An atypical challenge from BRADMAN today, with a disporportionate number of long words/phrases. A few words that I didnt know before the solve but quite easily gettable from the solid construction of the clue.
FF: 8 DD: 8
I was hoping there would be a nina but couldnt find one … BRADMAN, perhaps for your next Friday offering??
| Across | ||
| 1 | FIRE ALARMS | In country businesses one must have authentic warning devices (4,6) |
| [I (one) REAL (authentic)] in FARMS (country businesses) | ||
| 6 | SCUP | Second trophy for swimmer (4) |
| S (second) CUP (trophy) | ||
| 9 | HEARTLANDS | Earls hadn’t abandoned central territory (10) |
| EARLS HADNT* | ||
| 10 | ESSE | Actual existence of fairies, seemingly (4) |
| hidden in “..fairiES SEemingly” | ||
| 12 | IMPORT DUTIES | Tourism Dept I run to get money from foreign countries (6,6) |
| TOURISM DEPT I* | ||
| 15 | REPUGNANT | Offensive ruling when revolutionary university president is installed (9) |
| [ U (university) P (president)] reversed (revolutionary) in REGNANT (ruling) | ||
| 17 | CAPON | Chicken in pot inside another container (5) |
| PO (pot) in CAN (container) | ||
| 18 | LUCRE | Something attractive about cold brass (5) |
| LURE (something attractive) about C (cold) | ||
| 19 | POSTERIOR | Bill, one getting nothing right, is bottom (9) |
| POSTER (bill) I (one) O (nothing) R (right) | ||
| 20 | CHAMBERLAINS | Court officials in rows crossing yellow line (12) |
| CHAINS (rows) around [ AMBER (yellow) L (line) ] | ||
| 24 | OMIT | Miss nothing, having joined American university (4) |
| O (nothing) MIT (american university) | ||
| 25 | HANOVERIAN | Hour man needs to collect a series of deliveries in royal house (10) |
| [H (hour) IAN (man)] collecting [AN (a) OVER (series of deliveries) ] | ||
| 26 | EFTA | Trading organisation featured in the FT advertisement (4) |
| hidden in “..thE FT Advertisement” | ||
| 27 | ADMITTANCE | Permission to enter a social event – Romney gains access (10) |
| MITT (romney) in A DANCE (social event) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | FOHN | Wind in midriff? Oh, nasty! (4) |
| hidden in “..midrifF OH Nasty” | ||
| 2 | ROAD | “B” one is like a motorway? Yes and no! (4) |
| my best attempt at parsing this : B+ROAD – like a motorway i.e. wide. a road itself might not be. | ||
| 3 | AS TIME GOES BY | Boy with message – it comes out in film song (2,4,4,2) |
| BOY MESSAGE IT* | ||
| 4 | ALAMO | Besieged fort taking hit with a circle gathered round (5) |
| LAM (hit) surrounded by A O (circle) | ||
| 5 | MEDITATES | Thinks change will be accepted by fellow workers (9) |
| EDIT (change) in MATES (fellow workers) | ||
| 7 | CASSIOPEIA | More than one star is so epic – ace, ace, fantastic! (10) |
| IS SO EPIC A (ace) A (ace)* | ||
| 8 | PLEASANTRY | Agreeable comment from Left swallowed by poor workers (10) |
| L (left) in PEASANTRY (poor workers) | ||
| 11 | LUNCHEON MEAT | No chalet menu could supply this processed food (8,4) |
| NO CHALET MENU* | ||
| 13 | FROLICSOME | I close form naughtily engaged in pranks (10) |
| I CLOSE FORM* | ||
| 14 | SPECIALIST | Start to suffer with muscle? Then get one of the top people, hospital expert (10) |
| S (start to Suffer) PEC (muscle) I (one) A-LIST (top people) | ||
| 16 | AMPERSAND | B&B’s central feature (9) |
| cryptic def; referring to ‘&’ | ||
| 21 | AIOLI | Mayonnaise is excellent, containing unusual oil (5) |
| AI (A1, excellent) containing OIL* | ||
| 22 | SIAN | There’s something wicked about a Welsh girl (4) |
| SIN (something wicked) around A | ||
| 23 | ANTE | Worker getting energy from what is put down on table? (4) |
| ANY (worker) E (energy) | ||
*anagram
2d – in the UK a B Road is a minor road, so not like a Motorway, which is Broad (though strictly speaking the classification refers to traffic density, not the size of the road – see here: “B roads can range from dual carriageways to single track roads with passing places”).
Thank you for the review. A nina would be difficult in this grid, but more importantly I cannot think why anyone would expect one in this particular puzzle. Ninas are best kept as a surprise element. If they are expected, they can make a puzzle much easier and can even be an anticlimax!
Ninas and ghost themes are so common these days that there not being one can be a surprise in itself!
I parsed 2d as Andrew @1. That is a “B” one gives B+ROAD, which, if read as BROAD, is like a motorway (yes) and, if read as B-ROAD, is not like a motorway (no). Hence the Yes or no in the clue. Didn’t know EFTA or FOHN, but both easy to get.
Thanks to Bradman and Turbolegs. Much of this puzzle came quickly for me, but I had to check EFTA, could not parse ROAD, was not certain about PO for pot in CAPON, and was misled for a while with the spelling of FOHN instead of foehn. Still, lots of fun.
ACD@4 Using po for Chamber pot was quite common in my youth. Don’t see them so much these days.
Thanks Bradman and Turbolegs
Good level crossword with a few new terms for me – FOHN, SCUP and EFTA.
Didn’t parse FIRE ALARMS properly – went the FIRMS A route rather than the FARMS I one (which was clearly the right way!)
Enjoyed the anagrams and finished in the NW corner with FOHN and ROAD the last couple in.