The quirks of the crosswording S&B schedules mean that it’s the Peter and Pierre show this morning. We are not related. Or the same person, obviously.
A steady and generally well-clued puzzle in the typical IoS style – approachable. Twenty-five of the 32 clues were charades or insertions, so a bit two-dimensional, perhaps.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) missing
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Rushes to hide son
PELTS
A charade of PELT and S.
4 Communication government intended to announce
STATEMENT
A charade of STATE and a homophone (‘to announce’) of MEANT for ‘intended’.
9 Sailor in awfully nice surroundings points to fruit
NECTARINE
An insertion of TAR IN in (NICE)* An insertion of TAR in (NICE)* followed by NE for ‘points’ of the compass. The anagrind is ‘awfully’ and the insertion indicator is ‘in surroundings’.
10 Capulets’ second newlywed leaving Romeo in lodge
ABIDE
Nothing to do with Shakespeare, of course – that’s why it’s a cryptic crossword. A charade of A for the second letter of ‘capulets’ and B[R]IDE. ‘Romeo’ is from the phonetic alphabet.
11 Pictures returned to fellows in charge of illegal trade
TRAFFIC
A charade of ART reversed, FF for two ‘fellows’ and IC.
12 Ban site for redevelopment in part of French Riviera
ANTIBES
(BAN SITE)*
13 Shellfish found in broken toys by European river
OYSTER
A charade of (TOYS)* E and R.
15 Want king to stop person becoming parliamentary usher
BLACK ROD
An insertion (‘to stop’) of LACK and R for Rex or ‘king’ in BOD for ‘person’. We have a female one for the first time these days.
18 Chaps at head of table tucking into meal cooked with cheese
EMMENTAL
An insertion of MEN and T for the first letter of ‘table’ in (MEAL)*
20 Try substantial detailed typeface
GOTHIC
A charade of GO and THIC[K]. You have to read the instruction as ‘de-tailed’.
23 Device for winding pasta twists into drained corn
CAPSTAN
An insertion of (PASTA)* in CN for the outside letters of ‘corn’. The anagrind is ‘twists’.
24 Priest in hut finding prayer beads
CHAPLET
An insertion of P in CHALET. Aka Rosary Beads,
26 Lozenge recipe at hospital used by old doctor
RHOMB
A charade of R, H, O and MB. For those still comparatively new to this malarkey, I will explain that R for ‘recipe’ comes not from cooking, but from doctors’ handwritten instructions on prescriptions. It is the imperative plural of the Latin verb recipere, and literally means ‘Take!’ So it is – or more accurately was, I’d say – the instruction from the doctor to the apothecary or patient to take a certain amount of a medicine or an ingredient of one. Setters, being wily people, will often use ‘take’ in the surface to ask you to insert R into the answer somewhere.
27 Vessel found in first part of ‘Hope and Glory’ translated by first rate lecturer
HOLY GRAIL
A charade of the first letter of ‘Hope’, (GLORY)* AI and L.
28 Refreshment in reflective bishop’s office including seven new loaves for starters
ELEVENSES
An insertion of L and (SEVEN)* in SEE for the ‘bishop’s office’ reversed. The anagrind is ‘new’; the insertion indicator is ‘including’; the reversal indicator is ‘reflective’.
29 Rejected eggs containing a flaw
STAIN
An insertion of A in NITS reversed. Everyone must remember the NIT NURSE, or Nitty Nora the Bug Explorer, as she was called when I were a lad. Fierce woman in starched white coat.
Down
1 Cake made from tip of pale bananas not eaten
PANNETONE PANETTONE
A charade of P for the first letter of ‘pale’ and (NOT EATEN)*
2 Fabric lining sparkly cradle
LYCRA
Hidden in sparkLY CRAdle. Can ‘lining’ be an insertion indicator? I’m not rightly sure.
3 Fairy and supporters returned to nick
SNAFFLE
A reversal of ELF and FANS. Is an ELF a ‘fairy’? I’m not rightly sure.
4 Serbian contracted skin problem from grass
SNITCH
A charade of SN for the outside letters of ‘Serbian’ and ITCH.
5 Last word by competent subject
AMENABLE
A charade of AMEN and ABLE. ‘He is amenable/subject to persuasion.’
6 Bouncy castle collapsing round setter
ELASTIC
An insertion of I for the ‘setter’ in (CASTLE)*
7 English row about food close to Spanish city
EDINBURGH
A charade of E, DIN, BURG reversed and H for the last letter of ‘Spanish’ gives you the Scottish city.
8 Youngsters support partners
TEENS
A charade of TEE and NS for the bridge ‘partners’.
14 Waving flags found in prop containing English chart
SEMAPHORE
An insertion of E MAP in SHORE.
16 Competition in foreign chalet overseen by academic
DECATHLON
Plenty of chalets in this crossie this morning. An insertion of (CHALET)* in DON.
17 Sends out for meals containing cassava root
LAUNCHES
An insertion of A for the last letter of ‘cassava’ in LUNCHES.
19 Distinguished restaurant fully booked?
NOTABLE
If the restaurant were fully booked, then there would be NO TABLE to be had. A cd cum dd.
21 Colours of old bits of cooks’ equipment?
ORANGES
A charade of O and RANGES.
22 Series of deposits
SCALES
A dd.
23 Swear by remedy containing sulphur
CURSE
An insertion of S in CURE.
25 Animal stopping gorilla mating
LLAMA
Good luck to it, because the males are aggressive when pumped full of testosterone. Hidden in goriLLA MAting.
Many thanks to my namesake for this Sunday’s puzzle.
Held up in the SE by the unknown CHAPLET, and bunged in SCALES as my LOI, not seeing the (now all too obvious of course) ‘deposits’ meaning. Sorry to pick up a typo (again, nothing better to do with my life) but the correct spelling for 1d is PANETTONE.
Otherwise a steady solve with nothing too esoteric. I liked SNAFFLE (ELF would do for ‘fairy’ for me) and SNITCH, both words I could imagine coming from some poor toe rag being grilled by DI Burnside in “The Bill”.
Thanks to the dynamic cross Channel duo.
There’s a mistake in your parsing for 9a. It is TAR in NICE* + NE (points).
Pierre and Peter again. Not the same person, as you say, and if memory serves, not the same sex either.
PANETTONE was new to me and SNITCH was my LOI.
Thanks to S&B.
I can vouch for my own sex, Hovis, but not for that of Peter, whom I have never met. Thanks for the corrections.
A nice steady Sunday solve. SCALES was our LOI, too, after checking Chambers for the ‘deposit’ meaning. BLACK ROD was a bit of a write-in just from the definition, and we don’t think LAUNCHES would pass muster with the reviewer on a certain other crossword site’s section for newbie setters, although it’s fine by us.
No real CoD but we liked NECTARINE, OYSTER, SEMAPHORE and LLAMA.
Thanks, Peter; merci, Pierre.