Redshank cheered me up this morning
This was a very enjoyable solve with some clever wordplay and at least one clue that sent me off down a blind alley.
I had only one minor quibble (see HYENA) below, but some of the other clues were inspired.
Thanks, Redshank. Today is going to be a busy day for me, but at lweast I have started with a pleasant diversion.
| Across | ||
| 1 | COMPASS POINT | Eg south county member holds permit into ground (7,5) |
| (Co. + M.P. + *(into)) holding PASS | ||
| 8 | O’CONNOR | Irish name tree award on radio? (7) |
| Homophone of OAK HONOUR | ||
| 9 | ABSENCE | Lack what makes one conspicuous (7) |
| As in “conspicuous by one’s absence” | ||
| 11 | FOULEST | Utterly nasty note dispatched from dirty home (7) |
| FOUL (n)EST | ||
| 12 | TRUMPET | Blast comes from behind offensive trousers (7) |
| TET (“offensive”) trousering RUMP (“behind”)
The Tet Offensive was a military campaign during the Vietnam War |
||
| 13 | HYENA | Spotted one in Kenya, unwell, heading off for hospital (5) |
| *(henya) (Kenya with the head (initial) replaced with h (“hospital”)
My only minor quibble in the puzzle, as the clue’s wordplay tells us to do the anagram first, then change the initial, which is the wrong way round, but I could see what the setter intended. |
||
| 14 | EASTERNER | HM hosts a novelist, a Georgian perhaps or . . . . (9) |
| E.R. hosts A STERNE (Laurence Sterne, author of Tristram Shandy) | ||
| 16 | STATESMAN | . . . . someone similar, says husband (9) |
| STATES MAN
a Georgian could be someone from the state of Georgia in the USA |
||
| 19 | ADDER | Feature of board game topping the other one (5) |
| (l)ADDER
As in “snakes and ladders” |
||
| 21 | LEAFLET | Grassland allowed to smother fine tract (7) |
| LEA (F) LET | ||
| 23 | ARRESTS | A Republican supports stoppages (7) |
| A R + RESTS | ||
| 24 | SESSION | Sitting close to actors in Noises Off (7) |
| (actor)S in *(noises) | ||
| 25 | IN TRAIN | Making progress, old man leaves paint drops (2,5) |
| (pa)IN T + RAIN (“drops”) | ||
| 26 | GAGGING ORDER | Media ban joke, going red, nervous about redtop (7,5) |
| GAG +*(going red) about R(ed) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | CLOSURE | The end is nigh and you are blocking it (7) |
| CLOS (U R) E | ||
| 2 | MANDELA | Nelson, servant of the French? (7) |
| MAN + DE LA | ||
| 3 | AIRSTREAM | A pile of paper covers Irish street in high wind (9) |
| A REAM covers Ir. St.
An airstream is a wind that occurs high in the sky |
||
| 4 | SMART | Public transport set up with clever electronics (5) |
| <=TRAMS | ||
| 5 | OBSCURE | It’s hard to see old Bruce dancing round front of stage (7) |
| O + *(bruce) around S(tage) | ||
| 6 | NINEPIN | Square leg bowler’s target? (7) |
| NINE (“square”) + LEG (“pin”) | ||
| 7 | WOLF WHISTLES | Crude fellows with spades making crude noises? (4,8) |
| *(fellows) with WHIST (of which the game of “spades” is a type) | ||
| 10 | ENTERPRISING | Showing initiative, join rebellion with no uniform (12) |
| ENTER + (u)PRISING | ||
| 15 | SAN MARINO | Romanians trashed European enclave (3,6) |
| *(romanians) | ||
| 17 | ARAL SEA | Asian disaster zone filled with mostly salt, dissolved (4,3) |
| AREA filled with *(sal) (“mostly salt”)
Thought this was Dead Sea at first, but couldn’t parse it, then rememebered that the Aral Sea, once one of the largest in the world, is now about 90% smaller due to Soviet irrigation plans starving it of its feeder rivers. |
||
| 18 | ERLKING | Little German spirit left in royal couple (7) |
| L in ER + KING | ||
| 19 | AERATED | Beer with no heart deemed to have a head? (7) |
| A(l)E + RATED
Aerated beer would have a head |
||
| 20 | DESPAIR | Want briefly to retain secretary but lose heart (7) |
| DESIR(e) retaining P.A. | ||
| 22 | TENON | Group overturned part of joint (5) |
| <=NONET | ||
*anagram
Agree with the blogger that this was a fun workout. Thanks to the setter.
7 down is an anagram, signalled by ‘crude’, of ‘fellows with s’ (abbreviation of spades).
Yes; that works
I like Redshank’s crosswords very much – ranking among the very best at the FT.
I also find that the level of difficulty of his puzzles varies quite a bit.
While in the recent past I had trouble to finish some of his creations, I did find this particular one really easy.
My LOI was WOLF WHISTLES (7d) but only after I found O’CONNOR (8ac).
I have always a bit of a problem with seeing O’CONNOR as (7) but, yes, ‘they’ do it that way.
ARAL SEA (17d) was easy enough but I didn’t quite get it being an ‘Asian disaster’.
So, thanks loonapick, one’s never too old too learn.
[by the way, I shared your reservations about HYENA (13ac)]
Thanks loonapick and Redshank.
ERLKING was my new word – I see that it can be a giant or a goblin in German mythology – but pretty clear from the wordplay (except my on-line dictionary showed the word as hyphenated).
I saw no problem with HYENA at the time but can see your cause for objection.
I did think that 9ac could have benefited from a “might” in the clue. Absence only makes the important conspicuous surely.
But all in all another enjoyable challenge so thanks again.
Thanks Redshank and loonapick
I wonder if I’ll ever get to the end of the backlog :-/. If they’re as good as this – I hope no time soon !!!!
Completed it in three sittings including the train ride home. Lots of variety in his clues which I really like. For some reason I forgot to look at the parsing of WOLF WHISTLE and think that I prefer Steven’s logic for it.
Finished in the SE corner with ARRESTS, AERATED (very clever) and ADDER the last few in.