SLORMGORM kicks off the week…
A good solid puzzle with some lovely surfaces. I probably struggled more than I should have.
Thanks SLORMGORM!
ACROSS
7. Resting place of Francis of Assisi (4)
SOFA
[franci]S OF A[ssisi] (of)
8. Perform rites of a clergyman over dragoon at the front (10)
ADMINISTER
(A + MINISTER (clergyman)) over D[ragoon] (at the front)
10. A course of action announced for strike? (6)
ATTACK
“a tack” = ATTACK (a course of action, “announced”)
11. Old ship at sea catching new creatures (8)
DOLPHINS
(OLD SHIP)* (*at sea) catching N (new)
12. Persons involved without okay primarily? (8)
SNOOPERS
(PERSONS)* (*involved) without O[kay] (primarily) & lit
13. Priest ultimately led church in dazed state (6)
TRANCE
[pries]T (ultimately) + RAN (led) + CE (church)
15. A huge threat to South American colonists? (5,8)
GIANT ANTEATER
18. Winger going round northern back from Bradford City (6)
LONDON
LOON (winger) going round (N (northern) + [bradfor]D (back from))
20. Part of speech given by friend over the phone? (8)
VERBALLY
VERB (part of speech) given by ALLY (friend)
22. Old doctor mostly visits US prison to see The Joker (8)
COMEDIAN
(O (old) + MEDI[c] (doctor, mostly)) visits CAN (US prison)
24. Posh priest seen in function lying on back (6)
SUPINE
(U (posh) + P (priest)) seen in SINE (function)
25. Reorganise tape-holder to find I’m in Love with My Car? (10)
PETROLHEAD
(TAPE HOLDER)* (*reorganise)
26. One crosses line in small driving compartment (4)
SCAB
S (small) + CAB (driving compartment)
DOWN
1. Mentor gone travelling in European country (10)
MONTENEGRO
(MENTOR GONE)* (*travelling)
2. Handy footballer hurt by a fellow athlete’s header (8)
MARADONA
MAR (hurt) by A DON (fellow) + A[thlete] (header)
3. Lie about vacuous cook’s meat and two veg? (6)
TACKLE
TALE (lie) about C[oo]K (vacuous)
4. Remove garments from hot uncle in need of treatment (8)
UNCLOTHE
(HOT UNCLE)* (*in need of treatment)
5. A way old lady gets to grips with hard affliction (6)
ASTHMA
(A + ST (way) + MA (old lady)) gets to grips with H (hard)
6. Plant or shrub essentially native to marshland (4)
FERN
[sh]R[ub] (essentially) native to FEN (marshland)
9. Advertising space? (7,6)
MADISON AVENUE
(vaguely) Cryptic definition
14. American religious song by hip guy like Dury? (10)
CAROLINIAN
CAROL (religious song) by IN (hip) + IAN (guy like Dury)
16. Concrete Belgian mixed beneath crown of trees (8)
TANGIBLE
(BELGIAN)* (*mixed) beneath T[rees] (crown of)
17. Gin drink knocked over by tense silent type? (8)
TRAPPIST
TRAP (gin) + (SIP)< (drink, <knocked over) by T (tense)
19. Drinking last of lager, my love becomes gloomy (6)
DREARY
DEARY (my love), drinking [lage]R (last of)
21. Board of brie regularly served with port? (6)
RESIDE
[b]R[i]E (regularly) served with SIDE (port?)
23. Unopened port can be concerning (4)
OVER
Nho that definition of TACKLE in 3d. Otherwise enjoyed this puzzle especially 15ac GIANT ANTEATER.
Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow.
Probably just me – Mondayitis is my excuse – but I found this as difficult a Slormgorm puzzle as I can ever remember doing. The two long crossing cryptic defs were, like many cryptic defs, only easy in retrospect and the ‘Handy footballer’ took me ages to work out. The same for the ‘meat and two veg?’ def (though I suppose I should have been quicker on the uptake knowing our setter) and the ‘One crosses line’ def for SCAB. Favourite was the SNOOPERS &lit.
Challenging but good fun and satisfying to eventually get the “Well done” message.
Thanks to Slormgorm and Teacow
For those puzzling over why Maradona is a “handy” footballer: he is perhaps best known for what Wikipedia describes as “an unpenalized handling foul known as the “Hand of God”. This resulted in a goal in the 1986 World Cup quarter final and a 2–1 victory over England.
Yes, it was 40 years ago.
And no, we haven’t forgotten.
Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow
3dn: ODE 2010 gives “meat and two veg Brit. informal” (p 1098) and “tackle (also wedding tackle) Brit. vulgar slang” (p 1809) both meaning a man’s genitals.
I am definitely NOT asking for harder puzzles in general, BUT this was really enjoyable despite being harder than usual for Slormgorm IMO and still doable on the morning train. Fell into place quite quickly once a few hard won crossers were in place.
Some excellent clues including Sofa, Dolphins, Giant Anteater, Petrolhead, Montenegro, Madison Avenue.
Thanks both. More like this please, Mr Gorm.
Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow.
MADISON AVENUE
I agree with the blogger in the absence of any better idea. Possible
I am missing something.
I now usually start with the four-letter clues as they are generally more straight forward. I think Slormgorm was onto me, as they were all quite difficult today. In fact, FERN was a bit of a guess as I could not parse it
I liked SCAB, ATTACK, TRANCE, ASTHMA, CAROLINIAN (I did know who Ian Drury was), and TRAPPIST made me smile once I finally worked it out
“Handy footballer” was a bit of a giveaway, even for a person with little interest in football. I also not know the slang associated with TACKLE, so I needed to back parse.
Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow
I may be being dim (not uncharacteristic), but I don’t get either of the long cryptic definitions. I managed to guess them after I’d got letters in place but I’m still scratching my head.
I did enjoy it none the less and, as a beginner, managed to complete it with only a couple of checks, so I’m happy.
Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow!
Red Tin Dave @8 , anteaters well known for destroying and eating ant colonies . I assume Madison Avenue is the centre of NY advertising industry ?
Ah, thanks I hadn’t thought of ants as colonists!
Thanks for the blog , I thought this was very good but not so Cyclops this time .