An enjoyable mix of clues, with several that I found quite tricky to parse. My favourites were 16ac, 19ac, 25ac, and 8dn. Thanks to Pasquale.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SOLITUDE |
Concern with one about to leave – leaving partner in this? (8)
|
| definition: leaving one’s partner might leave them in SOLITUDE
SOL-[I C]-ITUDE=”Concern”, with I=”one” and C (circa, “about”) removed (“to leave”) |
||
| 5 | GELATO |
Attempt to convey story about something refreshingly sweet? (6)
|
| GO=”Attempt”, around/containing (to convey) TALE=”story” reversed/”about” | ||
| 9 | ANAMNESIS |
Odd man is sane, as shown in medical record (9)
|
| definition: anamnesis is the process of collecting a patient’s medical history
anagram/”Odd” of (man is sane)* |
||
| 11 | DRUSE |
Trick by five hundred members of religious sect (5)
|
| definition: Druse or Druze are members of a religious sect [wiki]
RUSE=”Trick” by D=”five hundred” in Roman numerals |
||
| 12 | BREAKING NEWS |
The latest answer involves this action in a river (8,4)
|
| the word “AnsweR” is nswe in AR
NSWE is “this action”: BREAKING NEWS i.e. making an anagram of (news)* A R=”a river” as R is short for “river” |
||
| 15 | HOAX |
House with a sign of something wrong that fraudster perpetrates? (4)
|
| HO (House) + A (from surface) + X (cross symbol e.g. when marking a student’s work, “sign of something wrong” | ||
| 16 | MAKE AMENDS |
Sad men could do this to atone (4,6)
|
| we could MAKE AMENDS (i.e. “do this”) by using “Sad men” as anagram fodder to make the word ‘amends’ | ||
| 18 | ANTITHESES |
Social worker is embracing these opposite types (10)
|
| ANT=”Social worker”; plus IS (from surface) around THESE (from surface) | ||
| 19 | GLAM |
Alluring sparkle exuding energy (4)
|
| GL-[e]-AM=”sparkle” minus ‘e’ for “energy” | ||
| 21 | FRONTIERSMEN |
Finer monster upsetting chaps living on the edge? (12)
|
| anagram/”upsetting” of (Finer monster)* | ||
| 24 | EDITH |
Woman to change husband (5)
|
| EDIT=”change” + H (husband) | ||
| 25 | TREATABLE |
Nasty tear at front of furniture item that can be repaired? (9)
|
| anagram/”Nasty” of (tear)*; in front of TABLE=”furniture item” | ||
| 26 | DIGEST |
Review with snide remark is not British (6)
|
| DIG=”snide remark” (e.g. to take a dig at someone) + EST=”is” in French or in Latin (“not British”) | ||
| 27 | ASPERSED |
Somehow sad, blue inside, being defamed (8)
|
| anagram/”Somehow” of (sad)*, with PERSE (a dark “blue” colour) inside | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SEAL |
Secure underwater line (4)
|
| for definition, e.g. to seal/secure a deal
L for “line”, after/’under” SEA=”water” |
||
| 2 | LOAM |
Article buried by burrower endlessly turning up in soil (4)
|
| A (indefinite “Article”); buried inside MOL-[e]=”burrower endlessly”, reversed (“turning up”) | ||
| 3 | TENURE |
University gone round by number about to get secure position (6)
|
| U (University) inside (i.e. the following elements have “gone round” it): TEN=”number” + RE=”about” | ||
| 4 | DISPARAGEMENT |
Running down daughter, is dad with anger unkind, wasting a bit of time? (13)
|
| D (daughter) + IS (from surface) + PA=”dad” + RAGE=”anger”, plus ME-[a]-N=”unkind” removing/”wasting” the letter “a” (from surface); plus T=first letter/”bit” of t-[ime] | ||
| 6 | ENDOGAMY |
Finish with love, having spirited sort of marriage (8)
|
| definition: marrying within a group
END=”Finish” + O=zero score in tennis=”love” + GAMY=”spirited” |
||
| 7 | ACUTE ANGLE |
A cunning viewpoint that maths teacher may explain (5,5)
|
| definition: a part of geometry, covered in maths lessons
A (from surface) + CUTE=clever=”cunning” + ANGLE=”viewpoint” |
||
| 8 | OPEN SESAME |
Old writer’s English unchanged, words having magical effect (4,6)
|
| O (Old) + PEN’S=”writer’s” + E (English) + SAME=”unchanged” | ||
| 10 | SPINELESSNESS |
Lack of courage that is evident in wormy types (13)
|
| spinelessness could also refer to a lack of a literal spine in worms | ||
| 13 | WHEATFIELD |
Agricultural land to flourish, absorbing warmth with minimum of frost (10)
|
| WIELD=brandish=”flourish”; around HEAT=”warmth” + the minimum or smallest part of F-[rost] | ||
| 14 | CARTOONING |
Activity of artist, showing concern about Newcastle? (10)
|
| CARING=”concern” around TOON=nickname for Newcastle | ||
| 17 | STITCHES |
Fibrous products obtained from sewers? (8)
|
| cryptic definition: stitches are produced using fibre by those who sew (sew-ers)
surface can mislead if “sewers” is read as in sewerage |
||
| 20 | SEETHE |
What river rises, producing foam? (6)
|
| EH=exclamation of surprise=”What”; plus TEES=name of a “river”; all reversed upwards/”rises” | ||
| 22 | IBIS |
Bird – one beginning to breed on island (4)
|
| I=”one” + beginning of B-[reed] + IS (short for island) | ||
| 23 | VEND |
Trade very limited? Then pack up (4)
|
| “very” shortened/limited to V, plus END=”pack up” |
Good fun. Top ticks for CARTOONING, MAKE AMENDS & the elusive anagram for FRONTIERSMEN
Cheers M&P
A lovely mix of approachable and baffling which gave enough crossers to unfold slowly and with great satisfaction. Pasquale does like his reverse anagrams/clues (“breaking news”, “make amends”) and they are pleasing once spotted.
I always enjoy a clue like “tenure” where there is a hint of the answer within the wordplay – in this case “university” gets you thinking along the right lines even though it is really only there to supply a letter “u”.
Thanks manehi and Pasquale.
Enjoyable puzzle, quite tricky in parts. I could not parse:
12ac (oh wow, that’s tricky, thanks for the parsing, manehi)
27ac apart from PER SE in anagram of SAD (never heard of perse blue)
3d – I guessed it was something like that but did not get there!
14d apart from TOON (?) in CARING (did not know that TOON=nickname for Newcastle).
Favourites: DISPARAGEMENT, OPEN SESAME, DIGEST.
New for me: AMAMNESIS.
Took a while to crack the parsing of BREAKING NEWS but once it became clear I very nearly applauded.
This was at precisely my medium solver’s ability level and I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.
Perse meaning a dark blue colour was new to me, as was ANAMNESIS, but the latter was easily gettable from the fodder. Apart from that I agree with JOFT@2 that is was very approachable. Going through the across clues first as I usually do produced only TREATABLE, but the down clues yielded more easily and the crossers then led to the across solutions. Liked 7 as a reminder of my first job, SOLITUDE, LOAM and FRONTIERSMEN. Thanks to Pasquale and manehi.
One of those that I thought might defeat me, then it all gradually fell into place. I enjoyed CARTOONING when I got it but feel there must be something more to STITCHES than a slightly clunky cd.
Thanks to Pasquale and manehi
Great stuff from Pasquale.
Unfortunately, I got the anagram for the unheard of ANAMNESIS wrong in what was a mixture of hard and more straightforward clues.
Liked MAKES AMENDS and BREAKING NEWS which both got a “huh? Oh I see” from me.
Thanks Pasquale and manehi
The first proper challenge this week, I really enjoyed this last night and went to sleep raving about BREAKING NEWS, certainly apposite for the last few days. MAKE AMENDS, FRONTIERSMEN and CARTOONING weren’t half bad either, although ‘ TOON’ might be a bit obscure.
Ta Pasquale & manehi.
Thanks Pasquale and manehi
ANAMNESIS needed an anagram solver and a Google. I didn’t parse BREAKING NEWS and hadn’t heard of PERSE blue either.
I agree with Doofs @6 that the clue for STITCHES seems a bit weak. Is there more to it?
Otherwise surprisingly straightforward for a Pasquale.
Doofs @6: I thought STITCHES might be referring to holding fibrous body tissue together, although my medical knowledge is minimal.
There’s a trend in the sewing community to call themselves sewists for obvious reasons.
Another who looked up PERSE – it’s apparently the Saxon name for Persian blue, the stuff from shells that’s been traded here forever.
Thank you to manehi and Pasquale
I liked all the clues that others have picked out and I am another who wondered about STITCHES.
Nho TOON=Newcastle so 14d defeated me.
As a retired hospital medic, I can say that ANAMNESIS is not a term I have ever used or heard used in the last 50 years!
I don’t seem to be able to print the Guardian cryptic off like l used to do. Any hints, please?
I don’t seem to be able to print the Guardian cryptic off like l used to do. Any hints, please?
Thanks Pasquale for a fun crossword with a couple of reverse anagrams which I always love and some learning:
Had to look up ANAMNENSIS – never heard of it – but a straight-forward solve. Also never heard of perse in AS(PERSE)D.
Indebted to manehi for the parse on this one as well as SOLITUDE. Thanks for this and all the rest of your work.
I needed this blog to parse breaking news. Too clever for me. It didn’t help that all the letters of “answer” are in the solution, leaving me with the letters “beking”, which did not make sense. I managed to parse the other inverse anagram though (make amends). Like others, I had not heard of perse for the colour blue, and googling just gave me “per se”. Thanks Pasquale for a lovely puzzle and manehi for helping to parse those I could’t
I feel sure we’re missing something with STITCHES. The Don is very unlikely to produce a clue that at first site appears weak. Hopefully he’ll drop in to explain.
I found this very enjoyable. The clues for SEAL and VEND were nice and neat.
My thanks to Pasquale, and to manehi for the blog.
But – in the clue for FRONTIERSMEN (21 across) – can anyone tell me why Pasquale chose the word “upsetting” rather than “upset”? Would “upset” have worked just as well, or is there a reason why “upsetting” is better? Sorry if I’m being dim …