Wiglaf provides the Thursday challenge this week.
There are a couple of clues where I can’t quite work out the wordplay.
For BLOTTO (17 across), I can see where all the constituent parts (BL (British Library) O (old), T (time), and TO< (Old Testament) are referenced, but I struggle a bit with placing them in the right order. I think it is probably BL O (T) TO<
For SMUDGE (19 across), I wonder if it is a triple definition, as I can’t see how some of the letters are referenced otherwise. However, I can’t find a dictionary that lists each of mark, industrial waste and large mark as definitions.
ELDEST HAND (4 down) was a new word/phrase for me.
I didn’t realise that the MORNING STAR (12 down) was still in print, but a quick search of the Internet brought up the front page of the current edition. I thought the clue for this was very good. I also liked the clue for UNDERTONE at 16 down.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 | Cycling round the real West End of London? Not Barking (3,5)
ALL THERE (completely sane, of normal intelligence; not barking mad) THE REAL L (leftmost letter of [West End of] London) with all the letters cycled five positions to the left and round to the end to form ALL THERE ALL THERE |
| 6 | Papers kept in small trophy somewhere in London (6)
SIDCUP (suburban district of South East London; somewhere in London) ID (identity papers) contained in (kept in) (S [small]+ CUP [a trophy]) S (ID) CUP |
| 9 | Maybe hiding from danger underground (6)
GERUND (A noun formed from a verb, denoting an action or state. In English, the gerund, like the present participle, is formed in -ing: e.g. the hiding [hiding-pace] was not easily found; maybe hiding) GERUND (hidden word in [from] danGER UNDerground) GERUND |
| 10 | Professor suspected of murder seen at opera house before darkness finally falls (8)
PLUMMETS (plunges; drops down falls) PLUM (reference Professor PLUM, a murder suspect in the game of Cluedo) + MET (short name of the METropolitan Opera in New York) + S (last letter of [finally] fallS) PLUM MET S |
| 11 | Stressed MP? Ease his stress (9)
EMPHASISE (stress) Anagram of (stressed) MP EASE HIS EMPHASISE* |
| 13 | Ethiopian princess who dies in city square after being flayed (4)
AIDA (In Verdi’s opera, AIDA, the title character is an Ethiopian princess who dies in the final scene) mAIDAn (In India or Pakistan, a maidan is an open space used for meetings, sports, etc. The word can also refer to a city square) excluding the outer letters (flayed [skinned]) M and N AIDA |
| 15 | Spent hours collecting good preliminary sketches (6)
ROUGHS (preliminary sketches) An anagram of (spent) HOURS containing (collecting) G (good) ROU (G) HS* |
| 17 | Wasted time in British Library with old religious texts from the east (6)
BLOTTO (drunk; wasted) T (time) contained in (in) (BL [British Library] + O [old] + OT [Old Testament; religious books] reversed [from the East]) BL O (T) TO< |
| 18 | Place an order for tinned nuts (6)
INDENT (place an order for( An anagram of (nuts) TINNED INDENT* |
| 19 | Mark made by industrial waste, making large mark (6)
SMUDGE (dirty mark, often large in size) I’m not sure how the wordplay works here. I have found a definition for red MUD as ‘a type of industrial waste’ but I don’t see how the letters S, G and E are clued. SMUDGE |
| 21 | Harmful organism concealed by fingermark (4)
GERM (harmful micro-organism) GERM (hidden word in [concealed by] finGERMark) GERM |
| 22 | Escort business used by a Conservative (9)
ACCOMPANY (escort) A + C (Conservative) + COMPANY (business) A C COMPANY |
| 25 | Posh car follows street walker (8)
STROLLER (walker) ST (street) + ROLLER (Rolls Royce; posh car) ST ROLLER |
| 26 | Tree found in areas full of prickly plants after temperature’s dropped (6)
ACACIA (a tree) CACtI (prickly plants) excluding (dropped) T (temperature) contained in (in) (A [area] + A [area] giving areas) A (CACI) A |
| 28 | East side of Leyton (6)
ORIENT (Eastern; East) ORIENT (reference the football team [side] Leyton ORIENT, currently playing in the English Football League One) double definition ORIENT |
| 29 | Cross-eyed brat thrown under the bus (8)
BETRAYED (handed over or exposed to an enemy; thrown under a bus) Anagram of (cross) EYED BRAT BETRAYED* |
| Down | |
| 2 | Wingless insects remain in a state of inactivity (3)
LIE (remain in a state of inactivity) fLIEs (insects) excluding the outer letters F and S (wingless) LIE |
| 3 | Verity gets tense sitting next to David’s great-grandmother (5)
TRUTH (verity) T (tense) + RUTH (The Bible tells us that RUTH was the great-grandmother of King David) T RUTH |
| 4 | The best placed card player from Athens led off with diamonds (6,4)
ELDEST HAND (in card-playing, the player on the dealer’s left, who leads; the best placed card player) Anagram of (off) ATHENS LED + D (diamonds) ELDEST HAN* D |
| 5 | Former model making out (6)
EXPOSE (out [to make public]) EX– (former) + POSE (model) EX POSE |
| 6 | Pornographic material is mounted at prime locations (4)
SMUT (mildly obscene or pornographic material) SMUT (letters 2, 3, 5 and 7 [first four prime numbers] of iS MoUnTed) S M U T |
| 7 | Dark humour spread thick (3-6)
DIM-WITTED (stupid; thick) DIM (dark) + WIT (humour) + TED (to spread new mown grass for drying) DIM WIT TED |
| 8 | Mad, mad ruler, not very progressive (11)
ULTRAMODERN (very progressive) Anagram of (mad) MAD RULER NOT ULTRAMODERN* |
| 12 | Out of energy, remain strong when waving red rag (7,4)
MORNING STAR (a left-wing [red] British daily newspaper [rag]) Anagram of (when waving) ReMAIN STRONG excluding (out of) E (energy) MORNING STAR* |
| 14 | Theatrical chap provides accommodation for young man in 24 (10)
FLAMBOYANT (ostentatious; theatrical) (MAN [chap] containing [providing accommodation for] BOY [young man]) all contained in (in) FLAT (entry at 24 down) FLA (M (BOY) AN) T |
| 16 | European articles give greater strength to this suggestion (9)
UNDERTONE (suggestion) (UN [French {European} form of ‘a’, the indefinite article] + DER [German {European} form of ‘the’, the definite article] – giving European articles) + TONE (to give greater strength to) UN DER TONE |
| 20 | Second century Semite amulet (6)
SCARAB (a gem carved in the form of a beetle, used by the Ancient Egyptians as an amulet) S (second) + C (century) + ARAB (one of the Semitic people; Semite) S C ARAB |
| 23 | Romp on a beach in Ibiza? (5)
PLAYA (Spanish [Ibiza] word for beach) PLAY (romp) + A PLAY A |
| 24 | Note pad (4)
FLAT (a musical note lowered by one semitone) FLAT (living accommodation; pad) double definition FLAT |
| 27 | Passion leads to intimate relations and unlimited sex (3)
IRE (passion) IR (initial letters of [leads to] each of Intimate and Relations) + E (letter remaining in sEx when the outer letters S and X are removed [unlimited]) I R E |
Re SMUDGE, I went for “SLUDGE”, , turning the L into M.
Parsed SMUDGE as @1. Don’t see any problem with the parsing of BLOTTO. In 10a, the S is from darknesS.
Excellent puzzle, testing, but not by using any bizarro clues. Very enjoyable, and crafty.
BLOTTO, 17(ac), I’m with duncanS….I got the answer, but the wordplay was elusive.
I sort of rationalised it as
British Library, BL, with “old” (O)and religious books reversed , OT (becomes TO).
That gives BLOTO, insert the T , ( for “time”).
I may have just repeated what duncan said!
I did not know “maidan”, so AIDA (13ac), was from the definition only. Thanks for the parsing!
I goofed out, too, on DIM-WITTED, 7(d). I sort of went for ” humour being spread”, as “witted”!
So a very apt definition of my performance.
Impressive puzzle & blog, big thanks to Wiglaf & duncanS
Something of a Nina on the sides? Ages + O / Days + P. Enjoyed the puzzle from another top quality Indy setter. Thanks Duncan; thanks Wiglaf.
sofamore@4 aha, you may be onto it?
But it’s beyond me.
The best I can do, is ” ULTRAMODERN”…. ” in this: day and age”.
Which, let’s be honest, is an awful shot.
I also meant to thank Duncan for mAIDAn. I could have word-searched ?AIDA? but was too lazy.
Another sludge > SMUDGE here. Also delayed myself for a while with UNDERLINE instead of UNDERTONE – lining certainly adds strength and the clue began to feel like a clue-as-definition since underlining also adds strength to a suggestion. And then along came STROLLED to stymie that idea. And I learned something today over and above the nho (m)AIDA(n) – with anti-Semitism fairly high in the news these days, I was surprised to find that Semite can be ARAB. I certainly knew it referred to biblical/ancient times but not how broad a term it actually is. Or was. My podium today is MORNING STAR, SMUT and the excellent PLUMMETS. I also smiled at the juxtaposition of the two clues for ACCOMPANY and STROLLER.
Thanks both