A straightforward, witty and enjoyable puzzle.
I’m off on my travels at sparrow-fart this morning, so many thanks to Slormgorm for a trouble-free start to what I’m sure will be a pleasant musical tour of the south. An exemplary Tuesday solve.
| Across | ||
| 1 | SEA BASS | Swimmer with deep voice? (3,4) |
| Cryptic definition, intriguing image of a fish singing the lowest part in a barbershop quartet. | ||
| 5 | DESERVE | Earn and save to blow capital on daughter (7) |
| D[aughter] + rESERVE (‘save’, 1st letter thus head or ‘capital’ removed). | ||
| 9 | ABOUT | A bit of time here and there (5) |
| A + BOUT (‘bit of time’, usually unfortunate, as in ’bouts’ of illness, bad luck, bad weather &c). | ||
| 10 | UNIFORMED | Awful mire found in soldier’s kit? (9) |
| Anagram (‘awful’) of MIRE FOUND, ‘found’, I think, doing double duty as part of definition, hence the q-mark. | ||
| 11 | PLAUSIBLE | Likely a blue slip will require alterations (9) |
| Anagram (‘will require alterations’) of A BLUE SLIP. | ||
| 12 | LATER | See you departed by car finally (5) |
| ‘Later’ being a rather modern sign-off, here from LATE (dead, ‘departed’) + end of ‘caR’. | ||
| 13 | TRIPE | Rubbish drug experience with ecstasy (5) |
| TRIP (‘drug experience’) + E[cstasy]. | ||
| 15 | RIDICULED | I’d clue “rid” badly to get this (9) |
| Were you a rubbish crossword-setter, you’d be ridiculed in this blog & elsewhere. In the case that you aren’t – morning, Slormgorm – here’s a perfectly acceptable anagram (‘badly’) of ID CLUE RID. | ||
| 18 | CONCOURSE | Possible syllabus on Tories is coming together (9) |
| CON (the Tories) + COURSE (a ‘possible syllabus’). | ||
| 19 | SONGS | Male issue about ultimately boring tunes (5) |
| SONS around end of ‘borinG’. | ||
| 21 | PURSE | Prize soprano that’s all-round wholesome! (5) |
| PURE (all) around S[oprano]. | ||
| 23 | SIDEBOARD | Item of furniture, beds and radio in need of repair (9) |
| Anagram (‘in need of repair’) of BEDS + RADIO. | ||
| 25 | ALPHA MALE | Top Cat? (5,4) |
| Cryptic def. A lion might be the ‘alpha male’ of his pride. | ||
| 26 | GRASP | Some fixing raspy-sounding clutch (5) |
| Inclusion in ‘fixinG RASPy-sounding’. | ||
| 27 | NIPPERS | They might pinch kids (7) |
| Double def. | ||
| 28 | SPEED UP | Rush flipping strong drink outside (5,2) |
| DEEP (‘strong’, as in e.g. a ‘deep belief’), reversed, with SUP (‘drink’) outside it. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | STAY PUT | Don’t move live and upset sheep (4,3) |
| STAY (dwell, ‘live’, esp. in Scotland) + reversed TUP (‘sheep’). | ||
| 2 | ADORATION | Love song and dance and food within limits (9) |
| ADO (a ‘song and dance’) + RATION (‘food within limits’, abolished post-war just within my lifetime). | ||
| 3 | AUTOS | Valuations taken regularly for cars (5) |
| Alternate letters of ‘vAlUaTiOnS’. | ||
| 4 | SLUMBERER | Bit of stats one logs for a dozy person? (9) |
| S (a bit of ‘Stats) + LUMBERER (one who ‘logs’). | ||
| 5 | DRIVE | Republican’s in dodgy bar to get a shot, of course (5) |
| Golf-shot, from R[epublican] in DIVE (‘dodgy bar’). | ||
| 6 | SHOELACES | Those used to tie up boats? (9) |
| Cryptic def, ‘boats’ a U.S. abbreviation for ‘boat-shoes’, the Cornish-pasty-shaped footwear worn without socks by yuppies in summer. | ||
| 7 | REMIT | Brief right to sit on issue (5) |
| R[ight] above EMIT (‘issue’). | ||
| 8 | ENDURED | University embarrassed to support terminal bore (7) |
| U[niversity] + RED (’embarrassed’) below END (‘terminal’). | ||
| 14 | EXONERATE | Old judge bringing in individual for release? (9) |
| EX (‘old’) + RATE (‘judge’) around ONE (‘individual’). Not quite sure why the q-mark’s there. Better surface without, imho. | ||
| 16 | DREADLESS | Brave as a Rasta who’s shaved their head? (9) |
| Sort of cryptic DD: a Rastafarian who’s removed his or her ‘dreadlocks’ (‘me natty dreads’). | ||
| 17 | LEND A HAND | Help head of Lorimar finish a script (4,1,4) |
| L (1st of ‘Lorimar’) + END (‘finish’) + A + HAND (‘script’, as in G&S: ‘I copied out the letters in a big, round hand’). | ||
| 18 | CAPTAIN | Officer likely to punch murderer (7) |
| APT (‘likely’) within CAIN (biblical ‘murderer’). | ||
| 20 | SODA POP | Small old men with children drink (4,3) |
| S[mall] + O[ld], + DA and POP, both ‘men with children’. | ||
| 22 | RIP UP | Last section of paper one little dog shred (3,2) |
| R (last letter of ‘papeR’) + 1 + PUP (‘little dog’). | ||
| 23 | SEATS | Chairs in certain makes of cars? (5) |
| DD. | ||
| 24 | BUGLE | Mistake throwing out new instrument (5) |
| BUnGLE (‘mistake’) without N[ew]. | ||
*anagram
I don’t think “found” is doing double duty in 10a. If the answer was ‘uniform’, then maybe. As it is, if a soldier is “in his kit”, then he could be said to be “uniformed”.
Personally, this wasn’t my cup of tea. Finished it in record time. I thought DREADLESS was a lazy clue and thought the anagram at 15a was poor, beginning with RID, which was part of the fodder.
A good one for beginners maybe. Anyhow, thanks to S&B.
Thanks for the blog, Grant – a witty and enjoyable puzzle, indeed, so thanks to Slormgorm, too.
I agree with hovis about UNIFORMED but not about RIDICULED. I took the repetition of RID as part of the joke. [Slormgorm is not a rubbish crossword-setter.]
Thanks again, Harry – and have a good trip, Grant.
Thanks setter and blogger. Minor hold up for me as I wrote in ‘Sedan’ for 23d. Then realised it did not fit. LOI 6d as I could not convince myself that boats had anything to do with shoelaces.
Thanks Slormgorm & Grant.
Purse? If there’s money in it, not all are wholesome you’ll find!
Thanks to both. All good, but could not decide between “Saabs” and “seats” for 23d, and could not parse either. I still don’t get why “seats” can be “certain makes of cars”.
john: SEAT is a Spanish car maker.
Thanks to Slormgorm and Grant. Enjoyable. I took a while working out CONCOURSE and was another who did not parse SEATS.
Thanks Coby @ 6.
didn’t know boats. otherwise great fun. amongst many others, enjoyed “in soldier’s kit”, “bore” in 8d, and i think RIDICULED is my favourite. Thanks slormgorm & GB
Thanks Slormgorm and Grant
About average solve timewise and pretty entertaining on the way into work yesterday.
There’s a couple I parsed differently – had 1a as SEA (deep, more usually ‘the deep’) + BASS (voice) and at 25a both ALPHA MALE and ‘top cat’ refer to the most powerful person.
Can’t believe I missed the first meaning of LATER – my kids usually went ‘laters’ though ! Didn’t know the Spanish car – it’s amazing the amount of stuff you pick up from the humble crossword !!
Finished in the NE corner with SHOELACES (knew them more as ‘boaters’ than ‘boats’ – own a pair that I find more comfortable than thongs ! ?), REMIT (cleverly misdirected definition) and that LATER as the last few in.
Enjoy the trip, Grant …