A middle difficulty puzzle, all is gettable but not given away. Thank you Wire.
| ACROSS | ||
| 8 | GLUTTONY |
Bit of a cheek having rear pinched by Hancock in sin (8)
|
| GLUTe (the buttock muscle, a bit of cheek) missing last letter (having rear pinched) followed by TONY (Tony Hancock, former comedian) | ||
| 9 | INFLOW |
Flood possibly at home before hunter returned (6)
|
| IN (at home) then WOLF (hunter) returned | ||
| 10 | UMBRAS |
Shades naked mums with undergarments (6)
|
| mUMs (naked, no outer letters) with BRAS (undergarments) | ||
| 12 | RACLETTE |
Starters of this easily paired with fresh claret (8)
|
| first letters (starters) of This Easily following (paired with, joined to) anagram (fresh) of CLARET – a melted cheese dish, something that might go with claret | ||
| 13 | HUE |
Colour of an articulated Laurie? (3)
|
| sounds like (articulated) “Hugh” (actor Hugh Laurie perhaps) | ||
| 14 | PARLEY |
What chefs might use to dispel small talk (6)
|
| PARsLEY (what chefs might use) missing (to dispel) S (small) | ||
| 16 | SPUN SILK |
Fabric of stars (type worn by Prince) (4,4)
|
| SUNS (stars) ILK (type) contains (that is worn by…, like a coat) P (prince) | ||
| 17 | TANDEMS |
Cycles from back of vast mountain in range (7)
|
| vasT (last letter, back of) then M (mountain) inside ANDES (range) – “M.” as an abbreviation for mountain is in Collins | ||
| 20 | LEBANON |
Country requires French denial after Elba bombed (7)
|
| NON (no, in French) following anagram (bombed) of ELBA | ||
| 23 | SARGASSO |
Slimy vegetation across a grassland partly retreating (8)
|
| found reversed (retreating) inside (partly) acrOSS A GRASsland | ||
| 24 | BEEF UP |
Get stronger buzzer to have fellow out of bed (4,2)
|
| BEE (a buzzer) with F (fellow) and UP (out of bed) | ||
| 26 |
See 11 Down
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| 27 | BORDEAUX |
Commune of lovers accommodating comrade regularly (8)
|
| BEAUX (lovers) contains (accommodating) every other letter (regularly) of cOmRaDe – a commune is the name for a local administrative area in France, Bordeaux for example | ||
| 28 | PESTLE |
Awfully steep having to swallow fifty pounder (6)
|
| anagram (awfully) of STEEP contains (having to swallow) L (fifty, Roman numeral) | ||
| 31 | SILVER |
Metal slice setter moved back (6)
|
| SLIVER (slice) with I (the setter) moved back (moved to an earlier position) | ||
| 32 | SUSTAINS |
Bears in America from the East with spots? (8)
|
| US (America) reversed (from the east, as read on a map) with STAINS (spots) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | CLAM |
One tight-lipped with stuff changing hands (4)
|
| CRAM (stuff) with R replaced by L (changing hands) | ||
| 2/30 | STARLING |
Leading actor Heather’s role in film about Hannibal (8)
|
| STAR (leading actor) LING (heather) – character Clarice Starling from Silence of the Lambs et al | ||
| 3 | BOLSHY |
Throw up over reserved person way over to the left (6)
|
| LOB (throw up) reversed (over) then SHY (reserved) | ||
| 4 | CYPRESS |
Tree planting succeeded south of cold Belgian city (7)
|
| S (succeeded) following (planting…south of) C (cold) YPRES (Belgian city) | ||
| 5 | TINCTURE |
Money and time in treatment provide medical solution (8)
|
| TIN (money) then T (time) inside CURE (treatment) | ||
| 6 | AFTERSHAVE |
Something fragrant from vase father repaired (10)
|
| anagram (repaired) of VASE FATHER | ||
| 7 | PORTALOO |
Box to go in entrance essentially for snobs (8)
|
| PORTAL (entrance) then middle letter (essentially) of fOr snObs | ||
| 11/26 | BARELY |
Only just exclude place with a cathedral (6)
|
| BAR (exclude) and ELY (place with a cathedral) | ||
| 14 | PIT |
Stone that’s the same as mine (3)
|
| double definition | ||
| 15 | LADY GODIVA |
One historically seen on Mount 11 26 perhaps (4,6)
|
| cryptic definition – a mount is a horse | ||
| 18 | ANATOLIA |
Rough Latino area on a peninsula (8)
|
| anagram (rough) of LATINO A (area) then A | ||
| 19 | MASSACRE |
State measure of land needed for butchery (8)
|
| MASS (Mass. state in USA) then ACRE (measure of land) | ||
| 21 | NIP |
Drop wader that’s been unwrapped (3)
|
| sNIPe (wader) missing outer letters (unwrapped) | ||
| 22 | COEXIST |
Most of school team mates won’t ultimately rub along (7)
|
| COEd (type of school, most of) XI (eleven, a team) then last letter (ultimately) of mateS and won’T | ||
| 24 | BYPASS |
Operation reversed drain in Times Square (6)
|
| SAP (drain) reversed inside BY (times, multiplication) S (square) | ||
| 25 | FAT |
Destiny to become short and podgy (3)
|
| FATe (destiny, shortened) | ||
| 29 | SAAG |
Green accompaniment to 7 without the alcohol (4)
|
| portALOO (7) missing PORT (the alcohol) gives ALOO, a common accompaniment to SAAG in Saag Aloo (Spinach and Potato curry) – a green is a vegetable | ||
| 30 |
See 2
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I liked this but I was snagged on PORTALOO and SAAG-very devious the pair of them-and I love Saag Paneer
Thanks Wire and Pee Dee
Very tough for me. Lots of hold-ups along the way, including RACLETTE which I only vaguely remembered and BORDEAUX for which I needed all the crossers and wordplay. Came to grief at the very end on the never heard of SAAG, for which I guessed “slaw”.
A bit of a slog, but worth it for some top notch clues such as the defs for PORTALOO and LADY GODIVA.
Thanks to Wire and PeeDee
I found this very difficult, and failed at 29D, though I should have got it. 12A RACLETTE and 27A BORDEAUX, although this is what they had to be, seemed particularly obscure verging on the ridiculous! Sorry Wire, I enjoyed it otherwise, and 7D PORTALOO was brilliant. So thanks Wire for the puzzle and PeeDee for the blog and explanations.
Very tricky. Last in was SAAG, after looking up ALOO in Google. Not familiar with Indian cuisine.
Didn’t know what STARLING had to do with HANNIBAL, but the parsing was clear. No way I would remember a character in a film I saw about 30 years ago.
Quite a challenge but very enjoyable, especially SAAG. Is the pairing of BORDEAUX and RACLETTE in the grid deliberate?
Either we were on top form or the clues just clicked with us, because we found this a good medium solve. No new words for us today! A good chuckle at 13a where we asked ourselves ‘what Lauries’ do we know, then finally realised the homphone when we both said ‘Hugh’!
We also liked Portaloo and giggled at Lady Godiva. We spotted a mini foody theme with gluttony, Raclette, Bordeaux, fat, Saag and clam. Not sure if intentional 🙂
Thanks to Wire and PeeDee!
Very late to comment today, having finished the puzzle in the early hours and then totally failing to notice the blog come up. But, having read the comments, I guess I should be feeling chuffed at a full solve. BORDEAUX was last in, superbly if simply defined as ‘commune’. I’ve eaten RACLETTE – albeit as a melted cheese under its own little adjustable grill as part of apres ski so the pairing with claret actually threw me for a while. SAAG is a favourite ingredient and I enjoy both cooking and eating Indian food so a definite laugh out loud moment. I haven’t watched Silence of the Lambs so needed Google to confirm a STARLING featured but it was gettable from the wordplay (Heather in any crossword has me immediately looking for ‘ling’! Erica pops up far less often ). Otherwise, I’m with the crowd in admiring both PORTALOO and LADY GODIVA.
Thanks Wire and PeeDee
Didn’t get portaloo (I really should be alert by now to lavatory humour in crosswords) so didn’t get saag. Enjoyed having them explained to me, though, and much else besides, so thanks to Wire and PeeDee. Lady Godiva was fun