A thorough Tuesday workout.
All fair and above board, with some notably whimsical and elegant surfaces. Enjoyed it. Thanks to Artexlen.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | DIMINISHED |
Became less dull in international cast (10)
|
| DIM (‘dull’) + IN + I[international] + SHED (to ‘cast’, as of snake’s skin). | ||
| 6 | ACID |
Bitter account detective backed (4)
|
| AC[count ] + reversal of D[etective] I[nspector]. | ||
| 10 | POSER |
Taking time out, notice problem (5)
|
| POStER (‘notice’) without T[ime]. | ||
| 11 | ADEPTNESS |
Characters in dissent pedantically rejected expertise (9)
|
| Hidden, reversed, in ‘diSSENT PEDAntically’. | ||
| 12 | PLAYTIME |
Pity male swimming for leisure (8)
|
| Anagram (‘swimming’) of PITY MALE. | ||
| 13 | CURIE |
Scoundrel that is scientist (5)
|
| CUR (‘scoundrel’) + IE (‘that is’) for (presumably) double Nobel laureate Marie Curie. | ||
| 15 | OPTICAL |
Visual transformation of coal pit (7)
|
| Anagram (‘transformation’) of COAL PIT. | ||
| 17 | SWIGGED |
Gulped down starter of sausage with syrup on (7)
|
| 1st of ‘S{ausage}’ + WIGGED, i.e., with a wig on, ‘syrup’ being Cockney rhyming slang for wig, a ‘syrup of figs’. | ||
| 19 | ERELONG |
About to engage in base desire soon (7)
|
| RE (‘about’) is within E (logarithmic ‘base’) + LONG (to ‘desire’). | ||
| 21 | PARTNER |
Associate bit and cut short Roman emperor (7)
|
| PART (‘bit’) + shortened NERo. | ||
| 22 | ANGLE |
End point brought forward in financial backer’s scheme (5)
|
| ANGE{L} (‘financial backer’ in theatre), its ‘L’ (‘end point’) moved up one place. | ||
| 24 | UP-ANCHOR |
Prepare to sail north, intercepting our chap at sea (2-6)
|
| N[orth] in anagram (‘at sea’) of OUR CHAP. | ||
| 27 | ASSAILANT |
One attacking a small kindly person outside LA (9)
|
| A + S[mall] + SAI.NT (‘kindly person’) surround LA. | ||
| 28 | ALIVE |
Spirited US boxer versus European (5)
|
| (Muhammad) ALI (US boxer) + V[ersus] + E[uropean]. | ||
| 29 | TOYS |
Flirts turned drunk consuming last of Chardonnay (4)
|
| SOT (a ‘drunk’), reversed, contains last letter of ‘chardonnaY’. | ||
| 30 | THUMBSCREW |
Torture device like this enthralling doctor and team (10)
|
| TH.US (‘like this’) contains MB (‘doctor’), then CREW (‘team’). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | DUPE |
Fool appointed to carry piano (4)
|
| DU.E (‘appointed’, as in ‘the appointed time’) contains P[iano]. (‘Dope’ was very tempting). | ||
| 2 | MISTLETOE |
Heard girl will draw plant (9)
|
| Homophone of “Miss’ll tow” (“girl will draw”). | ||
| 3 | NERVY |
Regularly dismissed once brave Yankee that’s fearful (5)
|
| Alternate letters of ‘oNcE bRaVe’ + Y[ankee]. | ||
| 4 | SPANIEL |
Dog sleeps upside-down, content in field (7)
|
| NAPS (‘sleeps’), reversed, + contents of ‘fIELd’. | ||
| 5 | ELEVENS |
Bridge opponents abandoning morning meal for card game (7)
|
| ELEVENSes (‘morning meal’) without E[ast] & S[outh], opponents in bridge. ‘Elevens’ is a version of patience, solo ‘card game’. | ||
| 7 | CLEAR |
Absolve cold king (5)
|
| C[old] + Shakespearean LEAR. | ||
| 8 | DUSSELDORF |
Sold Freud’s bust in German town (10)
|
| Anagram (‘bust’) of SOLD FREUDS. | ||
| 9 | STOCKIER |
Comparatively solid sportsman keeping to left of course (8)
|
| S.KIER (‘sportsman’) includes TO + left-most letter of ‘Course’. | ||
| 14 | POLES APART |
Totally different style of painting involving the French ace (5,5)
|
| POP ART (‘style of painting’) includes LES (Fr. pl. ‘the’) + A[ce]. | ||
| 16 | CHOLERIC |
Angry minister without house (8)
|
| C.LERIC (‘minister’) outside (‘without’) HO[use] | ||
| 18 | GONDOLIER |
Ignore old doddery punter (9)
|
| Anagram (‘doddery’) of IGNORE OLD. | ||
| 20 | GOULASH |
Food to clear off uniform and tie (7)
|
| GO (to ‘clear off”) + U[niform] + LASH (to ‘tie’). | ||
| 21 | PHANTOM |
Pub cat underneath an expensive car (7)
|
| P[ublic] H[ouse] (on maps) + AN +TOM (‘cat’) for Rolls-Royce ‘Phantom’, once Her Majesty’s runabout of choice. | ||
| 23 | GUSTY |
Windy street chap traverses (5)
|
| GUY contains ST[reet]. | ||
| 25 | CRASS |
Insensitive type changing sides (5)
|
| C{L}ASS (‘type’), its L[eft} exchanged for R[ight]. | ||
| 26 | MEOW |
Beastly sound from male with rising grief (4)
|
| M[ale] + WOE (reversed). |
Mostly straightforward. My last 3: ELEVENS, DIMINISHED & MISTLETOE took some figuring out but got them in the end. An enjoyable solve.
I was delayed by ELEVENS at the end, not having heard of the ‘card game’ and finding the wordplay difficult to disentangle. I also didn’t know the ‘syrup’ CRS, although the answer was clear enough.
Homophones can be received less than enthusiastically but I thought “Miss’ll tow” was a good example of the genre and was my pick today.
Thanks to Artexlen and Grant
This was great stuff from Artexlen. Needed Grant’s explanations for ‘wigged’ , 2d and 22a (my LOI) but all were accessible from definition/crossers.
Hard to pick favourites in a grid with no dud clues: POLES APART was clever, PHANTOM, THUMBSCREW and GOULASH were fun to unravel and MEOW plain tickled me.
Thanks Artexlen and Grant.
A very satisfying puzzle. I found the bottom half went in smoothly, while the top took a bit more thought (and resort to Chambers for “wigged”, which I didn’t know).
I can manage one small quibble, though: “punter” for GONDOLIER in 18d is, to be pedantic, wrong. A gondola is propelled by a single oar or paddle, not a pole, so not punted. Clear enough intention, though.
No problem with GONDOLIER here. Also liked MISTLETOE and SWIGGED
Thanks all,
Well, if we’re going to be picky, then acid is sour, not bitter. The idea was clear, though.
“Wigged” was new to me too, but my knowledge of Cockney rhyming slang is rather limited. And yes, “dope” tempted me, but “dupe” is clearly correct.
Thanks Artexlen for an excellent crossword. I agree with WordPlodder @2 about MISTLETOE; other favourites were DIMINISHED (which took me way too long to get), PHANTOM, and MEOW. I didn’t get ELEVENS, not knowing elevenses as a meal or the card game. Thanks Grant for parsing — I didn’t fully understand SWIGGED or STOCKIER so I had to apply my best guessing game for those.
No real problems apart from not remembering the rhyming slang so having to guess SWIGGED, and agreeing with EdK about ACID. An enjoyable solve; favourites were DUSSELDORF and POLES APART.
Thanks, Artexlen and Grant.
Very enjoyable so thanks to Artexlen.
Got everything right but quite a few guesses so thanks also to GB for the clarification.
Really enjoyed ADEPTNESS, SWIGGED and ASSAILANT.
Thanks to Artelexen and Grant. Enjoyable. I did not know the rhyming slang for SWIGGED and was delayed in the SW corner because I had in mind Op Art rather than Pop Art, but all worked out in the end.
Agree with Perplexus @4 on Gondolier. (Indeed came here just for the company of finding another who felt the same). But agree it was clear enough (i.e. I got it!) and all round a good puzzle – just right for me, tough, took a while, but got there.
Thanks Artexlen and Grant
Late to print it out by a day … and it spilled over into the next from when I started. Was able to navigate most of it, including finding out about ‘syrup’ being a wig but struggled and ended up not parsing my last two in – STOCKIER and ELEVENS.
Lots to enjoy and particularly liked untangling POLES APART and DIMINISHED as well as ‘hearing’ MISS’LL TOW at 2d.