A gentle week-day warm-up.
Not the stiffest test – actually pretty much a write-in – but no complaints, all solidly clued and with the odd, 'Oh, obviously' to keep interest alive. Thanks to NEO.
'
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | LONG-WINDEDNESS | Sending old news out that shows verbosity (4-10) |
|
Anagram ('out') of SENDING OLD NEWS. |
||
| 10 | UNCLE | Criminal clue about initially nice pawnbroker (5) |
|
Anagram ('criminal') of CLUE surrounds 1st of 'Nice'. |
||
| 11 | CROISSANT | Angry worker eating one pastry (9) |
|
CRO.SS ANT ('worker') includes 1. |
||
| 12 | TREETOP | Unsafe here to cradle baby with wind? (7) |
|
Cryptic clue, from the the nursey rhyme.'Rockabye Baby'. |
||
| 13 | STEALTH | Secrecy the last resort (7) |
|
Anagram ('re-sort') of THE LAST |
||
| 14 | RATIO | Spanish banker clutching at relationship (5) |
|
R.IO, Sp. 'river' = 'banker' around AT. |
||
| 16 | BACKPEDAL | Boy back on lumbar exercises to change view hastily (9) |
|
LAD reversed after BACK ('lumbar') + PE ('excercises'). |
||
| 19 | SHAPELESS | Dumpy son, unfortunate, without energy (9) |
|
S[on] + HAP.LESS ('unfortunate') surrounding ('without') E[nergy]. |
||
| 20 | RUMBA | Republican coming to the fore in shadow dance (5) |
|
UMBrA ('shadow'), its R (R[epublican]) moved to 1st place. |
||
| 22 | ACCUSED | Defendant doomed, right to escape (7) |
|
ACCUrSED ('doomed') without R[ight]. |
||
| 25 | ARBITER | Judge alligator’s skin by similarly carnivorous animal? (7) |
|
Outside of 'AlligatoR' + BITER ('carnivorous animal', though most animals bite, I suppose). |
||
| 27 | LAMBASTED | Roasted meat cut, kept moist during cooking (9) |
|
LAMb, BASTED. |
||
| 28 | JASON | Argonaut thus making appearance in first month (5) |
|
SO in JA.Nuary. |
||
| 29 | WE ARE NOT AMUSED | Royal rebuke where plant involves a Greek character in high treason (2,3,3,6) |
|
WE.ED ('plant') includes A + MU (Gk character) itself surrounded by an anagram ('high') of TREASON. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | ORCHESTRA | Gold box used by painters and pit workers? (9) |
|
OR (heraldic 'gold') + CHEST ('box') + RA (the Royal Academy, 'painters').& cryptic def. |
||
| 3 | GHENT | Well-bred chap outside hotel in treaty town (5) |
|
G.ENT ('well-bred chap) includes H[otel]. The Treaty(1814) ended the war between us the U.S. |
||
| 4 | INCAPABLE | Helpless where demented pelican ingests tar (9) |
|
Anagram ('demented') of PELICAN around AB ('sailor, tar'). |
||
| 5 | DROSS | Sleep interrupted by rook? Rubbish (5) |
|
D.OSS (slang, 'sleep.) around R[ook]. |
||
| 6 | DISTEMPER | Underworld character seen in painting (9) |
|
DIS (the 'underworld') + TEMPER (nature, 'character;) |
||
| 7 | Message put about in parliament (1-4) | |
|
Reversal in 'parLIAMEnt'. |
||
| 8 | SATCHEL | Guevara posed at first with large bag (7) |
|
CHE (Guevara) in SAT (modelled, 'posed') +L[arge]. |
||
| 9 | BUTTER | Spread in book complete (6) |
|
B[ook] + UTTER ('complete'). |
||
| 15 | OVERSTATE | Garbage in Sappho’s last poem to stretch truth (9) |
|
TAT ('garbage') in last of 'sapphO' + VERS.E. |
||
| 17 | CASSANDRA | Charlie, fool with artillery, one anticipating disaster (9) |
|
C[harlie] (in radio code) + ASS + AND ('with') + RA, for the prophetess of doom. |
||
| 18 | DEMITASSE | Sides team thrashed in cup (9) |
|
Anagram ('thrashed') of SIDES TEAM. |
||
| 19 | SHALLOW | Weak plant taken outside lobby (7) |
|
S.OW (to 'plant') around HALL 'lobby'). |
||
| 21 | AIRING | Excellent band in exposure to public debate (6) |
|
A1 + RING ('band'). |
||
| 23 | COMMA | Male in unconscious state – this gives pause (5) |
|
M[ale] in COM.A ('unconcious state'). |
||
| 24 | DITTO | Simple song finally changed — it’s the same again! (5) |
|
DITTy ('simple song'), end changed to 'O'. |
||
| 26 | BIJOU | Small sail curled round, almost gone (5) |
|
Reversal ('curled round') of JIB ('sail') + most of OUt ('gone'). |
||
I really liked this. Shame about BACK-PEDAL(I cant see it as a single word in Chambers but..)
And I was wary of entering it as BACK was already in the clue.
Otherwise enjoyable.
Thanks GB and Neo.
A nice early in the week crossword – with the usual Neo enjoyment factor. Thanks to him and Grant
Not unusually, what copmus and crypticsue said. My particular favourite was ORCHESTRA.
Many thanks to Neo and Grant.
To Eileen @3 re 2d:
It was good to note that no carthorses were maimed during the making of this clue.
That crossed my mind, too, Grant. 😉
Learned some usages today: I was not familiar with distemper as a kind of paint, doss as British slang for sleep, nor bijou as an adjective. Still managed to get the right answers, though.
Thanks to Neo for the lessons and a fun puzzle and to Grant for the explanations.
One must say no to carthorses.
Or neigh.
I agree.
29
Thanks Neo, I enjoyed this over a late breakfast. I have no complaints — favourites were STEALTH (almost fooled by resort/re-sort), ACCUSED ( very apt surface), and COMMA. I concur with EdK@USA on learning new usages for 5, 6, and 26. While this might have been a write-in for Grant, I found it to be a bit more than that —thanks Grant for the blog.
thoroughly enjoyed this.. steady work through.. though saw “small sail =jib” which meant i was looking at BIJ_ _ until 29ac entered itself.. can’t wait to get a printer to facilitate entry…
thanks NEO n Grant Baynham
Nice puzzle, NEO, and thanks GB for the blog. Like Eileen, I ticked the horseless 2d ORCHESTRA and I also liked 19a SHAPELESS.
I had no problem with the enumeration of 16a BACKPEDAL – when hyphenated words get used a lot together, the hyphen eventually disappears, or at least becomes optional. The same could be said for E-MAIL/EMAIL – and the enumeration for 7d gave the clue away, so it would have been a better clue with (5) rather than (1-4).
Thanks Neo and Grant
Maybe not a write-in, but was able to get through this one quite quickly over a coffee and muffin with the typical crisp clueing and clean surfaces from this setter.
DEMITASSE was the only new word for me – flat white is my standard order and never knew what the mini espresso cups were called. 12a had me looking at the lyrics of the nursery rhyme and the irony struck of a lullaby that talks about the baby falling out of a tree.
Finished in the NE corner with DISTEMPER and BACKPEDAL.
Well I finished, but I found it harder than everyone else who has commented! Thanks to all
Not much leisure time at the moment so had to wait until the weekend to do this over breakfast. Straight in with 1a, always a good sign, but plodded a bit from there. Took ages to get 2d, my LOI, but it was my favourite anyway. Spotted 29a just from the shape and wrote it in before I parsed it and then doubted myself because of all the short crossers ending in vowels. Never actually parsed 26d, and unsure of uncle = pawnbroker or dis = underworld. Thanks to all for the puzzle and the blog.