An enjoyable crossword as usual from Morph. There is one that I can’t parse but no doubt someone will explain.
I found this so difficult that by the end I was just relieved to be there, even though there were still one or two that I wasn’t comfortable with. By then all thoughts of hunting for a Nina, which I’ve now done unfruitfully, were out of the window.
Definitions underlined.
Across
1 Swine bringing up rear to confuse defenders (10)
SADDLEBACK
addle backs [confuse defenders] with the s brought round to the front
6 Clean 25 (4)
CHAR
Since 25 is fish and a char is a type of fish this is a DD
10 One developing gun blowing head off (7)
EVOLVER
{r}evolver
11 Trifled, blowing a thou, being wealthy (7)
MONEYED
mon{k}eyed
12 Tablet initialised application reformatting column (6)
PILLAR
pill a{pplication} r{eformatting}, the fact that it’s first letters only being indicated by ‘initialised’
13 Cane endlessly deployed by head of house (8)
DOMESTIC
dome [head] stic{k}
14 Encouraged to circumvent fell that is bigger at one end (3-6)
EGG-SHAPED
egg(Shap)ed — ref Shap Fell
17 Fires rifles (5)
SACKS
2 defs
18 Old man finding source of magnetism in attractive woman? (5)
SIREN
sire n — you’d think that source of magnetism was m, but it’s n for north
19 Military formations in Rome disperse riots among extreme members (9)
TORTOISES
(riots)* in toes — this formation
21 Graduate’s Mrs slippin’ into somethin’ special with the boy (8)
ROBINSON
robin’ son — ref Mrs Robinson of the film The Graduate
23 Region of county that’s less cloudy (6)
UMBRIA
{C}umbria — the Umbrian region in Italy
26 Developed a crush on mountain because … (4,3)
FELL FOR
fell [mountain] for [because]
27 … I relax, taking ecstasy – but that’s a slippery slope (3-4)
ICE-HILL
I c(E)hill
28 Take boat, using assumed name, returning having clipped bows (4)
SAIL
({a}lias)rev.
29 Where to buy shoddy tights here? (4,6)
HIGH STREET
(tights here)* — not sure if this is an &lit. or something like it — it can be seen as a straight cryptic clue
Down
1 Tower of strength holding power over Spain (7)
STEEPLE
stee(p)l E
2 Amusing toy captivating queen (5)
DROLL
d(R)oll
3 Biblical monster? Sorry I haven’t a clue, only having second letter (9)
LEVIATHAN
(I haven’t a {c}l{ue})*, the anagram indicated by ‘Sorry’
4 Sick note under the counter (4)
BARF
I never got this, thinking it had to be BARN, with barn = sick in some way that I couldn’t of course see — when I saw the answer it seemed a bit wrong because barf is a verb, surely, so it should say ‘Be sick’; but no, Chambers says that it is also ‘vomited matter’
It’s bar F, where F is the note — some people don’t like these clues where a note can be A, B, C, D, E, F or G but they always seem OK to me: we don’t complain about a river being any of Dee, Ure, Nile, etc
5 Film-maker‘s line not acceptable for PM to hold (9)
CAMCORDER
cam(cord)er{a} — it had to be this for several reasons, but please can someone enlighten me as to how camera = PM — none of the definitions of PM in Chambers seems to correspond — Herb@1 points out that it’s Camer{on} — how obvious
7 Spooner’s appeal to journalists not to leave grass exposed in the field? (9)
HAYSTACKS
“stay, hacks”
8 Edits parts of agitprop theatre? (7)
REDACTS
red acts — i.e. left-wing acts
9 Joint has outriders from Kremlin everywhere (4)
KNEE
K{remli}n e{verywher}e
15 Profit mostly consuming dirty old Italian leader (9)
GARIBALDI
ga(ribald)i{n} — I think ‘old’ applies to the leader rather than to ‘dirty’, since there is no indication in Chambers of ribaldness’s age
16 Top up and be mother? Right, I don’t put fresh leaves in it (9)
POTPOURRI
(Top)rev. pour r I — “a fragrant mixture of dried … leaves …”
17 It’s, er, most agitated (9)
STORMIEST
(It’s er most)* — &lit.
18 South east wind’s rising assaults (7)
STRAFES
(SE farts)rev.
20 Bloody small crag? (7)
SCARLET
scar-let — i.e. a small scar
22 Crass, uppity fellow supporter (4)
NAFF
(f fan)rev.
24 “Get up, sunshine!” I heard (5)
RAISE
“rays”
25 When climbing, get scrape dropping off Red Pike? (4)
FISH
Again it had to be this, and I’ve just at the last moment seen how it works, I think: it’s (if)rev. sh{red}
*anagram
Re 5d – PM = Cameron, then remove on (= acceptable)
Thanks Herb. Simple of course. Blog now amended.
Lake District theme?
I found this fairly tricky as well, but the cluing was fair and it was a good challenge. It took me ages at the end to see the UMBRIA/SCARLET crossers.
I always love a Morph crossword and this one was no exception. I found it mostly straightforward with only a couple of head-scratchers.
Thanks to Morph and John.
Thanks, John.
Always look forward to a Morph, because you know it’s going to be tricky but not ungettable and there’ll be a few smiles along the way. Nearly had to give up in the NW corner, but once I’d seen SADDLEBACK then it enabled me to finish. Couldn’t parse FISH, so thanks especially for that.
No special favourites: it was a good all-round daily cryptic. I can see FELL, HAYSTACKS and SADDLEBACK from the Lake District, so Muffyword may be onto something (in which case, well spotted).
Thanks to the setter too.
(c)umbria, has fells called high-street, sail, robinson, pillar, saddleback, haystacks, and (high-)raise
Red Pike seems to be there as well
Thanks to John and the theme spotters, a fun run from the limerick lad.
Thanks for all the comments. As several of you saw, a number of answers are also names of Lake District fells. There are actually two more than 4across lists, though one of them is pretty obscure.
Truth is the fells which work as words/names don’t tend to be the better-known ones, so I thought this would work best as a subliminal theme, rather than expecting you to find them all. I hope that means solvers can enjoy the puzzle whether or not they spot the link.
A great crossword, as ever, from Morph. Many thanks.
(though a little unsure why the word “special” is included in 21ac. Feels extraneous….?)
Hi William, I was using the sense of ceremonial robes – Chambers 2nd def of ‘robe’ as a verb is ‘to assume official garments’. Plus it made for a better surface than e.g. ‘puttin’ on clothes’.
Challenge set… So there is also Barf and Steeple, oh and there is a Raise, not just high-raise..
Well done Andrew, especially for spotting Barf – as obscure as it was irresistible to include!
Hi Mick –
Thanks for taking trouble to respond. Unexpected, but much appreciated.
Your clue had me envisaging Anne Bancroft déshabillée (not overtly appetising; I was a preteen boy when I first saw The Graduate!) so ceremonial dressing didn’t spring readily to mind. But what you say makes sense.
This gives me a chance to thank you again for adding touches of delight to the panoply of my life!
Respect bruv!
William F P