The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29976.
I found this quite tough, needing some very careful parsing, and not helped by the intersecing pairs of clues (10/2, 22/22. 24/24) the first of which gave me the most trouble.
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | SHOEHORN |
Its application could help you get into Oxford? (8)
|
| Cryptic definition, depending on reading ‘Oxford’ as a shoe. | ||
| 9 | ODOURS |
Understood our son’s bedding smells (6)
|
| A hidden answer (‘bedding’) in ‘understoOD OUR Son’. | ||
| 10, 2 | SEAT BELT |
House band feature in saloon (4,4)
|
| A charade of SEAT (‘house’ – particularly a mansion) plus BELT (‘band’). | ||
| 11 | IN GOOD TIME |
Early on, I go to party with deviant I’d met (2,4,4)
|
| A charade of INGOO, an anagram (‘to party’) of ‘on I go’; plus DTIME, an anagram (‘deviant’) of ‘I’d met’. ‘To party’ is an unusual anagrind, but might be just a means of calling up a single anagram indicated by ‘deviant’. | ||
| 12, 3 | FRENCH POLISH |
Finish, as elements of Marie Curie’s typical description are transposed? (6,6)
|
| Marie Curie was of Polish extraction, and French by naturalisation, thus Polish-French. | ||
| 14 | IRON-CLAD |
Warship covered by press (4-4)
|
| A charade of IRON (‘press’) plus CLAD (‘covered’). I would have said that iron-clad is an adjective menaning certain, while the ‘warship’ is an ironclad. | ||
| 15, 8 | NO PAIN NO GAIN |
Turning on Paganini number to begin – as motivation for fitness class? (2,4,2,4)
|
| A charade of NO (‘number’) placed before (‘to begin’) PAINNOGAIN, an anagram (‘turning’) of ‘on Paganini’. | ||
| 17, 19 | FERRIS WHEELS |
Ferraris and Rolls are mostly stolen for joy rides? (6,6)
|
| The word order is confusing: a charade of ‘ferr[ar]is’ minus AR (‘ar[e] mostly stolen’) plus WHEELS (‘Rolls’ – with the capital letter, it is an indication by example; alternatively it is a deceptive capital). The surface is splendid. | ||
| 20 | DEVILISH |
Stayed over in Soho – oddly it’s diabolical (8)
|
| A charade of DEVIL, a reversal (‘over’) of LIVED (‘stayed’); plus ISH, odd letters (‘oddly’) of ‘In SoHo’. | ||
| 22, 22 | COOKIE CUTTER |
Template censor used after identifying code (6 -6)
|
| A charade of COOKIE (‘identifying code’ – ‘code’ is a little off, I think) plus CUTTER (‘censor’). | ||
| 23 | REARMAMENT |
Fresh investment in Arsenal meant changes on wing at kick-off (10)
|
| A charade of RE (‘on’) plus ARM (‘wing’) plus AMENT, an anagram (‘changes’) of ‘meant’, with ‘at kick-off’ indicating the order of the particles. The capital ‘Arsenal’ is misleading. | ||
| 24, 24 | STAR SIGN |
Perhaps Leo Sayer’s trying another rewrite – initially with chorus moving note lower (4,4)
|
| A charade of STAR, first letters (‘initially’) of ‘Sayer’s Trying Another Rewrite’ plus SIGN, which is SING (‘chorus’) with the N (‘note’) moved down (‘moving … lower’). | ||
| 25 | FRINGE |
Less important call when 14 (6)
|
| An envelope (CLAD) of RING (‘call’) in FE (‘chemical symbol, IRON), where IRON-CLAD is the answer to clue 14A). | ||
| 26 | SVENGALI |
Supreme influencer leaving a little something out (8)
|
| An anagram (‘out’) of ‘leaving’ plus S (‘a little Something’). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SHEEP RUN |
Place to ruminate clue for ‘ewer’? (5,3)
|
| A charade of SHEEP (‘ewe’-) plus RUN (-‘r’). Sheep are ruminants. | ||
| 2 |
See 10 Across
|
|
| 3 |
See 12 Across
|
|
| 4 | MONOTONE |
One colour only – second one not included (8)
|
| AN envlope (‘included’) of ‘not’ in MO (‘second’) plus ‘one’. | ||
| 5 | MONTE CARLO |
Resort to cornmeal unfortunately (5,5)
|
| An angram (‘unfortunately’) of ‘to cornmeal’. | ||
| 6 | CRIMEA |
Peninsula of Palermo – if rock climbing regularly (6)
|
| Alternate retters (‘regularly’) in reverse (‘climbing’ in a down light) in ‘pAlErMo If RoCk’. | ||
| 8 |
See 15 Across
|
|
| 13 | NAPKIN RING |
Family group putting down first part of table setting? (6,4)
|
| A charade of NAP (‘down’ – Chambers nap: a downy covering or surface on anything) plus KIN (‘family’) plus RING (‘group’), with ‘putting … first’ indicating the order of the particles. | ||
| 16 | IMITATED |
Cambridge university worried boring papers will be copied (8)
|
| An envelope (‘boring’) of MIT (‘Cambridge university’ – Cambridge Massachusetts, that is) plus ATE (‘worried’) in ID (‘papers’). | ||
| 18 | SUITABLE |
Appropriate clubs potentially qualified (8)
|
| A charade of SUIT (‘clubs potentially’) plus ABLE (‘qualified’). | ||
| 19 |
See 17 Across
|
|
| 21 | EMEERS |
Appear upset about King supporting Eastern Arabic rulers (6)
|
| A charade od E (‘Eastern’) plus (‘supporting’ in a down light) MEERS, an envelope (‘about’) of R (‘King’) in MEES, a reversal (‘upset’ in a down light) of SEEM (‘appear’). | ||
| 22 |
See 22 Across
|
|
| 24 |
See 24 Across
|
|
6 of the downs didn’t have their own clues, which I think is too many; clues that fill multiple slots have the effect that if you are struggling you have fewer clues to help you out, but if you’re on a roll you roll faster. Neither is a particularly satisfying experience, imo.
Liked FERRIS WHEELS and SVENGALI.
Tx F&P
Boy, was I barking up the wrong tree with SHEEP RUN. Knowing RUN was and anagram of “urn” — a ewer — I thought perhaps that “sheep” was some sort of unfamiliar anagrind. I should have remembered that Fed has done this type of thing before …
All else was uneventful and enjoyable.
SVENGALI is a delightful clue; likewise FERRIS WHEELS. Worth doing for those two alone. I see I am not alone in finding the intersecting pairs difficult: I eventually had to reveal SEAT BELT where I was getting nowhere.
Thanks both
I agree with Dr WO @1 re the number of clueless downs. FERRIS WHEELS reads fine to me if you take it as FERRARIS (and) WHEELS, then take the AR out rather than dealing with the two words separately.
I interpreted wheels as a synonym of the verb rolls, rather than a definition by example.
Liked all of the puzzle, but had trouble with the parsing of Svengali and imitated.