Great stuff as always from Raich. I found a couple of terms slightly unfamiliar, such as at 10ac and 5dn, but in all cases the wordplay was unambiguous. I didn’t spot any themes or Ninas, so I think this was just a high quality and enjoyable Sunday afternoon solve.
*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | STEADY – DATES* + [holida]Y. |
| 5 | FRUCTOSE – (SOT + CUR)< in (F + E). |
| 9 | FASTENER – (STEN + E) in FAR[o]. |
| 10 | ALBERT – A + TREBL[e]. Pocket watch accessories don’t feature greatly in my stock of general knowledge, but the wordplay and checking led one quite clearly to ALBERT, which seemed plausible. A quick look at the internet confirms it to be a type of watch chain. |
| 11 | CREDIT RATING – (TRADER CITING)*. |
| 13 | UNDO – I think this is U.N. + DO, as the U.N. headquarters is in New York. |
| 14 | EMIGRATE – G[et] in EMIRATE. |
| 17 | DIRECTOR – D.I. + REC + TOR. I liked the use of “hillside” here. |
| 18 | SAME – (Uncle) SAM + [seattl]E. |
| 20 | CARAVANSERAI – (VICAR’S AREA AN)*. |
| 23 | NIMROD – N.I. + DOMR<. |
| 24 | EMPHASIS – E + MPH + AS IS. |
| 25 | INTEREST – [w]INTER + EST. |
| 26 | PSEUDO – (DUPES + 0)*. |
| Down | |
| 2 | TEAR – T[h]E [f]A[i]R. |
| 3 | ARTICHOKE – ART + I CHOKE. |
| 4 | YONDER – [carr]Y ON DE R[igeur]. |
| 5 | FERTILE CRESCENT – (NICER TREES LEFT + C[ivilisation])*. |
| 6 | UNAFRAID – U + FAN< + RAID. |
| 7 | TIBET – IT< + BET. |
| 8 | SPRINGTIME – (PR + IN + G) in EMITS<. |
| 12 | INDICATION – [v]INDICATION. |
| 15 | RUSTICATE – R.U. + ST + (CAT in I.E.). |
| 16 | STRADDLE – (T[rial] + R) in SADDLE. |
| 19 | WRAP UP – W[alke]R + A PUP. |
| 21 | AGREE – [b]EER GA[rden]<. |
| 22 | KIND – KIN + D. |
The perfect Sunday solve, thank you Raich and Simon too.
Thanks, Simon, for the blog, and Raich for an entertaining puzzle.
CARAVANSERAI is one of those words I’ve cherished since coming across it in a novel in my youth.
I particularly enjoyed the getting-on-for-an &lit in 5dn.
An enjoyable puzzle. Don’t think I’ve heard of FERTILE CRESCENT before so I learnt something too.
Well loved this but my qualm was exile is banish from the country and rusticate is send to the country, not really the same thing. Fertile Crescent unless my brain is going mad was the area around the Euphrates and why the the crescent is the symbol of Islam and the muslim equivelent of the the red cross. Anyway thanks NMS twas a good one.