Fabulous start to the week from CRUX.
Started in the NW corner quite easily but slowed down the pace from there. FOI was 1D. LOI was 22D. WEASEL in the sense of words was something we had to look up in Chambers. Nice mix of clues. Only one of us knew about QUEEN as a female cat. Favourites include POOH, EGGSHELL, CROSSWORD (a devious one!), LUNCHTIME. Many thanks to CRUX!
Across
1 University bar that restricts entry (4,4)
YALE LOCK
YALE (university) + LOCK (bar)
5 Controlled bad-tempered dog, barked every day initially (6)
CURBED
CUR (bad-tempered dog) + B[arked] E[very] D[ay] (initially)
9 Goal from fifty yards? It’s not very likely (4,4)
LONG SHOT
Double definition
10 Preserve English meal starting with lamb fricassee (6)
EMBALM
E (English) + M[eal] (starting) + (LAMB)* (*fricassee)
12 Further trouble after losing bishop (5)
OTHER
b[OTHER] (trouble, after losing B (bishop))
13 Crux cut short with blade, making this, appropriately (9)
CROSSWORD
CROS[s] (crux, cut short) with SWORD (blade)
14 Racists go into scraps (6)
BIGOTS
GO into BITS (scraps)
16 Watch losing time? Ask about a special tool (7)
HACKSAW
(WA[t]CH (losing T (time) + ASK)* (*about)
19 Order to economise isn’t practical (7)
USELESS
Double definition (use less, useless)
21 Mum, listen for a change! (6)
SILENT
(LISTEN)* (*for a change)
23 Restaurant needing money before one enters (9)
BRASSERIE
BRASS (money) (ERE (before) + I (one)) (enters)
25 Blunder foreman makes excusing third of jury (5)
GAFFE
GAFFE[r] (foreman) excusing [ju]R[y] (third of)
26 Sign implying there’s no alternative (3-3)
ONE WAY
Cryptic definition
27 Extract from salt-mine causes complaints (8)
AILMENTS
(SALT-MINE)* (*extract from)
28 One may be a queen in time (6)
KITTEN
Cryptic definition (A queen is a female cat)
29 Kind of porcelain formed in layers (8)
EGGSHELL
Double definition (layers, being birds who lay eggs)
Down
1 Chicken in centre of egg (6)
YELLOW
Double definition
2 When drunken Uncle Tim imbibes last of Scotch (9)
LUNCHTIME
(UNCLE TIM)* (*drunken) + [scotc]H (last of) &lit
3 Sort of roles one plays without success (5)
LOSER
(ROLES)* (*plays)
4 Selections children love like tutti-frutti (7)
CHOICES
CH (children) + O (love) + ICES (like tutti-frutti)
6 A French show like Les Misérables proves discordant (9)
UNMUSICAL
UN (A, French) + MUSICAL (show like Les Miserables)
7 Party’s instruction to vote against? (5)
BEANO
BE A NO (instruction to vote against)
8 Silly sort of clue, this, to make things easier (4,4)
DUMB DOWN
DUMB (silly) + DOWN (sort of clue, this)
11 Ring up Paddington? No, but there is a connection! (4)
POOH
(HOOP)< (ring) (<up) (not Paddington, but the connection is that they’re both bears)
15 Exaggerate more than Virginia, perhaps (9)
OVERSTATE
OVER (more than) + STATE (Virginia, perhaps)
17 Crazy fun with scene involving King – ha-ha! (4,5)
SUNK FENCE
(FUN SCENE + K (king))* (*crazy)
18 Newspaper stoppage protects one from exposure (8)
SUNBLOCK
SUN (newspaper) + BLOCK (stoppage)
20 Kind borrowers to offer payment, finally (4)
SORT
[borrower]S [t]O [offe]R [paymen]T (finally)
21 Giving up on radio broadcasting (7)
SEEDING
“CEDING” (“giving up on”, on radio)
22 Misleading words like “a vicious little carnivore” (6)
WEASEL
Double definition
(weasel words are misleading words)
24 Turn away from Bible with errata, oddly (5)
AVERT
AV (Bible, authorised version) + E[r]R[a]T[a]
25 Favourite lessons turn up in these magazines (5)
GAMES
([the]SE MAG[azines])< (<turn up)
The cryptic definition for KITTEN and the &lit LUNCHTIME were my favourites. I also liked WEASEL WORDS (“Watson’s Dictionary of Weasel Words, Contemporary Clichés, Cant & Management Jargon” by Don Watson is worth a look), ‘…Paddington? No, but there is a connection!’ and the misdirection of the use of the setter’s name in 13a.
An enjoyable way to get the synapses connecting again for the coming week.
Thanks to Crux and Teacow
Very enjoyable – thank you Crux and Teacow
Thanks to Crux and Teacow. Great fun. I did not know BEANO=party but did know WEASEL words and enjoyed CROSSWORD.
I’m not sure I’d go as far as fabulous but it was a nice puzzle and a gentle start to the week. My loi was also WEASEL and apart from those mentioned I also liked the simple but elegant SILENT. Thanks to Crux and Teacow.
Thanks Crux and Teacow
A jaunty solve on the train into work this morning. No real holdups and finished in the SE corner with WEASEL (quite witty), GAFFE (with the supervisor definition of ‘GAFFER’ new to me) and GAMES (where I didn’t see the lesson part for a while) the last few in.