A bright and breezy puzzle for a bright and breezy morning. Nothing too fiendish: a bucketload of anagrams, plus one outstanding cryptic definition.
ACROSS
1. FISH AND CHIPS Anagram of F(ine) spinach dish
10. OVERDUE Simple charade of Over [extra] plus Due [expected] – barely cryptic, this one
11. AVOCADO A plus voca(l) [mostly noisy] plus do [party], to give the fruit
12. LATIN Hidden in pupiL AT INduction
13, 15 THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA Anagram of star a heralded VIP we, giving the 2006 Meryl Streep film (I wasted five minutes here trying to think of a triple-barreled film star…)
16. IDEA Idea(l) [perfect, shortened] giving idea [clue, as in ‘I haven’t the faintest…’]
18. HOCK (S)hock (stagger, having no head), giving the sweet white wine
20. CUT UP ROUGH Double definition
23. OUTRIGHT Out [dismissed, as in cricket] plus right [just, i.e. fair], giving outright [completely]
24. SOBER Anagram of bores, to give sober [‘on the wagon’ being a colloquial phrase for giving up drinking]
26. GALILEO Galile(e) [presumably a reference to Galilee chapel, without its end] plus o(ld), to give the great astronomer
27. ANDIRON Ad [notice] plus iron [golf club], ‘fencing in’ (n)ew, to give the iron bar also known as a ‘dog’ or ‘fire-dog’
28. PUT A FIGURE ON Put on [provide] surrounding a figure [a personality], for a phrase meaning ‘ssay exactly how much’
DOWN
2. INERTIA I [one] plus an anagram of near it [referring to the Deadly Sin of sloth, or idleness – not the lazy edentate]
3. HEDONIST He [male] plus don [teacher at Oxford University] plus is plus the t from troublesome, giving another word for sybarite
4. NOEL Novel [book] minus v(erse), giving a highly unseasonal Christmas
5. CRASHED OUT Double definition
6. ISOLDE I plus sold [betrayed, ‘sold out’] plus E(uropean), giving the princess and Wagnerian lover of Tristan
7. STARVED Star [celebrity] plus v(i)ed [competed, without ‘i]
8. FOLLOW THROUGH Another easy charade: follow [understand, as in ‘I don’t follow’] plus though [nevertheless] surrounding r(ight), giving a (verb) phrase meaning ‘complete’
9. WOOLGATHERING Woo [court (the verb)] plus l(arge) plus gathering [assembly], giving a rather quaint term for daydreaming
14. BROUGHT OFF Nice double definition, with the substitution being that of a footballer (who is ‘brought off’ the pitch)
17. CRUSADER Cru [sounds like ‘crew’, the collective term for oarsmen] plus sad [unhappy] plus er [‘re’, meaning ‘about’, upside-down or ‘capsized’] to give ‘champion’ in the sense of one who champions a cause, rather than the more common sense of ‘winner’
19. CATFLAP Love this cryptic definition, even though it hinges on a slightly loose use of ‘which’ (using ‘that’, which would seem more proper, would of course have let the cat out of the bag, so to speak); the catflap is a ‘way in’ that the kitty uses
21. UMBERTO Anagram of Rome, but to give either of two rather unloved kings of Italy
22. GIMLET GI [soldier] plus m(arried) plus let [allowed], giving a gin cocktail
Many thanks Ringo
This was perfectly straightforward and a pleasant relief after struggling with Araucaria earlier.
Many thanks Ringo, you’re a Star [sorry, couldn’t resist it :)].
Very good blog, not visited by that many people – even though Falcon is the well-respected Everyman.
Failed on two solutions (CRUSADER and the crossing ANDIRON), but with Chambers I would have got there in the end.
26ac (GALILEO) stumped me, and it still does (a bit).
Is it really referring to the Galilee Chapel in Durham Cathedral?
I have been there quite a few times, but.
If this is it, I think it’s obscure.
My Clue of the Day (by miles): the starter FISH AND CHIPS – fantastic almost-anagram!! Did I say ‘starter’?
Again, many thanks Ringo – liked your thoughts about 19d.
Re GALILEO, Sil, I think Galilee does not refer to any particular chapel, rather to a type of chapel (mainly from the medieval era).
PS should have written that ‘galilee’ ie without a capital to start.
Thanks Ringo and welcome to 15².
Hi Sil
Not necessarily just Durham Catheral. Chambers defines ‘galilee’ as “a porch or chapel at the west end of some churches, in which penitents were placed, and where ecclesiastics met women who had business with them”.
Oops, Niall, another case of me not checking Chambers.
In my defence, I did this crossword at work (during breaks :)) without having access to The Books.
Should have checked it at home.
[and I should have known that Falcon can’t be faulted]
Shame on me.