A solid challenge from MUDD to end the work week . Thanks MUDD !
FF: 8 DD: 8
| Across | ||
| 1 | OFFISH | Aloof Piscean? (6) |
| cryptic def, read as OF FISH (piscean) | ||
| 4 | HOBNOB | Cooker turned on, first of bowls to mix (6) |
| HOB (cooker) NO (reverse of ON) B (first of Bowls) | ||
| 8 | LAUNDRY | Washing wet, it’s inferred, after liquid added for starters (7) |
| UNDRY (wet) after LA (starting letters of “..Liquid Added..”) | ||
| 9 | SIXTEEN | Square is next, triangle’s last to form (7) |
| IS NEXT E* (trianglE, last letter) | ||
| 11 | GREAT NIECE | Relative caught in embrace of teenager, I gathered (5-5) |
| C (caught) in TEENAGER I* | ||
| 12 | ACHY | Painful absorbing criticism, holding your heads (4) |
| starting letters of “..Absorbing Criticism, Holding Your..” | ||
| 13 | CATCH | Drawback in contract (5) |
| double def? | ||
| 14 | TAKE FIVE | Appropriate number, jazz number (4,4) |
| TAKE (appropriate) FIVE (number) | ||
| 16 | MISSPELT | Requiring correction, female taking shower (8) |
| MISS (female) PELT (shower) | ||
| 18 | TIE-IN | Link that is preserved? (3-2) |
| IE (that is) in TIN (~preserved) | ||
| 20 | GARB | Reversible kit for game (4) |
| reversing GARB gives us BRAG (game) | ||
| 21 | CLODHOPPER | Metal chains hold awfully clumsy boot (10) |
| COPPER (metal) containing HOLD* | ||
| 23 | PAINTER | Playwright embodying a creative type (7) |
| PINTER (playwright, harold) around A | ||
| 24 | ANNELID | Leech, perhaps, queen stuck on cap (7) |
| ANNE (queen) LID (cap) | ||
| 25 | ESTHER | Book in earnest he rewrote (6) |
| hidden in “..earnEST HE Rewrote..” | ||
| 26 | CRISPY | Odd bits of card game palatable, though dry (6) |
| CR (odd bits of CaRd) I SPY (game) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | ON AIR | Broadcasting in Hungarian, obviously uplifting (2,3) |
| hidden , reversed in “..hungaRIAN Obviously..”
|
||
| 2 | FINE ART | Beautiful pictures alongside appropriate frames (4,3) |
| NEAR (alongside) in FIT (appropriate) | ||
| 3 | SCRUNCHIE | Such nice new locks in back of car, lock security device (9) |
| SUCH NICE* around R (back of caR) | ||
| 5 | OVINE | 1/6 woolly (5) |
| VI (6) in ONE (1) | ||
| 6 | NOT HALF | Less than an equal share? Absolutely! (3,4) |
| (not so) cryptic def | ||
| 7 | BEETHOVEN | Composer has been touring close to Midhurst, Sussex town (9) |
| BEEN around [ T (close to midhursT) HOVE (sussex town) ] | ||
| 10 | GESTATION | Time when women are expecting to age isn’t fantastic (9) |
| TO AGE ISNT* | ||
| 13 | CHINAWARE | Fragile thing hit, fully conscious (9) |
| CHIN (hit) AWARE (fully conscious) | ||
| 15 | KITCHENER | Military leader putting chamber before sovereign (9) |
| KITCHEN (chamber) ER (sovereign) | ||
| 17 | SUBUNIT | Case carrying cake component (7) |
| SUIT (case) containing BUN (cake) | ||
| 19 | EXPRESS | Squeeze once, squeeze not stopping (7) |
| EX (squeeze once) PRESS (squeeze) | ||
| 21 | CRETE | Island certain to banish con (5) |
| conCRETE (certain, without CON) | ||
| 22 | EDIFY | Dinner originally provided within the confines of every school (5) |
| [D (Dinner, originally) IF (provided)] in EY (extreme characters of EverY) | ||
*anagram
Thanks both.
For 20ac, the way the clue is written would signify that the answer is BRAG.
Also I don’t understand how CATCH equates to contract.
Bracoman
I would agree with you re 20ac. I entered BRAG and then had to change it when I couldn’t solve/parse 13dn and 17dn.
You can catch/contract an illness (eg a cold).
Thanks Gaufrid. All is clear now.
Not sure I agree with the objections to 20a. If the clue said ‘reversing’ then it would definitely be wrong. ‘Reversible’ means ‘able to be reversed’ which (to me at least) means it isn’t actually reversed.
I had the same thoughts about 20ac as Hovis but I decided that it is still a somewhat unorthodox clue (and rather un-Mudd).
I did enter GARB but only with a healthy mixture of doubt, unbelief & determination!
Altogether an enjoyable half an hour or so (this time not ‘spoiled’ by too many double definitions – as is often the case with Mudd).
Many thanks to Turbolegs & Mudd.
I also entered BRAG for 20ac, as it seemed the obvious answer. Whatever meaning you attribute to “reversible”, as it stands the clue has the definition in the middle of the wordplay, which I personally find unacceptable. If it had said “Kit reversible for game”, I wouldn’t have the same objection, though I would then complain that the clue was ambiguous.
Thanks Mudd and Turbolegs
One of this setter’s best crosswords for a while. Agree with the debate about GARB (I’d also entered BRAG originally) – a pity that it draws the attention away from such good clues as 1a with its elegant brevity (my cotd) and 22d for its wordiness but with every one required.
Being a bit pedantic, I thought that 1/6 was more like ONE in VI, not the other way round – had interpreted it as ONE over VI.
Finished in the SW corner with MISSPELT (another cleverly worded clue), SUBUNIT and the fixing up of GARB as the last few in.
1 across is brilliant. Wish I had thought of it first
Meant to also comment on EXPRESS – it consists of a definition (squeeze (out) – as in liquid or air), the word play (as per blog) and a second definition (as per blog). Took me a while to work out what the first squeeze was doing there.
I don’t mind a few DDs. There were only 8 after all! But what’s an FF?
Agree about poor old GARB. Nice puzzle though.