Thanks to WANDERER for a fun puzzle with a healthy injection of innovative word play.
FF:9 DD:8
| Across | ||
| 1, 7 | OBSERVATION CAR | Remark about right part of train for best views (11,3) |
| OBSERVATION (remark) CA (about) R (right) | ||
| 9 | LINEN | Brand new bedclothes? (5) |
| LINE (brand) N (new) | ||
| 10 | STOPWATCH | Sample book about first-timer in race (9) |
| SWATCH (sample book) around TOP (first) | ||
| 11, 12 | JERUSALEM CROSS | Christian heraldic device appearing in famous song burden (9,5) |
| JERUSALEM (famous song) CROSS (burden) | ||
| 13 | STUMBLE | Modest hotel, having gone for road trip (7) |
| hUMBLE (modest, with ST [road] replacing H [hotel] ) – witty clue | ||
| 15 | NASH | Architect or poet from Northwood (4) |
| double def; N (north) ASH (wood) – john nash / ogden nash | ||
| 18 | EDDA | Book of poems having partly influenced Dante (4) |
| hidden in “..influencED DAnte”; new word for me but workable from the clue | ||
| 20 | CASHIER | Sack race his undoing? (7) |
| RACE HIS* | ||
| 23, 24 | GLOBE ARTICHOKE | Blog about rocket he and I ordered with a vegetable (5,9) |
| BLOG ROCKET HE I A* | ||
| 26 | EXCELSIOR | Spreadsheet software’s input/ output runs hotel (9) |
| EXCEL’S (spreadsheet software’s) I (input) O (output) R (runs) | ||
| 27 | UNCAP | Remove cover from a French contraceptive (5) |
| UN (french for one) CAP (contraceptive) | ||
| 28, 29 | SEE WHAT HAPPENS | With new arrangement, a step-nephew has to play it by ear? (3,4,7) |
| A STEP NEPHEW HAS* | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | ONLY JUST | Barely working – extremely lazy, right? (4,4) |
| ON (working) LY (LazY, extremely) JUST (right) | ||
| 2 | SONOROUS | Rich relative with gold ring (American) (8) |
| SON (relative) OR (gold) O (ring) US (american) | ||
| 3 | RINGS | Calls Kosovo regularly? (5) |
| cryptic def; referring to kOsOvO (regularly) | ||
| 4 | ABSOLVE | “Unhesitatingly a bum crack!” “Pardon?” (7) |
| A Bum (without UM – unhesitatingly) SOLVE (crack) | ||
| 5 | IRON MAN | Spaced out female superhero (4,3) |
| cryptic clue; read FE MALE (spaced out) => IRON (fe) MAN (male) | ||
| 6 | NEWSCASTS | TV or radio programmes with young actors on board (9) |
| NEW (young) [ CAST (actors) in SS (~board) ] | ||
| 7 | CATION | It’s charged when ordering a tonic (6) |
| A TONIC* | ||
| 8 | REHASH | What appears in ill-advised reworking of material (6) |
| EH (what) in RASH (ill-advised) | ||
| 14 | BEDFELLOW | Sleeping partner fled, after hiding under covers (9) |
| FLED* in BELOW (~under cover) | ||
| 16 | DIVORCEE | Welshman caught intercepting letter for ex-wife? (8) |
| [IVOR (welshman) C (caught)] in DEE (letter) | ||
| 17 | PRE-EMPTS | Anticipates rider possessing bad temper (3-5) |
| PS (rider) containing TEMPER* | ||
| 19 | ARABICA | Coffee originally cultivated in part of SW Asia (7) |
| C (Cultivated, originally) in ARABIA ( part of sw asia) | ||
| 20 | CATARRH | Gulf state heard discharge complaint (7) |
| sounds like QATAR (gulf state) | ||
| 21 | EGRESS | Return missing top that’s way- out (6) |
| rEGRESS (return, without top i.e. first letter) | ||
| 22 | DOUCHE | That hurts, when described by rising journalist as a contemptible person (6) |
| OUCH (~that hurts) in reverse (rising) of ED (journalist) | ||
| 25 | CHUMP | Friend on piano is a Blockhead (5) |
| CHUM (friend) P (piano) | ||
*anagram
Really enjoyed this. I found it a quick solve but quite a few were pleasing once the penny dropped. I think I’ve seen the clue for IRON MAN before, but it still took me awhile. Great clue. Also, spotting ‘hiding’, as in ‘given a good hiding’, as an anagram indicator in 6d and seeing the definition part in 1d were high points.
There is a typo in blog for 13a. RD -> ST. Thanks to S&B.
I’m becoming a Wanderer fan.So neat and witty with 20 being a LOL.
Thanks Wanderer and Turbo.
Thanks for the blog, Turbolegs.
As a long-standing Wanderer fan, I say, ‘Welcome to the club, copmus!’.
Among favourites today were NASH, SEE WHAT HAPPENS, ABSOLVE, IRON MAN and DIVORCEE. I liked the ‘song burden’ and, like hovis, the ‘hiding’ in 14dn. I read the wordplay as BELOW [under] round [covers] FLED [after hiding] – a beautifully crafted clue.
Much more to like – many thanks, Wanderer.
I liked this so thanks to both Wanderer and Turbolegs.
Quite why the obvious answer didn’t leap straight to the fore with 20d, but it didn’t. I happily convinced myself that BAHRAIN parsed perfectly and consequently held myself up for a short while.
Still think it parses actually…
Thanks to Wanderer and Turbolegs. I needed help parsing IRON MAN and took a while getting DIVORCEE because I had put in “unlid” rather than UNCAP. Very enjoyable.
Thanks Wanderer and Turbolegs
Excellent crossword which unfortunately drew the errors with OBSERVATIONAL CAR and CATION for me.
Am assuming that the EXCELSIOR refers to the particular hotel in Hong Kong. Thought that the IRON MAN clue was excellent when it finally dawned to separate ‘fe male’. Lots of interesting wordplay with the rest of the clues as was CATARRH.
Finished with DOUCHE, BEDFELLOW and the clever STUMBLE.