We found this a relatively straightforward puzzle for a Saturday. Nevertheless it was very enjoyable, and it left us with a bit more time on a busy weekend to tackle the Inquisitor in the magazine.
An unusual grid with the NW and SE halves only connected by the 12- and 14-letter answers and half the answers with unchecked first letters – this usually seems to make solving more difficult. However, the clues were all very fair with some very good surface readings. It was possible to deduce the more obscure references in 15, 18 and 23ac from the wordplay, confirming them with a dictionary (or Wiki) check.
Three TV programme references started to make us wonder if there was a theme, but we don’t think so – unless anyone has spotted something we missed! Younger solvers may have had some difficulty with 17ac, but although it is from the same era, probably not with 1ac – which had been going for 24ac before it was finally axed.
Lastly, it is a pangram – we become suspicious as soon as any two of the letters J, Q, X or Z appear!
| Across | ||
| 1 | Beside piano, frequently trendy work succeeded, where much of it was mimed? | |
| TOP OF THE POPS | TO (beside) + P (piano) + OFT (frequently) + HEP (trendy) + OP (work) + S (succeeded) = the former weekly BBC pop music programme where many of the performers mimed to pre-recorded music | |
| 9 | Ill-equipped old typesetter might sometimes be unlike one | |
| OUT OF CHARACTER | If a typesetter were ill-equipped, he might run out of characters (or letters) = unlike one’s normal self | |
| 11 | Old Manchester group including Liberal anti-nationalist | |
| ONE-WORLDER | O (old) NEW ORDER (Manchester group) around or ‘including’ L (Liberal) = anti-nationalist | |
| 12 | Sydney’s youngster finding ecstasy within ecstasy | |
| JOEY | E (ecstasy) within JOY (ecstasy) = Australian term for a young kangaroo, though there are probably not many actually in Sydney! | |
| 14 | Sign of distress, affected by separation, when wife leaves handbag | |
| TEAR INTO | TEAR (sign of distress) + IN T(w)O (separation), with w (wife) omitted or ‘leaving’ = handbag (as a verb) | |
| 15 | Selective informant rarely repeated words | |
| MANTRA | Hidden within the clue – or ‘selective’ – infer(MAN TRA)rarely = repeated words. Thanks Nestor – we had a ‘senior moment’! | |
| 17 | Doctor once screened flat appendage without expert knowledge | |
| FINLAY | FIN (flat appendage) + LAY (without expert knowledge) = ‘Doctor once screened’ – the lead character in the old TV series ‘Doctor Finlay’s Casebook’ | |
| 18 | Arthur’s relation to his father, keeping him away from the north | |
| SOUTHERN | SON (Arthur, or any other male’s relation to his father) around, or ‘keeping’ UTHER (father of King Arthur) = away from the north | |
| 20 | Anne’s daughter mostly follows Conservative policy coordinator | |
| CZAR | ZAR(a) (Princess Anne’s daughter Zara Phillips without the last letter, or ‘mostly’) after C (Conservative) = policy coordinator, as in ‘drugs czar’, etc | |
| 21 | Blitz on isle circled by Polish aces | |
| HOLES IN ONE | Anagram of ON ISLE (anagrind is ‘blitz’) in HONE (polish, as in ‘honing one’s skills’) = aces | |
| 23 | Sticking with loss of pound after blunder revealed way to blow notes quickly | |
| TRIPLE-TONGUING | G(l)UING (sticking) without, or ‘losing’ l (pound) after TRIP (blunder) + LET ON (revealed) = way to blow notes quickly (when playing a brass instrument, for example) | |
| 24 | Crucial fringes in society blocking party approaches forever | |
| DONKEYS YEARS | KEY (crucial) + S(ociet)Y (fringes, or first and last letters of ‘society’ in, or ‘blocking’ DO (party) NEARS (approaches) = forever | |
| Down | ||
| 2 | Cause of vertigo may be this too drunk US fighter in pub | |
| OTOLOGICAL | Anagram of TOO (anagrind is ‘drunk’) + GI (US fighter) in LOCAL (pub) = a cause of vertigo may be this | |
| 3 | “Demolish” as clue to “neck” | |
| OSCULATE | Anagram of AS CLUE TO (anagrind is ‘demolish’) = neck, as a slang word for kiss | |
| 4 | Tourism, primarily to unwind? | |
| TRAVEL | T(o) (first, or ‘primary’ letter of ‘to’) + RAVEL (unwind) = tourism | |
| 5 | Test squad missing leader but getting cross in | |
| EXAM | (t)EAM (squad, missing leader or first letter) around, or ‘getting in’ X (cross) = test | |
| 6 | Striking on behalf of Dracula, lifeless? | |
| OUT FOR THE COUNT | OUT (striking) FOR (on behalf of) THE COUNT (Count Dracula) = lifeless | |
| 7 | Covered by mist, holy houses attempt to contact spirit power | |
| SPRAY-PAINTED | SAINTED (holy) around, or ‘housing’ PRAY (attempt to contact spirit) + P (power) = covered by mist. Again, thanks Nestor! | |
| 8 | Arrange a pension U-turn with a worker’s contribution to it | |
| SUPERANNUATION | Anagram of A PENSION U-TURN with A (anagrind is ‘arrange’) = a worker’s contribution to a pension scheme | |
| 10 | Held forth about brief quarrel in possible snap at editor | |
| PONTIFICATED | ON (about) TIF(f) (quarrel, without the last letter, or ‘brief’) in PIC (possible snap) AT + ED (editor) = held forth | |
| 13 | Mother knotted quilt carried by short master porter, say | |
| MALT LIQUOR | MA (mother) + an anagram of QUILT (anagrind is ‘knotted’) in or ‘carried by’ LOR(d) (master, without the last letter, or ‘short’ = porter is an example of an alcoholic drink made using malt | |
| 16 | Turning antennae sorted partly seen US sitcom | |
| ROSEANNE | Hidden, or ‘partly seen’ in (ant)ENNAE SOR(ted) reversed, or‘turning’ = US sitcom | |
| 19 | Literary antagonist like this wanting ‘Punch’s last undelivered issue | |
| FOETUS | FOE (‘Literary’? antagonist) + T(h)US (‘like this’ without, or ‘wanting’ the last letter of ‘punch’ = undelivered issue | |
| 22 | Adult wasted in conversation? | |
| BLUE | Homophone of ‘blew’ (wasted – ‘in conversation’) = adult, as in ‘blue movies’, etc | |
Thanks for the excellent blog Bertandjoyce. I too started to look towards a theme especially when Joey and
Roseanne appeared. As one of the older solvers was ok with (Dr) Finlay. Always enjoy the longer answers to
clues so a thanks also to Nestor for Top Of The Pops, out of character, et al.
A couple of minor corrections:
15ac isn’t a double definition; the answer is hidden (selective) in (infor)MANT RA(rely).
In 7dn you’re missing the second P. It’s {PRAY (attempt to contact spirit) + P (power)} in SAINTED.
I meant 4dn as an &lit, T(ourism) + RAVEL (to unwind), but it also works as you’ve described it.
Thanks Nestor for the corrections – we were down to one blogger this week with one of us ill so it didn’t have another brain to check it over!
After a week, I can’t remember much about this except that I appear to have completed it. But I do remember that I had no idea how 23ac worked, so now I know, and thanks everyone for that.
Finding Q and Z, I wondered about a pangram and then didn’t bother to check.
21a held me up for a while as having got ONE as the third word I was looking for the first to begin with something that could stand for ‘one’ (“circled by Polish aces”) though I couldn’t see what ‘Polish’ ad to do with it; only after getting crossing letters from 16d and 19d did the penny drop.
In 19d I think the ‘literary’ refers to the usage of the word ‘foe’; it’s not often encountered in everyday speech or writing. A super clue, though, and a candidate for COD.
Thanks, Nestor and B&J.