Serpent gets the old grey matter stirring today.
We always expect a bit of a challenge with Serpent’s puzzles and this was no exception, although we didn’t find it quite as tricky as some of his previous offerings. Once again, some great surfaces.
As usual with Serpent, we suspected that there might be something going on beyond a straightforward solve. Looking at the completed grid we realised that there is a nina (or should that be two ninas?) in the perimeter unches.
Congratulations to Serpent for managing this without having to resort to any unusual words – quite an achievement.
An anagram of AMERiCA without or ‘releasing’ i (first person) – anagrind is ‘shot’
BEquEST (parting gift) with qu (queen) replaced by or ‘making way for’ H (husband)
I (international) + P (power) in or ‘controlled by’ MARTIAL (military)
ABOut (on) without the last two letters or ‘losing final pair’ + D E (first letters or ‘leads’ to disappointing and exit)
pRAISINg (complimentary) without the first and last letters or ‘peeled’
CAST (given role, as in a play) round or ‘encompassing’ iTALY (country) without the first letter or ‘short of capital’
SKINt (on the breadline) without the last letter or ‘almost’
An anagram of HERO and COMMON – anagrind is ‘criminal’
B + GEESE (fools) reversed or ‘retreating’ round or ‘containing’ CHIN (attack) – we had to check both ‘geese ‘ and ‘chin’ for this one
TIllER (one who tills – ‘farmer perhaps’) without or ‘spending’ l l (two pounds)
An anagram of IS MY RE (religious education) AN – anagrind is ‘an outcome of’
BEEF (complaint) round LIe (fake news possibly) without the last letter or ‘reduced’
UN (‘a’ in French) DUEl (affaire d’honneur) without the last letter or ‘failing to reach a conclusion’
An anagram of LET SOCIAL – anagrind is ‘maverick’
ELM (tree) round or ‘harbouring’ TRY (strain) all reversed or ‘from the east’ (in an across clue)
SEEN (witnessed) round or ‘inspiring’ CommandeR (first and last letters or ‘limits’)
P (pressure) in an anagram of FAMILIES – anagrind is ‘dysfunctional’
E G (for example) replacing first and last letters or ‘case’ of dARWIn
Hidden or ‘taking part’ in merrymAKINg
ALL (everything) reversed or ‘brought about’ in an anagram of ONE BAND – anagrind is ‘break-up’
HE HE (I’m amused) round A + CAD (scoundrel) reversed or ‘upset’ (in a down clue)
S Y (last or ‘ultimate’ letters of Christmas may) round or ’embodying’ NOW (present time)
FIB (story) RESume (first three letters or characters up to ‘u’ – university). That was sneaky!
SETTLEr (colonial) with the r (rule) ‘disappearing’
An anagram of HEROES’ TOMB – anagrind is ‘vandalise’ – a reference to ‘headache’ (6 down)
ORATE (talk) round GI (soldier) reversed or ‘returning’ IN (home)
REIN (control) VESTa (match) without the last letter or ‘unfinished’
Hidden (‘using some’) in kohlraBI’S QUEstionable – as a BISQUE is a rich shellfish soup, it would not be likely to contain kohlrabi
R (republican) AFTER (following) – initially, we weren’t too happy about this as a rafter supports a roof, not a house, but Chambers has ‘a dwelling’ as a synonym for ‘roof’, presumably as in ‘a roof over one’s head’, so we can’t really argue, and the surface works well
Double definition
M (male) bUDDY (friend) without the first letter or ‘scratching head’
S (last letter or ‘close’ to tears) after ACE (a point won in tennis with a serve that cannot be returned)
Top stuff, loved EARWIG and point of no return particularly.
‘providing support for the House’ I just read as ‘contributing to the house’s structure’, don’t think you need to equate roof & home. Had trouble with REINVEST, having put REINSERT originally and unable to spot the match.
Thanks Serpent, B&J
He makes it look so easy.Brilliant!
Thanks to Serpent and B&J
Lovely crossword – but yet again (!) I didn’t see the, now obvious, Nina
Thanks to Serpent and B&J
Needed the Nina to finish up the NE quadrant. Lots of typically devious clues. I can’t praise this setter enough. Simply superb.
We got it all after a struggle. BEHEST held us up for ages as we were looking for H to replace ER somehow. BESEECHING was obvious from the definition but the parsing eluded us for a long time, and we couldn’t see the parsing of FIBRES at all. And of course we missed the nina – we were so releived to finish that we didn’t even look for one.
Great puzzle, though. Thanks, Serpent and B&J.
10a, 16a, 2d….stars amongst stars. As Hovis says…cannot praise Serpent enough. Thanks all!
Many thanks to Bertandjoyce for the excellent blog and to everyone who has been kind enough to comment. I really appreciate the compliments – it’s lovely to get such positive feedback!
Belated thank-yous to Serpent and to BertandJoyce. I was beaten by a couple and did not spot the subtle Nina .. must look harder next time. Thanks for a great work-out.