Typical Armonie fare
This was what one would expect of the setter – the usual mixed bag, with clean unexciting surfaces, with the occasional gem thrown in. I liked 5dn and 15dn.
| Across | ||
| 1 | NOSING | Checking drink’s without fault (6) |
| NO(SIN)G | ||
| 4 | TOUCHING | Emotional contact (8) |
| Double definition, although their meanings aren’t vastly different. | ||
| 9 | TRESS | Emphasise cropped hair (5) |
| (s)TRESS | ||
| 10 | PECULATOR | Bear decapitated thief (9) |
| (s)PECULATOR | ||
| 11 | RETRAIN | Check if son is off school again (7) |
| RE(s)TRAIN – “Check” with “son” off | ||
| 12 | EMIGRES | Refugees regimes maltreated (7) |
| *(regimes) | ||
| 13 | EARN | Acquire some learning (4) |
| l(EARN)ing | ||
| 14 | HYSTERIA | Neurosis treated this year (8) |
| *(this year) | ||
| 17 | DEFRAYAL | Settlement of conflict is in hand (8) |
| FRAY (“conflict”) in DEAL (“hand”) | ||
| 19 | MOON | Low point in the sky (4) |
| MOO (“low”) + N (“point”).
“in the sky” is a bit vague, as far as definitions go. |
||
| 22 | LEVERET | Youngster always allowed outside (7) |
| L(EVER)ET
A leveret is a young hare, ergo “youngster”. |
||
| 24 | INSIGHT | The perception to manufacture this gin (7) |
| *(this gin) | ||
| 25 | ACCRETION | Collecting corps’ soldiers during battle (9) |
| C (“corps”) + RE “soldiers” in ACTION (“battle”) | ||
| 26 | ALIEN | A right that’s foreign (5) |
| A + LIEN | ||
| 27 | HERITAGE | Russian gallery loses Frenchman’s bequest (8) |
| HER(m)ITAGE, where “m” = “monsieur” = “Frenchman”
The Hermitage is an art gallery/museum in St Petersburg. |
||
| 28 | FLEECE | Swindle and rapidly leave church (6) |
| FLEE + C.E. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | NOTARIES | Never house officials (8) |
| NOT (“never”) + ARIES (“house”, alternative name for “astrological sign”) | ||
| 2 | SHELTERED | Her eldest becomes reclusive (9) |
| *(her eldest) | ||
| 3 | NASSAU | Man finds fool’s gold in the Bahamas (6) |
| Man = “N” (knight in chess), “fool” = ASS, and “gold” = AU, and Nassau is the capital of the Bahamas. Thanks, brucew for helping with this one. | ||
| 5 | ORCHESTRATION | Arrangement for lecture about royal casket (13) |
| R CHEST in ORATION | ||
| 6 | COLLIER | Depression settled on one reclining manual worker (7) |
| COL (“depression”) + LIER (“one reclining”) | ||
| 7 | INTER | I rent accommodation in Bury (5) |
| *(inter), with “accommodation” as the anagrind, one I’m unconvinced about. | ||
| 8 | GARISH | Fish is hot and tasteless (6) |
| GAR + IS + H | ||
| 10 | PENNY-FARTHING | Ordinary coppers (5-8) |
| Double definition – an “ordinary” is another name for a penny-farthing bicycle. | ||
| 15 | ALONGSIDE | Bordering a hypotenuse? (9) |
| A LONG SIDE (in a right-angled triangle, the hypoteneuse is the longest side of the triangle. | ||
| 16 | INSTANCE | Batting position for example (8) |
| IN (“batting”) + STANCE (“position”) | ||
| 18 | FERMENT | Iron workers in right tizzy (7) |
| FE + MEN in RT. | ||
| 20 | BLEACH | Make pale student enter lido (6) |
| L in BEACH | ||
| 21 | ASSAIL | Set about beast over trouble (6) |
| ASS over AIL | ||
| 23 | VICAR | See number one vehicle for clergyman (5) |
| V (“see”) + 1 + CAR | ||
*anagram
27A You have a typo. I should read “The Hermitage is an art gallery/museum in St Petersburg”
3D Do you think we will ever find out where the magic “N” come from?
4D You refer to this clue? Presumably another favourite.
Thanks, aid.
I’ve corrected my typos.
As for the N in NASSAU, don’t have a clue!
Thanks Armenia and loonapick
Found this a bit harder than the usual puzzle by this setter. Took a long time to see how NOSING worked as my last one in – but finally got there.
I think that N=knight, as a man in chess. Pretty tough call … but it works.
Liked HERITAGE when the penny dropped with the Russian gallery.
Thanks brucew
A facepalm, d’oh! moment. Of course that’s the explanation.
When I first came across “knight” in a club meaning “N”, I thought it was an error due to the use of sound recognition compositing!
I took the N in NASSAU to indicate ‘name’ = person. But I suppose on balance ‘knight’ has it.
Thanks for the blog.
I don’t understand why See = V or Man = N. I’ve never heard of signs of the Zodiac referred to as Houses nor Penny Farthings being ordinary.
I’ve never come across the word Peculator.
I therefore derived little pleasure from this crossword.
Thanks Armonie and loonapick.
All over in a flash although some of the definitions were somewhat oblique – in more ways than one if you include hypotenuse!
Ordinary for a Penny Farthing is an old chestnut in crossword-land so got that straight away.
Never seen C for Corps before. Another one to file for future use.