Eccles seems to have become a worthy replacement for Dac’s former role as our regular midweek setter
As usual, this was a really enjoyable solve – no unusual words, and consistently good clueing, but not without some tests for the old grey matter.
ST (saint – ‘pious type’) RATE (assess) GreedY (first and last letters or ‘extremes’)
A Jaguar is a make of CAR, and fancifully, if there were such a thing, a female ‘car’ might be described as a CARESS
Hidden or ‘housed’ in wENDy
An anagram of ALGAE ISN’T A – anagrind is ‘disaster’
LA + UN (French articles) + DER (German article) + S (first or ‘primary’ letter of ‘soap’)
EXCErPT (passage) without the ‘r’ (runs)
STAR (celebrity) reversed or ‘in retreat’
The ‘Open’ is a golf tournament, which might be said to be played in the OPEN SEASON
An anagram of REBATE HARD – anagrind is ‘to change’
TALe (story) without the last letter or ‘short’ + C (circa – ‘about’)
A CESS (tax) round or ‘cut by’ C (Conservative)
WIN (succeed) round or ‘across’ EARTH (the world)
A surfer would prefer to be ABOVE his or her BOARD
The middle or ‘essential’ letters of ‘weEKEnd’ (Saturday and Sunday)
Double definition
ADvENT (start) with the ‘v’ (Victor in the phonetic alphabet) replaced by HER (that woman)
An anagram of LET ALARMS – anagrind is ‘off’
A homophone (‘discussed’) of READ-OUT (information from computer)
T (time) REND (split) Y (first letter or ‘leader’ of ‘your’)
BUG (obsession) reversed or ‘around’ outside or ‘suppressing’ A STROP (tantrum)
Double definition
An anagram of CULT AREN’T – anagrind is ‘misguided members of’
SHAM (plastic) POO (turd)
STEVE (Steve Jobs – co-founder of Apple Inc) DO (act) RE (regarding)
DAMES (women) RUN (compete) reversed or ‘retiring’ round or ‘keeping’ I (international)
C (first letter or ‘beginning’ of ‘cheat’) in NOON (midday) TEST (exam)
An anagram of CHEATER – anagrind is ‘beaten’ – ‘ha’ is the abbreviation for ‘hectare’
sTRESSED (worried) without or ‘skipping’ the first letter or ‘starter’ and reversed or ‘about’
ACHE (pain) round or ‘pierced by’ IE (that is) V (very)
DR (drive) EDGE (border)
Lots to enjoy so thank you to Eccles and B&J
Eccles is on top form today. This was a joy from start to finish (apart from 2d, which is definitely not a homophone in my book).
Given his normally impeccably smooth surfaces, 13d reads rather strangely for Eccles and in any event the ‘S seems like padding.
There are plenty of options which would justify the accolade of favourite but I’ll settle for SHAMPOO working on the principle if you must include a clue with toilet humour make it a very good one.
Many thanks to Eccles for the fun and to B&J.
I’m rushing out, so [again] what crypticsue said.
Splitting hairs time! I agree with Rabbit Dave: ‘redoubt’ is only a homophone for ‘read out’ if one emphasises its first syllable, which one shouldn’t. But very enjoyable anyway, so thanks Eccles and B&J.
Good stuff from Eccles today – shame about 7d but he always has to get some schoolboy titters into his puzzles!
5a made me smile so get my vote today.
Thanks to Eccles and to B&J for the review.
Lots of good stuff but agree with criticisms of 2d and 7d. When you can set as well as Eccles why demean yourself with puerility.
I am open to correction but I understand a stevedore to be a dock worker whereas a shipyard is where boats are built or repaired.
I’m always up for a bit of toilet humour, so 7d was funny. Because it is. It’s not puerile, it’s toilet humour, which I find funny. No one died.
Much thanks as always to Eccles, and to B&J
Who’s seen Top Secret? Omar Sharif stands with a tray of goods, calling out ‘souvenirs, novelties, party tricks’. Passer-by picks something up and holds it out saying ‘you dropped your fake turd’. Omar: ‘What fake turd?’ Admittedly, it’s not his greatest role. Anyway, I’m with Skinny. I liked CARESS too.
Thanks Eccles, B&J
Kryptickate@6: That was my thought, too, about 13dn.
Memory playing tricks. It wasn’t Omar Sharif selling tricks. He was the one who picked it up.
Thanks to B&J and all commenters. My ignorance of what a stevedore actually does may have become apparent – apologies.
Very enjoyable. I liked the female Jaguar, although I think Paul (was it?) used this joke just a couple of weeks ago in a Guardian Prize in a clue for ASSESS. “Wendy Houses” was an excellent find. I think my favourite, though, was 20a, TALC for the deceptive extended definition.
No-one complained about not knowing ‘cess’ is an old tax, but when I used “tax” in a clue for ABSCESS in a BD Rookie once, quite a few people seemed not to have heard of it. I guess everyone here learnt it doing my puzzle (except crypticsue, who I distinctly remember already knew it)?
I thought “old” was a rather weak definition for THREADBARE. It’s a shame the answer to 24a, WEAR THIN, couldn’t have been exploited for something more precise (easily said, I know).
Luckily I didn’t think too hard about what a STEVEDORE actually does when I saw it fitted nicely. Not quite sure what the surface there is about.
Is it worth noting that NO CONTEST is only a courtroom plea in America? It’s a good option to have, though, because it means that although the accused doesn’t accept their guilt, they accept that they will be unable to defend against the charges successfully for whatever reason.