A light and breezy challenge from JULIUS
FF: 9 DD: 5
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | GOLDEN |
Valuable info about antique (6)
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GEN ( info ) around OLD ( antique ) |
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| 4 | TRIANGLE |
Figure, Republican, one in mess? (8)
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[ R ( republican ) I ( one ) ] in TANGLE ( mess ) |
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| 9 | NEARBY |
New Listener and Times to hand (6)
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N ( near ) EAR ( listener ) BY ( times ) |
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| 10/11 | PRECIOUS METALS |
Commodities Exchange speculator is me (8,6)
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[ SPECULATOR IS ME ]* |
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| 12 | ILL-USAGE |
Sick American, 29, last to receive cruel treatment (3-5)
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ILL ( sick ) US ( american ) AG ( 29a, silver ) E ( receivE, last letter ) |
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| 13 | FRY |
Cook whitebait (3)
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double def |
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| 14 | DEMIST |
Clear screen, start to delete various items (6)
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D ( Delete, first letter ) [ ITEMS ]* |
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| 17 | MUNDANE |
Banal, boring Dortmund — an eyesore (7)
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hidden in "..dortMUND AN Eyesore" |
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| 21 | IMPALE |
Stick a fork in Julius’s pasty (6)
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IM ( julius's ) PALE ( pasty ) |
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| 25 | DUB |
Beats where to fly Emirates (not first class) (3)
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DUBai ( where to fly emirates, without AI – first class, A1 ) |
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| 26 | PLATINUM |
Surprisingly pliant depleted uranium element (8)
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[ PLIANT ]* UM ( UraniuM, depleted i.e. without inner letters ) |
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| 27 | BLONDE |
Fair Isle omitted by Harry’s group (6)
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BLONDiE ( harry's group, without I – isle ; deborah harry as i learnt from google ) |
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| 28 | STERLING |
They’re regularly introduced to support the pound (8)
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TER ( ThEy'Re, regularly ) in SLING ( support ) |
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| 29 | SILVER |
You, changing one for old change (6)
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SoLVER ( ~you, with I – one, replacing O – old ) |
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| 30 | SAUCEPAN |
It’s used to cook fresh canapés infused with a hint of umami (8)
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[ CANAPES ]* containing U ( Umami , first letter ) |
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| 31 | EN BLOC |
Retired Colonel banned regulars as a group (2,4)
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reverse of [ COL ( colonel ) BNE ( BaNnEd, regularly ) ] |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | GANYMEDE |
Satellite linking Georgia, New York, Maine and Delaware (8)
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GA ( georgia ) NY ( new york ) ME ( maine ) DE ( delaware ) |
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| 2 | LEAD TIME |
E-mailed furiously about Tesla delivery schedule (4,4)
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[ E MAILED ]* around T ( tesla ) |
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| 3 | EMBOLISM |
Me? I’m slob — silly, troublesome clot (8)
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[ ME IM SLOB ]* |
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| 5 | RARELY |
Remarkably well, bloody lovely on vacation! (6)
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RARE ( bloody ) LY ( LovelY, on vacation i.e. without inner letters ) |
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| 6 | ACCRUE |
Accumulate brilliant French vintage in stock (6)
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CRU ( french vintage ) in ACE ( brilliant ) |
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| 7 | GLOBAL |
Comprehensive target to include Liberal and bishop (6)
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GOAL ( target ) containing [ L ( liberal ) and B ( bishop ) ] |
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| 8 | EASTER |
English flower festival (6)
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E ( english ) ASTER ( flower ) |
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| 12 | IRIDIUM |
One free introduction to indie, er, heavy metal (7)
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I ( one ) RID ( free ) I ( Indie, first letter ) UM ( ~er ) |
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| 15 | TUG |
Inshore vessel starts to tow Ukrainian gunboat (3)
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starting letters of "..Tow Ukrainian Gunboat" |
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| 16 | UNI |
Burn oil periodically reading here? (3)
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alternate letters of "bUrN oIl.." |
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| 18 | EMULSION |
Paint sierra covered with wildlife (8)
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S ( sierra ) in [ EMU LION ( ~wildlife ) ] |
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| 19 | CARNIVAL |
Portion of paella, vin, raclette served up for the big feast (8)
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hidden , reversed in "..paelLA VIN RAClette.." |
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| 20 | METEORIC |
Sturdy court jester in conversation, remarkably rapid (8)
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sounds like MEATY ( sturdy ) YORICK ( court jester, hamlet ) |
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| 22 | SPASMS |
Sends unwanted messages involving the onset of sudden contractions (6)
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SPAMS ( sends unwanted messages ) containing S ( Sudden, first letter ) |
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| 23 | GATEAU |
For starter, glutton consumed gold cake (6)
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G ( Glutton, first letter ) ATE ( consumed ) AU ( gold ) |
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| 24 | GILLIE |
After the game, he’ll get you loaded (6)
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cryptic def; game here referring to hunting . this was a new word for me that i learnt from chambers. |
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| 25 | DUENNA |
Governess expected; not available after November (6)
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DUE ( expected ) N ( November ) NA ( Not Available ) |
Agreed, a lovely puzzle done swiftly, if not meteorically, but full of the customary wit.
Liked DUB, IMPALE and the pairings read across the grid, connected with 10/11, especially the 26/27 Deborah Harry.
Thanks Julius and Loonapick.
So sorry, Turbolegs. Of course, Friday is your regular spot and its great to see your blog so early!
A gentle and enjoyable puzzle. Thanks Julius and Turbolegs.
Good fun. GILLIE was my only unknown.
Very enjoyable, thanks both. Precious metals stood out.
Enjoyed this. Duenna new to me but well clued, held up by misreading sturdy as study court jester, alas!
I knew ghillie with the h but again when it clicked it was fair.
Thanks all
GANYMEDE was a great find. EMULSION and IMPALE made me smile. I tried and failed to think of what group Harry Styles was in before the penny dropped.
The periodic table gets an airing, too!
Thanks Julius and Turbolegs
If Julius drops in, I would be interested to know if he considered the possibility of writing single clues for each of GOLDEN TRIANGLE, PLATINUM BLONDE, and STERLING SILVER.
Thanks for the blog, dear Turbolegs, and thanks to those who have left a comment.
@Pelham Barton #9…I think as a solver I quite like to see puzzles where certain lights are paired without indication (I think Brendan in the G is the master at this) so I thought when filling the grid that I’d leave them separate, despite the financial hit to my hourly rate 🙂
Best wishes to all, Rob/Julius
Thanks Julius for dropping in and satisfying my curiosity.
Thanks Julius. I did not find this as breezy as Turbolegs but I got there in the end except for the nho GILLIE (no chance for me to guess this) and the parsing of METEORIC. Top picks included PRECIOUS METALS, BLONDE, and EN BLOC. Thanks Turbolegs for the blog.
Lovely puzzle – always look forward to a puzzle by Julius.
Also took me a bit longer than others – the top half went in really quickly – but the bottom half took longer.
Thanks both
Thanks for the blog , very enjoyable set of neat clues .
GANYMEDE more like a small planet , just about visible with the naked eye in perfect conditions . Good chance tomorrow , greatest elongation and Jupiter just past opposition so very close .
[Roz@14: It’ll help that the moon is almost new as well – and even better, I happen to be somewhere with very low light pollution right now and Jupiter is very clear]
Thanks to Julius, especially for the elemental and diatomic solutions, and turbolegs for the clear parsing. I was a little surprised to see “gillie” as a gun-loader as these days I think they see themselves more as estate and ecology experts but historically their role appears to have been less important so the definition is spot-on.
Thank you Rob/Julius, I enjoyed this: saw ‘golden triangle’ but missed the other pairings, and need help to spot Gillie. 21 IMPALE did give me a giggle 🙂
(Looking again at the grid now, I wonder if Iridium + Platinum + Silver + Precious Metals ( + Golden) is a mini-theme? )
p.s DUB and UNI were lovely!
Harry’s group almost works as ONE D