We don’t see many Atrica puzzles and the last one we blogged was in June last year.
The theme became fairly clear early on when we had solved the first three across clues but then we realised that it was probably more general than just ‘things that go on your feet’. We found INSOLE and UPPER. We did wonder about FLAT but we thought the general term for shoes with no heels were FLATS. We also wondered about a popular shoe manufacturer hidden in 29ac until we realised that it was spelt differently.
Thanks Atrica – not too difficult but no less enjoyable.
Hidden (‘contents of’) bOX FOR Designer
Double definition
Anagram of OF REAL (‘shape’)
lOVER (mistress) missing first letter or ‘failed at first’ with DOES (other females, as in female deer)
Anagram of RE-READiNG (‘novel’) without or ‘skipping’ I
S AND A (first and last letters or ‘extremities’ of SignorA) plus L (large)
Double definition
Double definition
F (fine) + anagram of US SHIPPER (‘arranged’)
BO (unpleasant odour) with first or ‘original’ letters of Open Toed
pIaNo StOoL lEg with alternate or ‘occasional’ letters missing
GAL (American girl) and an anagram of SHOES (‘designing’)
LATIN (language) after or ‘on’ P (page) + UM (I’m not so sure)
A homophone (‘sounded’) of THAI (from an Asian country) + CHIc (fashionable) missing last letter or ‘almost’
An anagram of EnCORE SHE (‘plays’) without N (new)
An anagram of REMOTE (‘disintegration’)
An anagram of BIG SOLE (‘perversely’)
FLAt (incidental accidental as in music) without T (time) + TRACES (hints). Thanks PostMark
REFER (pass on) around or ‘inhaling’ E (drug)
V (against) ‘entering into’ LIE (falsehood)
TERRApIN (relative of tortoise) without P (quietly)
O (egg) VOID (nothing inside)
MESCaL (Mexican drink) missing ‘a’ + UN (French for ‘A’ ). We needed a search for this as we had never heard of the Mexican drink or the salad.
RE (covering/about) + a homophone (‘reportedly’) of SEAT (bottom)
ILL (trouble) over EG (for example) A L (pupil)
An anagram of HOT TACO HE (‘chewing’)
A play on the fact that if you ‘FLIP’ PER you ‘make’ rep
A homophone (‘pronounced’) of SELL (retail) + FISH (angle)
TESTifIER (witness) without or ‘discharging’ IF (conditional)
SO (very) LACE (material)
If you had a (ice)SKATE on your foot it would be between the ice and the sole of your foot. A SKATE and a SOLE are both flat fish.
A MULE has a reputation of being stubborn and it is also a cross between a female horse (nag) and a male ass. The clue then is a cryptic definition.
I can’t add any more to B&J’s list, and indeed didn’t count ‘flat’, but as you say it may not have been an intended anyway. I knew neither ‘mescal’ nor ‘mesclun’ so had to consult a wordlist for this. Very enjoyable, so thanks Atrica and B&J.
For Mescal, read Lowry’s ‘Under the Volcano’.
I’d venture to add SKATE to the list and possibly LACE although that only loosely ties in. I’d certainly hope FLAT was an intentional inclusion.
Well spotted PostMark – we missed those.
B&J: there’s a slight typo in the blog (I think). Should 2d read ‘accidental’ rather than ‘incidental’?
I liked the succinct LOAFER, the surface for PLATINUM and the anagram for FISH SUPPER. My only slight ‘meh’ is the TERRAIN/TERRAPIN device which seems to come up fairly often.
I suspect it is an accidental (as opposed to incidental) reference but REEFERs are a brand of South African footwear.
Thanks Atrica and Bertandjoyce
B&J @4: funnily enough, you didn’t miss SKATE as footwear in the blog. Only in the green shading.
Well spotted again Post Mark. We will correct the blog.
Theme revealed itself quickly n helped me on 13ac n 16ac, always nice to discover a new salad… no arguments..
Thanks Atrica n Bertandjoyce
Yes, John @2 Once read, never forgotten, though not necessarily in a good way!
Enjoyed this, though I was sure there’d be a stiletto somewhere. And I spent too long convinced very=v and nothing else and thinking of five letter fabrics, so that was my last one in. Thanks to Atrica and to Bertandjoyce.
Thanks to all commenters, and to Bertandjoyce for the blog. I had intended LACE in SOLACE to be part of the theme. Actually, SOLACE is an overlapping combination of SOLE and LACE and at first I wanted to clue it that way (along the lines of “combined bottom and top of shoe providing comfort”). But “combined” is not a very precise way to describe how the two words go together. Perhaps one of you clever people can think of a way to do this (apart from cutting SOLE in half)?
Agree with all the above but just wanted to add I thought the clue for MULE was amazing (once I’d eventually worked it out!)
Atrica – “Interwoven” (given that interlaced is bit too close to the answer) is my best attempt
“Interwoven bottom and top of shoe providing comfort”
Thanks Atrica and BertandJoyce
Thanks, Tombsy — an excellent suggestion! Would you mind if I used that device at some future time?
Atrica – it would be my pleasure to have helped, and I bet you £10 I will have forgotten when it’s published and will struggle with the clue 😉