Don’t try to solve this if you’re hungry…
…some of the answers in today’s puzzle relate to food (COLD TURKEY, CHICKEN, TOASTIE, CURRY etc).
This was a typical Orense crossword, with sensible surfaces and straightforward clues.
Thanks, Orense.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | CHERUBIC | Sweet and innocent girl’s hugged by youth in charge (8) |
| HER (“girl’s”) hugged by CUB (“youth”) + IC (in charge) | ||
| 6 | CROUCH | Settle around end of year and hunker down (6) |
| COUCH (“settle”) around [end of] (yea)R | ||
| 9 | STOLEN | Hot line in forged notes (6) |
| L (line) in *(notes) [anag: forged] | ||
| 10 | ISRAELIS | Former prime minister dismissing leader and southern Asians (8) |
| (d)ISRAELI (former prime minster, dismissing leader (i.e. first letter) and S (southern) | ||
| 11 | COLD TURKEY | The effect of giving up meat the day after Christmas? (4,6) |
| By the day after Christmas, the turkey will indeed have gone cold. | ||
| 12 | RASH | Right hand clenches when disregarding danger (4) |
| RH (right hand) clenches AS (“when”) | ||
| 13 | BASALT | Rock band’s first American season (6) |
| B(and’s) [first] + A (American) + SALT (“season”) | ||
| 15 | NEEDLESS | Annoys son – that’s uncalled- for! (8) |
| NEEDLES (“annoys”) + S (son) | ||
| 18 | COHERENT | Company present books as easy to understand (8) |
| CO (company) + HERE (“present”) + NT (New Testament, so “books”) | ||
| 20 | BASING | Reserve must accept wrong grounding (6) |
| BAG (“reserve”) must accept SIN (“wrong”) | ||
| 21 | SKID | Slip made by small child (4) |
| S (small) + KID (“child”) | ||
| 23 | MEADOWLARK | Make a world suitable for a flyer (10) |
| *(make a world) [anag: suitable] | ||
| 25 | HAZELNUT | Cob in mist looks nervous under this initially (8) |
| HAZE (“mist”) + L(ooks) N(ervous) U(nder) T(his) [initially] | ||
| 26 | DETAIL | Feature of group given task (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 27 | TIPTOE | Hint to English – tread carefully! (6) |
| TIP (“hint”) + TO E (English) | ||
| 28 | EARDRUMS | These will make sense as murder planned (8) |
| *(as murder) [anag: planned] | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | HOT POTATO | Controversial situation sees a couple of tomatoes added to stew (3,6) |
| A [couple of] TO(matoes) added to HOTPOT (“stew”) | ||
| 3 | RILED | Free to admit the French must be annoyed (5) |
| RID (“free”) to admit LE (“the” in “French”) | ||
| 4 | BANQUETTE | Formal dinner and drink without a place to sit (9) |
| BANQUET (“formal dinner”) + TE(a) (“drink” without A) | ||
| 5 | CHICKEN | Smart, understanding part of clutch (7) |
| CHIC (“smart”) + KEN (“knowledge”)
A clutch is a brood of chickens. |
||
| 6 | CURRY | Food needed by copper on right lines (5) |
| Cu (“copper”) on R (right) + RY (railway “lines”) | ||
| 7 | OVERRULES | Vetoes laws subject to insurance starting late (9) |
| RULES (“laws”) subject to (ie below) (c)OVER (“insurance”, starting late) | ||
| 8 | CHIPS | Carpenter beginning to chase joints (5) |
| [beginning to] C(hase) + HIPS (“joints”) | ||
| 14 | AMENDMENT | Change the last word on workers in case of deficit (9) |
| AMEN (“the last word”) on MEN (“workers”) in [case of] D(efici)T | ||
| 16 | EMBROIDER | Exaggerate stitch (9) |
| Double definition | ||
| 17 | SYNERGISM | My ingress disturbed the effect of group action (9) |
| *(my ingress) [anag: disturbed] | ||
| 19 | TOASTIE | Food from kiln eaten by tribe, oddly (7) |
| OAST (“kiln”) eaten by T(r)I(b)E [oddly, i.e. odd letters of] | ||
| 22 | KHAKI | Sikh – a kind wrapping cloth (5) |
| Hidden in “siKH A KInd” | ||
| 23 | MINCE | Rodents can pick up last of rotten food (5) |
| MICE (“rodents”) can pick up [last of] (rotte)N | ||
| 24 | LATER | Time will be invested in genuine revolutionary in due course (5) |
| T (time) will be invested in <=REAL (“genuine” revolutionary) | ||
Pretty straightforward but enjoyable. Wasn’t keen on “suitable” as an anagram indicator in 23a.
For 26a, I also parsed as a DD but split it as “feature” & “group given task” (as in a military detail).
Thanks to Orense and loonapick.
I saw the ‘don’t eat this if you are hungry’ note when I looked at the site earlier this morning so I waited until after lunch to start this straightforward and enjoyable crossword. I split the parsing of 26a as Hovis did @1
Thanks to Orense and loonapick
Thanks to Orense and loonapick. I agree – enjoyable. I did not know cob = HAZELNUT (my LOI) so I needed all the crossers and was not sure that carpenter = CHIPS (though the parsing was clear).
Hello,Loonapick, isn’t 17d SYNERGISM,or am I missing something?
Sorry, O of K
It is.
Re “22 Sikh – a kind wrapping cloth (5)”
What’s the surface? Sikh is a person who follows the Indian religion of Sikhism. Khaki is cloth. How does the dash connect the two? What is a ‘kind’ cloth? Soft and gentle as against ‘rough’? Ay opinions?
Rishi. The answer is nothing to do with Sikhs. The word Khaki (a type of cloth) is hidden in the first part of the clue. See the explanation above.
Moly @7 – Thanks. But that’s exactly the point I was trying to make. The two parts are disparate. Besides, the dash between the parts is distracting without the punctuation doing a function it should do.
Thanks Orese & loonapick.
Rishi@6. In 22 down “kind” means “sort” or “type” (of person), and “wrapping cloth” alludes to the Sikh’s turban. The dash indicates apposition, and “wrapping” is also the containment indicator of course.
Thanks Orense and loonapick
Late to this one while on holidays in Queensland again, finding it quite straightforward and finishing in the quicker half of my FT solve spectrum. Did notice a number of food items along the way.
Started in the NE corner with RASH and finished in the NW with the new term for me in BANQUETTE. ‘Cob’ for HAZELNUT was also an addition to the vocabulary.
Even later here in the States, but I parse 26a as a triple definition. Feature, group, and task all work on their own.