Wandering from my usual Guardian beat, I find a puzzle by John Dawson, whom I know better as his alter ego Chifonie; the results are much the same, with straightforward clue construction, smooth surfaces and some ingenious misdirection. John Dawson gives his main interests as crosswords, music, and walking in the Lake District. Could one ask for anything more?
| Across | |||
| 1. | Victim is informal with heartless judge (8) | ||
| CASUALTY | A charade of CASUAL (‘informal’) + T[r]Y (‘heartless judge’). | ||
| 5. | Violin fitted with new string (6) | ||
| STRAND | An envelope (‘fitted with’) of N (‘new’) in STRAD ( Stradivarius, ‘violin’). | ||
| 9. | Worker troubled no master (8) | ||
| STOREMAN | An anagram (‘troubled’) of ‘no master’. | ||
| 10. | Creative work found in resort in ancient Greece (6) | ||
| SPARTA | An envelope (‘found in’) of ART (‘creative work’) in SPA (‘resort’). | ||
| 12. | Developed vital cure that’s profitable (9) | ||
| LUCRATIVE | An anagram (‘developed’) of ‘vital cure’. | ||
| 13. | Fish smell loses its initial character (5) | ||
| TENCH | A subtraction [s]TENCH (‘smell’ ‘losing its initial character’). | ||
| 14. | Bob Stein is conceited (4) | ||
| SMUG | A charade of S (shilling, ‘bob’) + MUG (‘stein’). | ||
| 16. | Reject oily cheese cloth (7) | ||
| TAFFETA | A charade of TAF, a reversal (‘reject’) of FAT (‘oily’) + FETA (‘cheese’). | ||
| 19. | Eagerly desirin’ a drug (7) | ||
| ASPIRIN | ASPIRIN[g] (‘desirin’ with the g similarly dropped). | ||
| 21. | US president gets transport to hotel (4) | ||
| BUSH | A charade of BUS (‘transport’) + H (‘hotel’). Take your choice. | ||
| 24. | Leave car with a jacket (5) | ||
| PARKA | A charade of PARK (‘leave car’) + ‘a’. | ||
| 25. | Heave when swallowing fish supplement (9) | ||
| SURCHARGE | An envelope (‘when swallowing’) of CHAR (‘fish’) in SURGE (‘heave’). | ||
| 27. | Turned and set free (6) | ||
| PUTRID | A charade of PUT (‘set’) + RID (‘free’). Devious. | ||
| 28. | Bureaucrat with a right to enter ministry (8) | ||
| MANDARIN | An envelope (‘to enter’) of AND (‘with’) + ‘a’ + R (right’) in MIN (‘ministry’). | ||
| 29. | Climbed like a snake (6) | ||
| SCALED | Double definition. | ||
| 30. | Logical ones dare change (8) | ||
| REASONED | An anagram (‘changed’) of ‘ones dare’. | ||
| Down | |||
| 1. | Keep lecturer in class (6) | ||
| CASTLE | An envelope (‘in’) of L (‘lecturer’) in CASTE (‘class’). I recall a previous discussion as to whether a keep was a castle, or just part of one. Anyway, it’s in the right general area. | ||
| 2. | Put an end to good spirits (6) | ||
| SCOTCH | Double definition. A value judgement here, but I would not quibble with it. | ||
| 3. | Some care naturally for The Ring (5) | ||
| ARENA | A hidden answer (‘some’) in ‘cARE NAturally’. | ||
| 4. | Hunting down Tory leader’s sport (7) | ||
| TRACING | A charade of T (‘Tory leader’) + RACING (‘sport’). | ||
| 6. | Give money to county officers (9) | ||
| TIPSTAFFS | A charade of TIP (‘give money to’) + STAFFS (Staffordshire, ‘county’ of England). A tipstaff is a staff with a tip, or the officer (of a court, for example) who ceremonially carries – or carried – one. | ||
| 7. | A way to keep all one’s products organised (8) | ||
| ARRANGED | An envelope (‘to keep’) of RANGE (‘all ones products’) in A RD (‘a way’). | ||
| 8. | Ed hated a fancy tie (4,4) | ||
| DEAD HEAT | An anagram (‘fancy’) of ‘ed hated a’. | ||
| 11. | Knight in venture that’s dishonest (4) | ||
| BENT | An envelope (‘in’) of N (‘knight’ in chess) in BET (‘venture’). | ||
| 15. | Soldier eats fish spread (9) | ||
| MARGARINE | An envelope (‘eats’) of GAR (‘fish’) in MARINE (‘soldier’). | ||
| 17. | Instrument scans round barrel (8) | ||
| PANPIPES | An envelope (’round’) of PIPE (‘barrel’ as a pipe of port; two hogsheads) in PANS (‘scans’). | ||
| 18. | Peter to rearrange a musical work (8) | ||
| OPERETTA | An anagram (‘rearrange’) of ‘peter to’ + ‘a’. | ||
| 20. | Is aware of pronounced smell (4) | ||
| NOSE | A homophone (‘pronounced’) of KNOWS (‘is aware of’). | ||
| 21. | Assault creates courtroom anger (7) | ||
| BARRAGE | A charade of BAR (‘court’) + RAGE (‘anger’). | ||
| 22. | Boring spell in rehearsal (3,3) | ||
| DRY RUN | A definition and literal interpretation: DRY (‘boring’) + RUN (‘spell’). | ||
| 23. | Fellow salesman’s up for a drink (6) | ||
| PERNOD | A reversal (‘up’, in a down clue) of DON (‘fellow’) + REP (‘salesman’). Pernod is the trade name of an anise-flavoured cordial. | ||
| 26. | Pluto tolerated bridge opponents (5) | ||
| HADES | A charade of HAD (‘tolerated’ – “I’ve had about enough of that”) + ES (East and South, ‘bridge opponents’). Hades is another name for Pluto, the Greek god of the underworld, as well as his dwelling place. | ||
This was a very nice crossword – all the cryptics today seem to be extremely user-friendly and entertaining at the same time. Thanks to Armonie and Peter too.
Thumbs up from me, too. Thanks both.
Yes, this is a good one – very nice indirection, of the sort where you slap your head at something that should have been so easy to see and really wasn’t.