(Please click here for this same blog but with a picture quiz added. Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.) An enjoyable puzzle, not difficult, unlike some of the setter’s other puzzles. Thanks to Neo. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Meat balls so got from stale lamb? (10)
ANAGRAMMED : Cryptic defn: So how “stale lamb” got to “Meat balls“.
7 Leader cancelled demo in Bow (4)
ARCH : “march”(a demo, usually as a protest) minus its 1st letter(Leader cancelled …).
9 Finished as bridge? (4)
OVER : Double defn: 2nd: As a bridge is: across intervening space.
10 Ridiculous vehicle running on LPG in large island (10)
MADAGASCAR : MAD(ridiculous;way off) + [ A GAS CAR ](possibly a term for a vehicle running on Liquified Petroleum Gas).
Defn: … with unique species of flora and fauna.
11 Confine and suffer defeat in court (6)
CLOSET : LOSE(to suffer defeat) contained in(in) CT(abbrev. for “court”).
12 Loyal follower – chap from Belgium? (8)
LIEGEMAN : Cryptic defn: What you might call a chap from the town of Liege, Belgium.
13 Harmony and love in musical work (8)
CONCERTO : CONCERT(harmony, as in “in harmony/concert”) plus(and) O(the letter representing 0;love in tennis scores).
15 Grass blown backwards does for example (4)
DEER : Reversal of(blown backwards) REED(grass).
Defn: The family of animals, the female examples of which are the does.
17 Corner unseen in country garden (4)
EDEN : “Sweden”(the country) minus(… unseen) “SW”(abbrev. for “south-west”;one of the four corners on a map, or a crossword grid).
Defn: … in the Bible.
19 Line through targets where hydroplant destroyed (8)
TELEMARK : L(abbrev. for “line”) contained in(through) [ TEE(a T-shaped mark used as a target in certain games like curling) + MARK(another target, eg. of criminal activities).
Answer: The hydroelectric plant in Telemark, Norway, destroyed by the Allies in WW2.
22 Article in French newspaper it refreshes (8)
LEMONADE : A(in grammar, an article) contained in(in) LE MONDE(the French daily newspaper).
23 Dodger Luke finally to face Anakin Skywalker (6)
EVADER : Last letter of(… finally) “Luke ” plus(to face) VADER(Darth, who was Anakin Skywalker before he went over to the dark side). And, of course, Luke Skywalker faced-off with his father.
25 Dessert wine that causes another little wobble (10)
AFTERSHOCK : AFTERS(desserts, collectively) + HOCK(German wine from the Rhine region).
Defn: A ground tremor resulting from an earthquake, little only when compared to the preceding main one.
26 Missile key computer company holds (1,1,1,1)
I.C.B.M. : C(one of the keys in which a musical piece may be scored) contained in(… holds) IBM(the computer company, from the abbrev. for “International Business Machines”).
Answer: The Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile, the long range missile that proliferated during the Cold War.
27 Mysterious and violent character in London’s park (4)
HYDE : Double defn: 1st: The evil alter ego of Dr. Jekyll, by Robert Louis Stevenson; and 2nd: Famous London park.
28 Ultra-conservative Elmer, perhaps useless, departs within two years (5-5)
FUDDY-DUDDY : FUDD(Elmer, the antagonist of Bugs Bunny in the Looney Tunes cartoons) + < [ DUD(useless) + D(abbrev. for “dead”;departed from life) ] contained in(within) 2 x(two) Y(abbrev. for “year”) >.
Down
2 Original light opera starts for composer (7)
NOVELLO : NOVEL(original;not done before) + 1st letters, respectively, of(… starts) “light opera “.
Answer: Ivor, Welsh composer.
3 Moves right in – inflicts stab wound (5)
GORES : GOES(moves) containing(… in) R(abbrev. for “right”).
4 Half of soldiers responsible for motor part (8)
ARMATURE : 1st 2 letters of(Half of) “army”(soldiers collectively) + MATURE(having reached a stage of development to be responsible).
Defn: Of an electric motor.
5 Hitler mood faded to become politically moderate (6-2-3-4)
MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD : Anagram of(… to become) HITLER MOOD FADED.
6 Free to engage drive that elevates site machine (6)
DIGGER : Reversal of(… that elevates, in a down clue) [ RID(to free of, eg. pests) containing(to engage) EGG(to drive;to urge on) ].
Defn: Machine at a work site.
7 Stream diverted by what blocks it here? (9)
AMSTERDAM : Anagram of(… diverted) placed above(by, in a down clue) DAM(that which will block a stream).
8 Cleaner forced to go topless in absurd act (7)
CHARADE : CHAR(short for a charwoman, a lady who cleans homes or offices) + “made”(forced;with no choice) minus its 1st letter(… to go topless, in a down clue).
Defn: A patently false representation;a travesty.
14 Stock phrases individuals associated with eastern tongue (9)
CANTONESE : CANT(stock phrases rendered meaningless through repetition) + ONES(individuals) placed above(associated with, in a down clue) E(abbrev. for “eastern”).
Defn: A Chinese dialact.
16 Shifting in narrow lane’s Ken Turner (5,3)
ALLEN KEY : Anagram of(Shifting) KEN contained in(in …’s …;contraction of “in …. is …” ALLEY(a narrow lane).
Defn: … to screw/unscrew an Allen screw.
18 Thoroughly cook little fish found beneath ocean (4-3)
DEEP-FRY : FRY(the young of various species of fish) placed below(found beneath, in a down clue) DEEP(poetic term for the ocean).
20 Musical instrument on floor in Habitat (4-3)
REED-BED : REED(any of the musical wind instruments with a thin piece of cane or metal inserted into its tube) placed above(on, in a down clue) BED(a floor, as in the sea-bed).
Defn: A natural habitat found in wetlands, composed of, well, reeds, and supporting an ecosystem.
21 Male beast and one female in mountainous plateau (6)
MASSIF : M(abbrev. for “male”) + ASS(a beast of burden) plus(in) I(Roman numeral for “one”) F(abbrev. for “female”).
24 Tool that cuts into metal for so long (5)
ADIEU : DIE(a mechanical tool to form, stamp, or cut out material) contained in(that cuts into) AU(chemical symbol for the metallic element gold).
Defn: …;farewell.
(Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)
I didn’t find it quite the stroll that scchua did: and all the better for that. Thanks, Neo, for letting my coffee get cold: there were some elegant brainteasers.
I too took an enjoyable stroll through this one. Thanks to Neo and scchua
As usual, a most enjoyable puzzle from Neo. I think what made the solving easier than might have been the case (some of the clues were quite tricky) was that there was a fairly even smattering of easier clues across the board which meant that I could quickly gain a toe-hold so to speak. I liked the way “middle of the road” went down the middle of the puzzle. Thanks Neo and Scchua.
Thanks SCC for a splendid blog and to all commenters. Don’t think u missed a thing!
Cheers
Neo.
Cheers Neo, did most of this in my head on the complimentary copy whilst waiting for a job interview, spent the rest of the day celebrating. Hic 🙂