This is my first blog of a Jambazi puzzle, and indeed one of the few puzzles of his that I have actually solved, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect this morning.
What I found was quite a challenging puzzle that I worked my way through fairly slowly, without ever rattling through a series of clues in quick succession. The last ones in today were the intersections at 26D and 30, and at 3 and 9. Moreover, the entries at 16 and 22 were new to me. My favourite clues today were 4 and 14, both for smoothness of surface, and in the latter case for using so many cricket terms in the wordplay of a clue to a cricket term!
It is Tuesday after all, so bloggers are always on the lookout for a Nina – and today we find one in more ways than one! The top row spells out SPOT NINA, but what we are looking for is not just any old hidden message, but someone actually called Nina, i.e. the US jazz/blues singer Nina Simone (1933-2003), whose surname is hidden in the grid, starting in the top left-hand corner and moving SE, i.e. diagonally. In additionally, the singer is named in 30, albeit in a clue to a Beatles song, while songs of hers have been rather cleverly integrated into the wordplay of some other clues, i.e. 12/21, 22 and 30. Maybe there are more references that are lost on me?
*(…) indicates an anagram
| Across | ||||
| 9 | PIANO | [I (=one) in PAN (=wok, perhaps)] + O (=ring); the definition is “soft”, of music | ||
| 10 | OVERCROWD | OVER (=deliveries) + [R (=right) in COW (=provider of milk)] + D (=date) | ||
| 11 | DEPOSITED | IT in DEPOSED (=sacked) | ||
| 12/21 | LIGHT-FINGERED | *(FEELING G<ood> THIRD); “hit” is anagram indicator; the definition is “as one on piano (entry at 9), i.e. the instrument | ||
| 13 | BIRYANI | BI<t> (=part; “mostly” means last letter dropped) + RYAN (=Meg, i.e. American actress) + I (=India, i.e. in radio communication); the definition is “Indian”, i.e. a curry | ||
| 15 | RELENTS | RE (=on) + LENTS (=fast(ing) times) | ||
| 17 | TIDAL | DA (=Teddy Boys’ style, i.e. duck’s arse) in TIL<l> (=entry at 29; “short” means last letter dropped) | ||
| 18 | ROB | ROB<e> (=habit; “taking drug (=E) out of” means letter “e” is dropped) | ||
| 20 | INFER | INFER<no> (=nightmare situation); “number (=no.) missing” means letters “no” are dropped | ||
| 22 | LEPTONS | *(<i>P<u>T<a>S<p>E<l>L<o>N<y>O<u>); “oddly lacking” means all odd letters are dropped; “mix of” is anagram indicator; leptons are subatomic particles with weak interactions | ||
| 25 | ARSENAL | A + [S<urgeon> in RENAL (=of the kidney)]; “initially” means first letter only; the definition is “side”, i.e. team | ||
| 26 | HERON | HERO<i>N (=horse, i.e. drug); “ignores one (=I)” means letter “i” is dropped | ||
| 27 | LIKELIEST | LIKE (=parallel (word)) + *(TILES); “playing” is anagram indicator | ||
| 30 | YESTERDAY | *(<nin>A <simon>E <introduce>D <m>Y <bab>Y <jus>T <care>S <fo>R <m>E); “finally” means last letters only; “playing” is anagram indicator; the reference is to the 1965 Beatles hit, Yesterday | ||
| 31 | SHELL | Cryptic definition: a shell is a bomb and Shell is a petroleum company | ||
| Down | ||||
| 1 | SPUD | S (=seconds) + PUD (=dessert, i.e. pudding) | ||
| 2 | PAMPERED | AMPERE (=current measurement) in [P (=power) + D (=died)] | ||
| 3 | OOPS | O (=ordinary) + OPS (=procedures, i.e. operations) | ||
| 4 | TOOTHIER | TO + O (=circle) + [H (=landing spot, from its H-shape) in TIER (=bank)]; the definitions is “with bigger choppers”, referring to teeth, not helicopters | ||
| 5 | NEEDER | Homophone (“we hear”) of “kneader” (=bread maker) | ||
| 6 | ICE LOLLIES | [<laure>L + OLLIE (=Hardy, i.e. US comic actor)] in <b>I<g>C<h>E<e>S<e>; “regularly” means alternate letters only; “close to” means last letter only | ||
| 7 | NOGGIN | NO + G<ordon’s> (“top” means first letter only) + GIN | ||
| 8 | ADIT | Reversal (“back”) of “tida<l>” (=entry at 17; “most of” means last letter dropped) | ||
| 13 | BETEL | [2 x E<ngineering> (“head of” means first letter only) interspersed (“repeatedly cut”) with BT] + L (=line) | ||
| 14 | ALL-ROUNDER | <b>ALL (=delivery; “bowled (=b)” dismissed off means letter “b” dropped) + RO (=run out) + UNDER (=junior); the reference is to English cricket all-rounder Ian Botham | ||
| 16 | SURAL | S<ural> U<dder> R<ash> A<ffected> L<ifeline>; “starts to” means first letters only; sural means “pertaining to the calf of the leg” | ||
| 19 | BLACK EYE | BLACK (=unlit) + EYE (=clock, i.e. as a verb, see) | ||
| 23 | PERISH | P (=pressure) + {I (=single) in [ER (=queen) + SH (=quiet)]} | ||
| 24 | SALADS | S (=son) + [D<olly> in ALAS (=sadly)]; “first of” means first letter only; the definition is simply “mixtures”, i.e. of vegetables | ||
| 26 | HOYA | HOY (=cyclist, i.e. the UK’s Chris Hoy) + A<rmstrong> (“top” means first letter only); hoya is a genus of Australasian plants, including the wax plant | ||
| 28 | LOSS | Double definition: LOSS is “bandleader”, i.e. Joe Loss of the Joe Loss Orchestra AND “disappearance” | ||
| 29 | TILL | T<esco> (“opening of” means first letter only) + ILL (=hurt, as a noun) | ||
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