[If you’re attending York S&B please see comments 32&33] - here
I was somewhat surprised to find Quixote occupying this week’s Tuesday slot, since he tends not to appear on Tuesdays. However, as we have learnt in the past, such scheduling, far from being random, generally happens for a reason in this series.
In response to my Quixote blog last Wednesday, the compiler himself commented that he usually aims “(…) to write fairly straightforward clues for The Indy, while feeling free to spice up one or two to present a challenge”. Such spiced up clues would probably include 8 and 15 in today’s puzzle, both of which rely on more obscure items of vocabulary.
Overall, however, I found this a relatively straightforward solve, at the business end of which I was left scratching my head over the spelling at 15 (though the wordplay made this clear) and completely baffled by 8 for a longish period of time. My favourite clues were the partial & lit. at 10, 20 and 22, all for their surface reading.
And to come back to the reason why Quixote’s puzzle has been scheduled for today, if you read around the perimeter starting at the top-left corner, a message reads MY SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY. So, many happy returns to Quixote aka Don Manley (2 June 1945-).
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 06 | YETI | To this point one is only an imaginary beast?
YET (=to this point) + I (=one) |
| 07 | CUSTARD PIE | Drunk is captured in something of a pantomime act
*(IS CAPTURED); “drunk” is anagram indicator; a custard pie is a feature of, i.e. something of/from, a pantomime act |
| 10 | CAPSULE | Finally you may get left in space flying in this?
[<yo>U (“finally” means last letter dropped) + L (=left)] in *(SPACE); “flying” is anagram indicator; partially & lit. |
| 11 | LISTEN | Learner will soon be leaving primary school to pay attention
L (=learner) + IS TEN (=will soon be leaving primary school, i.e. at age of eleven) |
| 12 | ANNE | Woman setting about some men nastily
Reversed (“about”) and hidden (“some”) in “mEN NAstily” |
| 13 | FLASHLIGHT | Switch in plane trip to give source of illumination
LASH (=switch, whip) in FLIGHT (=plane trip) |
| 16 | INBRED | Home food, it’s said, is natural
IN (=(at) home) + homophone (“it’s said”) of “bread” (=food) |
| 18 | ZAGREB | City engineers in South Africa and Britain
RE (=engineers, i.e. Royal Engineers) in [ZA (=South Africa) + GB (=Britain)] |
| 20 | DEPARTMENT | Ardent temp working in part of the firm
*(ARDENT TEMP); “working” is anagram indicator |
| 21 | SOLI | Pieces for one not quite secure?
SOLI<d> (=secure; “not quite” means last letter dropped); soli is an alternative (to solos) plural of solo |
| 22 | HERNIA | Hearing not good? It’s awful – a medical condition
*(HEARIN<g>); “not good (=G)” means letter “g” is dropped; “awful” is anagram indicator |
| 25 | ATHEISM | Unbelief is conveyed in article by those people
IS in [A (=article, in grammar) + THEM (=those people)] |
| 26 | TICKETY-BOO | Permit unknown character to show disapproval? Fine
TICKET (=permit, as noun) + Y (=unknown character, in algebra) + BOO (=show disapproval) |
| 27 | CANE | Stick designation of drug on container
CAN (=container) + E (=designation of drug, i.e. ecstasy) |
| Down | ||
| 01 | MERCANTILE | Commercial centre with mail being sent
*(CENTRE + MAIL); “being sent off” is anagram indicator |
| 02 | YIPPEE | You must restrain little kid, not the first or last to give shout of excitement
<n>IPPE<r> (=little kid; “not the first or last” means first or last letters dropped) in YE (=you, archaic) |
| 03 | SCRUFFIEST | Most worn-out stuff Eric’s chucked
*(STUFF ERIC’S); “chucked” is anagram indicator |
| 04 | EARL | Noble king who went mad, with head sinking down maximally
L-EAR (=king who went mad, in Shakespeare’s King Lear); “with head sinking down maximally” means first letter – here, “l” – falls to last position in word |
| 05 | VICE | Wrong // piece of equipment for workshop
Double definition |
| 08 | STELAE | Birds that are little, not grand, rising from stones
EA<g>LETS (=birds that are little, i.e. young eagles); “not grand (=G)” means letter “g” dropped; “rising” indicates vertical reversal; a stela is an upright stone or table, plural stelae |
| 09 | DOSSIER | Tramp sleeping rough maybe has collected one set of papers
I (=one) in DOSSER (=tramp sleeping rough maybe) |
| 14 | HEART-THROB | Superstar idol? Time to get into hard world, little fellow!
{T (=time) in [H (=hard) + EARTH (=world)]} + ROB (=little fellow, i.e. diminutive of Robert) |
| 15 | HABILIMENT | Clothes receptacle that’s green inside – bit of headgear kept outside it
[LIME (=green) in BIN (=receptacle)] in HAT (=bit of headgear) |
| 17 | BEATNIK | Young rebel once defeated prominent LibDem but not Conservative
BEAT (=defeated) + NI<c>K (=prominent LibDem, i.e. Nick Clegg; “not Conservative (=C)” means letters “c” dropped); the beatniks were a generation of e.g. Bohemian poets, originally in the US of the 1950s, who dissociated themselves from the aims of contemporary society |
| 19 | BEDAUB | Splatter item of furniture with gold and black
BED (=item of furniture) + AU (=gold, i.e. chemical formula) + B (=black) |
| 21 | STITCH | Good person with something irritating, a sort of pain
ST (=good person, i.e. saint) + ITCH (=something irritating) |
| 23 | EMIR | Ruler from East on edge after revolution
E (=East) + MIR (RIM=edge; “after revolution” indicates reversal) |
| 24 | ASTI | Very loudly disposed of a strong drink
A + STI<ff> (=strong, of alcoholic drink); “very loudly (=FF, in music) disposed of” means letters “ff” are dropped |
I enjoyed the puzzle a lot, especially after having given up and then had a second try. I still needed the blog for 5d, however. Thanks to both.
Heather, I’m with you. At 5D, making “Vice” synonymous with “wrong” seems odd. Some of my vices are not necessarily wrong 🙂 I never thought of “vice”, and, desperate, entered “sine”, since a sin is wrong and “e” is a piece of equipment and a sine bar is a piece of equipment in a workshop. But it was my last answer and I thought it would be wrong, which at least was right.
Before that, 8D stelae was my sticking-point. I went to sleep thinking about it and wrote it straight in on waking.
Very nice puzzle, Quixote, thanks, [mutes grumbles about 5D]. Happy Birthday! And much thanks to RatkojaRiku for the background.
For the second time today, birthday wishes to the Don. I was glad the wordplay for HABILIMENT was relatively clear. A biffed STELAE was my LOI, although I parsed it shortly after I entered it.
A real birthday bash for the Don, then, appearing in other guises in the FT and Guardian. Many Happy Returns!
Trickier than some from Quixote but it was all gettable. Liked CUSTARD PIE and TICKETY-BOO.
Thanks, Quixote and RatkojaRiku
Happy Birthday from me too!
The Don already announced a week ago (in this very place) that there would be an ‘overkill’ of his puzzles in the broadsheets today.
This was the first one I did but I missed the nina completely ….
Yet I had my thoughts and today’s Bradman confirmed these unmistakably.
Nice crossword (as ever, I would say).
Many thanks RR.
Thanks RR and Don for a nice workout, happy birthday Don – not sure I’ve seen a Nina from him in the years I’ve been looking for them.