Gila has filled the Wednesday slot this week, with a puzzle that reminds me of the many puzzles by Dac which appeared in the same Wednesday slot in the past.
The reason for stating the above is that the puzzle is a medium-difficulty puzzle characterised by carefully crafted, (relatively) concise clues with very smooth surface readings, such as 10, 16 and 20.
My favourite clues today were 24, for both its surface and its original use of “new” and, above all, the & lit. at 8. Incidentally, 7, 18 and 19A were all unfamiliar to me.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | RANSOM | Extortionate price for a feature of Windows that fails to start
<t>RANSOM (=a feature of windows, i.e. a lintel; “that fails to start” means lasts letter is dropped); cryptically, a ransom is an “extortionate price” in that it is extorted out of a kidnapped person’s family |
| 05 | ABDICATE | Stand down and ease off when detectives come back inside
DIC (CID=Criminal Investigation Department; “come back” indicates reversal) in ABATE (=ease off, of e.g. wind) |
| 09 | AGNOSTIC | I doubt a government gets no detailed criticism
A + G (=government) + NO + STIC<k> (=criticism; “de-tailed” means last letter is dropped) |
| 10 | STAIRS | Celebs catching international flight
I (=international) in STARS (=celebs) |
| 11 | ALLEGIANCE | I can burst in to assert commitment to a cause
*(I CAN) in ALLEGE (=to assert); “burst” is anagram indicator |
| 12 | HAND | A slice of honeydew with bananas
H<oneydew> (“a slice of” means first letter only) + AND (=with); according to Chambers, a hand is a division of a bunch of bananas |
| 13 | SO-AND-SOS | Certain people, after initially stressing out, also cry for help
S<tressing> O<ut> (“initially” means first letters only) + AND (=also) + SOS (=cry for help) |
| 16 | SELFIE | Personal photo files distributed online
*(FILES) + E- (=online, as in e-commerce); “distributed” is anagram indicator |
| 17 | CHEMIC | Young bird not entirely sheltering space from the elements?
EM (=space, in printing) + CHIC<k> (young bird; “not entirely” means last letter is dropped); the “elements” of the definition refers to chemical elements |
| 19 | COCKAPOO | Bird droppings covering a dog
A in [COCK (=(male) bird) + POO (=droppings)]; a cockapoo is a cross between a cocker spaniel and a poodle |
| 21 | WRAP | Flatbread with rice and peas for starters
W<ith> R<ice> A<nd> P<eas>; “for starters” means first letters only; a wrap is a flatbread rolled around a filling to give e.g. a tortilla |
| 22 | AVICULTURE | Rearing birds involves a very independent set of attitudes and behaviour
A + V (=very) + I (=independent) + CULTURE (=set of attitudes and behaviour) |
| 25 | DIWALI | Artist taking in the Isle of Wight Festival
IW (=Isle of Wight, also IoW) in DALI (=artist, i.e. Salvador Dali); Diwali is the Hindu or Sikh festival of light |
| 26 | KATOWICE | Polish spot of ball to probe a wicket that’s turning
O (=ball, i.e. pictorially) in *(A WICKET); “that’s turning” is anagram indicator; the reference is to the Polish city (“spot”) of Katowice, where the COP24 climate conference took place in December 2018 |
| 27 | BETEL NUT | Risk to the head when swallowing extremely effectual stimulant
E<ffectua>L (“extremely” means first and last letter only) in [BET (=risk) + NUT (=head, colloquially)] |
| 28 | RELAYS | Bank succeeded taking on advanced teams of relief workers
A (=advanced, as in A level) in [RELY (=bank (on), depend) + S (=succeeded)] |
| Down | ||
| 02 | ANGEL | One leaving Ealing to travel somewhere on the Northern Line
*(EAL<i>NG); “one (=I) leaving” means letter “i” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “to travel”; Angel is a station on the Northern Line on the London Underground |
| 03 | STORE | Keep some journals to reminisce
Hidden (“some”) in “journalS TO REminisce” |
| 04 | METRICS | Measurements satisfied a group of surveyors
MET (=satisfied) + RICS (=a group of surveyors, i.e. Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors) |
| 05 | ACCENTS | A piece of Arlington covered with 100 small graves?
A + {CENT (=piece of Arlington, i.e. a US coin) in [C (=100, in Roman numerals) + S (=small, of sizes)]}; the reference is to grave accents in e.g. French |
| 06 | DOSSERS | Papers overlooking the essential point of providing for people who sleep rough
DOSS<i>ERS (=papers, documents); “overlooking the essential point – i.e. middle letter – of “provIding” means letter “i” is dropped” |
| 07 | COACHELLA | Bus taking everybody northbound after electronic music festival in California
COACH (=bus) + E (=electronic) + LLA (ALL(=everybody); “northbound” indicates vertical reversal) |
| 08 | TARANTINO | He makes films into an art form
*(INTO AN ART); “form” is anagram indicator; & lit. ; the reference is to US film-maker Quentin Tarantino (1963-) |
| 14 | OTHERWISE | The Wire … so extraordinary and different
*(THE WIRE SO); “extraordinary” is anagram indicator |
| 15 | NAMEPLATE | It may be attached to an office door pane with metal screws
*(PANE + METAL); “screws” is anagram indicator |
| 18 | CLARION | Stop port being besieged by a tribe
RIO (=port, in Brazil) in CLAN (=a tribe); a clarion (or clarino) is an organ stop imitating the highest register of the trumpet |
| 19 | CRICKET | Sport clubs almost threatening to collapse
C (=clubs, in clubs) + RICKET<y> (=threatening to collapse; “almost” means last letter is dropped) |
| 20 | COUNTER | A bar // opposite
Double definition: a counter can be a bar where drinks are ordered AND a counter-argument is an opposite argument |
| 23 | TOWEL | Tool cutting the end of paper cloth
T<r>OWEL (=tool); “cutting the end (=last letter) of power” means letter “r” is dropped |
| 24 | ROCKY | Film college in New York
C (=college) in *(YORK); “new” is anagram indicator!; the reference is to the film series Rocky, which started in 1976 and starred Sylvester Stallone |
I found this a struggle. The same unknowns as RR and mis-spelling ALLEGIANCE also meant I missed METRICS. Without the crossing ‘wicket’ clue and CRICKET answer I probably would have missed at least one of those as well.
A fail, but I still liked the challenge. I agree about the ‘New York’ clue which had me fooled and was one of my last in.
Thanks to Gila and RR
Totally agree RR, 8 and 24 are the stars of an excellent puzzle.
The only one I am unhappy about (even though the clue was easy to get) is the use of E at the
end of a word to indicate “online”.
Thanks all.
7dn and 19ac were unknown to us as well – and we weren’t too impressed with the latter as the answer was too similar to ‘cockatoo’. We thought 7dn was a bit obscure, but one person’s obscurity is another’s GK so no real complaint. And we tried to be a bit too clever in 2dn thinking ‘Northern Line’ might be a cryptic reference to Scotland and put in ‘Elgin’ (before we got 1ac).
Otherwise no real problems, and we liked KATOWICE and CRICKET.
Thanks, Gila and RatkojaRiku.
TOWEL – cutting last letter of “paper”, not “power”.
You missed 1ac Geoff.
I agree with RR’s comment about the Dac-like smoothness of the clueing. Had to guess Coachella but saw Angel straight away. Katowice the favourite for being such an unlikely answer to turn up. Thanks to Gila and RR.
When I did 24dn I missed the anagram and thought that there might well be a Rockefeller College in New York known as ‘Rocky’. It seems there is a Rockefeller College known as Rocky, but that’s in Princeton, and there’s also one in New York. I wouldn’t be surprised if the NY one is also called Rocky at times.
I lived for years just over the Solent from the Isle of Wight and never heard it called IW, always IoW.