Our regular Wednesday setter is here again.
We know what to expect with Eccles, and he always delivers: a good range of clues from fairly straightforward to a bit more challenging, and generally enjoyable. I thought 9a was a bit obscure but the wordplay was straightforward (as long as you remember that “Chinese” often leads to “Han”). I liked the exasperating mug tree, the unchanged permission, the hospital toilets, and the regretful rejection of a sausage. Thanks Eccles for the fun.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SPARSITY |
Lack of equivalence around society on Sabbath (8)
|
| PARITY (equivalence) around S (abbreviation for society), after S (abbreviation for Sabbath). | ||
| 5 | TACTIC |
Plan finesse in clubs, initially (6)
|
| TACT (finesse = skill in handling awkward situations) + initial letters of I[n] C[lubs]. | ||
| 9 | DUSHANBE |
Dutch and American-Chinese live in Asian capital (8)
|
| D + US (abbreviations for Dutch + American) + HAN (major Chinese ethnic group) + BE (live, as a verb).
Capital city of Tajikistan: vaguely remembered and confirmed via Wikipedia. |
||
| 10 | CANADA |
Revolutionary had an accident touring country (6)
|
| Hidden answer (. . . touring = surrounding), reversed (revolutionary), in [h]AD AN AC[cident]. | ||
| 12 | LINER |
Persist, wanting good make-up (5)
|
| LIN[g]ER (persist) without G (abbreviation for good).
Short for eyeliner = make-up. |
||
| 13 | ROOSEVELT |
Resolve to corrupt wartime leader (9)
|
| Anagram (corrupt) of RESOLVE TO.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, US President during World War II. |
||
| 14 | REQUEST STOPS |
Possible pick-up points on crusades to empty planes (7,5)
|
| RE (on = on the subject of) + QUESTS (crusades) + TO (from clue text) + P[lane]S without the inner letters (empty).
Locations on a bus route (or train stations) where the driver stops only if a passenger wants to get on or off. |
||
| 18 | KETTLE OF FISH |
Case of water heater cool (6,2,4)
|
| KETTLE (device for heating water) + OFFISH (cool = unfriendly).
As in “that’s a different kettle of fish” = a different case = something that can’t be compared. |
||
| 21 | SOMMELIER |
“More limes!” snarled waiter (9)
|
| Anagram (snarled) of MORE LIMES.
A wine expert in a restaurant, who would probably feel insulted to be called a waiter. |
||
| 23 | LEASH |
Lead hammer consumes energy (5)
|
| LASH (hammer, as a verb = make a sustained attack on, especially as in “storms lashing the country”), containing (consuming) E (abbreviation for energy).
Lead = leash = a strap fixed to a dog’s collar to keep it under control. |
||
| 24 | IDLERS |
Prime characters in tiddliest prison: lazy individuals (6)
|
| Letters in prime-number positions (2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13) in [t]ID[d]L[i]E[st] [p]R[i]S[on]. | ||
| 25 | FACEPALM |
Mug tree that encapsulates my exasperation (8)
|
| FACE (mug = slang for face) + PALM (a type of tree).
Gesture of covering the face with the palm of the hand, to indicate exasperation, dismay or embarrassment. |
||
| 26 | KIDNEY |
Child recalled desire for offal (6)
|
| KID (slang for child), then YEN (desire = yearning) reversed (recalled). | ||
| 27 | ADOPTION |
Notice possibility for fostering (8)
|
| AD (short for advertisement = notice) + OPTION (possibility).
Fostering isn’t quite the same thing as adoption in legal terms, but they both involve looking after someone else’s child. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SADDLE |
Land deal to smuggle 500 diamonds (6)
|
| SALE (commercial deal), containing (smuggling) D (Roman numeral for 500) + D (abbreviation for diamonds, in card games).
Land, as a verb = saddle = to encumber with something unwanted, as in “that might land you with a big tax bill”. |
||
| 2 | ASSENT |
Permission unchanged during delivery? (6)
|
| Something that doesn’t change during delivery will arrive AS SENT. | ||
| 3 | STAIRWELL |
Location of flight from distant hotspot satisfactory, crossing India (9)
|
| STAR (a distant ball of flaming gas = hot spot) + WELL (satisfactory, as in “all is well”), containing I (India in the radio alphabet).
Location of a flight of stairs. |
||
| 4 | TUBERCULOSIS |
Couple of spivs oddly supporting root’s consumption (12)
|
| Odd-numbered letters from C[o]U[p]L[e] O[f] S[p]I[v]S, after (below, in a down clue = supporting) TUBER (root = swollen underground part of a plant, such as a potato).
Consumption = old name for tuberculosis, from the days when nobody really knew what caused it and sufferers would just “waste away”. |
||
| 6 | ADAGE |
Saying a mild oath from the south (5)
|
| A (from clue text), then EGAD (a mild oath) reversed (from the south = upwards in a down clue). | ||
| 7 | TRAVELOG |
American tour diary of composer wearing dress (8)
|
| RAVEL (Maurice Ravel, French composer) in TOG (to dress oneself, as in “togged up”).
US spelling for what Brits would call a travelogue = diary of a journey. |
||
| 8 | CHASTISE |
Sit up in pursuit, getting reprimand (8)
|
| SIT reversed (up = upwards in a down clue), inserted into CHASE (as a noun = pursuit). | ||
| 11 | LOOSE FORWARD |
Rugby player in ecstasy in hospital toilets? (5,7)
|
| E (abbreviation for the recreational drug ecstasy) in LOOS FOR WARD (toilets associated with a hospital ward).
Name of a playing position in rugby. |
||
| 15 | SISAL HEMP |
Fibre from sample is hot, surprisingly (5,4)
|
| Anagram (surprisingly) of SAMPLE IS H, where H = abbreviation for hot.
Fibre from agave or similar plants used to make rope. |
||
| 16 | SKI STICK |
Excitedly kiss and stroke Pole in the snow (3,5)
|
| Anagram (excitedly) of KISS, then TICK (stroke = a rhythmic beat).
A pole used when skiing. |
||
| 17 | STUMBLED |
Tottered as partially fermented grape juice drained (8)
|
| STUM (partially fermented grape juice used in wine-making) + BLED (drained = emptied of liquid). | ||
| 19 | SALAMI |
Eccles is, more’s the pity, returning sausage (6)
|
| I’M (our crossword setter Eccles is) + ALAS (more’s the pity = an expression of regret), all reversed (returning).
Cured and dried sausage. |
||
| 20 | SHAMAN |
Witchdoctor‘s fake article (6)
|
| SHAM (fake) + AN (a form of the indefinite article). | ||
| 22 | EERIE |
Pint lacking head? That is strange (5)
|
| [b]EER (pint = short for a pint of beer) without the first letter (head), then IE (i.e. = abbreviation tor Latin id est = that is). |
This was as enjoyable as ever from this excellent setter with, unusually for me with his puzzles, no unknowns today.
From a plethora of ticks, LOOSE FORWARD comes out on top.
Many thanks to Eccles and to Quirister.
Vaguely thought stum was an anagram of must which was …. something to do with crushed fruit. Hey ho, always learning. Pretty neat puzzle, ta E and Q.
LOOSE FORWARD: my top fave too.
Other faves: REQUEST STOPS, KETTLE OF FISH and STAIRWELL.
Thanks Eccles and Quirister.
I meant to add to my comment @1 that my first thought for 16d was SKI SLOPE, as an anagram of KISS plus an anagram of POLE, although “in the snow” wouldn’t have made a fully satisfactory definition.
I’ve only ever heard it called a ski pole, so SKI STICK took longer than it should have. I see now that that’s another British/American language difference thing.
DUSHANBE: Like our blogger, I vaguely recalled that it was a place, and googled to check. Not an excuse, but my excuse for not knowing it cold is that Tajikistan wasn’t independent yet when I was of an age to be forced to learn world capitals, and that one’s more obscure than the capitals of most of the other ex-SSRs.
Just one unknown for me today, the Asian capital, but that’s a lot less than is often the case with this setter’s puzzles! In fairness, I was also unsure about the horrible term for a ski pole but it would seem that it’s acceptable to our friends across the pond. Ticks here went to ADOPTION, ASSENT & SALAMI.
Many thanks to the excellent Eccles and to Quirister for the review.
Thanks both. Pleased not to be lowering the general tone in admiring LOOSE FORWARD. I think in ADAGE ‘egad’ has had its second consecutive outing; not bad for something last heard spoken in the 17th century.
Gadzooks! Has it really been that long!
Like gif@2 I thought it was an anagram of must in 17d – nho it called stum before. Another piece of useless knowledge acquired. 🙂 Thanks Eccles and Quirister.
More or less finished this. Had to do a word search for the capital. Entered STUMBLED from the definition, Chambers gives stum as another word for must.
Thanks for the advice on credit repair on your site. Things i would tell people is always to give up a mentality that they’ll buy at this moment and fork out later. Like a society we all tend to repeat this for many things. This includes vacation trips, furniture, and also items we’d like. However, you need to separate your current wants out of the needs. When you’re working to improve your credit score actually you need some trade-offs. For example you may shop online to save money or you can look at second hand retailers instead of pricey department stores to get clothing.