Can’t remember seeing a Nitsy puzzle for ages. Took me a while to get into it, mainly because I hadn’t done one of his for a long time and I always take a while to adjust to a particular setter’s style. Fine puzzle, with some smiley moments and good surface readings.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Vain display of power by head of Ofsted and Gove, perhaps
POMP
According to his profile, Nitsy is a primary school teacher, so getting in a dig in the first clue at the muppet who is Secretary of State for Education is an excellent achievement, and I hereby award him a gold star. A charade of P, O for the first letter of ‘Ofsted’ and MP. For overseas solvers, Ofsted is the Office for Standards In Education and is the teacher’s best friend. Not.
3 Smarmy count peculiar about university in front of American
UNCTUOUS
An insertion (‘about’) of U in (COUNT)* followed by US.
10 Bottom perhaps to undergo an examination with medication you ordered? Not I!
SITUATION COMEDY
I was into weavers, mechanicals and other ‘bottoms’, but in fact it’s the 1990s’ sitcom written by and starring Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmonson. I wasn’t a big fan, but I’d certainly heard of it. It’s SIT for ‘to undergo an examination’ plus (MED[I]CATION YOU)* The anagrind is ‘ordered’ and the removal indicator is ‘not’.
11 Powerful drug late in working
POTENTIAL
I might not have chosen ‘powerful’ as the nearest synonym for POTENTIAL, but it’s POT for the ‘drug’ plus (LATE IN)* with ‘working’ as the anagrind.
12 One leads in mosque, aiding Muslims
IMAM
I plus the first letters of Mosque, Aiding and Muslims. An &lit, or ‘all-in-one’ clue.
13 Rent’s getting high in instances of daylight robbery
RIP OFFS
RIPS for ‘rents’ in its ‘tearing’ sense (the veil of the temple was rent asunder …) with OFF for ‘high’ (as in food that’s gone off and starting to pong …) inserted.
15 Dramatic changes since beginning of coalition
SCENIC
Again, ‘dramatic’ and SCENIC aren’t that close imho, but perfectly fair; and a nice story-telling surface. (SINCE)* plus C for the first letter of ‘coalition’.
17 Blackcurrant flavouring finally replaced with a kind of cinnamon
CASSIA
Cassis (more fully, Crème de Cassis) is the blackcurrant liqueur; a good slug of that topped up with a glass of nice dry white Burgundy and you’ve got yourself the perfect apéro, a Kir. Nitsy’s inviting you to replace the final S with an A to give you a type of poor man’s cinnamon.
19 Cheeky thing to almost steal poison
ARSENIC
Well, an ARSE is indeed a ‘cheeky thing’ and if you follow it with NIC[K] for ‘almost steal’, along comes element number 33 with As as its symbol. It’s also poisonous.
20 Throw out offensive tomato sandwiches
VETO
Hidden in offensiVE TOmato; ‘sandwiches’ is the hidden indicator.
21 Stolen jacket, maybe – a tricky case
HOT POTATO
A charade of HOT for ‘stolen’ and POTATO for ‘jacket’.
24 Dad in Paris prepared for cleaning bird
PEREGRINE FALCON
Now then, a bird, and the obligatory Pierre bird link. The fastest animal on the planet: during its high-speed dive, it has been clocked at 242mph. Its name is related to ‘peregrination’ or wandering, and to the French pèlerinage and the Spanish peregrinación, both of which mean ‘pilgrimage’. It’s a consequence of its migratory or ‘wandering’ habits. And a brief note to any pigeons reading the blog: be afraid; be very afraid.
25 Type of ring European attached to bird softly, out of compassion
ETERNITY
More birds: a charade of E, TERN and [P]ITY. P for ‘piano’, the musical softly.
26 Move the can
STIR
A dd. STIR and ‘can’ are both slang terms for ‘prison’.
Down
1 It could be important on holiday to agree to drink
PASSPORT
A charade of PASS and PORT.
2 Something to sing about finally – champagne all round
MOTET
T is the final letter of ‘about’; surrounded by MOËT, the posh champagne, this gives you the choral composition.
4 Throw up on lens, drunk with no energy
NONPLUS
What some people call a ‘lift and separate’ clue: you need to separate out the two parts of the phrasal verb. (UP ON L[E]NS)* with ‘drunk’ as the anagrind and ‘no’ (again) as the removal indicator.
5 Flat broke so timid with new loan
TWO-DIMENSIONAL
(SO TIMID NEW LOAN)*
6 Aida possibly moving into management
OPERATION
A charade of OPERA and (INTO)*
7 Plant also unknown by Academy
SOYA
Can you substitute SO for ‘also’? If you can, then it’s SO plus Y for ‘unknown’ and A for ‘Academy’. If you can’t, then I dunno.
8 Show-off aunt sang – unfortunately not a shortened piece
SAWN-OFF SHOTGUN
(SHOW OFF AUNT S[A]NG)* ‘Unfortunately’ is the anagrind and ‘not’ the removal indicator. This setter seems fond of this device. ‘Piece’ is slang for ‘weapon’.
9 Signs of protest from Italian caught in acts of wickedness
SIT-INS
An insertion of IT in SINS.
14 Plant most of the grass on the trail of earth, perhaps
PLANE TREE
A charade of PLANET for the third rock from the sun and REE[D].
16 In the main it is glass
SCHOONER
A dd. The word means both a type of ship and a type of glass for beer.
18 A non-drinker maintains the chap is a non-believer
ATHEIST
An insertion of HE IS in A TT.
19 Song the man played in Perpignan – the Marseillaise?
ANTHEM
Clever. Normally folk who do cryptics say they’re easier than concise crosswords because you get two goes at getting the answer. Nitsy’s given you three here. It’s (THE MAN)* with ‘played’ as the anagrind, but it’s also hidden in PerpignAN THE Marseillaise.
22 Tie it up on bed
ASCOT
A reversal of SA for ‘sex appeal’ or ‘it’ and COT.
23 Bishop abandoned jugs on east section of church
APSE
Might as well save the funniest clue till last. It’s [B]APS plus E. BAPS and ‘jugs’ – together with many others – are both slang words for female breasts. In the Midlands at least, BAPS are also soft, round bread rolls, often packaged in pairs. Is there a connection? I think we should be told. Or maybe Nitsy should investigate this with Y6 during his next English lesson with them.
Many thanks to the setter for this morning’s entertainment.
Yes Pierre, it was an enjoyable puzzle. I saw the correct “Bottom” almost immediately so that helped with the top half. Having said that, SOYA was my LOI because I wasn’t happy with my parsing of it on first pass, although I was fairly sure it had to be the right answer.
The clue for ARSENIC made me smile a little more than that for APSE, although they were both amusing.
Merci, Pierre.
I didn’t do this puzzle – just dropped in to read your blog, which is always good for a laugh.
I’m very glad I did – it was worth it, just for the sublime 1ac! [In my teaching career, I was ‘acquainted’ with several muppets as Education Sectretary but this one takes the biscuit, I think.]
As for the last clue, my life has been so sheltered that I didn’t know either of those slang expressions. A bap is, for me, as you say, simply something to put round a burger and as for jug … So I would have entered APSE [‘part of a church’ is always APSE] without a clue how to parse it – so thanks again.
Thanks Pierre. Seen another in the FT I think by Nitsy’s namesake which was even nastier about Gove, and fine it was too.