Quince, a compiler whose work I am not that familiar with, has provided our cruciverbal challenge this Thursday morning.
And what a challenge it turned out to be! I found that I needed to work very hard at this puzzle, first to complete it and then to parse all the clues to my satisfaction. I think that I got there in the end, but readers should feel free to take me to task on my parsing if they see the need. The last one that I managed to parse was 7, where I was convinced that the answer was “revolting” until the penny dropped regard the t/v device. Similarly, I overthought the parsing of 4 for far too long.
As for my favourite clues today, I very much liked 11, for maintaining the cricket theme throughout the clue; 12, for the inspired use of John / Torode in the wordplay and for topicality; and 14 and 21, both for concision and, in the former case, for making me smirk; and 23, again for topicality.
I hope I will not have to wait too long before my next outing with a Quince crossword.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; a break in underlining separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| ACROSS
|
||
| 1 | BLEACH |
Clean line in the sand (6)
|
| L (=line) in BEACH (=the sand) | ||
| 5 | PANORAMA |
Picture parents embracing and not beginning to argue (8)
|
| [NOR (=and not) + A<rgue> (“beginning to” means first letter only)] in [PA + MA (=parents, i.e. pa (=father) and ma (=mother))] | ||
| 9 | HEAVYSET |
They save cooking with some beef (8)
|
| *(THEY SAVE); “cooking” is anagram indicator; heavyset is well-built, beefy | ||
| 10 | DEVOUR |
Dispose of Tesla, perhaps charging without joy (6)
|
| EV (=Tesla, perhaps, i.e. electric vehicle) in DOUR (=without joy, dismal); here, to dispose of is to clear, wolf down, hence “devour” | ||
| 11 | PHILANDERS |
Bowler missing leg after Tufnell, say, plays the field (10)
|
| PHIL (=Tufnell, say, i.e. former England bowler) + ANDERS<on> (=bowler, i.e. Jimmy Anderson; “missing leg (=on, i.e. cricket side) means letters “on” are dropped) | ||
| 12 | LOOT |
Sack John Torode to start with (4)
|
| LOO (=john, lav) + T<orode> (“to start with” means first letter only) | ||
| 13 | ABU DHABI |
City friend wears a short dress (3,5)
|
| BUD (=friend, chum) in [A + HABI<t> (=dress, set of clothes, as in riding habit; “short” means last letter is dropped)] | ||
| 16 | SHIVER |
Feel cold start to ski season in Tignes (6)
|
| S<ki> (“start to” means first letter is dropped) + HIVER (=season in Tignes, a French ski resort, i.e. the French for winter) | ||
| 17 | ADHERE |
Bond made them fret endlessly (6)
|
| <m>AD<e> <t>HE<m> <f>RE<t>; “endlessly” means that the first and last letters are dropped; to bond is to stick, adhere, fuse | ||
| 19 | FAIR GAME |
It’s okay to laugh at ring toss? (4,4)
|
| A ring toss, hoopla is a “fair(ground) game” | ||
| 21 | TERM |
Spell word (4)
|
| Double definition: a spell in prison is a term of imprisonment AND a term is a word to describe something | ||
| 22 | ALL THE RAGE |
Every single number one released by entitled group is popular (3,3,4)
|
| ALL THE (=every single) + <pee>RAGE (=entitled group; “number one (=pee, wee) released” means letters “pee” are dropped!) | ||
| 25 | ITHACA |
End of a difficult passage in classical literature (6)
|
| Cryptic definition: the island of Ithaca represented the end(point) of a hazardous return journey (=difficult journey) back from Troy for Odysseus | ||
| 26 | ASSESSOR |
One testing tips from entrepreneurs invested in fool’s gold (8)
|
| E<ntrepreneur>S (“tips from” means first and last letters only) in [ASS’S (=fool’s) + OR (=gold, in heraldry)] | ||
| 27 | DRUDGERY |
Reform urged hard borders, frustrating Labour (8)
|
| *(URGED) in DRY (=hard, baked, of land, say); “reform” is anagram indicator | ||
| 28 | ERRAND |
President sending out Romney for one task (6)
|
| <mitt>ERRAND (=(former) President, of France); “sending out Romney for one (=Mitt, the US Republican politician)” means letters “mitt” are dropped | ||
| DOWN
|
||
| 2 | LEECH |
General caught with howitzer at first, being out for blood (5)
|
| LEE (=general, i.e. Robert E. Lee in the American Civil War) + C (=caught, on a cricket scorecard) + H<owitzer> (“at first” means first letter only); the “being” of the definition is a creature, organism | ||
| 3 | ANVIL |
One gets hammered in Bavarian village (5)
|
| Hidden (“in”) in “bavariAN VILlage” | ||
| 4 | HOSANNA |
Praise query about Tolstoy character needing no introduction (7)
|
| <w>HO’S ANNA <?> (=query about Tolstoy character, i.e. Anna Karenina; “needing no introduction” means first letter is dropped) | ||
| 5 | PATHETIC FALLACY |
Fail at cycle path, struggling to find technique in howling wind? (8,7)
|
| *(FAIL AT CYCLE PATH); “struggling” is anagram indicator; pathetic fallacy is a literary term for the attribution of human attributes to natural phenomena, such as a howling wind, dancing leaves, sullen clouds, etc. | ||
| 6 | NUDISTS |
They’re not in the habit of going out (7)
|
| Cryptic definition: the “not in the habit of” implies that they are undressed! | ||
| 7 | REVOLVING |
Rebellious to make TV with regular repeats (9)
|
| REVOLTING (=rebellious, up in arms); “to make T (into a) V” means that the letter “t” becomes a “v”; e.g. revolving credit automatically repeats provided the maximum agreed amount is not exceeded | ||
| 8 | MAUSOLEUM |
Usual memo strangely remains to be seen (9)
|
| *(USUAL MEMO); “strangely” is anagram indicator; as an imposing memorial tomb, a mausoleum houses “remains to be seen” | ||
| 14 | BEDWETTER |
One goes out? (9)
|
| A bedwetter goes (=urinates) (while) out (=when asleep)! | ||
| 15 | DREAMLAND |
Adam Sandler cast wanting leads for fantastic plot (9)
|
| *(<a>DAM <s>ANDLER); “wanting leads” means first letter are dropped from anagram, indicated by “cast”, thrown; the “plot” of the definition is a plot of land! | ||
| 18 | EMANATE |
Swimmer’s bottom to top flow (7)
|
| MANATEE (=”swimmer”, i.e. aquatic mammal); “bottom to top” means last letter moves to start of word | ||
| 20 | IN HASTE |
Bachelor out of absinthe, getting drunk at some speed (2,5)
|
| *(A<b>SINTHE); “bachelor (=B, as in BA) out” means letter “b” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “getting drunk” | ||
| 23 | RISER |
Backtracking, Sir Keir occasionally delivers step change? (5)
|
| RIS (SIR; “backtracking” indicates reversal) + <k>E<i>R (“occasionally” means alternate letters only are used); as the upright portion of a step, a riser could be described as something that “delivers (a) step change” | ||
| 24 | GROIN |
Nothing to smile about — that’s a bit below the belt (5)
|
| O (=nothing) in GRIN (=to smile) |
Well done on the blog, RR: I found this a very tricky puzzle indeed.
The grid layout was very unfriendly, I almost had to tackle all the answers with little help from crossers.
One of those crosswords which is awful to complete, but then, pretty super when you look back on it. All I will say, it took me an age to finish it, but it’s well-contrived.
Thumbs up, Quince + RR
I came adrift in the SouthWest corner, but there were some great clues. SHIVER, ANVIL, GROIN and ERRAND especially. Thanks for explaining ITHACA.
Thanks both. Also liked the cricket theme in PHILANDERS – coincidentally there is a S African Test player Vernon Philander. The barely cryptic ITHACA was beyond my GK, though I recalled Tolstoy’s Anna only after deciding on HOSANNA. For me, ‘remains to be seen’ as a definition for MAUSOLEUM lacks the word ‘here’.
TFO@3, agreed, MAUSOLEUM just hit the bar, no cigar.