A fantastic puzzle from Alberich which I got around to solving only pretty late in the day. But it was well worth the wait, with an eclectic mix of innovative cluing and precise wordplay. Thorough enjoyed this. Had to google to confirm a couple of responses but otherwise all good !!
FF: 10 DD : 9
| Across | ||
| 1 | JOTTER |
Judge evicts Henry from more fashionable pad (6)
J (judge) hOTTER (more fashionable, without H – Henry) |
| 5 | SHANGHAI |
Son needs fix, getting stoned – that’s said to impress (8)
S (son) HANG (fix) HAI (sounds like HIGH – getting stoned) |
| 9 | AMBROSIA |
American wild boar is lovely food (8)
AM (american) anagram of BOAR IS |
| 10 | ANORAK |
Alternative ways of portraying a night’s coat (6)
Awesome clue!! A (k)night can be depicted either AN OR AK (knight). / [See Sil@7] |
| 11 | NATION |
A bloomer, ignoring motor race (6)
carNATION (bloomer, ignoring motor) |
| 12 | IN THE AIR |
Prevailing but undecided when following up (2,3,3)
Cryptic clue .. If you add “in the air” after up, the resulting phrase means undecided. |
| 14 | ANNA KARENINA |
An extremely awesome Ian Rankin novel I abandoned for another book (4,8)
AN followed by anagram of AE (extremely AwesomE) iAN RANKIN (I abandoned) |
| 18 | ACCELERATION |
Speeding things up in case engineer’s real busy (12)
[ CE (engineer, civil) LERA (anagram of REAL) ] in ACTION (case) |
| 22 | DOGMATIC |
Opinionated creature married a jerk (8)
DOG (creature) M (married) A TIC (jerk) |
| 25 | DENNIS |
Guy did trespass, on reflection (6)
Reverse of SINNED (did trespass) |
| 26 | JAILER |
Screw jack’s given trouble? Let me see . . . . (6)
J (jack) AIL (trouble) ER (Let me see …. |
| 27 | EMOTICON |
Proposal to include chapter on John Le Carré’s central character, Smiley? (8)
[ MOTION (proposal) including C (chapter) ] on E (john lE carre’s central character) |
| 28 | SEVERELY |
Look at bank’s investing very critically (8)
[ SEE (look) RELY (bank) ] investing V (very) |
| 29 | SMYRNA |
Army’s beaten, defending northern city of old (6)
Anagram of ARMY’S around N (northern) |
| Down | ||
| 2 | OOMPAH |
Amateur’s gripped by enthusiasm for sound of tuba (6)
A (amateur) gripped by OOMPH (enthusiasm) |
| 3 | TERMINATE |
To finish, call in on mischief maker (9)
TERM (Call) IN ATE (mischief maker, greek goddess) |
| 4 | RESONANCE |
Ringing one’s mobile in foreign country? That’s a non-starter (9)
Anagram of ONE’S in fRANCE (foreign country, non starter) – Another very neat clue. |
| 5 | SEASICK |
Easy on the drink? Not at all (7)
Cryptic clue. |
| 6 | AVAST |
A vehicle’s stopped short on street! Stop! (5)
A VAn (vehicle, stopped short) ST (street) |
| 7 | GNOME |
Maxim Gorky’s capital – not so this writer (5)
G (Gorky’s capitial) NO (not so) ME (this writer) |
| 8 | ARABIANS |
A couple of Scotsmen on special horses (8)
A RAB, IAN (couple of scotsmen) on S (special) |
| 13 | HUE |
What about keeping uniform’s colour? (3)
HE (What ? = EH? reversed [about] ) keeping U (uniform) |
| 15 | RAINDROPS |
Popular doctor’s surgery succeeded after turning back a right shower? (9)
[ IN (popular) DR (doctor) OP (surgery) S (succeeded) ] after [A R (right) reversed] |
| 16 | NONENTITY |
Nobody in yet? Not unusual around noon (9)
Anagram of IN YET NOT around N (noon) |
| 17 | ACCOLADE |
Pop featuring in a recording gets European award (8)
COLA (pop) featuring in A CD (recording) E (European) |
| 19 | LEA |
A stretch of grazeable area (3)
&lit, Hidden in “…grazeabLE Area.” |
| 20 | ARCHERY |
Bow is needed by the woman with yen for this? (7)
ARC (bow) HER (woman) Y (yen) – Excellent clue !! |
| 21 | DISOWN |
Deny one’s to appear in Dutch broadcast (6)
|
| 23 | MELEE |
Mass exodus originally added to general confusion (5)
ME (Mass Exodus, originally) added to LEE (general, as in Robert Lee) |
| 24 | TIREE |
Flag associated with English island (5)
TIRE (flag) E (English) … definition couldnt well be English Island ! |
Thanks Turbolegs
As you imply, a delightful puzzle so thanks also to Alberich for a most pleasant start to the day.
In 26ac I think the ‘Let me see ….’ gives ER and the alternative solution JAILER.
15dn is IN (popular) DR (doctor) OP (surgery) S (succeeded) after A R (a right) reversed (turning back) otherwise ‘succeeded’ isn’t accounted for.
Sorry but in 24dn the definition could not be ‘English island’. Apart from the double duty, TIREE is in the Inner Hebrides and so it is most definitely a Scottish island.
Thanks, Turbolegs.
A superb puzzle, which took me a long time but it was so well worth it.
Excellent cluing throughout, with special mention for 14 and 27, ac and 4, 7 and 16dn.
I had JAILER for 25ac – I don’t understand your explanation of OR.
I think 21dn is I in D [Dutch] + SOWN [broadcast]
Re 24dn: I don;t think the Scots would like your comment!
Many thanks to Alberich for a most satisfying solve.
I’m sorry, Gaufrid – I should have refreshed before posting. [Although now out of plaster, my wrist and hand are still quite stiff, so typing is still rather slow!]
Hi Eileen
No apology necessary! I missed Turboleg’s ‘?’ in 21d but my parsing was the same as yours.
Thanks Geoff and Eileen – always great to hear your inputs. I will make the necessary edits.
Ref 24dn, just a very light-hearted quip .. no offense meant to anybody. 🙂 It was actually a faint allusion to what we were “incorrectly” taught at school several decades go in India – that the UK and England were equivalent. Or maybe I wasn’t paying attention in class 🙂
Despite the minor parsing issues, I am really quite glad I drew Alberich for my setter today. And even better to know that both of you enjoyed this puzzle, as I am sure you set much higher standards than my own for the puzzles you solve.
Cheers
TL
Hi Turbolegs
I think you and I have both been lucky today – Screw in the Guardian is highly recommended – and I had a couple of parsing wobbles, too!
I’m really glad you enjoyed this puzzle. Thanks again for an excellent blog.
Great puzzle (just like yesterday’s Klingsor).
Thanks Turbolegs, for the blog.
You found 10ac awesome but I have a feeling that something’s not right here.
To make it work for me the clue should read ” …. a knight’s coat”.
N and K are both abbreviations for ‘knight’.
I agree with Sil re 10ac but forgot to say.
Hi Sil@7 – Thanks for the comment. I am hoping Alberich will stop by and give a dazzling irrefutable reason as to why ‘night’ should also work – such an awesome puzzle shouldnt lose any bit of its sheen from a typo.
Cheers
TL
Turbolegs, I’m afraid it’s just an FT typo.
Can happen.
Thanks Alberich and Turbolegs
Terrific puzzle which I had time to get to close to publication time for a change ! I find him quite difficult to get the answer to any clue without a battle … and after I get it, often wonder why it did. I had 2-3 in each corner still to answer towards the end … and eventually finished with ARABIANS (hadn’t heard of Rab as a name before), SHANGHAI and the very clever GNOME (which I’d forgotten in this context)!
Thought the surface readings of spy thrillers was very good and acted as an effective diversion away from the right answer.
Agree that there must’ve been a misprint for ‘knight’ at 10a in what was a nice clue.
Only just solved this. An absolutely terrific puzzle on all fronts. Imaginative and witty clueing, interesting vocab and seamless surfaces. True enjoyment: not so much as an electron of mundanity about A’s/K’s constant and consistent stream of wonderful puzzles. Bravo!