Mog is here to challenge and entertain us today.
Lots of good clues here: I liked the surfaces of 1a, 10a and 7d, the blooming crossworders in 6d, the remarkable anagram in 13d, and the very clever “knickers in a twist” in 4d.
4d confused me a bit at first with its reference to “this grid”, but of course it’sTuesday so we should be looking for some sort of it’s directing us to an extra dimension to the puzzle. The solution CORNER KICKS is telling us that all the entries around the perimeter, meeting at the corners, involve various definitions of the word KICK:
- BOOT and STRIKE: to propel a football with the foot
- PUNGENCY and TANG: a distinctive strong taste
- GIVE UP: to break a habit, as in “to kick smoking”
- RECOIL: the reactive backwards motion of a gun as it fires a projectile
- THRILL: as in the song “Get your kicks on Route 66”
- COMPLAIN: a trickier definition, but perhaps metaphorically “kicking back” against restraint or “kicking out” against perceived injustice
All very neatly done: thanks Mog for the fun.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | BOOT |
We didn’t like this Tesla vehicle’s storage space (4)
|
| BOO (a sound made to express displeasure = we didn’t like this) + T (abbreviation for tesla = scientific unit of magnetic flux density). | ||
| 4 | COMPLAIN |
First in carvery, order unseasoned beef (8)
|
| First letter of C[arvery] + OM (abbreviation for Order of Merit) + PLAIN (unseasoned).
Beef (slang) = usually a noun meaning complaint, but it can also be a verb meaning to complain. |
||
| 10 | INTERPRET |
Explain Italian footballers opening British sandwich shop (9)
|
| INTER (abbreviation for the Italian Football Club Internazionale Milano, often known as Inter Milan) before (opening = starting) PRET (short name for a sandwich shop chain, in full Pret a Manger, written without the accents that would be required in French). | ||
| 11 | THEME |
Melody, not just any note (5)
|
| THE (a specific item rather than just any one) + ME (more usually “mi” = the third note in the musical do-re-mi scale). | ||
| 12 | EMOTIVE |
Controversial drug and why one does it? (7)
|
| E (abbreviation for the drug ecstasy) + MOTIVE (why someone does something).
Controversial in the sense of “likely to provoke strong emotions”: a subject that people may get upset about, rather than one that they may disagree on. |
||
| 13 | RISOTTO |
Gentleman returning extravagant duck dish (7)
|
| SIR (title for a gentleman) reversed (returning), then OTT (abbreviation for over-the-top = extravagant) + O (zero = duck, in cricket scoring).
Italian rice dish. |
||
| 14 | PADLOCKED |
Secure lad freely admitted to having acne scars (9)
|
| Anagram (freely) of LAD, contained in (admitted to) POCKED (with skin scarred by a condition such as acne or smallpox). | ||
| 15 | CRAWL |
Write sloppily, erasing the initial stroke (5)
|
| [s]CRAWL (write untidily), erasing the initial letter.
A swimming stroke using alternating arm movements. |
||
| 16 | SAVVY |
Smart, perhaps, consuming volume after volume (5)
|
| SAY (perhaps = for example), containing V (abbreviation for volume) repeated.
Slang for wise: probably from the Latin for “to know”, via Spanish or Portuguese. |
||
| 18 | COME ABOUT |
Endlessly scour each match result (4,5)
|
| COM[b] (scour = to search carefully) + EA (abbreviation for each) + BOUT (a match in combat sports).
Result, as a verb = occur as a consequence of something else = come about. |
||
| 21 | RUNWAYS |
Tracks fugitives leaving area (7)
|
| RUN[a]WAYS (fugitives), leaving out the first A (abbreviation for area). | ||
| 23 | NUCLEAR |
Peacekeepers reflected obvious sort of power (7)
|
| UN (peacekeepers: a standard usage in crosswords) reversed (reflected), then CLEAR (obvious).
A means of power generation. |
||
| 24 | KHAKI |
Sample of burkha/kimono fabric (5)
|
| Hidden answer (a sample of . . .) in [bur]KHA KI[mono].
Originally a sand-coloured cotton fabric used for army uniforms in hot climates; the word now usually refers to the colour rather than the fabric. |
||
| 25 | PEANUT OIL |
Fat starts to appear newly ubiquitous between gym and work (6,3)
|
| Starting letters of A[ppear] N[ewly] U[biquitous], between PE (abbreviation for physical exercise = gym) + TOIL (hard work). | ||
| 26 | PUNGENCY |
Bit of wordplay means ignoring the leftmost edge (8)
|
| PUN (a bit of wordplay), then [a]GENCY (the means to do something) without the leftmost letter.
Pungency = edge = a distinctive strong taste or smell. |
||
| 27 | TANG |
Flipping insect bite! (4)
|
| GNAT (an insect) reversed (flipping).
Bite = tang = a distinctive strong taste. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | OUT COLD |
Faces away from boor on carpet, unconscious (3,4)
|
| [l]OUT (boor = an ill-mannered person) + [s]COLD (carpet, as a verb = to criticise harshly), both with the first letter (face) removed.
Out cold = slang for unconscious, especially as a result of a blow to the head. |
||
| 3 | TERRITORY |
50% of scary conservative district (9)
|
| The first 50% of TERRI[fying] (scary), then TORY (politically Conservative). | ||
| 4 | CORNER KICKS |
My knickers in a twist seeing this grid’s offensive entries? (6,5)
|
| COR (cor! = my! = an expression of surprise), then an anagram (in a twist) of KNICKERS. For “this grid”, see the introduction above.
Corner kick, in football = a means of bringing the ball into the field of play (entry) from an offensive position (close to the opposing team’s goal). |
||
| 5 | MET |
Satisfied with opera in America (3)
|
| Double definition. Past tense of meet = satisfy = be enough; or a common abbreviation for the Metropolitan Opera in New York. | ||
| 6 | LOTUS |
One blooming bunch, crossworders (5)
|
| LOT (bunch = slang for a large group or quantity) + US (crossworders).
A flower = something that blooms. |
||
| 7 | INERTIA |
In Byzantine rite, a reluctance to change? (7)
|
| IN (from clue text) + anagram (Byzantine = complicated, in a disparaging sense) of RITE + A (from clue text). | ||
| 8 | GIVE UP |
Soldier very quiet about EU surrender (4,2)
|
| GI (US slang for a soldier) + V (abbreviation for very) + P (p, in musical notation = abbreviation for Italian piano = quiet), around EU. | ||
| 9 | RECOIL |
Quail ground to cook with head removed (6)
|
| REC (short for recreation ground = a public play area or sports field), then [b]OIL (to cook in hot water) without the first letter (head).
Quail, as a verb = recoil = to shrink back in fear. |
||
| 13 | RUDIMENTARY |
Primitive Red Army unit out of position (11)
|
| Anagram (out of position) of RED ARMY UNIT. | ||
| 15 | CLAY COURT |
Inexpert company invested in rude, slow server option? (4,5)
|
| LAY (non-professional = inexpert) + CO (abbreviation for company), inserted into CURT (speaking abruptly in a way considered to be rude).
A type of tennis court (where players serve), considered “slow” because balls lose more of their initial speed when striking the surface than on other types of court. |
||
| 16 | STRIKE |
Employees won’t work on this buffet (6)
|
| Double definition. A period when employees refuse to work as a protest; or (as a verb) to hit. | ||
| 17 | VANUATU |
Country transport working on connecting universities (7)
|
| VAN (transport = a vehicle used to transport goods), then AT (working on, as in “at the workbench”) between two U (abbreviation for university).
Island country in the South Pacific Ocean. |
||
| 19 | ONE DOWN |
Concerning journalist to acknowledge having gone behind (3,4)
|
| ON (concerning = on the subject of) + ED (abbreviation for editor = senior journalist) + OWN to acknowledge).
In sports, describing a team whose opponents have scored a point before they have, for example in a football match with the score currently 0-1. |
||
| 20 | THRILL |
Send flower to support tense husband (6)
|
| RILL (a brook or stream = water that flows = flower), after (below, in a down clue) T (abbreviation for tense) + H (abbreviation for husband).
As in the song “You send me” = to move someone into a state of rapture. |
||
| 22 | AGING |
First-class drink and gallons in the cask? (5)
|
| A (first-class, as in an A grade in exams) + GIN (a drink) + G (abbreviation for gallons).
As in drinks such as whisk(e)y, which are left in casks to mature over time. |
||
| 25 | PAN |
Criticise camera technique (3)
|
| Double definition. To criticise harshly (usually in the context of a reviewer who really doesn’t like a film, performance or book); or to film something while moving the camera sideways. |
Minor error in blog for 18a. Each is EA not A.
Thanks Hovis, I’ve corrected that.
Thanks for puzzle and blog. To be very picky, it’s Thursday, not Tuesday.
Hector @3: of course! My “it’s Tuesday so there must be a theme” logic seems to have operated in reverse today. I’ve corrected the blog – thank you.
An excellent puzzle from Mog. Great fun solving “corner kicks” then looking at all the perimeter entries to admire the skill of the setter.
Thanks all!
10ac & 11ac … Interpret Theme … could of been telling us that a theme was being used today.
Good fun. Emotive a fave, and the kicks. Thx M & Q.
More sophisticated, and more fun than Arsenal’s corner kicks.