A fun challenge from XELA!
FF: 9 DD: 7
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | GOLF COURSE |
Front of garage undoubtedly accommodating large area for drivers? (4,6)
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[ G ( Garage, first letter ) OF COURSE ( undoubtedly } ] containing L ( large ) |
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| 6 | SWAP |
Hands over change (4)
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reverse of PAWS ( hands ) |
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| 9 | SECOND-RATE |
Poor moment to offer a critical opinion? (6-4)
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SECOND ( moment ) RATE ( offer a critical opinion ) |
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| 10 | OPAL |
Round, whitish, cut gem (4)
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O ( round ) PALe ( whitish, cut i.e. without last letter ) |
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| 12 | SLOE |
Bush turkeys fail to disperse in the end (4)
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last letters of "..turkeyS faiL tO dispersE .." |
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| 13 | SINGLETON |
Carol possibly revealed they have no partner (9)
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SING ( carol, possibly ) LET ON ( revealed ) |
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| 15 | TRYSTING |
Agreeing to meet after test is smart (8)
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TRY ( test ) STING ( smart ) |
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| 16 | THESES |
Dissertations requiring this and this and, ultimately, this (6)
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THESE ( this and this ) S ( thiS, ultimately ) |
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| 18 | DEAD-ON |
Precise trouble encountered during study (4-2)
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ADO ( trouble ) in DEN ( study ) |
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| 20 | LISTERIA |
21 bats carrying current source of illness? (8)
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[ REALIST ( answer to 21d ) ]* containing I ( current ) |
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| 23 | ONSLAUGHT |
Some person’s laughter is offensive (9)
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hidden in "..persON'S LAUGHTer.." |
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| 24 | SCAM |
Shady scheme involving small pic-taking device (4)
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S ( small ) CAM ( pic-taking device ) |
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| 26 | LIEU |
Deceitful act leading to university place (4)
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LIE ( deceitful act ) U ( University, first letter ) |
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| 27 | INFINITIVE |
What’s to go or to stay? (10)
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cryptic def |
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| 28 | TREE |
Plane maybe finally left after intense gale (4)
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last letters of "..lefT afteR intensE galE " |
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| 29 | CASTIGATED |
Players I punished with a curfew and reprimanded (10)
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CAST ( players ) I GATED ( punished with a curfew ) |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | GOSH |
My attempt initially seems hare-brained (4)
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GO ( attempt ) SH ( starting letters of '..Seems Hare-brained' ) |
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| 2 | LOCALLY |
Accountant drawn in by money nearby (7)
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CA ( accountant ) in LOLLY ( money ) |
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| 3 | CONVENTIONAL |
Traditional nunnery somewhere in Scotland beside lake (12)
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CONVENT ( nunery ) IONA ( somehwere in scotland ) L ( lake ) |
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| 4 | UPRISING |
Using force to support universal rebellion (8)
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U ( universal ) PRISING ( using force ) |
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| 5 | SATANG |
Underworld figure with good amount of cash in Bangkok (6)
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SATAN ( underworld figure ) G ( good ) |
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| 7 | WAPITIS |
Deer used to be seen around quarry on island (7)
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WAS ( used to be ) around [ PIT ( quarry ) I ( island ) ] |
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| 8 | POLYNESIAN |
Resident of Aotearoa perhaps lays in open ground (10)
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[ LAYS IN OPEN ]* |
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| 11 | ALPHA TESTING |
Identifying a bug, say, that’s leaping all over the place (5-7)
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[ THATS LEAPING ]* |
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| 14 | STUDIO FLAT |
Boss recently snubbed taking on one little apartment (6,4)
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STUD ( boss ) [ OF LATe ( recently, without last letter ) containing I ( one ) ] |
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| 17 | DISTRICT |
Neighbourhood police officer unwilling to bend (8)
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DI ( police officer ) STRICT ( unwilling to bend ) |
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| 19 | AUSTERE |
Strict or direct, by the sound of it (7)
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sounds like AU ( or ) STEER ( direct ) |
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| 21 | REALIST |
One facing facts about Hollywood’s in- crowd (7)
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RE ( about ) A-LIST ( hollywood's in-crowd ) |
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| 22 | AGENDA |
Programme info covered by computing pioneer Lovelace (6)
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GEN ( info ) in ADA ( lovelace ) |
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| 25 | LEAD |
Principal criminal investigator’s need (4)
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double def |
Thoroughly enjoyed this from Xela, a setter I’ve not seen in a good while. Lots of smooth surfaces and neat wordplay throughout so that even the unfamiliar SATANG (only knew ‘baht’) was clear enough. LISTERIA was my top pick.
Thanks to Xela and Turbolegs.
First two in (SLOE and OPAL) were nice surfaces and ticks, which set the scene. Fourth one in was LIEU, which was pretty good too.
While the other clues were well constructed with a lot of nice wordplay, there were too many UKisms and obscurities for me.
Thanks Xela and Turbolegs
I enjoyed this. I hadn’t heard of Ada Lovelace (but my tablet had — as soon as I entered “Ada” the pre-emptive text presented me with the surname), nor lolly/money, nor WAPITIS nor SATANG. So a reasonable number of lexicon expanders without having to spend too much time at the dictionary.
THESES, LISTERIA, INFINITIVE and STUDIO FLAT my faves.
Thanks Xela and Turbolegs.
All good, thanks both
Lots of fun, I could even work out those such as Wapitis I’d never heard of.
Golf Course made me smile, as did Castigated, Studio Flat and several others.
Thanks to Xela and Turbolegs.
I’m glad everyone else enjoyed it. I found it impossibly difficult. With my brain duly sharpened from doing yesterday’s (I’m a day behind) I sat down to this one and after twenty minutes had only managed 3d. I’m used to giving up on Io, but don’t recall a problem with Xela before.
Anyway, well done all the above!
We needed to confirm SATANG in the dictionary, and it took ages for the penny to drop about INFINITIVE but otherwise all done and dusted with no other issues.
Thanks, Xela and Turbolegs.
Thanks Xela and Turbolegs
5dn: SATANG could be considered perhaps too obscure for a puzzle in the Guardian or Independent, but I would hope that, in the Financial Times, currency from anywhere in the world would be considered fair game.
Enjoyed this one but missed Infinitive, which I’m not sure I would ever have got
Thanks.
Enjoyed this a lot, though I didn’t complete it because I recklessly and wrongly put in HEAD instead of LEAD. INFINITIVE was the last one I got and I thought it was very clever.
This was a lot of fun. Never did get SATANG though I had the crosses. I also didn’t know that plane was a kind of tree! Thank you all.
25dn: I put HEAD for this, and will argue that it fits the clue as well as LEAD. A criminal investigator needs to use his head in his work. Perhaps Xela should have given us a meaning for lead² (the heavy metal) instead of using two meanings for lead¹. (The numbering of lead¹ and lead² is the same in Chambers, Collins, and ODE. It was only after reading comment 11 that I realised that my answer was not the same as that given in the blog.)
I agree that HEAD fits the clue at least well enough to pass, and it’s what I put in too at first. Yes, LEAD fits better, but I don’t think one should be penalized for an acceptable answer.
ADA Lovelace is a regular in American plain crosswords, which need all the three-letter words they can get; but she was a remarkable woman. Good to see her here.
Well I suppose a criminal investigator does need to use his/her/their head, yep. So, if you put HEAD, I’m cool with that, even if the solution will suggest otherwise.
Many thanks for the blog and comments
Thanks Xela@15 for dropping in. I would hope that all of us are willing to accept that setters will occasionally set a clue with an unintended second answer.
I don’t see “ needing to use one’s head “ as something specific to investigators, whereas leads are, so I think Xela’s solution, in lieu of HEAD, is infinitely better. I would realistically call HEAD second-rate, while LEAD is dead-on.
Thanks Xela and Turbolegs for the excellent puzzle and blog.