The closing date for this puzzle was also postponed from the usual following Saturday until today, for obvious reasons.
I was surprised not to spot anything thematic this week, despite the puzzle being published on Boxing Day, and the grid looking very much ripe for a Nina. Perhaps readers with keener eyes than myself might be able to correct me.
Apologies for a slightly skimpy blog due to reduced IT facilities. I’ll try to flesh things out a little in due course if possible.
*=anagram, []=dropped, <=reversed. Hover to expand abbreviations.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 8 | MEMORISE – ME + (IS MORE)*. |
| 9 | ALERT – ALE + RT. |
| 10 | INFLUENCED – IN + FLUE + N[eeding] + CED[e]. |
| 11 | OWNS – O + W[i]N[e]S. |
| 12 | TYPIST – (Y[outh] in TP) + IS + T. |
| 14 | ROMANTIC – ROMAN + CIT<. |
| 15 | APPEARS – A[ssociated] P[ress] P[ublished] E[dited] A[lmanac] R[evealing] S[candal]. |
| 17 | MASSAGE – MA’S SAGE. |
| 20 | BETTERED – BET + (R in TEE) + D. |
| 22 | CASTLE – CAST + LE. |
| 24 | LEAF – [capab]LE AF[ghani]. |
| 25 | PERFORMERS – PER + FORMER + S. |
| 27 | DREAD – [inspire]D + RE + AD. |
| 28 | SPECIMEN – CEPS< + MINE*. |
| Down | |
| 1 | TEENSY – [ferre]T + SEEN* + Y. |
| 2 | COOL – CO + O + L. |
| 3 | DIRECTOR – DIRE + CT + O + R. |
| 4 | MERCURY – REM< + C + U + RY. |
| 5 | RANDOM – (A + N + DO) in RM. |
| 6 | RECOGNISES – both I and [th]E inserted into CONGRESS*. |
| 7 | STUNNING – NUN* in STING. |
| 13 | IDENTIFIED – DEFINITE* in ID. |
| 16 | PRETENDS – P in TENDERS*. |
| 18 | ANCHORED – hidden in [suburb]AN CHORE D[auughter]. |
| 19 | ADDRESS – ADD + RE + S + S. |
| 21 | RAPIDS – ([yachtsmanshi]P in RAID) + S[ome]. |
| 23 | LARDER – L + A[fte]R + ED< + R. |
| 26 | MAID – M + AID. |
Thanks for the review Simon. Believe it or not, there was a Nina in there (somewhere) 😉
Oh! I’ll keep looking then *stares at grid forlornly*
[Edit] Hah, OK. I now see that staring at the grid was the wrong thing to do. Thanks, Hieroglyph.
Oh, that’s neat. Thank you, Hieroglyph, and the same (belatedly) to you and all setters and bloggers.
Thanks for the blog and the reminder Simon. I recall doing this crossword at some point during the haze of the festive break (oh, how long ago that already feels..)
On completion of the grid, I looked at it thinking ‘there’s a nina in there somewhere’, but never did see it ! Would anyone be able to kindly satisfy my curiosity as my grid is history.
Phil R: as hinted by Hieroglyph and Simon, the nina isn’t in the grid but in the initial letters of the clues, which spell out a seasonal message.