Tees provides yet another witty puzzle for a Monday. I took a bit longer than usual to finish it, but I think that’s just my post-holiday brain; everything was clear (eventually) and fairly clued.
Some very clever surfaces, particularly the stop-and-read-it-again 11a and the sadly rather too topical 18a. The only unfamiliar word (to me) was 24d, but it was easy to deduce from the wordplay. 23d wins the prize for laugh-out-loud cleverness, with an honourable mention to the neat cryptic definition in 16d.
Thanks Tees as always.
Definitions are underlined; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| Across | ||
| 1 | ARTEMIS | Diana, one experienced artist, repulsed society (7) |
| I (one) + MET (experienced, as in “the plan met some resistance”) + RA (Royal Academician = artist), all reversed (repulsed), then S (Society in abbreviations). Artemis is the Greek equivalent of the Roman goddess Diana. | ||
| 5 | GROMMET | Madame going through rubbish finds ring (7) |
| MME (French abbreviation for Madame) in GROT (rubbish). A ring (eyelet) set into a hole in sheet material. | ||
| 9 | ASHEN | Pale when shown alongside feathery layer (5) |
| AS (when) + HEN (has feathers, lays eggs, so “feathery layer”). | ||
| 10 | OLIVE DRAB | Old poet wrong about uniform colour (5,4) |
| O (old), then BARD EVIL (poet wrong) reversed (about). Name of the green-brown shade often used for military uniforms. | ||
| 11 | ANTAGONIST | One against one not against changes (10) |
| Anagram (changes) of NOT AGAINST. Term in drama for a character opposing the main character (protagonist). | ||
| 12 | LAIR | Landowner endlessly seen in retreat (4) |
| LAIR[d] (landowner), without the end letter. Bonus points for using “retreat” literally (meaning a private space), not as a reversal indicator. | ||
| 14 | MATINEE IDOL | Popular player eliminated angrily snatches ball (7,4) |
| Anagram (angrily) of ELIMINATED, containing O (circle = ball). A favourite star of film or theatre. | ||
| 18 | ALTERCATION | Split the difference with Conservative in dispute (11) |
| ALTERATION (difference), split by C (conservative). | ||
| 21 | NAPE | Scruff last to gamble on tipster’s choice (4) |
| NAP (a near-certain bet) + last letter of [gambl]E. Nape = scruff = back of the neck. | ||
| 22 | ESPADRILLE | Spring training in extremely effective footwear (10) |
| SPA (spring = water source) + DRILL (training), in the extreme letters of E[ffectiv]E. Espadrille, a fabric shoe with a rope sole. | ||
| 25 | BANGALORE | Prohibition in abundance in state capital (9) |
| BAN (prohibition) + GALORE (in abundance). Indian city, capital of the state of Karnataka. | ||
| 26 | YEAST | Ferment’s cause found in unknown quarter (5) |
| Y (a mathematical symbol for “unknown”) + EAST (quarter = compass direction). | ||
| 27 | LATERAL | Shoot dead leaders of revolution at Libreville (7) |
| LATE (dead) + leading letters of Revolution At Libreville. Lateral = a side shoot from a main branch of a tree or bush. | ||
| 28 | HOLSTER | Composer with some hesitation put away gun (7) |
| HOLST (Gustav Holst) + ER (sound made when hesitating). Holster, as a verb = to put (a gun) away in its holster. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | ARARAT | Heathen god in area to betray Ark’s resting-place (6) |
| RA (Egyptian sun-god) in A (area) + RAT (to betray). The Mountains of Ararat, where Noah’s Ark landed after the Flood. | ||
| 2 | TAHITI | Island that rises round one Polynesian paradise (6) |
| I (island) + THAT, rising (reversed in a down clue), around I (one in Roman numerals). | ||
| 3 | MONTGOMERY | Military commander annihilated in gory moment (10) |
| Anagram (annihilated) of GORY MOMENT. There have been a number of military commanders with this name, but the intention is probably “Monty” Field Marshal Montgomery. | ||
| 4 | SCORN | Partners at table hiding expression of surprise and disdain (5) |
| S + N (partners at a card table) containing COR (expression of surprise). | ||
| 5 | GLISSANDI | What in music can be represented as sliding? (9) |
| Anagram (can be represented) of AS SLIDING. Clue-as-definition: glissando, plural glissandi, is a musical term for a “slide” up or down through the intermediate notes between two pitches. | ||
| 6 | OWED | We feel that news boss is outstanding! (4) |
| OW (that hurts! = we feel that!) + ED (editor = newspaper boss). Outstanding = owed = yet to be paid. | ||
| 7 | MERMAIDS | Male admires frolicking females in sea (8) |
| M (male) + anagram (frolicking) of ADMIRES. | ||
| 8 | TUBERCLE | Bump from slow boat damaged creel (8) |
| TUB (type of cargo boat used on canals) + anagram (damaged) of CREEL. | ||
| 13 | PENNYROYAL | Mint coin — sovereign (10) |
| PENNY (coin) + ROYAL (sovereign). Mentha pulegium, a flowering plant from the mint family, or similar plants in the US. | ||
| 15 | TOADSTOOL | One spotted in woods: amphibians also reaching lake (9) |
| TOADS TOO (amphibians also) + L (lake). There are many types of toadstool / mushroom and they aren’t all spotted, but the classic image of a toadstool (especially in children’s stories) is the Fly agaric, red with white spots. | ||
| 16 | CANNIBAL | Fellow consumer? (8) |
| Cryptic definition: a human or animal that eats others of its own species (its fellows). | ||
| 17 | STEP ON IT | Make quick progress in top set after revision (4,2,2) |
| Anagram (after revision) of IN TOP SET. Step on it = instruction to hurry up. | ||
| 19 | PLIANT | Agent provocateur to admit one’s easily influenced (6) |
| PLANT (insider acting as a spy) admitting I (one). | ||
| 20 | BEATER | One to raise game becoming winner? (6) |
| Double definition: one who drives game birds out of cover to be shot, or one who beats others to win a competition. | ||
| 23 | ALEPH | A Hebrew beer and where to get it (5) |
| ALE (beer) + PH (public house = a place to get beer). The letter A in the Hebrew alphabet. | ||
| 24 | HAAR | Cold sea mist to envelop drivers in sixty minutes (4) |
| AA (Automobile Association = drivers) enveloped in HR (hour). Haar, Scottish or Northern English term for a sea fog (also known as a fret). | ||
Thank you, Quirister, for a fine blog of a highly enjoyable puzzle.
My new word for today was PENNYROYAL – having had a husband from Dundee, where they’re common, I did know HAAR.
There are some really cleverly constructed clues, with splendidly witty and misleading surfaces: my particular favourites were OLIVE DRAB, MATINÉE IDOL, HOLSTER, MERMAIDS and [top favourite] ALEPH. I also liked the small but perfectly-formed NAPE and OWED and I smiled at the feathery layer.
Many thanks to Tees for a super start to the day.
What Eileen said, although I’d add that I really look forward to Tees Mondays as you know you are going to smile at nearly every clue and its solution
Thanks to Tees for the fun and Quirister for the blog
Finished this in record time (for me) only being held up by blithely putting in maneater for 16d before realising the error of my ways. Lots of smiles along the way.
As a breakfast-time solver I almost had to give up when running out of time but saw ALEPH at the last minute. At 20D I first put SETTER without thinking then realised it couldn’t be that. Very clever and humorous clues and answers, a laugh a minute (or three) so thanks very much Tees and Quirister too.
Another ALEPH fan. Also LOI, GROMMET after getting another good one, TUBERCLE.
Link to the wrong Monty at 3D.
Thanks to Tees and Quirister.
gwep @5: oops, now corrected, thanks.
What Eileen and crypticsue said (except for the husband from Dundee).
Thanks, Tees and Quirister.
I agree, a good crossword but to all the ALEPH fans: First in a series: “beer, and where to find it” (5) (Knut, 9 Oct 2018).
26 across Just wondering, since 2006, Bangalore is officially Bengaluru. Is there a system which setters use to clue cities which have been renamed, as quite a few have been in an India keen to erase colonial-era spellings, eg Mumbai/Bombay; Kolkata/Calcutta; Pune/Poona (I won’t even try to type the current name of Trivandrum)?
Thanks all. Even Sil 🙂
h.eckler@9: Interesting you should ask this question. By coincidence the Indy reprint in the i yesterday had N’Djamena as one answer. It’s the capital of Chad, and was known as Fort Lamy in colonial days.