Thanks to Chifonie, for an enjoyable puzzle. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Notice society girl wearing ring (9)
DISMISSAL : [S(abbrev. for “society”) + MISS(form of address for a young or unmarried girl)] contained in(wearing) DIAL(to call/ring on the phone).
Defn: … saying you’re fired/dismissed from your job.
6 Start of virulent fever is uncertain (5)
VAGUE : 1st letter of(Start of) “virulent” + AGUE(a fever, as a symptom of an ague, any one of a number of illnesses, such as malaria.
9 Pennies I organised in a heap (5)
PILED : P(abbrev. for “pennies”, in English money) + I + LED(organised/managed).
10 It’s popular because the Queen’s inside — that’s not true! (9)
INSINCERE : IN(popular/in fashion) + SINCE(because/resulting from) containing(…’s inside) ER(abbrev. for Elizabeth Regina, the Queen).
11 Light infantry in degrading defeat (10)
DEMOLITION : LI(abbrev. for “light infantry”) contained in(in) DEMOTION(opposite of promotion/the act of downgrading/degrading).
12 Known in Scotland and in the Home Counties (4)
KENT : Double defn: 1st: … in Scottish, within one’s range of knowledge/ken; and 2nd: One of the Home Counties in S.E. England.
14 Threatened staff with a first-class degree (7)
MENACED : MEN(the staff, in say, an organisation) plus(with) ACE(first-class/the best) + D(abbrev. for “degree”, as in temperature readings).
15 Improve hospital in Cornish town with no parking zone (7)
ENHANCE : H(abbrev. for “hospital”)contained in(in) “Penzance”(a town in Cornwall) minus, separately(with no) “PZ”(abbrev. for “parking zone”, as in CPZ/controlled or RPZ/restricted. Or abbrev. for “parking” and “zone” respectively).
17 Gossip allowed back to get personal property (7)
CHATTEL : CHAT(gossip/idle talk) + reversal of(… back) LET(allowed/okayed).
19 Her sins revealed in such hallowed places (7)
SHRINES : Anagram of(… revealed) HER SINS.
20 Madness of king’s advancing years (4)
RAGE : R(abbrev. for “Rex”/king) + AGE(advancing years, or simply, one’s age).
22 Corrupt grown-up English count (10)
ADULTERATE : ADULT(grown-up) + E(abbrev. for “English”) + RATE(to count/to consider to be of a certain standard, as in “They count him as the best striker they’ve had”).
25 Maestro presenting opera at home in Ulster (9)
TOSCANINI : TOSCA(an opera by Puccini) + [IN(at home/in lockdown) contained in(in) NI(abbrev. for Northern Ireland, which is in Ulster, the traditional province in northern Ireland)].
Answer: Arturo, Italian musician and conductor.
26 Entertain European in Italian restaurant (5)
TREAT : E(abbrev. for “European”) contained in(in) TRAT(short for “trattoria”, an Italian restaurant).
27 Forced rebel leader to be accepted by peacemaker (5)
DROVE : 1st letter of(… leader) “rebel” contained in(to be accepted by) DOVE(a peacemaker/one who is against warfare, as opposed to a hawk).
28 Homicide drowning novice in more rum (9)
STRANGLER : L(a novice/a learner, from the letter on the plate displayed by a learner driver) contained in(in) STRANGER(more rum/odder).
Defn: “Homicide”, in old-fashioned/dated usage, is one who commits homicide.
Down
1 Tricked theologian to keep up on ecstasy (5)
DUPED : DD(abbrev. for “Doctor of Divinity”, a theologian with a degree) containing(to keep) [UP placed above(on, in a down clue) E(abbrev. for the drug “Ecstasy”).
2 A canal Sam renovated in Spain (9)
SALAMANCA : Anagram of(… renovated) A CANAL SAM.
Defn: The capital city of the province with the same name in western Spain.
3 Rude show entertains the Spanish (10)
INDELICATE : INDICATE(to show/to point towards) containing(entertains) EL(the article “the” in Spanish).
4 Old Bob’s inclined to be very formal (7)
STILTED : S(abbrev. for “shilling”, old/former British unit of currency, nicknamed a “bob”) + TILTED(inclined/leaning to one side).
5 Pupil is a bit pliant (7)
LISSOME : L(a pupil, cf. 28 across) + IS + SOME(a bit/an unspecified part of).
6 Very last trade (4)
VEND : V(abbrev. for “very”) + END(last/the finish).
Defn: To sell, part of a trade.
7 Given church land, bishop bursts into song (5)
GLEBE : B(abbrev. for “bishop” in chess notation) contained in(bursts into) GLEE(a song for men’s voices, in three or more parts, and usually a cappella).
Defn: Land given to a clergyman to provide income, as part of his appointment.
8 Standing vertically? (9)
ERECTNESS : Not sure about this parsing: some sort of double/cryptic defn.? 1st: The state of being rigid physiologically (you know what that means); and 2nd: The state of being in an upright/vertical position, ie. perpendicular to the ground.
13 Prince not getting up for a dance (10)
CHARLESTON : CHARLES(the Prince who is heir to the English throne) + reversal of(… getting up, in a down clue) NOT.
14 Spice assessed and softened by soaking (9)
MACERATED : MACE(spice made from the outer covering of the nutmeg) + RATED(assessed/assigned a value).
16 Iron panel forged to unequalled standard (9)
NONPAREIL : Anagram of(… forged) IRON PANEL.
18 Young men found old Penny in the little girls’ room (7)
LADDIES : D(abbrev. for “penny”, the old/former English monetary unit, as in £. s. d.) contained in(in) LADIES(the washroom for women, euphemistically called the “little girls’ room”).
19 Serviceman finds one in metal alloy (7)
SOLDIER : I(Roman numeral for “one”) contained in(in) SOLDER(a metal alloy used for, well, soldering/joining metal pieces together).
21 Angus touchily withholds enthusiasm (5)
GUSTO : Hidden in(… withholds) “Angus touchily“.
23 Landlord has no right to come in (5)
ENTER : “renter”(one who rents out property/a landlord) minus(has no) “r”(abbrev. for “right”).
24 German bolted down mountain pass (4)
GATE : G(abbrev. for “German”) + ATE(bolted down/ate quickly).
Defn: A natural passage between mountains, like the Cilician Gates in Turkey:
Surprisingly for a Friday puzzle, I found this was more or less a write-in. Maybe today, unlike the rest of the week, I was just on the setter’s wavelength. ENHANCED was neat.
Whoops – thanks for the puzzle, Chifonie, and for the blog, Scchua!
Apart from 7d which is a new word for me, and 8d which i got from the crossers, this was quite easy for a Friday crossword. Thanks to Scchua and Chifonie
Hard to say why in retrospect, but this took me longer than Chifonie normally does. All very straightforward but a little dull.
Thanks to Chifonie and scchua
Thanks Scchua and Chifonie. A good challenge. Lots of clues I liked. Missed out on 12a and 24d. Sometimes those short ones are the trickiest!
A gentle and enjoyable puzzle from Chifonie – but a bit of a surprise for a Friday. I liked DUPED INDELICATE, and STRANGLER for the “more rum” bit. Like scchua I’m not convinced about ERECTNESS but have no better explanation. Thanks to him for the pictorial blog and Chifonie for the puzzle.
Fairly straightforward puzzle, but thanks for the Charleston links scchua, they cheered. e up and I shall no have an earworm all day.
Hmmm. Not sure this is one of Chifonie’s best. Went in fairly swiftly and I do have a number of quibbles I’m afraid. I would query STRANGLER as homicide which surely describes either the act or the outcome but not the perpetrator? ERECTNESS is either weak or far too clever for me and as for the device that gets to ENHANCE from PENZANCE, that’s just ugly. STILTED means halting and awkward but formal? And that’s before we look at the weak anagrams and charades. I’m sorry Chifonie; I’ve enjoyed many previous puzzles but this one didn’t cut the mustard. Thanks, nonetheless, for the effort and to scchua for the blog.
I’ve seen ken=know plenty of times in crosswords but kent=known was new to me. I was going to get huffy that Kent is only one of the home counties until I read Scchua’s explanation, and recognised that it is “in the home counties”
Cheered me up of course. Also thanks to Chifonie for the gentle entertainment.
Thanks Chifonie and scchua
Rather like BH, I found this a bit dull and it didn’t really flow for me. Some oddities: “revealed” as anagrind in 19a; “small Italian restaurant” would surely be better in 26a; I didn’t see how ERECTNESS worked either.
CHARLESTON was favourite.
Mark @8
Cain is sometimes described as “the first homicide” – i.e. the perpetrator rather than the deed.
Lovely neat and tidy clues as usual from the Chif but, as Troglodyte found, a doddle. Always something to learn though, viz gate as mountain pass (probably encountered before and forgotten). 14ac could have done without the ‘a’, trat as abbrev. was a que?, and 8d got an erk in the margin. Quick bit of fun, thanks C and S.
Howard – there’s a lovely old Scottish put down for someone with an unjustifiably high opinion of themselves “Him, och I kent his father”
Many thanks, both, but not my cup of tea this morning.
Nothing to complaining about, really, other than a general sort of looseness which led to a lot of what I call “s’pose” answers.
Didn’t know GATE and had to check Chambers to see that one could be a homicide.
Nice weekend, all.
Oh yes, had the same ? as Mark re homicide as perpetrator, but thanks muffin, that helps…
I seemed to work my way steadily through this one although the top half took longer than the bottom. I tried ARMAGEDDON for a while at 11a but problems with crossers meant I had to scrap that attempt.
I wasn’t fussed on the repetition of “L’ for learner – clued here as “novice” in 28a STRANGLER and “pupil” in 5d LISSOME. I had a question mark against “Landlord” as (R)ENTER in 23d, as I thought the tenant would be more likely to be described at the renter. However I do understand that one can work both ways. But those gripes sound a bit petty.
OTOH, it was refreshing to have no unfamiliar words requiring reference sources, and I did enjoy clues like 6a VAGUE.
Thanks to Chifonie and scchua.
Mark@8, I’ve added to my explanation for the defn. in 28 across in to make it clearer.
I remember reading at the age of about ten in Robert Graves’ version of the Greek myths that Odysseus was “a homicide”.
Probably my fastest solve ever, but I’m not complaining. Completed the crossword and varnished a floor before elevenses!
And thanks as ever to Chifonie and scchua.
muffin @12 and scchua @18 Thanks for that. As one somewhat unschooled in Biblical reference (except for Eli, of course. Heard of him!), I wasn’t aware of that usage. The L for Learner applies to self.
It makes me sad to note all the time and trouble sschua so generously gives and takes (in this case for a ‘puzzle’ taking no more than 3 or 4 minutes to ‘solve’) only to see that commenters don’t read his blog. He made it clear that homicide is a noun in “old fashioned usage”, yet several comments above seem to have not bothered to read his explanation – and I won’t be surprised if others follow!
I thought ENHANCE was very nicely done.
Many thanks, one and all.
Does the Guardian really have a policy on the level of difficulty of a puzzle and the day of the week? If it does, has today be nominated as an extra Monday. As you can guess I found this the easiest puzzle of the week. I’m not really complaining, it was enjoyable and well crafted, but mostly a write in. ERECTNESS was not really cryptic as far as I can see, but good fun. GATE held me up for ages as I had never heard of a GATE being a mountain pass.
Favourites were ENHANCE, KENT (my county) and LISSOME such a lovely word Many thanks Chifonie and scchua.
Enjoyed it, but had several ‘hms’ at the clueing. The practice of defining a particular place as being “in Spain” for example, seems very ropey to me. Down with this sort of thing, as Father Ted would say.
I wondered if STANDING had something to do with hard standing, too? But then Chifonie is not Paul
Thanks to scchua and Chifonie
William F P @22
scchua modified the blog in response to Mark’s comment – see post 18.
Alas, another write-in, with few redeeming features, and I can’t say that I found a single clue amusing. I had the feeling that in one form or another I’d seen the majority of clues elsewhere over the years, so there was no learning experience either. Ah well, there’s always tomorrow …
(Modification/addition coloured red to distinguish if from the original explanation cited by William F P. For what it’s worth, as a general comment I think it’s just not my blog but others as well that don’t get read by commenters.)
At first, several longer answers went in swiftly and, knowing I’m very much a third-rate, county-level plodder, I assumed this must be one of Chifonie’s easier offerings. But then, with the bottom half mostly done and the top half mostly empty, things got stickier. Like Mike C, many short answers were hard to untangle and although KENT was an early entry (I lived in Canterbury for a few years and ken it well!), VAGUE, VEND and GATE took far far longer than they probably should. I enjoyed STRANGLER, ENHANCE and TOSCANINI (wouldn’t it be lovely if his choice of career was influenced by his having an opera in his name??) and, like everyone else, I really couldn’t figure out what’s going on with ERECTNESS. Thank you Scchua for help in completing the parsing of DUPED (another tricky short one!) and thanks to Chifonie for the fun.
Like others, I found this surprisingly easy for a Friday. The top took longer than (most of) the bottom. My LOI was TREAT – I must learn to spell NONPARIEL – whoops! I mean NONPAREIL (nothing to do with angels). Struggled for too long on T_I_T. Thanks to Chifonie and scchua.
Glad you popped by Tassie Tim, as 2d got me wondering how Salamanca Place migrated to the Apple Isle…dyu know?
A virtual write in for me today too, though lots to like. Am I allowed to mention that 17ac appeared in yesterday’s Quick Crossword?
Enjoyable puzzle. Another wee quibble though, on vend=trade. As you say, vending is part of trading, but only part. That doesn’t really cut it as a definition, it seems to me.
[GiF @31 Salamanca Place is in Battery Point, first built on soon after white invasion/settlement in 1804. So it is named for the Battle of Salamanca, in the Napoleonic wars (1812). Needless to say, it was a battle the Poms won.] I have to admit SALAMANCA was an easy write-in for me.
Easy for a Friday, though imo not the easiest of the week, as Carpathian’s Monday offering was easier (and better). No complaints, though, as it allowed me to claim my first-ever error-free week (with a few assists from Collins and wikipedia – I’m a long way from joining the ranks of those who refuse such help). Thanks to Chifonie and scchua.
sschua @28 I’m feeling I’ve had my wrist slapped this morning – but then I was somewhat critical of Chifonie’s offering and, if I can’t take it, I shouldn’t give it! Just wanted to assure you that I do read and enjoy your (and other’s) blogs! And particularly smiled at the photo of what must be the most elegant game of Twister ever played.
And, since we generally seem to enjoy (and debate) synonyms here, I shall continue to refer to crosswords as ‘puzzles’ as well as offerings, challenges, tests, solves…
Delighted to see KENT which could have been clued with the early Half Man Half Biscuit classic “D’ye ken Ted Moult”. The track featured on the “Back (again) in the DHSS” album along with “Rod Hull Is Alive – Why?”, “Dickie Davies Eyes” and the ever-popular “All I Want for Christmas Is a Dukla Prague Away Kit”. Cheers all
[Ta TassieTim; named for the glory of the Empiah, could’ve guessed! The vendor of my freo house now lives in Battery Point, overlooking the annual invasion of the yachts…]
bodycheetah @37 If you were to extend your excellent analytical tool from yesterday to the comments section of this blog, I suspect you would find that Half Man Half Biscuit references will soon be outstripping Biblical…
Well mark @39 talking of biblical references I did a bit of rudimentary analysis on which setters use the most ecclesiastical terms like bishop, church, priest etc. https://public.tableau.com/profile/bodycheetah#!/vizhome/GuardianSettersReligiousClues/ReligiousCluePercentages
Fairly straightforward, but not knowing GLEBE or Scottish KENT meant those two were the LOIs. I didn’t see the parsing of ENHANCE involving Penzance.
Maybe we’re just get softened up for a real stinker Prize one tomorrow!
Thanks Chifonie and scchua.
It was easy. But I initially had 20 across as ORGY (Of GR advancing then Y). Seemed a better answer!
[bodycheetah @40
A neater way to insert links is to use the “paperclip” icon. Copy the address, highlight some text in your proto-post, click on the paper clip, paste the address into the box, then click on the “enter” arrow.]
bodycheetah @40 Excellent. Clearly the possibilities are endless. And the data just confirms that Paul is irreligious as well as ribald…
I’m more in Mark’s camp than some others on this one – did not find it particularly inspiring. “p” for “pennies” not pence? Pennies suggests “pp” to me. I am surprised “trat” has not had more comment – I’ve never heard the term used and cannot believe it is a standard term, even if it had been signalled as an abbreviation. “Vend” and “trade” was also weak as has been mentioned, two appearances of “rate”, “erectness” made no sense at all, “witholds” is the opposite of “holds” surely, and so on. A pity as there were lots of really great surfaces.
Anyhow, thank you Chifonie and scchua for the imaginative blog illustrations.
Bodycheetah @40 – interesting but done but number of crosswords containing a religious reference, rather that total number of such references. I suspect the Don would move up the rankings in the latter as he often has 2 or 3, but Qaos might be biased up by his recent themed puzzle (no spoilers for those still working on last week!) Thank you for the analysis!
TheZed @45; trat is in Chambers as a short form of trattoria
Robi @47 I wonder if any of our Italian contributors could advise whether trat is used an abbreviation for trattoria in their homeland. I’d be a tad surprised but then surprises is often what these comments deliver.
I’m clearly spending far too much time on here today. The joys (genuinely) of lockdown.
Robi @47 thanks – chalk up another of those “it’s in Chambers” answers. Some of them are satisfactory, like the “note” yesterday which was part of a clue, gettable and taught many of us something. Having learned this abbreviation I don’t feel my lexicon improved at all, which may be at the heart of my grizzle!
I did suggest that “small Italian restaurant” would have been better.
muffin @50 Not only do I read and enjoy the blog but also the comments. I’d noted your suggestion earlier and it had earned a mental tick.
Re homicide: consider that suicide also has a second meaning as the one who commits the act, and this one is probably quite familiar.
Monday crosswords are still easy, why then do we have to have a Monday-style crossword on a Friday? A complete write-in, and if it took as long as ten minutes that’s because I was eating my sardines at the same time. Disappointing.
A pleasant and fairly gentle Friday puzzle. I liked 20a RAGE – very neat. I was unfamiliar with GATE as mountain pass (24d), though on reflection perhaps it’s as in Thermopylae (“the hot gates”) as referenced in T S Eliot’s Gerontion.
I was a bit puzzled by “revealed” as an anagram indicator in 19a, but I suppose you could say that the letters H, E, R etc are all revealed in the word SHRINES.
Many thanks Chifonie and scchua.
(PS – sorry, slightly off-topic, but does anyone here do the Guardian Suguru? Is it always supposed to be solvable step-by-step, logically, or do you sometimes need to try out one of two equal possibilities and follow the consequences to see if it works? I couldn’t see how to do yesterday’s – Thursday’s – by the former method, which I find much more satisfying.)
Thanks both,
An enjoyable quick solve. Rather too many clues involved adding or subtracting only one letter for my taste. TheZed @45, in the days before going for a cheeky Nando’s (remember them?) one might well have gone out to a trat, in my part of the world.
When doing ERECTNESS last night I put it down to some hidden layer of meaning indicated by the question-mark, and that all would be revealed in the morning. Apparently not. Question-marks are traditionally used to indicate made-up words or made-up meanings or some kind of pun going beyond the normal cryptic devices. However, here it seems to mean: I have half an idea for a clue, you fill in the rest!
On the grounds that I managed it, I can see that the regulars here will have found it easy. But come on, a lot of this week was on the hard side so you have to have some encouragement for us mere mortals.
Expected this to be hard because it’s Friday. Nearly didn’t bother trying. Very pleasantly surprised I could do nearly all of it. Got caught our with GATE and KENT (where I live).
Happy for more like this! Thank you.
I think erectness is a double definition referring to moral and physical uprightness, but the trouble is standing also might have both senses. I can see this puzzle might have been too easy for some, but encouraging for a relative tyro like me. As far as trat is concerned, I think referring to an informal Italian restaurant, rather than a small one, would have been the better clue, as it’s a slangy term rather than an abbreviation.
Thanks to all
Mark: re trat. I’ve never heard it used here but the Italians are generally allergic to any word not ending in a vowel. We do have a rather odd import that has been springing up lately: GINTONERIA – a chic little bar serving outrageously priced gin and tonics and other cocktails to i vitelloni (rich layabout kids with too much pocket money, and also a wonderful film). Favourite today was TOSCANINI; one of my neighbours has an English dog called Tosca which I have always thought an unpropitious name, especially as the mother of this canine committed suicide. Thanks to Chifonie and Scchua – loved the Charleston!
(Re my PS @54: shortly after I’d posted, Mrs LJ informed me that yesterday’s Suguru is solvable by the normal method, and with a bit of nudging I’ve now done it. It was hard though!)
Lord Jim: where would I find this Suguru puzzle? I’m intrigued.
il principe dell’oscurita @60 So would gintoneria be an Italian portmanteau term? To my embarrassment, I don’t know whether there is a crossword tradition in Italy. If there is, does the preponderance of words ending in vowels create a different experience?
il principe @62: it’s on the back page of the G2 section of the print edition. Unfortunately I don’t think it’s available online.
A little too benign for my taste, but some goodies to savour. I enjoyed KENT the most, with NONPAREIL up there too. 19a read quite nicely. The indicator “revealed” applies to the answer I think, in that SHRINES will show “her sins” (if shaken about a bit). ERECTNESS just seems a clumsy cd which reads too easily as a straight definition.
I was unaware of GLEE as a song, GATE as a pass or HOMICIDE as a perpetrator, so some welcome TILTS for me.
Thanks, Chifonie and congratulations for cluing GATE without mentioning scandals! Thanks too, scchua, for the blog and the terrific Charleston clip. Always enjoy your photo illustrations.
Mark: These cobbled-together English imports are on the increase, I’m afraid to say, but sometimes they’re quite sweet. The family of the man credited with the invention of the Italian crossword live in a palazzo a stone’s throw from me here in Sassari. The preponderance of vowels do make them very challenging and an encyclopaedic knowledge of obscure Tuscan castles seems to be a sine qua non.
Thank you Lord Jim; my father’s in Devon and perhaps he will photograph one for me.
[Lord Jim
I almost always complete the Suguru, but got stuck on yesterday’s and made a guess that worked out wrong.
The Guardian Sudoku is available online, but, sadly, the Suguru isn’t.]
Despite being on the easy side I found a lot I liked here — INSINCERE, ENHANCE, CHARLESTON, and LADDIES especially. Thanks Chifonie and Scchua.
SPanza. In my part of Spain a mountain pass is called ‘puerto (de montaña)’ – gate of the mountain. Of course there are subtleties between puerto/puerta but the general sense is clear.
Well, this was a bit Mondayish. I quite liked it although I didn’t care much for STRANGLER despite what others have said. Anyway, it didn’t take long. Liked ENHANCE.
Thanks Chifonie.
Like others, I came here looking for enlightenment on ERECTNESS, but I guess there’s none to be had. I guess it was intended as a cd, but it’s not clear what’s cryptic about it (i.e., what the misleading surface reading was meant to be).
I have to complain about Z for zone in 15ac. I can’t find dictionary support for such an abbreviation. Yes, it occurs as part of longer abbreviations, such as DMZ for “demilitarized zone”, but I don’t think we should regard that as adequate justification. If all multiletter abbreviations can be broken up and used piecemeal in this way, there are just too many possibilities. It’s not fair to the solver.
Dicho @69 yes of course. In my part of Spain, the altiplano NE of Granada, we also use puerto for a pass but I just did not make the jump to Spanish when I was struggling with GATE. Thanks for taking the trouble to enlighten me!!
Just to agree with Jenny @57. A rare complete for me after several days of varying degrees of impossibility. Maybe we deserve one puzzle a week we can tackle – after all our £2.10 for the Guardian is as good as yours. (By the way I couldn’t do yesterday’s Suguru either – very strange.) Thanks Chifonie & Schua (Great photos)
I sometimes wonder what is a reasonable time to spend solving the crossword, 2 hours? I solve in the paper and am therefore not tempted by check or reveal buttons. I stubbornly stick to it if I think I can get to the end, carrying on the next day (or beyond) if necessary. I am therefore relieved when a more straightforward puzzle comes along like today’s leaving me time to do other things.
(I also got nowhere with yesterday’s Suguru so I had to try again this morning, successfully I’m pleased to say. I normally do them in a couple of minutes like today’s)
bodycheetah @37, whenever I hear Ted Moult I think, not of HMHB (although…), but of a great visual gag I heard/saw many years ago just after TM died. I turned at a party and a mate of mine looked at me from six feet away and mouthed three words. Assuming I missed what he said I asked him to repeat. Again, he mouthed three words but more slowly this time. Again I was non-plussed. He sighed, stepped a couple of feet closer, mimed the opening of a patio door and said… “Ted Moult’s dead!”
(Late in his life, Ted Moult was best known for advertising Everest double glazing on UK TV)
Ted @71: z for zone is in Chambers.
Not much to add – liked ENHANCE. Thanks Chifonie and thanks scchua for the entertaining blog.
Coming late (last?) to the blog, though I did this yesterday morning before the blog was available. I enjoyed it and thought as I was doing so that others would be judging it too easy. Loved ENHANCE and KENT. GATE as pass was new to me too. Many thanks to both. I am wondering whether it is time to to brave the prize puzzle…
Like Jenny Cant I get really fed up of the number of people saying this was a write-in, or a doddle, or very speedy. Makes me, as a beginner to all of this, feel very inadequate. Please stop boasting. I only do 2 or 3 compilers and each takes me several days and I rarely complete it. Please be a bit more sensitive. Rant over!
Hi,
I think 8d the erectness refers to one’s social standing, reputation – erectness = standing. He was an erect gentleman etc. Given the question mark, I thought that it was a fine clue.
As a newcomer to cryptic crosswords (i’ve only really found enough time since this ‘lockdown thing’ ,I hate that phrase) I often find I get the answer then work out how it was done, I got enhance via ‘nance’ or ‘nans’ or indeed ‘ance’ which crop up a lot in Cornish place names, but couldn’t make it work completely with the clue, after a while I twigged the Penzance route then it made a lot more sense. After two 1 hour sessions I finally finished the puzzle. I discovered this site a week or so ago and must thank everybody involved as it has been a real education into the workings of these things.
Gonzo @76 — Then I sheepishly withdraw my complaint.
I checked the version of Chambers that’s available online, which I know is not the One True Chambers. I thought that I had also remembered to check the OTC, but I suppose I must have neglected to.