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Hello everybody. Bluejacket entertains us today, and entertained I was. I particularly liked 22a, COME THROUGH and 2d, RONDO. I’m not hot on Spanish architects, but the one at 5d was clearly clued. Other answers I got from wordplay were REDUX (8d) and UDINE (24d) which went in last with fingers crossed, and I was pleased to find it was right. Also very happy to see a couple of cats! Thanks Bluejacket.
Definitions are underlined in the clues below. In the explanations, most quoted indicators are in italics, specified [deletions] are in square brackets, and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER. For clarity, I omit most link words and some juxtaposition indicators.
| Across | |
| 1a | Henry discovered fortune-telling method, making money (9) |
| ENRICHING — Without outer letters (… discovered) hENRy + I CHING (fortune-telling method) | |
| 6a | Did live broadcast generate buzz? (5) |
| WHIRR — WERE (did live), as it sounds (broadcast) | |
| 9a | Do OK as intern (7) |
| CONFINE — CON (do, swindle) + FINE (OK) | |
| 10a | In league with French, one provided bomb (7) |
| UNIFIED — UN (French, one) + IF (provided) + IED (improvised explosive device: bomb) | |
| 11a | Slow-burning biomass ultimately crumbling to dust (11) |
| SMOULDERING — The last letter of (… ultimately) biomasS + MOULDERING (crumbling to dust) | |
| 12a | Raincoats reportedly greatest value (3) |
| MAX — MACS (raincoats), homophone (reportedly) | |
| 13a | I mark zero incorrect in pile of papers (5) |
| INBOX — I + NB (nota bene: mark) + O (zero) + X (incorrect) | |
| 15a | Plantation area run well by corporation (9) |
| ARBORETUM — A (area) + R (run) + BORE (well) by TUM (corporation) | |
| 18a | Part of biome in Spain with warm spring (9) |
| ECOSYSTEM — E (Spain) + COSY (warm) + STEM (spring) | |
| 20a | Target of left-leaning clubs, periodically (5) |
| FOCUS — OF reversed (left-leaning) + ClUbS, taking regular letters (periodically) | |
| 21a | News agency attached to Echo and Mirror (3) |
| APE — AP (Associated Press: news agency) attached to E (echo) | |
| 22a | Celestial body with hot, turbulent weather (4,7) |
| COME THROUGH — COMET (celestial body) + H (hot) + ROUGH (turbulent) | |
| 25a | Wine company accepts credit cards (7) |
| PLASTIC — ASTI (wine), which PLC (company) takes in (accepts) | |
| 26a | Ring with lithium-infused glass resembling a gem (7) |
| OPALINE — O (ring) + PANE (glass) which has been infused with LI (lithium) | |
| 27a | Old Iberians regularly rise late (3,2) |
| LIE IN — Alternate letters of (… regularly) oLd IbErIaNs | |
| 28a | Cat catching beam displays assertive behaviour (9) |
| PUSHINESS — PUSS (cat) holding (catching) SHINE (beam) | |
| Down | |
| 1d | Over-the-top misrepresentation of exes’ vices (9) |
| EXCESSIVE — An anagram (misrepresentation) of EXES’ VICES | |
| 2d | Rocker to start playing party piece (5) |
| RONDO — The first letter of (… to start) Rocker + ON (playing) + DO (party) | |
| 3d | Be cool kid, endlessly undisciplined (7) |
| CHILLAX — CHILd (kid) without the last letter (endlessly) + LAX (undisciplined) | |
| 4d | Wild eglantine not cultivated (9) |
| INELEGANT — An anagram of (wild) EGLANTINE | |
| 5d | Spanish architect inspired by oblong auditorium (5) |
| GAUDI — The answer is inside (inspired by) oblonG AUDItorium | |
| 6d | Mangle radio version of Spitting Image (7) |
| WRINGER — A soundalike (radio version) of RINGER (spitting image) | |
| 7d | “Keeping mum” is silly vernacular (9) |
| IDIOMATIC — Containing (keeping) MA (mum) is IDIOTIC (silly) | |
| 8d | Brought back king to protect knight, sacrificing bishop (5) |
| REDUX — REX (king) surrounding (to protect) DU[b] (knight), removing (sacrificing) B (bishop) | |
| 14d | Financial business ruined by latest trend (9) |
| BROKERAGE — BROKE (ruined) by RAGE (latest trend) | |
| 16d | Snooty arse sanctimonious about “end of art” (9) |
| BUMPTIOUS — BUM (arse) + PIOUS (sanctimonious) around (about) the last letter of (end of) arT | |
| 17d | Pranks fail to entertain boss (9) |
| MISCHIEFS — MISS (fail) containing (to entertain) CHIEF (boss) | |
| 19d | Feline inhabiting China’s green peninsula (7) |
| YUCATAN — CAT (feline) inside (inhabiting) YUAN (China’s green) | |
| 20d | Dread overtaking Rolls-Royce with current car (7) |
| FERRARI — FEAR (dread) surrounding (overtaking) RR (Rolls-Royce) + I (current) | |
| 21d | Drink father upset in dismay (5) |
| APPAL — LAP (drink) and PA (father) reversed (upset) | |
| 23d | Animation technique about to crack messy hair (5) |
| MOCAP — CA (about) going into (to crack) MOP (messy hair). Short for motion capture | |
| 24d | Take courses at university somewhere in Friuli (5) |
| UDINE — DINE (take courses) next to (at) U (university). A city and municipality in northeastern Italy’s Friuli-Venezia Giulia region | |
Thanks both. A short exercise to complete, and I also particularly liked COME THROUGH. LOI was YUCATAN where I am still uncertain whether we use ‘green’ as slang for money generally, or that the Chinese bank notes, like Dollars, are so coloured. INBOX for me is solely electronic, so I didn’t recognise the definition of ‘pile of papers’ – that was the fearful in-tray back in the day for me.
Thought likewise, TFO, then remembered those racks of pigeon-hole inboxes after which no doubt the e-ones are named.
A couple beat me, but I almost abandoned early on with the sound of fingernails scraping a blackboard ringing in my ears when 3d went in. Ugh.
[PeteHA3 @3: there was an interesting discussion on BlueSky recently where someone new to cryptics had a go at the setter community – whose average age he surmised to be 109 – for the old-fashioned stuff with which we populate our crosswords. As he put it, I have no interest in the Bible or cricket … And that prompted a number of other newer and I assume younger solvers to join in. I would imagine that newer community being delighted by CHILLAX – which is in both Chambers and Collins whether we like it or not]
Yeah, totes. 🤣
Language keeps on evolving. I think my enjoyment comes from discovering archaic words. My bad… 😂
(Really though, I tend to enjoy everything the setters and bloggers do for us.)
I made harder work of this than necessary, trying to justify “index” for a pile of papers, perhaps reflecting my own chaotic organisation. YUCATAN only came to mind, because I’d seen it elsewhere recently. Thanks both.
Speaking as someone who is the same age as the word CHILLAX (according to the Merriam-Webster Time Traveler, anyway), I’m not convinced it is still in use by folks in my age bracket, to the point where I would personally consider it passé. That said, I’m painfully aware that Bluejacket is even younger than me, so who knows; maybe it’s wrapped back round to the point of being cool again… or maybe the fact it’s now in Chambers means it can never be cool again…
I’m another solver who liked both COME THROUGH and the preponderance of cats, but I also have to shout out just how smooth the surfaces were – so many clues that are just simple, elegant constructions in natural-enough language, like 25a & 14d. It’s just good stuff!
Thank you to everyone for the kind comments, and thanks especially to Kitty for the great run-down of my grid. I had to know CHILLAX would get reactions! 😄
Got more than I thought I would, but nowhere near finished. I’m in my seventies and I do know CHILLAX, but it didn’t come to me