A good puzzle and recommended for those who appreciate a traditional style. All solid clues and no funny business. Thank you Buccaneer.
| ACROSS | ||
| 9 | ADO |
A bit of god-awful back trouble (3)
|
| found reversed (back) inside (a bit of) gOD Awful | ||
| 10 | A DOLLS HOUSE |
Play …. with this? (1,5,5)
|
| something you might play with | ||
| 11 | BERET |
Venture to grab head of state’s headgear (5)
|
| BET (venture) contains (to grab) ER (Elizabeth Regina, head of state) | ||
| 12 | CARTRIDGE |
Trace grid out one found in magazine (9)
|
| anagram (out) of TRACE GRID | ||
| 13 | RAVIOLI |
Italian food recipe a fiddle, mostly (7)
|
| R (recipe) A then VIOLIn (fiddle, mostly) | ||
| 14 | LUSTRUM |
Left university to play guitar for several years (7)
|
| L (left) U (university) and STRUM (to play guitar) | ||
| 16 | HEARING IMPAIRED |
Struggling to catch rascal shown on trial (7-8)
|
| IMP (rascal) AIRED (shown) following (on) HEARING (trial) | ||
| 20 | PEGASUS |
Fabulous mount in South America doctor’s crossing east to west (7)
|
| S (south) USA (America) then GP (doctor) containing (crossing) E (east) all reversed (to west, as on a map) | ||
| 23 | NIPPIER |
Tot somewhere in Blackpool maybe less warm (7)
|
| NIP (tot) and PIER (somewhere in Blackpool maybe) | ||
| 25 | MATRIMONY |
Lots keeping fit love pairing up (9)
|
| MANY (lots) contains TRIM (fit) O (love) | ||
| 26 | ASCOT |
Where races are a tie (5)
|
| double definition | ||
| 27 | FRENCH BREAD |
Loose branch freed, giving pain? (6,5)
|
| anagram (loose) of BRANCH FREED – definition is in French | ||
| 28 | AWN |
Outgrowth on cereal grass not long (3)
|
| LAWN (grass) missing L (long) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BARBERSHOP |
American composer’s dance music style (10)
|
| BARBER’S (Samuel Barber, American composer) then HOP (dance) | ||
| 2 | MONROVIA |
Sex symbol drops back through African capital (8)
|
| MONROe (sex symbol) missing (drops) last letter (back) and VIA (through) | ||
| 3 | TATTOO |
Rubbish on top of that ink design (6)
|
| TAT (rubbish) TOO (on top of that) | ||
| 4 | COACHING |
Instruction from officer giving discomfort (8)
|
| CO (commanding officer) with ACHING (discomfort) | ||
| 5 | PLURAL |
More than one place on river (6)
|
| PL (place) on URAL (3rd longest river in Europe) | ||
| 6 | CHARISMA |
Appealing quality is in entrance area (8)
|
| IS inside CHARM (entrance, cast a spell) and A (area) | ||
| 7 | MURDER |
Champion on course to make comeback crows (6)
|
| RED RUM (champion racehorse) reversed (to come back) – a collective noun for crows | ||
| 8 | PEKE |
Outspoken top dog (4)
|
| sounds like (outspoken) “peak” (top) | ||
| 15 | MODERATING |
Toning down fashion assessment (10)
|
| MODE (fashion) then RATING (assessment) | ||
| 17 | INSTINCT |
Sense criminal isn’t attending court (8)
|
| anagram (criminal) of ISN’T then IN (attending) CT (court) | ||
| 18 | MONEYMEN |
Figure absorbed by my pieces for FT readers? (8)
|
| ONE (a figure, number) inside (absorbed by) MY MEN (pieces, chess) | ||
| 19 | RAINCOAT |
Actor in a sporting garment (8)
|
| anagram (sporting) of ACTOR IN A | ||
| 21 | GUTTER |
Almost go out, heading for garden, say (6)
|
| Garden (first letter, heading for) and UTTER (say) | ||
| 22 | SNOBBY |
Primarily supercilious, like an aristocrat? (6)
|
| Supercilious (first letter, primarily) then NOBBY (like an aristocrat) | ||
| 24 | PRAVDA |
Red paper in volume received by fashion house (6)
|
| V (volume) inside (received by) PRADA (fashion house) – a communist (red) newspaper | ||
| 25 | MIFF |
Annoy some in room, if flatulent (4)
|
| found inside (some in) rooM IF Flatulent |
Many clues to admire today: 27, 21 and 24 among them. Had a good laugh at 25d. Wit a-plenty and some lateral thinking required.Thanks for the ride, Buccaneer, and PeeDee for parsing.
A most enjoyable crossword that flowed nicely from start to finish
Many thanks to Buccaneer and PeeDee
What crypticsue said (where have I seen that before?).
Small error in blog for 1d. Should say HOP (dance).
Thanks for that Hovis. Fixed now.
Yes, all very enjoyable with a few good crossword words such as LUSTRUM to keep us on our toes and the old faithful RED RUM / MURDER making a not unwelcome re-appearance. SNOBBY was my favourite for today.
Thanks to Buccaneer and PeeDee
Nothing one could possibly quibble about in this. A satisfying puzzle which I started rather slowly, with not much jumping out at me, but once I got going it all finished smoothly and with no doubts about anything. Kudos to Buccaneer.
Thank you for the blog and a very apt summary as well . It reminded me of Custos, an old Guardian and Everyman setter.
Nothing really to add – it’s all been said already. An enjoyable solve over our mid-afternoon break. Favourites were PEGASUS and FRENCH BREAD.
Thanks, Buccaneer and PeeDee.
In case anyone missed it at the time of his FT debut, Buccaneer is the latest pseudonym for Picaroon / Rodriguez.
Thank you Simon S @9 I did not know that. I am a big fan of Picaroon but they are usually quite different to this.
This took me two sessions to complete — many good, solid clues with HEARING-IMPAIRED and FRENCH BREAD being among my favourites. Thanks PeeDee for the blog — I couldn’t parse MURDER, CHARISMA, or PEGASUS but I should have seen the last two. Thanks Buccaneer.
Only managed about six answers after the first pass and considered conceding. However, after picking up a few more, it became a very enjoyable solve. One wrong: 21D I guessed at gather so gutter is a new learning for me.
My thanks to Buccaneer for a super puzzle and PeeDee who explained why some of my guessed answers were correct!
Thanks Buccaneer and PeeDee. (In your parsing of 17d INSTINCT I think you meant to say IN court, rather than AT court.)
It’s so nice to have pirates in both the Guardian and the FT.
Thanks for spotting that Cellomaniac. Fixed now.
Thanks Buccaneer and PeeDee
Late to check this off after a busy week and agree that it was a terrific puzzle, in what turned out to be a week of good ones. A good variety of words that were just on the edge of one’s knowledge and some tricky word play to get them and others.
Finished in the SW corner with GUTTER (one of those answers that is simples in hindsight but well hidden beforehand) and PEGASUS (with it’s beautifully disguised definition).
Hadn’t heard of Red Rum.