The mid-week slot has been occupied by Tees this week.
I found this to be a medium-difficulty puzzle, which I made steady progress through but found hard to finish and to fully parse. The last two clues that I solved were 12 and 22, and I am still not sure whether “quickly” belongs in the definition or wordplay part of the latter clue – thanks for input, blog amended accordingly. Furthermore, the entries at 11 and 18 were both new to me, but they could be worked out satisfactorily from the wordplay.
My favourite clues today were 24 and 27, both for smoothness of surface; 17, for originality; and 19, for overall construction.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | LUTE | Musical instrument Rob heard
Homophone (“heard”) of “loot (=rob, e.g. from a shop during a riot)” |
| 03 | IMPERSONAL | Your compiler is offensive but cool
I’M (=your compiler is, i.e. Tees) + PERSONAL (=offensive, of a comment); a cool reception is an impersonal, unwelcoming one |
| 10 | GENETIC | Hereditary information overturning quote
GEN (=information) + ETIC (CITE=quote; “overturning” indicates reversal) |
| 11 | TELAMON | Argonaut crew on for crossing lake
L (=lake) in [TEAM (=crew) + ON]; Telamon was one of Jason’s Argonauts in Greek mythology |
| 12 | TROON | Through Newcastle locally river finds course
R (=river) in TOON (=Newcastle locally, i.e. in Geordie dialect); Troon is a golf course in Scotland |
| 13 | EXPOSURES | Former pseuds delaying European revelations
EX + POSURES (POSEURS=pseuds; “delaying European (=E)” means letter “e” moves to a later position in word) |
| 14 | NEOLITHIC | Of a certain age, one Dotty settled here in Rome
*(ONE) + LIT (=settled, e.g. of a bird on a branch) + HIC (=here in Rome, i.e. the Latin word for here); “dotty” is anagram indicator |
| 16 | USURP | USP used around ancient city as appropriate
UR (=ancient city) in USP; to appropriate is to take possession of by force and without right, hence “usurp” |
| 18 | PI-DOG | Greedy gobbler outside party an Asian stray
DO (=party) in PIG (=greedy gobbler); a pi-dog is an ownerless or half-wild dog in Asia |
| 19 | ANONYMOUS | On my back in a sense unknown
[ON + YM (MY; “back” indicates reversal)] in [A + NOUS (=(common) sense)] |
| 21 | ALLOTMENT | Everything too much about blokes: share in growing concern
ALL (=everything) + [MEN (=blokes) in OTT (=too much, i.e. over the top)]; the “growing” concern of the definition refers to a community garden |
| 22 | LEGIT | Escape quickly authorised?
LEG IT (=escape quickly, run away); legit is a short form of legitimate, hence authorised, lawful |
| 24 | IMMENSE | Huge mass seen twice in turbulent Seine
M M (2 x m=mass, in physics) in *(SEINE); “turbulent” is anagram indicator |
| 25 | UNICORN | Nuncio nuts about rook as mythical creature
R (=rook, in chess) in *(NUNCIO); “nuts” is anagram indicator |
| 26 | EAST SUSSEX | Area down a lot makes changes to use assets before vote
*(USE ASSETS) + X (=vote, i.e. pictorially a cross); a large part of the South Downs are located in East Sussex, hence “area down a lot”! |
| 27 | STYE | Viewer’s sore as regularly sat by set?
S<a>T <b>Y <s>E<t>; “regularly” means alternate letters only are used |
| Down | ||
| 01 | LIGHTEN UP | Unwind the flexes with plug in
*(THE + PLUG IN); “flexes”, i.e. bends is anagram indicator |
| 02 | TANGO | Beat with pizzazz for dance
TAN (=beat, thrash) + GO (=pizzazz, energy) |
| 04 | MACBETH | River rising above Hebrew character in drama
MAC (CAM=river, in England; “rising” indicates vertical reversal) + BETH (=Hebrew character, i.e. (second) letter of Hebrew alphabet) |
| 05 | ECTOPIC | City on theme having taken abnormal position
EC (=City, of London) + TOPIC (=theme); an ectopic pregnancy does happen in the womb, hence “having taken abnormal position” |
| 06 | SALISBURY PLAIN | Gascoyne-Cecil unambiguous where 14 monuments located
SALISBURY (=(Robert Arthur Talbot) Gascoyne-Cecil, i.e. British PM) + PLAIN (=unambiguous, clear); Salisbury Plain is where neolithic (=entry at 14) monuments are located, at Stonehenge |
| 07 | NUMERO UNO | Big cheese sandwich endlessly seen in menu terribly old
ROUN<d> (=sandwich; “endlessly” means last letter is dropped) in [*(MENU)] + O (=old, as in OT)]; “terribly” is anagram indicator |
| 08 | LANDS | Boisterous males casing knight’s estate
N (=knight, in chess) in LADS (=boisterous males) |
| 09 | STANDING STONES | Transporting heavy weight, sends giants to move megaliths
TON (=heavy weight) in *(SENDS GIANTS) |
| 15 | OLD FLAMES | Those always having potential to rekindle relationships?
Cryptic definition: the “rekindle” of the definition suggests what “old flames” might do if re-ignited! |
| 17 | PAST TENSE | Beyond nervous – possibly frightened or terrified?
PAST (=beyond) + TENSE (=nervous); “frightened” and “terrified” are examples of past tense verbs |
| 19 | AGELESS | Young forever, lacking regular income, wife must leave
<w>AGELESS (=lacking regular income); “wife (=W) must leave” means letter “w” is dropped |
| 20 | OBTRUDE | Thrust forward, storming redoubt
*(REDOUBT); “storming” is anagram indicator |
| 21 | ALICE | Answer bugs Professor Roberts for example
A (=answer, as in Q&A) + LICE (=bugs, insects); Professor Alice Roberts (1973-) is a British biologist, academic and TV presenter |
| 23 | GHOST | Good media personality shows spirit
G (=good) + HOST (=media personality) |
Another enjoyable crossword from Tees – many thanks to him and also to RR
22a I think is LEG IT (escape quickly), LEGIT being authorised
I’m not sure whether the lovely Alice Roberts solves crosswords but I do hope someone will draw her attention to the fact that she’s made it to the Indy
I enjoyed this a lot with PAST TENSE and AGELESS my top two. PI-DOG was new to me.
I thought the definition for 26a was amusing albeit a bit dodgy.
I agree with CS about 22a.
Many thanks to Tees and to RR.
I’d forgotten about PI-DOG which went in from wordplay and spent a long time at the end with the never heard of TELAMON.
Amongst other clues here, I enjoyed the original def for EAST SUSSEX and the OLD FLAMES cryptic def.
Thanks to Tees and RR
Struggled mightily with TELAMON and took a while to find the Asian stray, don’t think I’d realised that a PI-DOG is specifically Asian.
ALLOTMENT raised a smile and I also enjoyed PAST TENSE – excellent description!
Thanks to Tees and to RR for the review.
As with another clue in today’s Guardian listening to Stephen Fry’s Troy made TELAMON much easier! I also thought the definition for 26a was loose. I spent longest trying to come up with a U_O word and wondering whether I’d got 16 and 19 right before the penny dropped. There was the start of a theme with 14, 6 & 9 but I didn’t see anything else. Thanks to Tees and RR.
I think the theme could extend to ALICE, TROON, where there are some Mesolithic remains, I believe, and EASY SUSSEX, home of the pseudo fossil Piltdown Man.
Very enjoyable evening solve.
Wasn’t sure why East Sussex was down a lot, so thanks RR.
Thanks to Tees also
Really enjoyed this one, though there were several clues I couldn’t solve unaided (e.g. Telamon and Pi-Dog being outside my vocab) and really should have got lute much sooner than I did, but loads of lovely clues.
Cheers Rat et al.
There was a show on the Beeb about that bloke who thought that Stonehenge had been moved to Wiltshire from somewhere else. And indeed it was moved, from somewhere in South Wales. Anyway, that’s why this puzzle has some related words in it, including ALICE (Roberts) who was the show’s host.
Tt
Thanks Tees for a nice crossword. I failed with TELAMON and only guessed TROON but all else seemed to make sense to me. Favourites included NEOLITHIC (NEO being a dotty one!) and the clever PAST TENSE. Thanks RR for the blog.