Another enjoyable Wednesday puzzle, thank you Aardvark.
I think Aardvark hides the definitions well here. I was held up several times being convinced that the definition was at the other end of the clue.
| Across | ||
| 1 | GLOOMY | Head from frozen residence with heavens overcast (6) |
| iGLOO (frozen residence) missing head then MY (heavens!) | ||
| 4 | GAZPACHO | Gary, chap cooking old Spanish dish (8) |
| GAZ (Gary, nickname) then CHAP* anagram=cooking and O (old) | ||
| 10 | TRACTOR | Noisily pursued gold vehicle (7) |
| TRACT sounds like (noisily) “tracked” (pursued) then OR (gold) | ||
| 11 | RIOTOUS | Unruly port, in our view (7) |
| RIO (port) then TO US (in our view) | ||
| 12 | PAGE | Ceremony ignores social worker who attends (4) |
| PAGEant (ceremony) missing ANT (social worker) | ||
| 13 | PUT IN A WORD | Recommend dessert which includes berrylike fruit – it’s passed over (3,2,1,4) |
| PUD (dessert) containing (which includes) ROWAN (berrylike fruit) and IT both reversed (passed over) | ||
| 16 | SIGNEE | Big guns regularly brought in to view player being transferred? (6) |
| gIg GuNs (regular selection from) inside SEE (view) | ||
| 17 | ALBANIA | Explain a blackout encompassing retired community in the Balkans (7) |
| found reversed (retired) inside (encompassed by) explAIN A BLAckout | ||
| 20 | DOWAGER | Female dignitary outside in Oxford returned punt (7) |
| OxforD (outside letters) reversed (returned) then WAGER (punt) | ||
| 21 | ADVENT | Daughter, covered in hail and disheartened, not coming (6) |
| D (daughter) inside (covered in) AVE (hail) then NoT (disheartened, no middle letter) | ||
| 24 | ICE SKATING | Unexpected bonus attracts English runner at sports event (3,7) |
| ICING (unexpected bonus) contains (attracts) |
||
| 25 | STEP | Stage favourites reflected (4) |
| PETS (favourites) reversed (reflected) | ||
| 27 | DUSTBIN | Hoffman defends minor movie that’s full of rubbish (7) |
| DUSTIN Hoffman contains (defends) B (minor movie) | ||
| 29 | PENSION | 23 constructed on European boarding-house (7) |
| anagram (constructed) of SNIPE (23) then ON | ||
| 30 | PHILEMON | Biblical figure produces very acidic fruit (8) |
| PHI (pH1 – very acidic) LEMON (fruit) | ||
| 31 | SWATCH | Piece of cloth beginning to scour hands and face? (6) |
| Scour (first letter, beginning to) WATCH (something with hands and face) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | GATEPOST | One that’s privy to secret tapes, got distributing? (8) |
| anagram (distributing) of TAPES GOT – “just between you, me and the gatepost…” | ||
| 2 | ORANGE GROVE | Dutch house, with grand building over plantation (6,5) |
| ORANGE (Dutch house) with G (grand) and OVER* anagram=building | ||
| 3 | MITE | Hint from this writer about new techonology (4) |
| ME (this writer) contains (about) |
||
| 5 | AIR RIFLE | One’s fired successor mentioning loot (3,5) |
| AIR sounds like (mentioning) heir (successor) then RIFLE (loot) | ||
| 6 | PROPAGANDA | Religious information perhaps for heathen lawyer (10) |
| PRO (for) PAGAN (heathen) DA (lawyer) | ||
| 7 | COO | Constant old pair speak lovingly (3) |
| C (constant) O O (old, pair of) | ||
| 8 | ONSIDE | Seaman catches new fish in position where netting’s permitted (6) |
| OS (ordinary seaman) contains (catches) N (new) then IDE (fish) – football reference | ||
| 9 | TROUT | Grumpy type voiced disapproval about run out (5) |
| TUT (voiced disapproval) containing (about) RO (run out, cricket) | ||
| 14 | OLIVER TWIST | Novel food embraced by two cooking originally (6,5) |
| LIVER (food) inside (embraced by) TWO* anagram=cooking then IST (1st, originally) | ||
| 15 | REMARKABLE | Can be checked again by teacher? It’s important (10) |
| double/cryptic definition | ||
| 18 | WENT INTO | Discussed uplifting green colour on roof of office (4,4) |
| NEW (green) reversed (uplifting) on TINT (colour) and Office (first letter, roof of) | ||
| 19 | AT A PINCH | Fancy chain can obtain bathroom feature, if absolutely necessary (2,1,5) |
| anagram (fancy) of CHAIN contains (can obtain) TAP (bathroom feature) | ||
| 22 | WIND-UP | Finish joke (4-2) |
| double definition | ||
| 23 | SNIPE | Discount store’s last gamebird (5) |
| SNIP (discount) storE (last letter of) | ||
| 26 | SNOW | Weather feature broadcast about six in evening (4) |
| 28 | SKI | Core section of huskies run on 26 (3) |
| centre (core section) of hiSKIes | ||
*anagram
definitions are underlined
SNOW sow=broadcast about n, sixth letter in evening
Re 26d – I think this is ‘sow’ (broadcast) around ‘n’ (sixth letter in ‘eveniNg’)
18d – ‘tint’ rather than ‘mint’
Thanks very much, PeeDee.
Yes, I thought some of today’s definitions were well hidden too.
In 26dn, perhaps ‘broadcast about’ (SOWN) is an additional indication?
In ICE SKATING, I’m sure you meant to include ESK as the English runner.
It stood out as there are others outside England!
Thanks for the corrections, fixed now. Re SNOW: I see that Channel 4 news broadcasts about 7pm not 6pm, so my first explanation would not have worked anyway.
Thanks Aardvark and PeeDee
Delightful crossword that took most of the elapsed day to get completed and was able to finish it off whilst waiting for a mate to meet me at a pub after work tonight. Ended up not parsing a couple – ICE SKATING (coming here before I’d done my final parsing run) and OLIVER TWIST (because I just forgot to).
Agree that it did take more time than usual to work out what end of the clue was what with regard to the definitions.
Found myself breaking into a wry smile on the train when the penny dropped with both GATEPOST and SNOW. Didn’t know the RCC committee of PROPAGANDA previously and thought that the setter was taking a negative position with religion for some reason.
Finished in the NE corner where I made hard work for myself by writing in an unparsed PIG IN A POKE and OYSTER at 13a and 8d respectively. Eventually was able to get TROUT to show the error and then PUT IN A WORD and ONSIDE quickly fell after that.
A really enjoyable challenge with this one !
Thanks PeeDee, agree with you as usual. A terrific puzzle: always soluble through logic, but definitely not at all easy-peasy. Wasn’t sure about 9dn TROUT as a grumpy type (I thought silly, fussy) but it just scrapes through Chambers. Well done and thanks, Aardvark
Thanks Aardvark and PeeDee.
The explanation for 3 mentions “N (new) and T (Technology)”, but of course there’s no N in MITE. I assume “new technology” refers to IT instead. (Not that I got this one right, although in my defence I was too busy analysing what the assumedly-deliberate typos in the clue might mean… should have just ignored them!)
Correct Steve. What I wrote did not make sense.
Thanks Aardvark and PeeDee
Re 27 ac – does anyone else have an issue with the definition – a dustbin need not be full of rubbish? It “may be” fullof rubbish, but it is just as likley to be empty or half-empty.
Enjoyable solve, none the less, even if it took me an inordinate amount of time to see PUT IN A WORD.
I especially liked ICE SKATING, PHILEMON, GATEPOST and PROPAGANDA
Loonapick – I would describe that as nit-picking, except that nits need not be picked, they may also be plucked or combed. Also, it is not only nits that can be picked, other things can be picked too. Where do you stop?
Thanks PeeDee and Aardvark.
I had a minor typo in the printed version to contend with – “writet” instead of “writer”
In the clue for 3dn – which held me up for a while trying to work out whether it mught be intentionally.
I also made things hard for myself by putting in BROOD (carelessly) at 9dn until I realised the error of my ways.
And it took an age to spot six in evening in 26dn – great misdirection.
But – good fun.
Keep picking and scratching lads!