Today we match wits with Bobcat, a setter who usually employs a wide variety of clue devices, this puzzle being a prime example.
On a couple of clues, either the innovation has outpaced my understanding, or there is an editing goof; I have provided my best guess on the parsing.
With two feline ninas plus a greeting from the cat in the grid.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SLIMMED |
Frenchwoman wearing Shilling hat’s lost weight (7)
|
| MME (Frenchwoman, i.e., Madame) inside (wearing) {S (shilling, with a capitalization misdirection) + LID (hat)} | ||
| 5 | HEPATIC |
Pathetic (but not, ulimately, poignant) novel about an organ (7)
|
| Anagram of (novel) PA[T]HETIC minus last letter of (but not, ultimately) [POIGNAN]T | ||
| 9 | COCOA |
Beverage companies against commonest feature of amalgamations (5)
|
| {CO. + CO.} (companies) + A (commonest feature of amalgamations, i.e., the letter A appearing four times in that word) | ||
| 10 | SCHOOL BUS |
Transport fish in bulk at front of aircraft (6,3)
|
| I think this parses as: SCHOOL (fish in bulk) + BUS (front of aircraft). The “bus” on a spacecraft or missile is typically at the nose, where the payload or warhead is installed. Chambers also mentions that in slang, an airplane may be referred to as a bus “as a term of affection,” so the parsing then might be: SCHOOL (fish in bulk) + BUS (aircraft). But I am not quite sure what Bobcat is getting at here. | ||
| 11 | ELBOW-ROOM |
Freedom to perform Othello perhaps withdrawn by army section (5-4)
|
| ELBOW (cryptically, “arm-y” section, i.e., a part of the arm) + MOOR (Othello, perhaps, with an italicization misdirection) reversed (withdrawn) | ||
| 12 | EXTRA |
Run a bit more (5)
|
| Double definition, the first referring to cricket | ||
| 13 | TOTES |
Revolutionary somewhat averse to teddy bears (5)
|
| Hidden in (somewhat) [AVER]SE TO T[EDDY] reversed (revolutionary) | ||
| 15 | GUESSWORK |
Guides losing heart arriving at factory back to front? That’s speculation (9)
|
| GU[ID]ES minus central letters (losing heart) + WORKS (factory) making the last letter first (back to front) | ||
| 18 | CARTRIDGE |
Case of recurring Xmas present being given fresh introduction (9)
|
| [P]ARTRIDGE (recurring Xmas present, i.e., “in a pear tree”) with the first letter changed to C (being given a fresh introduction) | ||
| 19 | REHAB |
Swimmer about to spend time drying out? (5)
|
| BA[T]HER (swimmer) reversed (about) minus (to spend) T (time) | ||
| 21 | MACAW |
Bird starts to make awful crow-like noise (5)
|
| First letters of (starts to) M[AKE] A[WFUL] + CAW (crow-like noise) | ||
| 23 | MAELSTROM |
Swirling stream, primarily menacing or life-threatening? (9)
|
| &lit and anagram of (swirling) {STREAM + first letters of (primarily) M[ENACING] O[R] L[IFE-THREATENING]} | ||
| 25 | ISOLATORS |
They segregate active political prisoners without principle, unfortunately (9)
|
| Anagram of (active . . . unfortunately) [P]O[LI]T[IC]AL [PR]ISO[NE]RS minus (without) PRINCIPLE | ||
| 26 | SPIES |
Scouts’ special food (5)
|
| S (special) + PIES (food) | ||
| 27 | EXHALED |
Former news chief, bored by prince, sighed (7)
|
| {EX- (former) + ED. (news chief)} around (bored by) HAL (prince) | ||
| 28 | STIPEND |
Pay band essentially lacking limit (7)
|
| ST[R]IP (band) minus central letter (essentially lacking) + END (limit) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SICKEST |
Most unhealthy model inspiring US fashion brand eats without stopping (7)
|
| SIT (model) around (inspiring) {CK (US fashion brand, i.e., Calvin Klein) + E[AT]S minus inside letters (without stopping)} | ||
| 2 | INCUBATOR |
Fancy aircon, but bacteria may thrive in it (9)
|
| Anagram of (fancy) AIRCON BUT | ||
| 3 | MIAOW |
Part of Queen’s Speech upset without intention (5)
|
| {W/O (without) + AIM (intention)} all inverted (upset), with a capitalization misdirection, “queen” here referring to a female cat | ||
| 4 | DISLODGED |
Moved away from infernal place where freemasons meet by day (9)
|
| DIS (infernal place) + LODGE (place where freemasons meet) + D (day) | ||
| 5 | HO-HUM |
Boring transposition of halves of humble home (2-3)
|
| Transposition of [first] halves of HUM[BLE] + HO[ME] | ||
| 6 | PROFESSOR |
I’m occupying a chair adapted for posers (9)
|
| Anagram of (adapted) FOR POSERS | ||
| 7 | TIBET |
Extended family having no right, initially, to land (5)
|
| T[R]IBE (extended family) minus (having no) R (right) + first letter of (initially) T[O] | ||
| 8 | COSSACK |
Russian cooks regularly given the boot (7)
|
| I think this is supposed to parse as: Alternate letters of (regularly) C[O]O[K]S + SACK (the boot). Either that, or “given” is a typo for “give,” since “given the boot” = SACKED, past tense. Also, although the Cossacks historically lived in Russia and Ukraine, I am not sure that ethnically they were/are Russian? | ||
| 14 | SCREWBALL |
Crazy place to dance the twist? (9)
|
| Double/cryptic definition | ||
| 16 | ELEVENSES |
Football sides scoffing extremely saccharine refreshments (9)
|
| ELEVENS (football sides) around (scoffing) outside letters of (extremely) S[ACCHARIN]E | ||
| 17 | OTHERWISE |
Different white rose cultivated (9)
|
| Anagram of (cultivated) WHITE ROSE | ||
| 18 | COMPILE |
What setters do in school on French island (7)
|
| COMP (school, i.e., presumably, a comprehensive school) + ÎLE (French island, i.e., in French) | ||
| 20 | BEMUSED |
Confused birds overwhelmed by garden plot (7)
|
| EMUS (birds) inside (overwhelmed by) BED (garden plot) | ||
| 22 | CLOTH |
Liberal in bed with hot cleaner (5)
|
| {L (Liberal) inside (in) COT (bed)} + H (hot) | ||
| 23 | MOOED |
Second dictionary supports derivative of bovine expression (5)
|
| MO (second) + OED (dictionary) | ||
| 24 | SUSHI |
American man’s recycled food from the East (5)
|
| {US (American) + HIS (man’s)} making the last letters of each first (recycled) |
I think “given” in the COSSACK clue is fine, within the slightly loose parameters we’re used to from Bobcat: COS is given SACK. And I guess if you were born in Russia, you are in one sense Russian, no matter your ethnicity; this might not be a meaning of the word that all Russians have always acknowledged, of course.
I took BUS as the front of the aircraft, but you’re right that that might be wrong.
I saw the OCELOT early, which helped; I didn’t think to look for another cat. MIAOW was my last one in; I’m currently sitting underneath a lap cat who is alternately purring and snoring–this one only meows when he’s hungry or annoyed–so I feel bad that that one took so long.
Double the feline fun!
So much to like in this puzzle, eg, the ‘recurring Christmas present’, INCUBATOR, DISLODGED, PROFESSOR and OTHERWISE.
Thanks, Cineraria, for confirming the suspected cricket terminology, ‘extra’ and for a great blog in general.
Ah, mrpenney, you bring back fond memories of being ‘pinned in’ by one, sometimes two, felines when needing to move!
Thanks, too, to our ailurophiliac compiler.
I solved it all without understanding a substantial number of clues. Accordingly, I am really not sure what to write about this puzzle.
Let me start with a big congratulations to Cineraria for explaining.l it so well.
I liked BEMUSED for the surface and SPIES.
Even after reading the blog (no reflection on Cineraria) I have so many questions, doubts and quibbles…..
….thanks to Bobcat and especially to Cineraria
Goodness, I’ve lived with a queen for years and never knew. All that time I just thought it was a cat.
Couldn’t fathom comp/school, or bus/front of aircraft, or where the A in COCOA came from. The “without stopping” in the clue for SICKEST I found a bit unusual.
But there were some clever clues and plenty of smiles, despite my not having thought to look for feline ninas. The “army section” in ELBOW ROOM elicited a chuckle.
Cineraria There doesn’t seem to me to be anything amiss or loose about 10A and 8D, and there are no superfluous words.
10A SCHOOL BUS “Transport” = definition, “fish in bulk” = SCHOOL, “in front of” = juxtaposition indicator, “aircraft” = BUS
8D COSSACK, “Russian” = definition, “cooks regularly” = COS, “given” = juxtaposition indicator, “the boot” = SACK
Both these juxtaposition indicators are standard.