A fairly rare Sunday outing from Alchemi, the first since January, as far as I can tell.
My last couple in included 25 across, which doesn’t seem all that difficult and is rather fun in retrospect. 4 down beat me completely, but mainly because I entered an incorrect spelling of MASSACHUSETTS at 10 down. It’s quite an easy one to typo, in my defence!
Anyway, an enjoyable Sunday solve, and so many thanks to Alchemi.
| Across | ||
| 1 | TEASHOP | Flying grapeshot misses Greek cafe (7) |
| Anagram of [gr]APESHOT. | ||
| 5 | PEARLS | Hands in vegetables which are precious (6) |
| (R + L) in PEAS. | ||
| 8 | ART DEALER | Ale trader retrained as picture seller (3,6) |
| Anagram of (ALE TRADER). | ||
| 9 | TOTEM | Cat swallows the hollow symbol (5) |
| T[h]E in TOM. | ||
| 11 | IRONS | Clubs Jeremy? (5) |
| Two definitions: golf clubs, and Jeremy Irons. | ||
| 12 | OLD SCORES | Herpes symptoms – head to the centre to settle these, perhaps (3,6) |
| From COLD SORES, with the C moving to the centre. | ||
| 13 | GESTURES | Possibly waves guest off, having no time for relaxation (8) |
| GUEST* + RES[t]. | ||
| 15 | CORNEA | Eye covering new in central area (6) |
| (N in CORE) + A. | ||
| 17 | LIMPID | It’s very clear 1D’s on edge over money (6) |
| (M in LIP) + ID. Not a reference to 1 down after all. | ||
| 19 | RESEARCH | Burn companion again for investigation (8) |
| RE-SEAR + CH. | ||
| 22 | CHRISTMAS | 10 going into Cambridge college for the present time (9) |
| MA in CHRIST’S. | ||
| 23 | SOPHS | American students work in quiet school (5) |
| OP in (SH + S). A shortening of “sophomores”, I should expect. | ||
| 24 | SAMOA | Country dance is old rather than second-rate (5) |
| From SAMBA, with O rather than B. | ||
| 25 | SOCIALIST | Red silica’s almost too awful (9) |
| Anagram of (SILICA‘S + TO[o]. | ||
| 26 | JAILED | With German agreement, Alchemi was first to be canned (6) |
| JA + I + LED. | ||
| 27 | SITTERS | Easy chances which artists appreciate (7) |
| Two definitions, the second as in when a model “sits” for a painter. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | TRADING PLACES | Film director is impressed by school doctor services around Luxembourg (7,6) |
| (D in TRAIN) + GP + (L in ACES). A film from 1983. | ||
| 2 | AUTHORS | A god visiting America writes (7) |
| A + (THOR in US). | ||
| 3 | HEELS | Turns round with missing shoes (5) |
| [w]HEELS. | ||
| 4 | PULLOVER | Top policeman’s order for erratic motorist (8) |
| PULL OVER. | ||
| 5 | PARODY | Take off and settle round pole (6) |
| ROD in PAY. | ||
| 6 | ARTICHOKE | Tortured 10 with the rack in Jerusalem? (9) |
| Anagram of (IO + THE RACK). | ||
| 7 | LATER ON | Afterwards, city heavyweight welcomes queen (5,2) |
| LA + (ER in TON). | ||
| 10 | MASSACHUSETTS | State schools must chase SATs (13) |
| Anagram of (MUST CHASE SATS). | ||
| 14 | UNINSTALL | Wedding ring’s gone missing on street – everyone get out (9) |
| UNI[o]N + ST + ALL. | ||
| 16 | BEDSOCKS | Spooner’s announced fight for nightwear (8) |
| Spoonerism of “said box”. | ||
| 18 | MARIMBA | Instrument maker ultimately deeply hurt about two keys (7) |
| This took a bit of teasing apart, but it’s ([make]R in MAIM) + B + A, both being musical keys. | ||
| 20 | REP + TILE | Cold-blooded character‘s theatre hat (7) |
| REP + TILE. | ||
| 21 | AMUSED | Tickled American doctor having internal operation (6) |
| A + (USE in MD). | ||
| 23 | SMART | Well turned out 1D’s bottom raised (5) |
| From MARTS (markets, places where trading occurs) with the S raised. | ||
* = anagram; < = reversed; [] = removed; underlined = definition; Hover to expand abbreviations
Thanks, Simon, for blogging.
I liked this offering from Alchemi. The misdirection in LIMPID was good, and I needed you to parse MARIMBA.
You have my sympathies with MASSACHUSETTS. It’s one of my spelling blindspots as well. Must try to think about badgers’ homes next time it comes up.
Thanks to Alchemi too.
Good fun, with sneaky use of both ’10’ and ‘1d’ NOT referring to the clues in question. Love that stuff: too often, a ‘theme’ word can lead to quite a plodding series of solutions. Not here.
Thanks to Simon & to Alchemi, whose non-appearance ‘above the titles’ in the Daily led to some extra necessary imagination in 26 across.
Started well with several (for me, at any rate) write-ins, then it slowed down but I got there in the end. Was the ‘Cambridge college’ in 22ac a deliberate double-bluff, I wonder? Partly influenced by the ’10’, I went on a fruitless search for something involving MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Ma) before the penny dropped.
Thanks, Alchemi and Simon
Thanks Simon and others – particularly Grant for appreciating my decision to use “10” and “1D” once each as both reference and non-reference to give a little twist to the puzzle.