A tough challenge from Wanderer today, which took me multiple passes to get through and still needed some help from Geoff for the finishing touches. Thanks Wanderer!
FF: 9 DD: 10
| Across | ||
| 1 | VICTOR | Winner of event? Just second (6) |
| cryptic clue; referring to V (second letter of eVent) – definition can be expanded to “winner of event”. | ||
| 4 | SWEETS | One of two identical bits of research into cooks’ receding gums? (6) |
| E (one of two identical bits of rEsEarch) in STEWS (cooks) reversed (receding) | ||
| 8 | MUMMIFY | Parent eats one fine preserve (7) |
| MUMMY (parent) containing [ I (one) F (fine) ] | ||
| 9 | INFIELD | Where one might see cowslips too! (7) |
| double def; latter referring to cricket fielding positions | ||
| 11 | RHINESTONE | Fake gem, a mix of nine others (10) |
| NINE OTHERS* | ||
| 12 | ALSO | Real soapstone content, as well (4) |
| hidden in “reAL SOapstone..” | ||
| 13 | PASHA | Adolescent infatuation with a Turkish officer (5) |
| PASH (adolescent infatuation) A | ||
| 14 | FLASHGUN | Lightning rod? One might have it on camera (8) |
| FLASH (lightning) GUN (rod) – didnt know this meaning of ROD | ||
| 16 | BITTIEST | Most disjointed hint setter included in sample (8) |
| BIT (hint) [ I (setter) in TEST (sample) ] | ||
| 18 | ENTRY | Record opening item in account? (5) |
| triple def | ||
| 20 | IAMB | Regulars leaving GI’s army by foot (4) |
| alternate letters of “..gI‘s ArMy By..” | ||
| 21 | QUESADILLA | Slightly queasy? Poor Sue – girl’s taken sick, having cheese- filled pancake (10) |
| Q (Queasy, slightly) [SUE]* { ADA (girl) containing ILL (sick) } | ||
| 23 | GENTIAN | Fellow Scot’s bloomer (7) |
| GENT (fellow) IAN (scot) | ||
| 24 | AUSTRAL | Southern state, not Iowa (7) |
| AUSTRALia (state, without IA – iowa) | ||
| 25 | RANCID | Film detectives turned off? (6) |
| RAN (film) CID (detectives); double def | ||
| 26 | RABBIT | Part taken by Scotsman, a poor player (6) |
| RAB (scotsman) BIT (part) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | VOUCH | Guarantee? You’ll need this for using coupon without hesitation (5) |
| VOUCHer (coupon, withouth ER – hesitation) | ||
| 2 | CEMENTS | Firmly establishes setter that’s heading for success (7) |
| CEMENT (setter) S (heading for Success) | ||
| 3 | OBFUSCATE | Most stubbly face disguised by oxygen mask (9) |
| [STUBbly (mostly) FACE]* after O (oxygen) | ||
| 5 | WINCE | Start with a victory before the City comeback? (5) |
| WIN (victory) CE (city = EC, london, reversed) | ||
| 6 | EPITAPH | What’s said on passing around hat and pipe (7) |
| HAT PIPE* | ||
| 7 | SALISBURY | Where two poisoned former PM (9) |
| the location where a former russian spy and his daughter were poisoned and the british pm lord salisbury | ||
| 10 | GODFATHER | Sponsor hated frog jumping around (9) |
| HATED FROG* | ||
| 13 | PRIVATEER | Pirate very briefly in action? (9) |
| PIRATE VERy* – clever cluing / neat surface | ||
| 15 | ACETABULA | One flap extremely unusual on adult hip bone sockets (9) |
| ACE (one) TAB (flap) UL (UnusuaL, extremely) A (adult) – new word for me | ||
| 17 | TIBETAN | A tongue can, if pierced by Greek character (7) |
| TIN (can) containing BETA (greek character) | ||
| 19 | TWIN TUB | End up accommodating wife with fashionable washing machine (4-3) |
| TTUB (end = BUTT, reversed) containing [ W (wife) In (fashionable) ] | ||
| 21 | QUASI | Question and answer session’s most prolific setter? As if! (5) |
| QU (question) A (answer) S (Session’s most prolific – the letter ‘S’ occurring 3 times) I (setter) | ||
| 22 | LEAPT | Skipped through meadow, part that’s emptied in springtime (5) |
| double clued; <1> LEA (meadow) ParT (emptied, without inner characters); <2> LEAP (spring) T (time) | ||
*anagram
This was hard! – but, as always with Wanderer, very satisfying to ‘finish’.
9ac was my last in and it still took a few minutes to parse – and then a chuckle as the light dawned.
I still don’t fully understand 18ac – ‘triple definition?’ …
…and 25ac -‘double definition? ‘Turned’ and ‘off’ both = RANCID.
Presumably 1ac refers to the NATO alphabet?
[I wasn’t entirely comfortable with 7dn – and was rather surprised to see it.]
Many thanks to Wanderer for another great puzzle and to Turbolegs [and Geoff] for the explanations.
Once again, no-one will be surprised to learn that my thoughts on this crossword coincide with Eileen’s, particularly with respect to 7d
Thanks to Wanderer and to Turbolegs/Geoff for the explanations
I was left feeling a bit grumpy about this one: I thought it had rather too many examples of clues where a major part of the wordplay was essentially the same as the answer. 2d is a particularly bad example of this, but we also have 24a, where AUSTRAL and “Australia” have the same source; 1d is slightly better, but still “voucher” is a direct compound of VOUCHER.
Also RAN for film (if referring to this one) is surely rather obscure. Given the number of possible film titles it’s hardly more helpful than “word” would be. And as Eileen says “turned” and “off” are the same definition twice.
I’m another who was a bit uneasy about the SALISBURY/Skripal reference.
Failed at the last hurdle and didn’t get SWEETS. What a tough clue that was – not at all ashamed to fail on that one.
Like Eileen, I wasn’t enamoured by 18a – the first and last definition seem pretty much the same; and similarly with RANCID (which I also failed to parse – not aware that RAN is a film) and would never think of ‘turned off’ as a double definition but more the same definition twice. Is this reasonable? I’m not sure but I’m not complaining.
Had to use a word fit to get ACETABULA. Sheesh!
The rest was superb and a great workout. So thanks to Wanderer and Turbolegs.
Crossed with Andrew@3. I did have a similar misgiving about 2d but, now that you mention it, 1d and 24a aren’t great either. Hmmm.
Typo correction: but still “voucher” is a direct compound of VOUCH.
Like Hovis, I’d noted 2dn but now take Andrew’s point about the other two. I’d actually been quite pleased to see a new twist on the old AUSTR[al]IA device! [SWEETS was my last but one in.]
It was really the parsing I was querying in 18ac – I still don’t see how it’s a triple definition.
Re: 18a. I read it as a triple definition as “record” “opening” and “item in account” but felt that an “item in account” was also a “record” hence my comment@4.
PS for some reason, my iPad no longer remembers my name and Email here and I need to enter them at every post. Anybody else with this problem?
Tough for me and ended up failing on SALISBURY and ENTRY, for which I had ‘enter’. Now I see it, I think it does work OK as a triple def. ENTRY = a ‘record’, eg in a ship’s log, an ‘opening’ and an ‘item in account’, eg a bank account ledger.
Anyone know what the Nina – left and ? rightmost columns of unches – means?
Thanks to Wanderer and Turbolegs
18a. Jumping in where ….
1. Record in a diary
2. Opening to an event
3. In a ledger account, as in double entry book-keeping
Sorry, just saw the obvious GODFATHER at 10d, so I think the Ninas do mean something.
Thanks, all, re RECORD – it’s just that there weren’t three definitions underlined in the blog.
Hovis @8 -I’ve had that problem all day.
Thanks Wanderer and Turbolegs
I didn’t enjoy this as much as I normally do Wanderer, it seemed somehow patchier than is usually the case, and I wasn’t keen on the similar devices in 4 & 21D.
I also have a small quibble with the definition in 13D. I had always understood a privateer to be a ship or mariner licensed by one state to attack the sea traffic of another state it was at war with, whereas a pirate just goes after anything available, irrespective of nationality.
Thanks Wanderer and Turbolegs
One of the hardest puzzles for the year (although I am still to do the Io from the June backlog !) A bit of a curate’s egg in some respects with the points that have been raised above (especially regarding the sensitivity of the SALISBURY clue) and some just tough but gettable (and chuckle-able) clues to be worked through. Did think that the movie RAN was a bit obscure – although have the feeling that it has been used before in crossword land.
Actually made a sloppy error with IAMB – had written in GAMB (which is the heraldic lions leg, rather than his foot) and was going to mention the irregular ‘regular’ instruction – just goes to show that in most cases the ‘error in clueing’ emanates from the solver !
Finished in the SW corner with TIBETAN, [G] IAMB and BITTIEST as the last few in.
Tough for me. Had about 70% of it done then came here. I put Rancid (25Ac) in but did not think it was correct – my reasoning being that Ran is too obscure (but a welcome change from the usual examples of films e.g ET). Also, not living in the UK hindered me with the poisining (7d) clue – it was in the news but not exactly front page. An enjoyable and challenging crossword. And thanks for the solutions above.