I found this morning’s IO more accessible then usual.
Some very witty ideas – a fun challenge that kept me on my toes. Many thanks to IO.
CINEMA (films) in MEDIN[a] (native quarter, failing to show A)
Double definition
TET (swim?) + RAG (offensive newspaper) is going on RAM (strike)
SINK or SWIM being tetragrams, i.e. 4-letter words. Swimming is one part of a tetrathlon, or tet. My parsing does leave ‘swim’ doing double duty.
[f]IND I A[m] (unsuited)
‘India’ is ‘I’ in the NATO alphabet
(HOSTEL with input from INNER CITY)* (*undergoing redesign)
SLEWING* (*our of control) over R[oad] (surface of)
IN STAR (leading performer)
From the solution to the previous clue (indicated by ellipses), change R (right) to L (left); i.e. ‘switch sides’
with DIE (croak); (SIRE (dad) holds A)
REUSE (recycling) after putting GREEN (area) on CHART (map)
Green Chartreuse is a herbal French liqueur made by monks. Apparently only two monks know the recipe.
AM I (is first person) + GO (shot)
ODD (random) + NUMBER (means to anaesthetise)
EX (one used to love her) + E (energy)
Referring to the river EXE in Devon
S (special) + WEE (little) + (TUNA (fish) + SAT (put))< (<back)
(TO (closer) + [referendu]M (closer to)) (<closer)
‘Mot’ is the French word for ‘word’, hence ‘to Macron’, a famous Frenchman
OTT (too much) for A (one) at D[a]Y (noon, i.e. midDAY)
CHAS (Charles) needs BOWS (weapons) to secure INGRAIN (fast fix)
‘Castles in Spain’ are unrealistic, unattainable ideals, and ‘chasing rainbows’ is to pursue such things
N (navy) + OR (as an alternative) + THE RN (British service, The Royal Navy)
(ME ME (egotist’s twin priorities) include B (book)) + R (reading)
‘Twin’ tells us to double the egotist’s priority; R for reading comes from the British education system’s 3 Rs: reading, writing, arithmetic
(B[lo]OD TRANSFUSIONS; LO (look) out)* (*for intermixing)
WED BETTER (married above oneself) as a Spoonerism
[b]RAIN FREE (drought-affected, on leave B[ahrain’s] (foremost)) + ZE (zone)
I assume the intention is ‘Zero Emissions’ for the zone
Cryptic definition
In Edward Lear’s poem, the owl and the pussycat elope (run away to marry) making them ‘running mates’
A STEP (first part of plan) to access WIPE (dry)
((TO (for) + DOC (medic) + I’M (one’s)); R[adiography] (heading for) to divide) (<up)
“THROWN” (cast, “during recital”)
‘Can’ and ‘throne’ both mean toilet
UN (country club, United Nations) furnished with BAR (taproom) rotating
‘Rotating’, like ‘cycling’, tells us that some of the front letters of the word need to move to the back
TAR< (jack, <to the gods)
I think ‘to the gods’ or ‘from above’ is a backwards indicator; ‘tar’ and ‘jack’ being a sailor
Could 9ac be Tet(offensive) then rag and ram?
I found this less accessible than usual.
Thanks to both.
TETRAGRAM
offensive=TET
Def: sink or swim?
GREEN CHARTREUSE
putting area (golf)=GREEN
BRAIN FREEZE
B+RAIN FREE +
on leaving zone=ZE
RAT
to the gods—>towards the sky, I think
Thanks Io and Oriel.
INSTAR
Are we to take
‘of leading performer’ as ‘IN STAR’
(leading performer per se is STAR)?
Always thought a pow-wow was like a parley, something you did, rather than a person, but hey ho. And I thought 1d was the three closers of referenduM sO geT. Like KVa, not sure about instar. Maybe like “stage presence is a necessary quality in [a] star/of [a] leading performer…”
Nice puzzle anyway, cheers Io and Oriel.
Gif@3
MOT
Parsed it as you did.
Sorry but another tiresome puzzle from this setter.
1a Why is powwow a definition of medicine man? It isn’t in my book. Medina also not well clued imo.
7a nho bib=fish
22a one is a poor definition here. The are literally an infinite number of other odd numbers.
3d Ingrain is a weak synonym for fast fix imo
11d seems pretty spurious as cryptic definitions go
Etc etc
As for the rest a plethora of very difficult clues with hard to spot definitions and no laughs at all.
I solve these through obstinacy but take no pleasure. These are complete outliers compared to the general level of the ft which I otherwise enjoy.
Thanks for the very necessary blog.
Thanks for the blog , great to see IO Wednesday , I do try very hard the rest of the month not to complain about puzzles being too easy . I think the grid was helpful , lots of white , many first letters and friendly long answers . Even an answer for fans of Coldplay .
James@6 , a few thoughts .
POWWOW definitely a term for a shaman .
one? indicates an example of an ODD NUMBER .
INGRAIN a term for fixing the dye to the thread , making it fast .
RUNNING MATE could apply to humans but also horses , a favoured horse may have a running mate from the same stable to set a fast pace .
Thx Roz, each to their own
Echo the parsings in the first four comments.
I found this an approachable jump around the grid after a slow start and even managed to quickly see ‘x for y’ in DOTTY which is my usual blind spot.
Thanks Oriel for the blog
6dn: Brewer 2018 p 716 has the following, which is the nearest I could find to the answer for this clue:
Ifs and/or buts Qualifications or potential impediments, usually invoked in the negative as something not to be countenanced, as in ‘Let’s have no ifs and buts’.
I could not find the phrase actually used by Io in any of the usual dictionaries. Can anyone cite a respectable source for it?