Judging from the lack of notes and scribbles on my paper, this week’s puzzle didn’t put up too much of a struggle. That said, the last one in was 13dn which in fact remained blank until I revisited the puzzle prior to blogging today.
From the inclusion of several Zs and at least one Q, it briefly looked as though a pangram might be on the cards, though there’s no J, and perhaps other letters are absent too.
There are some very smooth surface readings in there, for example…well, pretty much all of them! I trust that 16ac won’t irk too many of the anti-football league, since the chap in question has barely been out of the news in recent months.
| Across | ||
| 1 | BRAWL | Shout when taking in boxer’s last fight (5) |
| [boxe]R in BAWL | ||
| 4 | QUIBBLING | Satirical work disowning society with conspicuous wealth? It’s raising petty objections (9) |
| [s]QUIB + BLING | ||
| 9 | EDELWEISS | In borders of embassies, see wild variegated plant (9) |
| (SEE WILD)* in E[mbassie]S | ||
| 10 | OZONE | Place once for convicts with a certain bracing atmosphere (5) |
| OZ + ONE | ||
| 11 | ZITHER | Spot woman’s stringed instrument (6) |
| ZIT + HER | ||
| 12 | ARTHOUSE | Cinematic venue you once found in violent eras (8) |
| THOU in ERAS* | ||
| 14 | BIDE | Timeless bathroom feature to remain (4) |
| BIDE[t] | ||
| 16 | GARETH BALE | Footballer struck the bar in blustery conditions (6,4) |
| (THE BAR)* in GALE | ||
| 19 | BEN AFFLECK | Recall knight and star defending inferior actor (3,7) |
| NAFF in (K + CELEB)< | ||
| 20 | LENS | Aid for viewing / French town (4) |
| double definition | ||
| 22 | SET-ASIDE | Terrible disaster largely associated with European agricultural policy (3-5) |
| DISASTE[r]* | ||
| 23 | SITCOM | Bread, perhaps, model firm gets first to make (6) |
| SIT + CO + M[ake]. I’m just about old enough to remember Carla Lane’s famous sitcom | ||
| 26 | YALTA | A lot of university volunteers noted conference site (5) |
| YAL[e] + TA | ||
| 27 | ORANGEMAN | Freedom of movement in ME country for one used to marching? (9) |
| RANGE in OMAN | ||
| 28 | ELOPEMENT | Activity to form secret union? (9) |
| cryptic definition | ||
| 29 | RUSTY | Where litter can be seen after sport, showing sign of inactivity? (5) |
| RU + STY | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | BEELZEBUB | Nick / another puzzle (9) |
| double definition. I’ll be blogging Beelzebub later today | ||
| 2 | ADEPT | Skilful amateur supported by section of university in short (5) |
| A + DEPT | ||
| 3 | LAWYER | Brief relay arranged to carry what’s newsy essentially (6) |
| [ne]W[sy] in RELAY* | ||
| 4 | QUIP | Clever comment from French team barring outsiders (4) |
| [e]QUIP[e] | ||
| 5 | INSURGENCY | Rising sun I represented with force? Not at first (10) |
| (SUN I)* + [u]RGENCY | ||
| 6 | BROUHAHA | Fuss university circle raised over expression of laughter (8) |
| (U + ORB)< + HAHA | ||
| 7 | INOCULATE | Independent having a clue not cracked? That calls for graft (9) |
| I + (A CLUE NOT)* | ||
| 8 | GREBE | Grand bird circling bay’s entrance – and another (5) |
| G + (B[ay] in REE) | ||
| 13 | TABLE D’HOTE | Check Indian garment I rejected in general at a fixed price (5,5) |
| TAB + (DHOT[i] in General LEE) | ||
| 15 | DONATELLO | Fellow, a Swiss hero, with love for sculptor (9) |
| DON + A + William TELL + 0 | ||
| 17 | EASY MONEY | Fat gained without exertion? (4,5) |
| cryptic definition | ||
| 18 | OFFSTAGE | What’s not seen by house viewers? (8) |
| cryptic definition | ||
| 21 | FINGER | Identify guilt in fellow destabilising reign (6) |
| F + REIGN* | ||
| 22 | STYLE | Fashion feature associated with country walks, we hear (5) |
| homophone of “stile” | ||
| 24 | CAMUS | Educational setting devoid of pressure for French writer (5) |
| Albert CAM[p]US | ||
| 25 | PART | Leave / character on stage (4) |
| double definition | ||
* = anagram; < = reversed; [] = removed; italics = definition
Thanks for the blog, Simon.
A minor quibble on 5d – I think it should be INSURGENCY.
This was a typically enjoyable IoS puzzle.
I wasn’t aware of that meaning of INOCULATE but it was the most likely answer from the anagram fodder. I hadn’t bothered to try and parse 19ac, and when I had B?N ???L??? I was convinced it was going to be Ben Stiller. I decided to wait until I had one more checker and when it came via INSURGENCY the correct answer was obvious. The GARETH BALE and EASY MONEY crossers were my last in.
I’ve just seen shikasta@1’s comment and realised I hadn’t noticed what Simon wrote in his blog re: 5dn. I did the puzzle online this morning and it is definitely INSURGENCY.
Thanks, chaps. Corrected, along with a couple of other typos.
22A needs E[uropean] after DISASTE[r]*.