The Olympics begin and Filbert supplies us with a non-Olympian sport – well for now anyway.
Not sure how crossword solving would ever enter the Olympics but you never know.
Great clues from Filbert in my opinion – lots of interesting constructions 10ac, 12ac, 14ac , 17ac, 26ac and 3dn were my top 5. Also a message in the left and right extreme columns of TEAHUPO’O OLYMPICS referencing the Olympic surfing being in Tahiti. Lots of references in the clues to Polynesia and surfing too. Slightly more interesting waves than Paris. Though may be hard to top that opening ceremony even in the rain as it was phenomenal. Addendum – and don’t miss the OH MY GOD visible horizontally in the middle of the grid.
Thanks Filbert – I really enjoyed that and loved 3dn.
Key * anagram, Rev reversed; underline definition
Across
1 Sea’s energy heading for reef, a lot wiped out (5,5)
(r + a lot wiped)* = TIDAL POWER
7 Flawed character intrinsic to sporty Polynesians (4)
Hidden sporTY POlynesians = TYPO
9 Fish attending competition late in the day (8)
ide (fish) after (attending) event (competition) = EVENTIDE
10 Bay‘s attraction pushing learners to the limits (6)
allure (attraction) moving ls (learners) to ends = LAUREL
11 Air’s foul with daughter rarely having a shower (4)
(air)* + d (daughter) = ARID
12 Presumably pro now second in finals? (5)
ex am (pro now) + s (second) = EXAMS
14 With this spy might be quietly intrusive (4)
spy transform with “no sy” to p (quietly) = NOSY
15 Land an uppercut, good making connection (8)
hit chin (land an uppercut) + g (good) = HITCHING
17 Whisky for elevenses? Poor show (2-4)
am (elevenses) + dram (whisky) = AM DRAM
19 Dangerous section of reef, as nutters recalled (6)
Rev. hidden reEF AS NUtters = UNSAFE
20 Any number swamped by record break – might one save four? (4,4)
log (record) round n (any number) + stop m(break) = LONG STOP
21 A mega wave (4)
per (a) + m (mega) = PERM
23 Bachelor, one on board, finds footing (5)
ba (bachelor) + I in ss (one on board) = BASIS
24 Polynesian faces endless ocean with nothing in it (4)
main (ocean) – n (endless) around o (nothing) = MOAI
25 Men on boards in trouble (6)
or (men) + deal (boards) = ORDEAL
26 Swap ends in very long cricket matches, at intervals (8)
epic (very long) + odis (cricket matches) swapping c and s (ends) = EPISODIC
27 Golden balls, though that’s not all (4)
or (golden) + balls – all = ORBS
28 Teacher has said no running around for new students (10)
miss (teacher) in (said no)* = ADMISSION
Down
2 Fashionable model turning the other way (9)
in (fashion) + version (model) = INVERSION
3 Hackney’s hackneyed according to quotation spotted on mug (5)
Sounds like hackneyed without the h (as spoken in Hackney) = ACNED
4 Demure English child revolting when everyone’s watching (5,4)
prim (demure) + Rev. e (English) + mite(child) = PRIME TIME
5 Opposite sides with row in the middle between spells trouble (3)
we (opposite sides) around o (row in the middle) = WOE
6 Register surfer’s opening moves on the waves (5)
roll (register) + s (surfer’s opening) = ROLLS
7 Beefy French dish surfed onto rocks without force (9)
(surfed onto – f)* = TOURNEDOS
8 They stand in the surf with boards underfoot (5)
Cryptic definition = PIERS
13 Yankee wears large pants and small socks (7)
y (Yankee) in (large)* + s (small) = ARGYLES
16 Cold water without risk is boring (9)
c(cold water) + harmless (without risk) = CHARMLESS
17 Casting off, huge breaks they can’t believe (9)
(casting)* around os (huge) = AGNOSTICS
18 Love helping at a party (9)
a do (a party) + ration (helping) = ADORATION
22 Fear wiping out’s terminal blunder (5)
terror (fear) – t (out’s terminal) = ERROR
23 Turn over a thick plank, possible surfboard material (5)
Rev a + slab(thick plank) = BALSA
24 Polynesian communist state (5)
Mao (communist) + RI (state) = MAORI
26 Tiller doesn’t use hard wood (3)
helm (tiller) – h (hard) = ELM
It was lovely to see AGNOSTICS used correctly for a change! Stumped by cricket references (was LONG SHOT one?) as usual, but otherwise an entertaining solve. Thanks.
The Nina in column 1 was unintelligible to me but fair enough. Ian @1 20A is LONG STOP. The crazy opening ceremony for London 2012 will never be surpassed imho! Thanks Filbert and Twencelas.
Sorry, I realised it had to be STOP after first entering SHOT, which vaguely fit. Brain lagging behind fingers today. Still don’t know what a LONG STOP is. Must be opposite of a shortstop.
@tatrasman The column 1 NINA was, I must admit, unknown to me too. Suspected it meant something though and did wonder why there were so many Polynesian and surf references. As to London 2012 opening ceremony – that was great too so a close call – but from my perspective Paris was very refreshing and arguably copied/ built on some of the London ideas. My lasting memory of London 2012 opener was Paul McCartney failing to deliver a grand finale, whilst Celene Dion managed to pull it off. All in all both were compelling viewing.
I didn’t bother looking for NINA’s having such a strong theme to the clues. Therefore I put an unparsed NOSE in at 14. Would have taken me a long time to work out the word play if indeed I’d ever have got there.
Couple of little 7a’s in the blog…
the TY in 7a isn’t capitalised in the wordplay explanation
13 is ARGYLES and “small” is part of the wordplay not the definition.
Very much enjoyed this puzzle with ARID as my favourite for the surface and smoothness.
Not sure that all the am dram troupes of the nation would be overly pleased at their efforts being described as poor!
Thanks to Filbert and twencelas
[Another 7a — 28a is ADMISSIONS]
For 22d ERROR, “wiping out’s terminal” = deleting the last letter of “ouT“.
Thanks both. Defeated in parts here, including by the unknown MAOI and whilst I have probably eaten TOURNEDOS it equally probably wasn’t served in anagram form. Started looking for a Nina believing tea-cup might appear on the left, then dismissed it, however I did belatedly spot olympics which assisted completion. I watch plenty of cricket but don’t remember LONG STOP receiving a mention, so maybe it’s unused in the modern game. I’m still at a bit of a loss to equate the deal in ORDEAL to ‘boards’ though Google suggests an obsolete meaning of the singular.
There’s a bit more … this is the explanation, for the nina and the puzzle, which was written a couple of years ago.
First round is today, 6pm BST, surf is not so high which is probably a relief for any Eddie the Eagle types that are entered.
Thanks Filbert for a nice set of clues, a fleshed-out theme, and a Nina to boot. I missed the Nina, not knowing TEAHUPO’O but I still found lots to enjoy including LAUREL, ARID, ACNED, PRIME TIME, ARGYLES, and MAORI. I needed a letter reveal to get the nho MOAI and AM-DRAM and I couldn’t parse EPISODIC; thanks twencelas for the blog.
I didn’t spot the vertical ninas, but did see the one acoss the middle.
Thanks to Filbert and twencelas
I saw OLYMPICS and had the Beach Boys on but wasnt familiar withe LH Nina -thats why I am here(I had BEAM knead o PERM)-should have googled
Thanks Filbert and twencelas
Re. 20 ac and cricketing terms
https://www.reddit.com/r/Cricket/comments/xp0ui7/fielding_positions_in_cricket/ Shows where the long stop was. Only ever remember having one in early school cricket when the wicket keeper was sub-optimal.