Crosophile provides the fare today.
This puzzle challenged my spelling in a couple of places. I had RI [religious instruction] for scripture leading to PUTRIFY at 21 down (PUTREFY) for a while and DESICCATE is always a word I spell wrongly. Eventually though I realised the error of my ways when I just couldn’t sort out 27 across until it was my last one in. Also I realised that the anagram at 13 down wasn’t working with two S and one C. It had to be the other way round.
I don’t think I have used CARYATID (29 across) in conversation but the wordplay was quite clear. When writing the blog, I spent a bit of time with a dictionary confirming some of the definitions of some of the answers and component parts. There were a couple of times I felt we had A meaning C and B meaning C but I wasn’t always sure that A meant B, However digging deeper in the dictionary and a couple of Thesauri / Thesauruses usually satisfied me.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
| 1 | ‘Want to hide’ made literal? (8) |
MISS (feel the loss or absence of ; want) + PELT (raw animal hide) MISS PELT |
MISSPELT (a literal is a misprint of a letter in word causing the word to be MISSPELT) |
| 5 | Rum and whiskey, dire when mixed (5) |
W (whiskey is the international radio codeword for the letter W) + an anagram of (mixed) DIRE W IERD* |
WEIRD (odd; rum) |
| 9 | Account of arrival in Natal (9) |
ARR (arrival) contained in (in) NATIVE (connected with birth; natal) N (ARR) ATIVE |
NARRATIVE (account) |
| 10 | Twists bobbin around (5) |
SPOOL (cylinder, bobbin or reel on which yarn, etc is wound) reversed (around) LOOPS< |
LOOPS (twists) |
| 11 | Mark’s hip replacement in vessels at seas (clippers) (6) |
SHIPS (vessels) with HEAR (listen; mark) replacing (replacement) HIP S HEAR S |
SHEARS (large pair of clippers) |
| 12 |
Fantastic if such is planted next to a flowering shrub |
Anagram of (fantastic) IF SUCH + A FUCHSI* A |
FUCHSIA (flowering shrub)
|
| 14 |
Annoying jingle about Telford’s top hotel and ‘The Early Bird’s Breakfast‘? |
EARWORM (annoyingly catchy jingle that you can’t get out of your head) containing (about) (T [first letter of {top of} TELFORD}] + H [hotel]) EAR (T H) WORM |
EARTHWORM (reference the phrase, the early bird catches the worm [for breakfast, as it’s early]) |
| 16 | A letter and article you shouldn’t have (5) |
THE (definite article) + TA (thankyou; you shouldn’t have) THE TA |
THETA (Greek letter) |
| 18 | Dead to bury after time moves on (5) |
INTER (bury) with the T (time) moved to the right (moved on) INERT |
INERT (lifeless; dead) |
| 20 | Transport‘s concerning after near crashes put in a flat spin (9) |
Anagram of (crashes) NEAR + an anagram of (in a flat spin) PUT + RE (with reference to; concerning) ENRA* PTU* RE |
ENRAPTURE (transport with pleasure or delight) |
| 22 | Admit crime and prisoner fine’s reduced, initially expunged (7) |
CON (lag; prisoner) + F (fine) + LESS (reduced) excluding (expunged) the first letter (initially) L CON F ESS |
CONFESS (admit) |
| 24 | Do put in dossier as ‘pointless‘ (6) |
UT (syllable representing the first note of the scale, now generally superseded by DO) contained in (put in) FILE (dossier) F (UT) ILE |
FUTILE (pointless) |
| 26 | Understood garden bird swallowing a caterpillar’s head (5) |
TIT (garden bird) containing (swallowing) (A + C [first letter of {head} CATERPILLAR]) T (A C) IT |
TACIT (understood or implied without being expressed directly) |
| 27 | Work in iron say. making a bolt for it (9) |
OP (opus; work) contained in (in) ELEMENT (iron is an example of an ELEMENT) EL (OP) EMENT |
ELOPEMENT (running away secretly, usually with a lover, to get married) |
| 28 | Electronic network returns for a dreary tune (5) |
(E [electronic] + GRID [network]) all reversed (returns) (DIRG E)< |
DIRGE (slow mournful piece of music; dreary tune) |
| 29 | She gives support in her column and a lot of care – leading to a tidy bundle (8) |
CARE excluding the last letter (a lot of) E + an anagram of (bundle) A TIDY CAR YATID* |
CARYATID (a female figure used instead of a column to support an entablature; she gives support to her column). |
| Down | |||
| 1 | Some numbers – but only some – that can appear on computer screen (4) |
MENU (hidden word in [only some] SOME NUMBERS) MENU |
MENU (list of possible options or facilities displayed on a computer screen by software, and from which selection can be made via a keyboard or a mouse) |
| 2 | Extra payment required by cleaner having to sweep around (9) |
CHAR (cleaner) contained in (having … around) SURGE (SURGE is given in Chambers as a definition for SWEEP and in Collins SURGE is defined as a strong rush or SWEEP. Not a definition I have come across before) SUR (CHAR) GE |
SURCHARGE (extra payment) |
| 3 | An old king playing harp with two exam levels (hard) (7) |
Anagram of (playing) HARP + A (reference A-Level examinations) + O (reference O-Level examinations) + H (hard, when describing pencil lead) PHAR* A O H |
PHARAOH (title of the kings of ancient Egypt;) |
| 4 | City with its tax body sets forms etc (5) |
LA (Los Angeles, American city) + IRS (Internal Revenue Service, the American tax collection agency) LA IRS |
LAIRS (animals’ dens, which could be sets [badger], forms [hare] etc) |
| 5 | Out of control it clawed scratching everyone finally? (7) |
Anagram of (out of control) IT CLAWED excluding (scratching) E (last letter of [finally] EVERYONE) WILDCAT* |
WILDCAT (undomesticated species of CAT) I’m not entirely sure what the definition is here. It may be the whole clue, it may just be ‘it’ or ‘it clawed’ |
| 6 | Independent makes study of revered art (5) |
I (independent) + CONS (studies; makes study of) I CONS |
ICONS (anybody or anything venerated or uncritically admired; for example, revered art) |
| 7 | "A Princess’s Prince" – a newspaper editor’s mocked (10) |
DI’S (Diana’s ; princess’s; reference Princess Diana, Duchess of York [1961 – 1997] + P (prince) + A + RAG (derogatory term for a newspaper) + ED (editor) DIS P A RAG ED |
DISPARAGED (belittled; mocked) |
| 8 | Maybe he incenses by means of someone ranting? (8) |
PER (in the manner of; by means of) + FUMER (someone ranting) PER FUMER |
PERFUMER (one who creates pleasant smells; INCENSE can be defined as a pleasant smell) |
| 13 | See addict gets sorted with a small black suit that’s sterile (10) |
Anagram of (get sorted) SEE ADDICT and C (c is an abbreviation [small] for clubs, a black suit in a pack of cards) DESICCATED* |
DESICCATED (dry; sterile) |
| 15 | Go beyond six ball throws and maybe dog’s upset (8) |
OVER (six deliveries of a ball by a bowler in cricket) + PET’S (a dog is an example of a PET) reversed (upset; down clue). If a bowler used a throwing action he would be signalled for no-ball, and the over would take more than six balls until he / she got the action right, so the analogy is not quite correct. OVER STEP |
OVERSTEP (go beyond) |
| 17 | Irish boy left in underground coming up cock-a-hoop (9) |
([NEIL {Irish boy’s name} + L {left}] contained in [in] TUBE [underground transport system]) all reversed (coming up; down clue) (EBU (L LIEN) T)< |
EBULLIENT (very happy; cock-a-hoop) |
| 19 | Tense passion and rage superficially seen here? (7) |
T (tense) + HEAT (passion) + RE (outer letters of [superficially] RAGE) T HEAT RE |
THEATRE (a venue where you may see actors displaying tension, passion and rage) |
| 21 | Go off place with scripture study firmly on the periphery (7) |
PUT (pace) + RE (Religious Education; Scripture) + FY (outer letters of [on the periphery] FIRMLY) PUT RE FY |
PUTREFY (decompose; go off) |
| 23 | Mediterranean city Romeo finds relatively pleasant (5) |
NICE (Mediterranean city) + R (Romeo is the international radio codeword for the letter R) NICE R |
NICER (more pleasant; relatively pleasant) |
| 24 | Wanting to have touring lecturer with a collection of plants (5) |
(FOR [in favour of; wanting to have] containing [touring] L [lecturer]) + A F (L) OR A |
FLORA (collective term for plants) |
| 25 | The boss man who thinks he’s it (4) |
STUD (projecting boss) STUD |
STUD (a sexually potent or active man, or one who thinks he is (); stud poke; man who thinks he’s it) double definition |
I suspect Crosophile intended to include several words that are commonly MISSPELT (including misspelt mistakenly with 1 S). I often spell WEIRD as ‘wierd’ (as you do, Duncan, in your wordplay column). As you say, DESICCATED with a double S and single C (which, with S for Spades does fit the anagram fodder). Spelling EBULLIENT with one L and PUTREFY with an I. FUCHSIA is never easy to spell.
Now my admission – I failed to get 11a because I misspelt PHARAOH with an OAH ending. Sheesh!
I think 5d is indeed meant to be an &lit.
Didn’t know CARYATID. Favourites include 27a and 15d, mainly for their surfaces.
Thanks to Crosophile and Duncan.
Thanks Crosophile and DS
Like Hovis @ 1, I thought 5D was heading for &lit territory, with the primary definition ‘Out of control’, as in a wildcat strike.
I wondered what others thought of “bobbin” in 10a. For the surface reading it should be bobbin’ but this spoils the cryptic reading. Personally, I don’t mind such a small point but others could, not unreasonably, object.
Done by the MISSPELT DESICCATED and there were a few others I couldn’t parse such as LAIRS. I also initially had PHARAOH with an ‘oah’ (unconfidently) till I finally saw what 11a was all about.
Well done to Hovis for spotting the theme. Very original.
Thanks to Crosophile and Duncan.
Thanks Crosophile and DS; entertaining crossword.
Small point but to me DESICCATED (which I would have misspelt) means dried rather than sterile (in the scientific sense) but maybe as Chambers 3 it might be equivalent to sterile in the literary meaning.
I always have the same problem with “desiccate” – this time I wrote it down on a bit of paper so I wouldn’t mis-enter it. (And ended up equal top of the table – well, I’ve got to boast to someone, and none of my friends has any interest in crosswords.)
“boss” – “knob or stud” (Chambers) – someone may already have said this.
I was caught out by 21dn – I was sure PUTRIFY was correct I didn’t question it, even when a word search failed to find any fit for 27ac. I also had PHAROAH for a while but fortunately was able to get 11ac and then I checked the spelling.
MISSPELT was one of our last ones in which may explain why we didn’t spot the theme (and also because we didn’t misspell anything). We did remark in passing that WEIRD can be misspelt but didn’t think any more about it.
We agree with your comment about throwing in 15dn.
Favourites were SHEARS and PHARAOH.
Thanks, Crosophile and Duncan.
Heehee! Caught some of you out! 😀
But thanks to Duncan and you all