Another puzzle from Dac today with the usual high quality surfaces in the clues
Unusually for Dac there was something hinting at a theme today. Either that or Dac has been studying an atlas recently. There were a lot of geographical references – LE MANS (10 across), SOLOMON ISLANDERS (17 across), SWEDEN (26 across), ASSAM[ESE] (27 across), CHINA (2 down), IBERIAN (6 down) and ARMENIA (19 down). You could probably include GRACELAND (7 down) under geography as well. However, I can’t see any obvious link between all these places.
I hadn’t come across SHIRALEE [9 across] or ASSAMESE before but they weren’t to difficult to deduce from the wordplay.
My favourite clues today were those for 10 across for LE MANS with all its motor racing allusions, where Nigel Mansell crashed into the safety barriers at 200 mph in 2010 but escaped with just a bump to his head. and 26 across for SWEDEN with its Cornwall garden references. CHINA at 2 down had a clue that was short and could be read as an &Lit.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
|
1
|
Holiday in Virginia and California not about to grab one (8)
|
VA (Virginia) + CA (California) + (NOT reversed [about]containing [to grab] I [one]) VA CA (T (I) ON<) |
VACATION (holiday)
|
|
5
|
Able to fly, say, whirling in breeze (6)
|
(E.G. [for example] reversed (whirling) contained in (in) WIND (breeze) WIN (GE)< D |
WINGED (with WINGs [able to fly])
|
|
9
|
Swag here is abandoned round a lake (8)
|
Anagram of (abandoned) HERE IS containing (round) (A + L [lake]) SHIR (A L) EE* |
SHIRALEE (swagman’s bundle; swag)
|
|
10
|
French racing circuit where Mansell almost crashed (2,4)
|
Anagram of (crashed) MANSELL excluding the last letter (almost) L LE MANS* |
LE MANS (French racing circuit, best known for the LE MANS 24 hour race)
|
|
12
|
Little girl entertained by clergyman, one providing Italian food (10)
|
(NELL [reference Little NELL, character in the Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens) contained in (entertained by) CANON (clergyman]) + I (one) CAN (NELL) ON I |
CANNELLONI (hollow tubes of pasta, stuffed with cheese, meat, etc; Italian food)
|
|
13
|
Fish brought back from Fleetwood (3)
|
EEL (hidden word [from] reversed [brought back] in FLEETWOOD) EEL< |
EEL (any fish of the Anguillidae, Muraenidae or other family of Apodes)
|
|
15
|
Cook made nicer sauces for cool desserts (3,5,7)
|
Anagram of (cook) MADE NICER SAUCES ICE CREAM SUNDAES* |
ICE CREAM SUNDAES (a cold [cool] dessert)
|
|
17
|
South Pacific character I malign after song takes twelve hours? (7,8)
|
SOLO (song for one voice) + MON (half the letters of MONDAY; half a day [12 hours]) + I + SLANDER (malign)
|
SOLOMON ISLANDER (native of ISLANDs in the South Pacific ocean)
|
|
20
|
Prison characters regularly found in chains (3)
|
CAN (letters 1, 3 and 5 [regularly] of CHAINS)
|
CAN (slang for ‘prison’)
|
|
21
|
Fit into a place like London? It means following the rules (10)
|
ON FORM (fit) contained in (into) CITY (London is a city) C (ON FORM) ITY |
CONFORMITY (adherence to the norm; following the rules)
|
|
24
|
Tolerates unhappy date with a bachelor (6) |
A + B (bachelor) + IDES (reference the IDES of March, an unhappy date for Julius Caesar when he was assassinated in 44 BC)
|
ABIDES (tolerates)
|
|
25
|
Clubs and drinking places stocking a kind of mineral (8)
|
C (clubs [in card games]) + ([INN {drinking place} + BAR {drinking place} giving drinking places] containing [stocking] A) C INN (A) BAR |
CINNABAR (mineral, sulphide of mercury, called vermilion when used as a pigment)
|
|
26
|
Country garden project linked with Cornwall area? (6)
|
SW (South West; area of Britain where Cornwall is located) + EDEN (reference the EDEN project, botanical garden project located in Cornwall)
|
SWEDEN (country)
|
|
27
|
Dunces can absorb American and English language (8)
|
ASSES (dunces) containing (can absorb) AM (American) + E (English) ASS (AM) ES E |
ASSAMESE (official language of ASSAM in Northern India)
|
| Down | |||
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
|
1
|
Old soldier preserves small item of clothing (4)
|
VET (veteran [old soldier]) containing (preserves) S (small) VE (S) T |
VEST (item of clothing)
|
|
2
|
Country implicated in machination (5)
|
CHINA (hidden word in [implicated in]) MACHINATION)
|
CHINA (country)
|
|
3
|
Coach – carriage mostly favoured by monarch (7)
|
TRAP (carriage) excluding the final letter (mostly) P + IN (favoured) + ER (Elizabeth Regina; queen)
|
TRAINER (coach)
|
|
4
|
Sort of education, free, with pupil finally being paid? (4,8)
|
OPEN (free) + L (learner; pupil) + EARNING (being paid)
|
OPEN LEARNING (system of learning based on individual study rather than formal classroom sessions, and using specially designed programmes of printed material, audio and video tapes, electronic media, etc; form of education)
|
|
6
|
European island’s outlaw storing up anger (7)
|
I (island) + (BAN [outlaw] containing [IRE {anger} reversed {up; down clue}]) I B (ERI<) AN |
IBERIAN (European)
|
|
7
|
King’s home, imposing, includes a half-emptied cellar? (9)
|
GRAND (imposing) containing (includes) (A + CEL (half the letters of [half emptied] CELLAR) GR (A CEL) AND |
GRACELAND (home of Elvis Presley [the King of Rock ‘n Roll])
|
|
8
|
Admission a pound in night club, OK? (10)
|
(L [pound sterling] contained in DISCO [night club]) + SURE (yes, certainly, OK) DISC (L) O SURE |
DISCLOSURE (admission)
|
|
11
|
Is separating right-wing groups in courts (12)
|
IS contained in (separating) (CONS [Conservatives, right wing political party] + TORIES [Conservatives, right wing political party] giving right wing groups) CONS (IS) TORIES |
CONSISTORIES (spiritual or ecclesiastical courts)
|
|
14
|
Top quality reception (5,5)
|
FIRST CLASS (top quality)
|
FIRST CLASS (the FIRST CLASS for the youngest children and newest intake in a primary school is known as the RECEPTION class) double definition
|
|
16
|
Inelegant wild flower (9)
|
Anagram of (wild) INELEGANT EGLANTINE* |
EGLANTINE (fragrant species of wild rose)
|
|
18
|
Ally holding revolutionary weapon (7)
|
MATE (friend; ally) containing (holding) CHE (reference CHE Guevara [1928 – 1967], Argentinian Marxist revolutionary) MA (CHE) TE |
MACHETE (heavy knife or cutlass used throughout the world as a tool and a weapon)
|
|
19
|
Country squandered a mineral endlessly (7)
|
Anagram of (squandered) A MINERAL excluding the final letter (endlessly) L ARMENIA* |
ARMENIA (country)
|
|
22
|
Item of furniture that’s durable, with scrubbed top (5)
|
STABLE (durable) excluding (scrubbed) the first letter (top; down clue) S
|
TABLE (item of furniture) |
|
23
|
A Scottish bank or two won’t accept cents (4)
|
BRACE (two) excluding (won’t accept) C (cents)
|
BRAE (Scottish words meaning sloping bank of a river or seashore)
|
Goodness, a few unusual words in this Dac: CONSISTORIES, SHIRALEE, ASSAMESE. Also struggled with SOLOMON ISLANDER, although the misdirection to the musical/film was nicely done. And I couldn’t parse TRAINER, so had to come here to find out what that was about.
Thanks to S&B.
SHIRALEE was an unknown and last in. The rest pretty much dust beneath the old chariot wheels and a welcome wind-down after the tensions of yesterday, when I had a morning way from here to do my first blog, on the FT (fine, thanks for asking).
SOLOMON ISLANDER had me head-scratching as I tried to work out what the Song of Solomon had to do with Mondays, but saw sense finally. Good to be back in the old routine.
Thanks to Dac & Duncan.
THE SHIRALEE was a novel by D’Arcy Niland, husband of the more famous Ruth Park. It was made into a film of the same name by Ealing during its Antipodean period, in 1957, starring Peter Finch.
Messed up by putting in Open Training at 4D, so had trouble with the Italian food.
Minor typo at 15A, answer is in the plural.
Thanks to Dac and duncanshiell.
gwep @ 3
Typo sorted now – thanks
Got hung up on the coach being train in 3 down, so couldn’t work out what mostly was doing in the clue. Other than that, it was quite enjoyable: I didn’t mind the unusual words too much because it meant you had to work out the parsing to get to the answer.
Carriage being train, I mean.
Got hung up on 12ac thinking the clergyman was a pastor and the Italian food had to be PASTA***ORI, which messed up 3dn and 4dn until I twigged OPEN LEARNING then it all fell into place. I’d heard of SHIRALEE but didn’t know the meaning, although crossing letters when I eventually got 3dn and 4dn meant 9ac couldn’t be anything else.
Otherwise all very straightforward – thanks, Dac and Duncan.
Why ‘can’ in 27ac? I can’t see why it’s necessary.
Wil at #8 – my guess is that “can” was put in as “dunces” is being used in this instance. Gives a better surface while not affecting the cryptic working of the clue in any way.