Tees is a top setter, but you wouldn’t set your calendar by him. He’s not knocked Phi off his Friday perch yet, but I think we’ve seen him every other weekday in the Indy, and in the IoS, of course. This start-the-week offering contained a wide variety of subject matter, which is one of the reasons I always enjoy his puzzles.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Seabirds or seabird coming west
AUKS
Happy Mondays: a bird as the first across answer. A write-in for your blogger, but perhaps needing the crossers if birds aren’t of interest, since neither avian is one you’ll see in your garden. Auks are actually a group of birds, which include the guillemot and the razorbill, but the obligatory Pierre bird link shows you a member of the group that carries its name – the Little Auk. Like others in the group, it’s essentially pelagic and better at swimming and diving than flying. How little is little? About the size of a starling. And I should probably tell you that it’s another seabird, SKUA, reversed (‘coming west’).
3 Eastern film director walked around to guillotine
DECAPITATE
A reversal (‘around’) of E, TATI and PACED. The ‘director’ is Jacques TATI, of Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday fame.
10 Given up working in smithy
FORGONE
An insertion of ON for ‘working’ in FORGE.
11 Figure provided in month before November
OCTAGON
A charade of OCT, AGO and N for the phonetic alphabet ‘November’.
12 Cover verse in song for two
DUVET
An insertion of V in DUET.
13 Body going round worried student pair entering place
SATELLITE
An insertion of ATE and LL for two ‘students’ in SITE.
14 Retribution from Gene after bashing in lead at church
VENGEANCE
An insertion of (GENE)* in VAN followed by CE. VAN for ‘lead’ is not much used these days (except in crossies) but is still seen in VANGUARD.
16 Limitlessly rich ore that filled ancient vessels
ICHOR
[R]ICH OR[E]. ICHOR, in Greek mythology, is the fluid that flowed in the veins of the gods, so the ‘vessels’ are blood vessels.
18 Old character is prickly sort
THORN
A dd. The first is the old letter, written as þ, which is still used in the modern Icelandic alphabet but has transmuted to the digraph th in modern English. It’s also (longish story) why you see bollocks like Ye Olde Sweete Shoppe on signs.
19 One has aspirations before the contract bid
PRETENDER
A charade of PRE and TENDER. The sense of the word is probably most often heard in the description of Bonnie Prince Charlie as the ‘Young Pretender’.
21 Outstanding concert in Argentina’s centre
PROMINENT
A charade of PROM, IN and ENT for the middle letters of ‘Argentina’.
22 Bird embracing hawk-headed god’s attribute
TRAIT
I got briefly excited about a second OPBL, but no. An insertion of the god RA in TIT.
24 God wants Noah initially into his Ark at sea
KRISHNA
An insertion of N for the first letter of ‘Noah’ in (HIS ARK)* gives you the Hindu deity.
25 Stops home being covered in sticky stuff
REINS IN
An insertion of IN for ‘home’ in RESIN.
26 Teacher in rush changed tune?
REMASTERED
An insertion of MASTER in REED. The definition is slightly whimsical, since it’s really the arrangement and production that’s altered, rather than the tune, when a track is REMASTERED.
27 Victorious time without end in sacred text
VEDA
VE DA[Y]
Down
1 Statement FIFA put out: US lawyer against it
AFFIDAVIT
A multi-part charade: of (FIFA)*, DA for District Attorney or ‘US lawyer’, V for versus or ‘against’ and IT.
2 Revolutionary drink sweetheart uncovered
KIROV
A charade of KIR and [L]OV[E] gives you Sergei KIROV, the Russian Bolshevik revolutionary.
4 Poet remains active when book released
EMERSON
EM[B]ERS plus ON, referencing Ralph Waldo EMERSON, the American poet and essayist.
5 Preacher throws stone into a bar
APOSTLE
An insertion of ST in A POLE.
6 Bright bunch working for TV hearing news as it breaks
INTELLIGENTSIA
A homophone of IN TELLY (‘working for TV’), GEN and (AS IT)* The homophone indicator is ‘hearing’ and the anagrind is ‘breaks’.
7 Dolorous one in Scots area — he had to go under
ANGUISHED
An insertion of I in ANGUS followed by HE’D. ‘To go under’ works because it’s a down clue. ANGUS is an area of Scotland just north of the Firth of Tay, which keeps itself to itself most of the time.
8 Man from drive-in restaurant turned up
ERNIE
Hidden reversed in drivE IN REstaurant.
9 Celestial phenomenon stars follow and not sailors
NORTHERN LIGHTS
It took me the longest time to see this, but in the end it turns out to be a charade: NOR for ‘and not’, THE RN for ‘sailors’ and LIGHTS for ‘stars’.
15 Go on, smile — that’s rude new word
NEOLOGISM
(GO ON SMILE)* with ‘that’s rude’ as the anagrind. You need to equate ‘rude’ to ‘rough’ to make the anagrind work, I think.
17 Hope land has game girl raised in America
RURITANIA
A charade of RU, RITA, IN reversed and A.
19 Rapper revised English in draft
PREPARE
A charade of (RAPPER)* and E.
20 Muse quiet in tree swaying at country club?
EUTERPE
Well, there are 27 countries left in the ‘club’ that is the EU these days, so it’s that followed by P for the musically ‘quiet’ in (TREE)* The muse that always comes a distant second to ERATO in crosswords (mainly because there’s naff all else that fits E?A?O).
21 Metal rod for hand-to-hand combat?
POKER
A dd cum cd.
23 Passage your compiler will read aloud
AISLE
A homophone (‘read aloud’) of I’LL, with the I being the self-referential setter or compiler of today’s puzzle. The ‘passage’ in the church that the bride doesn’t walk down (or up) when she gets married. That’s the nave.
Many thanks to Tees for this morning’s cryptic.
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