Dac is occupying the Wednesday slot again this week, as you might expect.
Speaking to a fellow solver about Dac’s puzzles last week, he said that he always comes back to a puzzle after solving it just to appreciate the smoothness of Dac surface readings, since when solving you force yourself to “get past” the surface as quickly as possible and thus avoid stopping to admire it. I think that I will follow suit from now on.
I found I had to work less hard at this puzzle than I would normally do at a Dac. The mini-theme at 9, 11 and 20 revealed itself fairly quickly in that, having solved 11 and 20, one knew that 9 had to refer to a teetotaller one way or another. Incidentally, the & lit. at 9 was my clue of the day, not surprisingly for its surface.
14, 26 and 23 were all new to me. The first two could be worked out unambiguously for the wordplay. As for the latter, I needed to cheat by searching Chambers, since I thought the wordplay might also give a reversal (“over”) of ERA (=the years) + PO (=Petty Officer); not knowing either OSAGE or OPARE, I needed to confirm which of them was actually an Amerindian tribe.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in double-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | NARCOTIC | High on crack, endlessly? It becomes an addictive drug
*(ON CRAC<k> + IT); “endlessly” means last letter dropped; “high” is anagram indicator |
| 06 | CAPRI | Top Rhode Island holiday destination
CAP (=top) + RI (=Rhode Island) |
| 10 | OUSEL | Timid creature decapitated by large bird
<m>OUSE (=timid creature; “decapitated” means first letter dropped) + L (=large) |
| 11 | SMALL BEER | What 9 refuses is of no importance
A total abstainer (=entry at 9) would refuse (to drink a) small beer |
| 12 | AMERIND | 23 perhaps, transported by steamer in Delaware
Hidden in “steAMER IN Delaware”; Osage (=entry at 23) is an Amerind tribe |
| 13 | DIETING | Daughter namely sound as a bell, eating fewer calories
D (=daughter) + I.E. (=namely) + TING (=sound as a bell) |
| 14 | ARMCHAIR GENERAL | A rich earl in conflict with German, would-be military expert?
*(A RICH EARL + GERMAN); “in conflict” is anagram indicator; an armchair general is an outspoken warmonger and/or a self-appointed strategist, often one who lacks actual military experience |
| 17 | SERVICE PROVIDER | Minister, one responsible for internet access?
Cryptically, a minister is a provider of religious services |
| 20 | ABIGAIL | Woman asking for opposite of 11?
Homophone (“asking for”) of A BIG ALE (=opposite of SMALL BEER, i.e. entry at 11) |
| 22 | TURN OUT | Eject all the spectators
TURNOUT, written as one word, would be “all the spectators” |
| 24 | NARRATIVE | Characters at centre of quarrel feature in local story
<qu>ARR<el> (“character at centre of” means middle letters only) in NATIVE (=local) |
| 25 | IRATE | Cost of daily newspaper makes you angry
i (=daily newspaper, i.e. Indy’s compact sister publication) + RATE (=cost of) |
| 26 | RASSE | Small creature hiding in grass etc
Hidden (“hiding in”) in “gRASS Etc”; a rasse is a small civet, Viverricula indica |
| 27 | DISCOVER | Find out what point DJ should resume talking?
Cryptically, a DJ should resume talking when the disc (is) over |
| Down | ||
| 02 | AISLE | Drink one’s found within section of supermarket
I’S (=one’s) in ALE (=drink) |
| 03 | COLDISH | Pass on food that’s not very warm
COL (=pass, i.e. in mountains) + DISH (=food) |
| 04 | TEST DRIVE | Try out new car – set out, then divert round the bend
*(SET) + *(DIVERT); “out” and “round the bend” are both anagram indicators |
| 05 | CHARD | Vegetable cleaned at home, you say?
Homophone (“you say”) of “charred” (=cleaned at home) |
| 06 | COLLEEN | Irish lass, first to get out of school before noon
COLLE<g>E (=school; “first to get (=G, first letter) out” means letter “g” is dropped) + N (=noon) |
| 07 | PREMIERED | Revealed for the first time what Mr Miliband aspires to be?
Cryptically, Labour leader Ed Miliband aspires to be Premier Ed! |
| 08 | IRREGULARITIES | Faults in one weapon held up among collection of unusual items
I (=one) + [REGUL (LUGER=weapon, i.e. a pistol; “held up” indicates vertical reversal) in RARITIES (=unusual items)] |
| 09 | TOTAL ABSTAINER | Who might be in tears, upset after having drink at a party?
TOT (=drink) + A + LAB (=party) + *(IN TEARS); “upset” is anagram indicator; & lit. |
| 15 | MARDI GRAS | Millions love to gather in French town for pre-Lent festival
M (=millions) + [DIG (=love) in ARRAS (=French town)] |
| 16 | GAROTTERS | Executioners using poisonous substance to suffocate scoundrel?
ROTTER (=scoundrel) in GAS (=poisonous substance); the question mark alerts solvers to the inappropriate means of execution deployed by the executioners in question! |
| 18 | IMAMATE | I’m meeting a friend at cleric’s office
I’M + A + MATE (=friend) |
| 19 | VERTIGO | In Hitchcock film, I turn green at the start
VERT (=green, i.e. in heraldry) + I + GO (=turn, as noun or verb); the reference is to the 1958 psychological thriller starring Kim Novak and James Stewart |
| 21 | LAIRD | Man owning land located across river
R (=river) in LAID (=located, i.e. positioned, placed) |
| 23 | OSAGE | Over the years seaman has become brave
OS (=seaman, i.e. Ordinary Seaman) + AGE (= years); an Osage is a Native American of a tribe living in Oklahoma |
As smooth as ever, thanks to Dac and RakojaRiku. These (8352-8354) have been the three most relatively straightforward consecutive Indy cryptics I think I’ve done, so I expect something fiendish soon (like tomorrow).
At 11A small beer is also a type of beer favoured a few centuries ago and so-called because it had a very low alcohol content.
I though 8D “irregularities” was a great spot by the setter.
I enjoyed this puzzle with its four long clues that helped me a lot. I particularly liked 14a, 17a, 24a, 8d, 16d & 1a and my favourites were 19d VERTIGO, 20a ABIGAIL, 2d AISLE & 27a DISCOVER.
New words for me were OUSEL, RASSE, IMAMATE, OSAGE.
Thanks for the blog, RatkojaRiku. I needed your help to parse 9d.
Excellent stuff as always. Thank you both.
Armchair Generals and their more modern counterpart Keyboard Warriors are frequently found on internet talkboards. I shall refrain from mentioning where most seem to hail from.
As ever from Dac an enjoyable puzzle. PREMIERED, SERVICE PROVIDER, ARMCHAIR GENERAL and DISCOVER all made me smile. If I ever knew RASSE I had forgotten it, so it was my LOI once all the checkers were in place and I became certain it was a hidden word.
Yes ‘&lit’ is how to undertsnad the clue at 9, which is very goood in this greta puzzle, because all the bits addup to the defintion! A couple of weird words maybe, bnut stil REALLY good!
Rowly
Thanks Dac for the usual excellent puzzle and RR for the blog. Too many good clues to single one out.
12ac: I would prefer “borne” or “carried” to “transported” here. To me, the sense of “transported” is much more about moving something than holding it, whereas my suggested replacements more directly suggest holding something. As always I have no quarrel with those whose opinions differ from mine, and this remark must be read in the context of the previous paragraph of this comment.
Another delightful puzzle from Dac – is there ever a bad word said about his offerings?
I particularly liked PREMIERED and SERVICE PROVIDER for their humour, and I too was one stuck with ??AGE for the Amerind. That’s what books are for though, aren’t they?
Once I’d convinced myself there couldn’t be a small donkey called an ASSET, RASSE went in, although I was getting it confused for a bit with our fishy friend, the WRASSE.
Fine blog, RR, thanks.
Thanks both. 10 out of 10!
Scrolling down the comments we were trying to work out what we could say but K’s D beat us to it with ‘delightful’!
As always there are excellent surfaces and the odd wry smile especially this time with 7d, 20ac and 27ac.
Thanks RR for the blog and many thanks once again to Dac!