In my opinion, a mixture of brilliant clues (5, 10, 20) and some of the things I don’t like so much in puzzles (14, 24) and a couple of clues where I’m not sure if they are good or not (13, 19)
ACROSS
1 STRA(TEG)Y
5 SPADES – quarter of a deck of cards, would have been easier if there wasn’t a typo in the online version (“round-breaking”?)
9 I’M-PUN-(p)ITY – (I think!) – this all seems a bit clumsy to me, unless I am missing something. I also don’t like “execution” as an indication of removing the first letter.
10 S(o)U(n)D(w)O(r)K(o)U(t) – quite clever
12 FULL OF HOLES
15 (<=S-ED-ON) – good fun
17 WARMONGER – (Amer wrong)* – took me a while to get this one, even tho’ I agree with the opinion expressed
18 STEP DANCE – (speed can’t)* – a dance where the emphasis is on footwork rather than body position
19 TIT-US – Religion is not my strong point, as I am an atheist, but wasn’t Titus the name of the recipient of the letter and of the book in which it appeared rather than the letter itself?
20 T-RUES-TORIES – no lies
24 HEEHAW – (dodgy homophone of HE-WHORE)
25 HOMESPUN – (menu Posh)*
26 TRICK-Y(ogurt)
DOWN
1 (<=FIN’S)-FINESS(e)
2 ROPE LADDER – (pal rode)*-(<=RED)
4 GET THE WIND UP
6 PAUL’S-CO-T.T. – author of the Raj Quartet
8,22,7 SHUT THAT DOOR – (tout had short)* – Larry Grayson’s famous catchphrase, although I don’t know how famous it is to non-Brits or the younger generation?
11 BLARNEY STONE – (near Selby)* out of TON
13 E-GOT-RIP-PER – Another typo in the online version – “Crush” should be “rush”
14 DR-ESS SENSE – Is this the record for the number of “points” clued as vaguely as this? Hate this kind of clue.
In 13 down I think the ‘per’ of ripper is the ‘for each’ in the clue. That leaves ‘rip’ for ‘crush’, which IMHO is still a bit rum. ‘Rush’ would be OK though. So unless I’m missing something perhaps this is the second typo in today’s on-line version? I’d welcome enlightnement.
Why is 24 down SEMI?
Per of ‘ego-tripper’ is EACH in 13 down but still can’t relate rip to CRUSH
Who was the compiler for this one?
It was that ingenious Shed.
My paper says it was set by Puck
In the paper, 13d mentions “rush”, not “crush”, which makes sense. Excellent crossword, I thought.
I think 24 down was SEMI because in a knock-out tournament the round with four teams is the semi-finals, so each fixture in that round is a semi.
Shame about the typos in the online version. There was also a special instruction about the word ‘this’ in clue 9 across being italicised – I assume that in the paper they just printed it correctly.
(Epistle to) Titus in NT is traditionally ascribed to Paul, so “letter from Paul” is fine. Gives a good surface to the clue, with a second reference to fellow cruciverbalist by Shed/Puck, or whoever compiled this rather nice one. 10ac and 17ac both excellent &lits. loonapick didn’t like 24ac but it made me laugh out loud when I got it.
Anyone getting the Cryptic on-line version from Guardian Unlimited should complain!
‘Twas mine. I have requested that the online version be corrected, both for the two typos at 5 across and 13 down and for ascribing the puzzle to Shed, but I haven’t checked whether that has been done yet. I think the confusion arose because originally Shed was due today, but that was changed to Brendan at some point.
Thanks for all comments, especially the positive ones! Seriously, thanks for all contributing to this site, which I find interesting and helpful.
Thanks for letting us know Puck. Thanks also for the kind comments. I’ve edited the post headline accordingly.
Am I too late to ask about this crossword? I don’t understand where the Home Counties train comes into REHEARSE. I expect it’s obvious and I’m just being thick but if anyone can help I’d appreciate it.
Home Counties is SE (South East England) and the def is train (REHEARSE) (and rehear is first part of the wordplay)
Of course. Thank you.