A fun puzzle with a fun nina!
I didn’t find this especially troublesome and enjoyed many of the clues and surfaces, though I did employ some assistance to complete it, as I’ve been busy and a little off my crossword game.
It was only when I was compiling the blog that I spotted the nina around the perimeter of the grid and in 25, 20, 5d, the clue for which references the perimeter words, the full thing being:
I DON’T LIKE RUSSIAN DOLLS, THEY ARE FULL OF THEMSELVES. There are also a couple of loose connections to the dolls/Russia in two other solutions (DUPLICATES and TSARISTS) but I would think these are just happy coincidences or opportunities taken by the setter.
Many thanks to Henri for the puzzle.
| ACROSS | ||
| 8 | INNATE |
Congenital boozer worried (6)
|
| INN (boozer) + ATE (worried). | ||
| 9 | NAE |
Billy Connolly’s not so famous, losing money (3)
|
| NAME (famous) minus M (money), for ‘not so’ or ‘no’ as a Scot such as entertainer Billy Connolly might say it. | ||
| 10 | PUMA |
Winding up married to absolute animal (4)
|
| PU (up, winding) + M[arried] + A[bsolute]. | ||
| 11 | LEST |
Head of Legal is in Strasbourg in case (4)
|
| L[egal] + EST, (‘is’ in French, as in Strasbourg). | ||
| 12 | ENERVATION |
Wilder perhaps to lose face helping to protect against weakness (10)
|
| ENE (Gene: ‘Wilder, perhaps’ – the original and best film Willie Wonka, losing his face/first letter) + RATION (helping/portion) protecting/including V (against).
I only got this via a word finder and failed to parse it until some discussion with a running friend who got me the ENE which unlocked the rest. Thanks @solesolver or whatever handle you choose if you eventually leave a comment 🙂 |
||
| 13 | TSARISTS |
Supporters of absolutist rule start working with half-sister (8)
|
| (START SIS)* | ||
| 15 | STOLID |
Showing no interest in premiere of Titanic in 3D (6)
|
| T[itanic] in SOLID (3D). | ||
| 16 | NABBED |
Did Nick brighten at last – retired, penning book? (6)
|
| brighteN + ABED (retired – to bed) with B (book) penned/inserted. | ||
| 18 | NUNCIO |
Papal ambassador’s prayer about ‘one love’ (6)
|
| NUN (one who prays, so a pray-er) + C (circa, about) + I O (one, love). | ||
| 20 |
See 25a
|
|
| 22 | SEA LEVEL |
Familiar old golfer guzzling beer by litre, a rising concern? (3,5)
|
| ALE inside SEVE (Ballesteros, Spanish pro golfer) + L[itre]. | ||
| 24 | DUPLICATES |
Copies of Cupid’s Tale pulped (10)
|
| (CUPID’S TALE)* | ||
| 25, 20, 5d | FULL OF THEMSELVES |
Whimsical conclusion of edgy opinion? (4,2,10)
|
| This was gettable from the enumeration and crossers I had, but only upon compiling the blog and spotting the nina did I realise that this is the conclusion of the ‘edgy’ opinion expressed on the perimeter of the grid. | ||
| 27 | ISLE |
I institute small rent cut (4)
|
| I + S + LE[t]. Quite a sneakily hidden definition! | ||
| 28 | LEA |
Barely uncorrupted open countryside (3)
|
| cLEAn. | ||
| 29 | DISCOS |
Insect regularly interrupting parties in clubs (6)
|
| InSeCt inside DOS (parties). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | KNEE |
Articulation of knowledge depleted when new drug is consumed (4)
|
| K[nowledg]E consuming N (new) + E (ecstasy, drug). I wouldn’t naturally think of knee and articulation as synonymous but as nouns they can be. | ||
| 2 | EASTER |
Four dates in spring are set up (6)
|
| (ARE SET)*, for the four day (in the UK and probably some other places) holiday period. | ||
| 3 | REVERSED |
Letters from lover, ever seductive, sent back (8)
|
| Hidden in loveR EVER SEDuctive. Some nice misdirection in the clue meant I solved then parsed this retrospectively. | ||
| 4 | UNLEASH |
Pawnbroker not caught, remains free (7)
|
| UNCLE (pawnbroker) minus C (caught in cricket scoring notation) + ASH (remains). This sense of ‘uncle’ is one I’m only aware of from crosswordland. | ||
| 5 |
See 25a
|
|
| 6 | SPITTOON |
Criminal points to what you can hack into (8)
|
| (POINTS TO)* | ||
| 7 | IMMOBILISE |
International oil company banking millions is over energy freeze (10)
|
| I (international), MOBIL (oil company) banking/including M (millions) + IS, all before (over) E (energy). | ||
| 14 | STAFF NURSE |
US fans fret about health worker (5,5)
|
| (US FANS FRET)* | ||
| 17 | BEHOLDER |
‘How to front a Slade tribute band’ – Observer (8)
|
| BE (Noddy, former lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the English rock band Slade) HOLDER. | ||
| 18 | NEARSIDE |
In Britain the left finally win despite idiot controlling papers (8)
|
| wiN despitE + ARSE (idiot) including/controlling ID (papers). Insert a mental comma after Britain in the definition if the anastrophic word order rankles. | ||
| 19 | ASHTRAY |
Heroin in wrong receptacle (7)
|
| H (Heroin) in AS_TRAY (wrong). | ||
| 21 | MACULA |
Spot batty aristocrat with Frenchman for doctor (6)
|
| Count DRACULA (a ‘batty aristocrat’) with M (French abbreviation for Monsieur, so ‘Frenchman’) swapped for DR (doctor). | ||
| 23 | ELFISH |
Ultimately cue ball angle is tricky (6)
|
| cuE balL + FISH. | ||
| 26 | LOOT |
Spoils ladies, maybe source of tension (4)
|
| LOO (ladies, maybe) + T[ension]. |
Lots of fun from Henri, as MyCrossword aficionados have come to expect, and a great PDM when the Nina and related solution revealed themselves. MACULA, NEARSIDE and SPITTOON (COTD) my pick of the clues. Thanks both.