Smashing puzzle from The Don – 28 across brill
Across
1 ANARCHIC lacking proper rule A R (king) in AN CHIC (elegant)
6 STROBE is flashy ST (saint) ROBE (garment)
9 ANIMAL what vet looks at I’M (this person’s) in ANAL (in back passage)
10 MARKSMAN crack shot MARKS (sounds like Marx) MAN (fellow)
11 HYMN thing to sing – sounds like HIM (not her)
12 MEANDERING tortuous RED< (Leftie with spin) in MEANING (definition)
14 BITTERNS birds TERN (bird) in BITS (morsels)
16 GLEN valley L (lake) in GEN (general)
18 OPPO colleague hidden in [sh]OP PO[ssibly]
19 ONE-HORSE dd (humorous)
21 PERSIFLAGE teasing I FLAG (weaken) in PER SE (by its very nature)
22 ACTS book [f]ACTS (information)
24 CAREFREE insouciant REF (sports official) in CREE[d] (statement of belief)
26 VEILED obscure VE (victory – VE Day) I LED (showed the way)
27 NEARLY not quite N (noon) EARLY (time for worm catching)
28 YOSEMITE National Park USA
YO (informal greeting) SEMITE (Jew or Arab)
Down
2 NANNY child-minder [rotte]N [children]N in NAY (negative)
3 RUMINATIONS thoughts RUM (odd) NATION (country) in IS
4 HALLMARK distinctive feature H (hot) ALL (everyone) MARK (gospeller)
5 COMPASSIONATELY in a sympathetic way (COMPLAINT SO EASY)*
6 STRIDE walk ST (street) RIDE (take the bus)
7 RAS Ethiopian prince RAS[h] (foolhardy)
8 BRAINLESS dim B (bishop) RAINLESS (dry)
13 REGIONALISM political theory (IGNORES MALI)*
15 IMPRECATE curse (ACT EMPIRE)*
17 RESERVES dd
20 AFFRAY fight FR (father) in A FAY (a girl)
23 TRENT river TORRENT (flood) minus OR (yellow)
25 EAR listener hidden in [f]EAR[some]
( )* = anagram [ ] = omit < = reverse dd = double definition
Thanks Jed and Bradman,
I agree that YOSEMITE was very good. ANIMAL was funny too.
Do you think EAR (Listener puzzles are to some extent fearsome) could be doubly clued, with “puzzles” as an anagrind for “are” as well as there being the hidden answer?
That’s a thought, Muffyword.
I was wondering what ‘puzzles’ was doing in the clue but I think you’re probably right.
Clever crossword again by a setter whose surfaces are not always appreciated the way they should (in my opinion).
I found the SW the hardest today and made one mistake somewhere else in the grid (9ac).
I thought ANIMAL to be too obvious even though ‘anal’ didn’t spring to mind. So I went for ‘enamel’: ME (this person) inside a reversal (‘back’) fo LANE (passage).
But then, ‘enamel’ is more something for a dentist, isn’t it? Although, vets do look at it too, I guess.
Thanks Jed.
Yes it is an ‘anagram’ and a ‘hidden’. Good spo t Muffy.