[If you’re attending York S&B please see comments 32&33] - here
A sound and generally accessible puzzle from Silvanus in the usual IoS style. Just one clue that I really struggled with.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
Across
1 Form of exercise is source of inflammation in Cockney’s feet
PILATES
An insertion of I for the first letter of ‘inflammation’ in PLATES for Cockney rhyming slang for ‘feet’, as in ‘plates of meat’.
5 That girl’s suggestion sounded typical of a kid
HIRCINE
This clue stuck out like a sore thumb for me. The rest of the crossword is pretty accessible, but this one is really anything but. HIRCINE means ‘goat-like’ (I learned today). So it’s a homophone (‘sounded’) of HER SCENE (as in ‘it’s not my scene’, I think). I very seldom make a suggestion for a ‘better’ clue, but I might have just clued HEROINE here, because it fits and is less obscure. However, Silvanus has hircine connotations, so who am I to comment?
Edit: thanks to Sil for pointing out that in fact it’s a homophone of HER SIGN
9 In the middle of day, arrested by American Government
AMONG
An insertion of MON[day] in A and G.
10 Make light of everyone having wandered naked
ALLEVIATE
A charade of ALL and [D]EVIATE[D]
11 Leisurewear, its use at work initially is relaxed
SWEATSUIT
(ITS USE AT W)*
12 Oddly picked least popular school subject
LATIN
The odd letters of LeAsT and IN for ‘popular’.
13 Small cavity features on putting green
PINHOLE
Two features of a golf green would be the PIN and the HOLE.
14 Hearing once again Blair term essentially needs reviewing
RETRIAL
Hidden reversed in bLAIR TERm.
16 Postpone broadcast covering product’s differentiating factor
SUSPEND
An insertion of USP in SEND. USP is short for ‘unique selling point’, which is what makes the public buy your mousetrap rather than the competition’s.
18 Do well in brief Shakespearean role
PROSPER
PROSPER[O]
20 Extreme overhaul transforms houses
ULTRA
Hidden in overhaUL TRAnsforms.
22 Group disheartened by a holiday in foreign capital
BUCHAREST
A charade of BU[N]CH and A REST.
23 Gratuitous thrills? Footballers attempt to defend them
FREE KICKS
A simple charade.
24 Independent rule is hard for certain type of setter
IRISH
A charade of I, R, IS and H.
25 Support Red Nose activity
ENDORSE
(RED NOSE)*
26 Every other Tory is at new restaurant’s opening, having southern shellfish
OYSTERS
The even letters of tOrYiSaTnEw, R for the first letter of ‘restaurant’ and S.
Down
1 Performs erratically in Cambridge Footlights’ productions?
PLAYS UP
A dd cum cd: the second part is referring to the PLAYS that Cambridge Footlights might put on, and that the fact that those acting in them would be UP at University.
2 Unresolved affairs soon led wayward son to consume ecstasy
LOOSE ENDS
An insertion of E in (SOON LED)* followed by S.
3 Drunken rambler crossing moor, one desperate to maintain balance
TIGHTROPE WALKER
A ‘drunken rambler’ might be a TIGHT WALKER; insert ROPE for ‘moor’ (in a boating sense) into that and you’ve got your solution.
4 Importance of law requiring Republican to intervene for third time
STATURE
Very precisely clued: Silvanus is inviting you to replace the third T of STATUTE with an R.
5 Composer about to take up case of Western gunslinger
HOLSTER
A charade of HOLST (he of The Planets suite fame) and RE reversed.
6 Subversive characters turn on stars
REVOLUTIONARIES
A charade of REVOLUTION and the constellation ARIES.
7 It’s not appropriate to nod off during sex
INAPT
Indeed not. An insertion of NAP in IT.
8 Never-ending foreign vote is ignored
ETERNAL
E[X]TERNAL
15 Heading of mother’s recipe is wildly inaccurate
IMPRECISE
(M RECIPE IS)* with ‘wildly’ as the anagrind.
16 Struggle with overcooked starter instead of cold dish
SOUFFLÉ
Another letter replacement clue: O for the first letter of ‘overcooked’ instead of C in SCUFFLE.
17 Extremely disconsolate graduate, regularly called a failure
DÉBÂCLE
A charade of DE for the outside letters of ‘disconsolate’, BA for the ‘graduate’, and CLE for the odd letters of CaLlEd.
18 Artist is well following unnatural dietary cravings
PICASSO
A charade of PICAS and SO. Collins has:
pica² n an abnormal craving to ingest substances such as clay, dirt or hair, sometimes occuring during pregnancy
The word derives ultimately from the Latin word for magpie, which alludes to the bird’s omnivorous feeding habits. The common magpie is Pica pica. No, you can’t have a bird link, because the bird is not the solution.
19 Gags despicable individuals told
RETCHES
A homophone of WRETCHES.
21 Step in tango right to attract judge’s close notice
TREAD
A charade of T for the phonetic alphabet ‘tango’, R, E for the last letter of ‘judge’ and AD.
Many thanks to Silvanus for this Sunday’s puzzle.
Dank u, Pierre.
HIRCINE was my last one in and it is surely a homophone of ‘her sign’?
And, yes, I also wondered why the setter didn’t go for ‘heroine’.
Many thanks to Silvanus for the puzzle.
Merci, Sil. You are right, of course. Knowing how to pronounce the word would have helped me parse it correctly. For avoidance of doubt, English is only my mother tongue.
One of my favourite setters with his precise clues and excellent surface reads. We don’t see enough puzzles from him in the Indy.
I managed to get into a real mess with the parsing of 1a – the Cockney reference didn’t register without the remainder of the phrase – and I’d forgotten the ‘unnatural dietary cravings’. No problems elsewhere and I really smiled at 12a, it was certainly the least popular subject at my school!
I think my favourite has to be PRSOPERO – simple but so beautifully clued.
Many thanks to Silvanus and to Pierre – even though you refused to give us a bird link!
HIRCINE was our LOI too. Our first thought (before we got 7 and 8) was ‘hirsute’, goats having a hairy chin, although we couldn’t see how suit = suggestion and eventually we looked in Chambers to see if ‘hirsine’ was a variant of ‘hirsute’ – it isn’t, but then we spotted ‘hircine’ a bit higher up the page! We didn’t know about picas but PICASSO was obvious from the crossing letters.
We liked SOUFFLÉ – although we’re not too happy about letter substitution in an unchecked square. But the clue was sufficiently precise to indicate which word was the correct answer.
Thanks, Silvanus and Pierre.
Many thanks to Pierre for his decryptions and to those who took the trouble to comment.
Yes, I could have gone for HEROINE for 5a, but I thought HIRCINE was a more interesting word choice, and one that I couldn’t recall seeing in a crossword before, so those two factors swayed me in the end.