Mog has served up the Indy’s latest Tuesday offering. Tuesday is theme day, of course.
I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle, pitched appropriately at a medium level of difficulty for a mid-week puzzle.
I only realised that there was a theme when I re-read the clue at 29, which is a kind of instruction to look for the name of a band on each row of the completed grid. I have highlighted a name on all but the bottom row, where I haven’t spotted anything, other than the word BAND itself. I wonder if anyone else has …
As for my favourite clues today, I would highlight 3 and 7, both for smoothness of surface; 16, for making me smirk; and 21, for overall construction.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are underlined; a break in underlining separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| ACROSS
|
||
| 1 | DRAWING |
Enticing models could be studied thus (7)
|
| Double definition: “drawing” is enticing, attracting AND those “drawing”, i.e. sketching, study posing models | ||
| 5 | SCRAPER |
Bolt cut by tool (7)
|
| SCRA<m> (=bolt, run off; “cut” means last letter is dropped) + PER (=by, by means of) | ||
| 9 | PLAIN TEXT |
Statement lamenting old time, unencoded message format (5,4)
|
| PLAINT (=statement lamenting, statement of grievance) + EX- (=old, former) + T (=time) | ||
| 10 | CROSS |
Angry winger lets striker have it (5)
|
| Double definition: the adjective “cross” means angry, annoyed AND in football, a “cross” is what a winger should let a striker have to shoot at goal! | ||
| 11 | ARAB |
Big beetle destroying South Carolina – one from Egypt? (4)
|
| <sc>ARAB (=big beetle; “destroying South Carolina (=SC)” means letters “sc” are dropped) | ||
| 12 | BAKED BEANS |
Wild babes naked for part of breakfast (5,5)
|
| *(BABES NAKED); “wild” is anagram indicator | ||
| 14 | ANTIQUE |
Against mission forgetting saint of great age (7)
|
| ANTI (=against, counter) + QUE<st> (=mission; “forgetting saint (=St)” means letters “st” are dropped) | ||
| 16 | ENTRAP |
Catch spouse scratching backside in mirror (6)
|
| PARTNE<r> (=spouse; “scratching backside” indicates last letter is dropped); “in mirror (=reflected)” indicates reversal | ||
| 17 | LAVABO |
Volcanic flow starts to bury oceanic basin (6)
|
| LAVA (=volcanic flow) + B<ury> O<ceanic> (“starts to” means first letters only) | ||
| 19 | STONERS |
Cannabis lovers head for sativa hair products (7)
|
| S<aliva> (“head for” means first letter only) + TONERS (=hair products); stoners are habitual users of especially cannabis | ||
| 22 | OYSTER CRAB |
Seafood sorbet whipped up with a cry (6,4)
|
| *(SORBET + A CRY); “whipped up” is anagram indicator; an oyster crab is a small parasitic crab feeding off its oyster host | ||
| 23 | LURE |
Tempt liberal university with right drug (4)
|
| L (=liberal) + U (=university, as in OUP) + R (=right) + E (=drug, i.e. Ecstasy) | ||
| 26 | NACRE |
Cannoli, essentially ground stuff in a shell (5)
|
| <can>N<oli> (“essentially” means middle letter only) + ACRE (=ground, i.e. area of land); nacre is mother-of-pearl or a shell yielding it, hence “stuff in a shell” | ||
| 27 | AMERICIUM |
Radioactive element? Before noon, Curie mixed around one million (9)
|
| AM (=before noon) + [I (=one) in *(CURIE)] + M (=million); “mixed” is anagram indicator | ||
| 28 | CASTLED |
Protected man on board ushered past players (7)
|
| CAST (=players, i.e. group of actors) + LED (=ushered, guided); the “board” of the definition is a chessboard and the “man” is the king | ||
| 29 | DISBAND |
Split up and put down each row’s thematic group (7)
|
| DIS (=put down, rubbish) + BAND (=each row’s thematic group, i.e. each row of the completed grid reveals the name of a band, split across two entries (see highlighted grid)) | ||
| DOWN
|
||
| 1 | DOPIAZA |
Make Italian dish, going at midpoint for a curry (7)
|
| DO (=make, produce) + PIzZA (=Italian dish; “going at midpoint for a” means middle letter “z” is replaced by “a”) | ||
| 2 | ASANA |
Yoga pose was anagrammed, partially (5)
|
| Hidden (“partially”) in “wAS ANAgrammed” | ||
| 3 | IONA |
One charged entry to Adventure Island (4)
|
| ION (=one charged, i.e. charged particle) + A<dventure> (“entry to” means first letter only); Iona is a small island in the Inner Hebrides | ||
| 4 | GRENADE |
Note, explosive danger surrounds it (7)
|
| E (=note, in music) in *(DANGER); “explosive” is anagram indicator; semi- & lit. | ||
| 5 | SO THERE |
Drunk now, whether you like it or not (2,5)
|
| SOT (=drunk, toper) + HERE (=now); So there! is an exclamation of defiance, derision, finality, etc | ||
| 6 | ROCK BOTTOM |
Shake buttocks as low as possible (4,6)
|
| ROCK (=shake, swing) + BOTTOM (=buttocks, backside) | ||
| 7 | PROPAGATE |
Rugby player arriving empty devoured spread (9)
|
| PROP (=rugby player) + A<rrivin>G (“empty” means middle letters are dropped) + ATE (=devoured); to propagate is to spread, disseminate | ||
| 8 | RESIST |
Sibling tense after dealing with weather (6)
|
| RE- (=dealing with, regarding) + SIS (=sibling, i.e. sister) + T (=tense, in grammar); to weather e.g. the storm is to resist, withstand it | ||
| 13 | SQUARE MEAL |
Mare chewed though grass courses of ample size (6,4)
|
| *(MARE) in SQUEAL (=(to) grass, snitch); “chewed” is anagram indicator | ||
| 15 | TRANSACTS |
Does business answer for boring leaflets? (9)
|
| ANS (=answer) in TRACTS (=leaflets); here, “boring” indicates “drilling into”, not “dull, dry”! | ||
| 18 | ORCHARD |
Where fruit might turn red, if not green (7)
|
| OR (=if not, in this sentence) + CHARD (=green, i.e. vegetable) | ||
| 19 | SEAWEED |
What farmer sows bears wonder plant (7)
|
| AWE (=wonder, amazement) in SEED (=what farmer sows) | ||
| 20 | STEAMED |
United, under Solskjaer’s lead, moved quickly (7)
|
| S<olskjaer> (“lead” means first letter only) + TEAMED (=united, joined together) | ||
| 21 | COGNAC |
Topless dance in clubs twice lifted spirit (6)
|
| ANGO (<t>ANGO (=dance); “topless” means first letter is dropped) in C C (=clubs, in cards; “twice” indicates repetition); “lifted” indicates vertical reversal | ||
| 24 | UTICA |
Some pharmaceutical town in NY (5)
|
| Hidden (“some”) in “pharmaceUTICAl” | ||
| 25 | HISS |
A boy’s introduction to slide whistle (4)
|
| HIS (=a boy’s) + S<lide> (“introduction to” is first letter only) |
In the bottom row, it is LED, I think.
My top fave: DISBAND.
Liked PLAIN TEXT and ORCHARD among others.
Thanks both.
PLAIN TEXT was my favourite. Is LED a common way of referring to Led Zeppelin?
Super puzzle and blog, both.
I was not so convinced by whistle = HISS, 25(d).
ASANA and UTICA not in my brain bank, but fairly clued.
COGNAC 21(d), great clue.
The theme is very arch -disbanding the bands -but I spotted it only after completing, which also means the clues evidently didn’t suffer from themitis.
There is an obscure band called DIS, but may be just happenstance?
Both thumbs up, thanks, Mog & Riku
Great puzzle, very clever theme.
Thanks all.
Re the bottom row, there’s also a band called Cast. Great band. If you accept Led and Dis too, the whole row is made of bands.
Favourites already mentioned but PLAIN TEXT favourite today.
Didn’t know all the bands but Googling afterwards I atleast had heard of some of their songs. I am farfrom ever appearing on Popmaster. I spotted enough of them to finish the grid though.
Thanks Mog and R