A simple crossword but vey fairly and clearly clued, with an American feel to some of the answers.
| Across | ||
| 1 | CAROUSEL |
Musical merry-go-round (8)
Double definition |
| 6 | SLOUGH |
Cast off in southern Irish lake (6)
S for southern. LOUGH is the Irish equivalent of loch. |
| 9 | MODERN |
Way service is state-of-the-art (6)
MODE for way plus RN for Royal Navy |
| 10 | KING LEAR |
Play face card, beyond doubt lacking clubs (4,4)
KING is the face card, plus CLEAR (beyond doubt) after removing C for clubs |
| 11 | VEST |
Undergarment found in Cooperative stores (4)
Contained in the final two words of the clue. |
| 12 | ENTERPRISE |
I represent reconstructed company (10)
An anagram (reconstructed is the indicator) of I represent. |
| 14 | WISEACRE |
Smart Aleck’s telegram about resolved case (8)
WIRE is the telegram, surrounding an anagram (resolved) of case. Does this word ever crop up other than in crosswords? |
| 16 | BOOK |
Show yellow card to reserve (4)
Double definition |
| 18 | EBRO |
River, part of the Broads (4)
Contained in the final two words of the clue. |
| 19 | LINGERED |
Hung on, guided across raging Niger (8)
LED (guided) surrounding an anagram (raging is the indicator) of Niger. |
| 21 | CORNUCOPIA |
Cereal suitable for children – catch adult stocking one in abundance (10)
CORN is the cereal, plus U the film classification, plus COP (catch) plus A with I (Roman numeral for one) inserted (stocking) |
| 22 | NICE |
Pleasant Riviera resort (4)
Double definition |
| 24 | CLAMBAKE |
Picnic bun filled with meat (8)
CAKE (bun) with LAMB inserted. |
| 26 | ENCORE |
Last cut – heart, again! (6)
EN (end or last as an adjective minus its final letter) plus CORE for heart |
| 27 | POODLE |
Dog died in Dorset resort (6)
D for died inserted into POOLE |
| 28 | SNAPSHOT |
Photograph unexpected try (8)
Double definition. |
| Down | ||
| 2 | ALONE |
On one’s own in plant around noon (5)
ALOE surrounding N for noon |
| 3 | OVER THE MOON |
Ecstatic being in Open, the man second on? (4,3,4)
OVERT for open plus HE for the man plus MO for second plus ON. A dit disappointing having a word simply written in from the clue. |
| 4 | SENTENCE |
Condemn grammatical structure (8)
Double definition. |
| 5 | LIKE THE CLAPPERS |
Quick to appreciate those applauding? (4,3,8)
A cryptic definition. |
| 6 | SENTRY |
Guard small lobby (6)
S for small plus ENTRY (lobby) |
| 7 | OWL |
Hooter in arena leader’s blown (3)
BOWL is the arena (at least it is in America). Remove the first letter (leader’s blown) and you have owl, a bird that hoots. |
| 8 | GLADSTONE |
Happy to have stumped one English statesman (9)
GLAD (happy) plus ST (abbreviation for stumped in cricket scoring) plus ONE. Again, not a big challenge to write in a word from the clue. |
| 13 | RUBBERNECKS |
Stares at tourists (11)
Yet another double definition, but as both definitions refer to the same thing, it seems very weak. |
| 15 | IMBROGLIO |
Oil rig mob unfortunately confused situation (9)
An anagram (unfortunately is the indicator) of oil, rig and mob. |
| 17 | IN CAMERA |
Caught in Armenia? Strangely that’s kept secret (2,6)
An anagram (strangely is the indicator) of Armenia, with C for caught inserted. |
| 20 | SCRAPE |
Waste energy in awkward situation (6)
SCRAP (waste) plus E for energy |
| 23 | CURIO |
Unusual object may make you inquisitive, not us (5)
Curious, inquisitive, minus th u and the s. |
| 25 | MAD |
Very angry, mother and daughter (3)
MA for mother plus D for daughter. |
Thanks, David and Linda – I agree with your preamble – and Falcon for the puzzle.
‘A real 22, 24ac’ is a song from 1ac [as is, of course, ‘You’ll never walk 2dn!] but I don’t think that constitutes a theme and I can’t see any more.
I enjoyed this apart from 10a which was the last one I got. Made a change for me to complete a crossword in a couple of hours. Tipping with rain here in France so gave me something to do and enjoy. Thanks for the explanations and the puzzle.
Thanks Falcon and D&L
Late to post, even though I did this on the day. Completed in two very short sessions when I could squeeze in a busy day.
A great puzzle for someone learning the craft because of the crisp, non-ambiguous clueing here.
Finished in the SW corner with POODLE and CLAMBAKE the last couple in – more because that was where the clues led me rather than it being the hardest.