wake in primary school but haven’t met him much since then, except in crosswords, where he’s cropped up quite a few times
12 Respite during cellulite reversal (4)
LULL
Hidden reversal in ceLLULite
13 Caper about, leg bone’s blood group being altered by drug (10)
ANTIBIOTIC
ANTIC [caper] round TIBI[a] [leg bone] with the blood group ‘a’ changed to ‘o’
17 Dance from Switzerland to city in France at 100 mph (10)
CHARLESTON
CH [Switzerland – international vehicle registration] + ARLES [city in France] + TON [100 mph]
18 Poet turned dull (4)
DRAB
A reversal [turned] of BARD [poet]
20 Unimportant painting involving point of order (15)
INCONSEQUENTIAL
ICON [painting] round N [north – point] + SEQUENTIAL [of order]
23 Violent crime in connected cells (7)
BATTERY
Double definition
24 The greatest love traduced inside air sacs (7)
ALVEOLI
Anagram [traduced] of LOVE inside [Muhammad] ALI – ‘the greatest’
25 Musicians send naughty messages to alien (6)
SEXTET
SEXT [send naughty messages] + ET [Crosswordland’s favourite alien]
26) Tries tablets and speaks (6)
ESSAYS
ES [tablets] + SAYS [speaks]
Down
2 Bury one storyteller, mostly, among others (5,4)
INTER ALIA
INTER [bury] + A [one] LIA[r] [storyteller, mostly]
3 Second stroke results in untidy writing (6)
SCRAWL
S [second] + CRAWL [swimming stroke]
4 Rush to interrupt teacher’s Grauniad hallmark? (9)
MISPRINTS
This took longer than the rest put together: when solving, I read it as SPRINT [rush] in MISS [teacher] and it was only when I came to write the blog that I realised this didn’t work – panic! I wondered if it might possibly be a definition by example but, after rummaging through Chambers, I found, under ‘rush’, ‘an unedited print of a motion picture scene or series of scenes for immediate viewing by the film makers’ [I knew that definition of ‘rush’ but not ‘print’]
5 Exercise intelligence of bird (5)
PEWIT
PE [exercise] + WIT [intelligence] – I’ve never seen this spelling, which raises doubts about the pronunciation, but it’s in Chambers – and with the alternative pronunciation of ‘pew-it’
6 Dance-related dance quote upended (8)
BALLETIC
BALL [dance] + a reversal [upended] of CITE [quote]
7 Back scrubber turning a trick (5)
LOOFA
Another reversal [turning] of A FOOL [a trick]
8 Concoction of chilli and black plum proves hard going (6,5)
UPHILL CLIMB
Anagram [concoction] of CHILLI and B[lack] PLUM
10 Composer, one carrying big picture with nothing on top (11)
FRESCOBALDI
I [one] carrying [in a down clue this could indicate supporting rather than containing] FRESCO [big picture] + BALD [with nothing on top]
14 Protect against wild speculation (odds off) (9)
INOCULATE
Anagram [wild] of [sp]ECULATION minus sp [starting price – ‘odds off’]
15 Dread adopting digital applications on unknown ground (9)
TERRITORY
TERROR [dread] round IT [digital application] + Y [unknown]
16 Mournful map chap (8)
PLANGENT
PLAN [map] + GENT [chap]
19 Wherewithal to cut music man’s topknot (6)
KNIVES
I can’t see this one, I’m afraid: Burl Ives is a music man but I don’t like KN for ‘topknot’ and I don’t think it’s that – I’m sure someone will soon put me right
21 Pretty girl‘s copper neckwear (5)
CUTIE
CU [copper] TIE [neckwear]
22 Implausibly good type ruined country (5)
EGYPT
Anagram [ruined] of G [good] TYPE: I’m not sure what ‘implausibly’ is doing – unless it’s the indicator and ‘ruined’ is part of the definition
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