Apologies for the late appearance of this post but I’ve been out and hadn’t noticed that the scheduled blogger had not turned up. I’ve got to go out again so this has been a very quick (40 minute) solve and blog so there is only an analysis of the clues and no time to add any comments or to check for any errors or typos.
| Across | ||
| 1 | FOOD PROCESSOR | cryptic def. |
| 10 | CREEL | C[haracte]R EEL (fish) |
| 11 | BAIN-MARIE | *(MAIN) in BRIE (cheese) |
| 12 | TOASTIE | TOAST (drink to health) IE (that’s) |
| 13 | STIRS UP | STIR (prison) S[o]UP (broth with no end of tomato) |
| 14 | RAITA | [t]RAIT (topping characteristic) A (Australian) |
| 16 | IN ESSENCE | *(SENSE) in [pr]INCE (Charles, for example, without PR) |
| 19 | LANGOUSTE | *(LOAN GET US) |
| 20 | SAGES | SAGE (green) S[alad] |
| 22 | NARROWS | N (northern) ARROWS (missiles) |
| 25 | GELATIN | TALE (lie) reversed in GIN (short) |
| 27 | DOG VIOLET | *(I’VE GOT OLD) |
| 28 | ROAST | double def. |
| 29 | PRESSURE COOKER | cryptic def. |
| Down | ||
| 2 | OPERATION | PE (exercises) in ORATION (speech) |
| 3 | DELFT | L[oads] in DEFT (skilful) |
| 4 | ROBBERIES | [ag]E[nt] in *(OR BRIBES) |
| 5 | CHIPS | C (cold) HIPS (joints) |
| 6 | SYMBIOSIS | *(I MISS BOYS) |
| 7 | ORRIS | OR (gold) [b]R[a]I[d]S |
| 8 | STEEPLE | STEEP (expensive) [f]LE[w] |
| 9 | SCOTER | SCO[o]TER |
| 15 | APOLOGIES | A POLO (game) GI[v]ES |
| 17 | ENERGETIC | *(GENRE) CITE (quote) reversed |
| 18 | NEGOTIATE | *(TOE-EATING) |
| 19 | LINED UP | LINE (queue) D[espair] UP (ahead) &lit |
| 21 | SENATE | hidden in ‘worSEN A TEndency’ |
| 23 | ROGUE | GO (shot) reversed in RUE (Parisian street) |
| 24 | SOLAR | L (left) in SOAR (fly high) |
| 26 | LARGO | L (learner) A R (right) GO (crack) |
I thought this a very nice somewhat foody themed crossword today, thank you to Orense and to Gaufrid for the blog.
(I’m catching up on two weeks’ worth of crosswords — hoping that someone will stumble across this late post and help me out…)
In 25ac, how does short = GIN? Is Cockney rhyming slang involved here?
In 18d, how does “Yes” provide the definition for NEGOTIATE?
Hi Keeper
25ac: gin, whisky, rum etc all ‘shorts’.
In 18dn, the definition is ‘treat’. The ‘Yes’ is indicating that it is serving as both an anagram indicator and the definition.