Once more the best cryptic crossword of the month provides us with some entertaining words and devious wordplay. It took me about 1 hr 15 minutes, which is about par for me. Words of the month to the two Zs starting in the top left corner and the rather obscure (well I’d never heard of it) FORS CLAVIGERA. Thank-you clever setter. How did you all get on?
Definitions underlined in bold italics, (Abc)* indicating anagram of Abc, {deletions} and [] other indicators.
| Across | |
| 1 | Gossip about king following new direction in dance (7) |
| ZIGANKA – ZIG (new direction) ANA (gossip) [about] K (king). A Russian country dance. | |
| 5 | French singer scoffed, not finishing manoeuvre in manège (6) |
| PIAFFE – PIAF (Edith Piaf) FE{d} (scoffed) [not finishing]. aka A Spanish Walk. | |
| 8 | Swear Clare possibly swallowed drinking vessel (9) |
| NUNCUPATE – NUN (Clare, possibly) CUP (drinking vessel) ATE (swallowed). A bit of Yoda-speak say I. | |
| 9 | Stateside rotter touching IT user’s picture frames (5) |
| GONIF – GIF (It user’s picture) outside, [frames], ON (touching). | |
| 11 | Egg on the first person making a reactive compound (5) |
| IMINE – I (first person) MINE (egg). | |
| 12 | Like a cushion turned up by residence, taken in both hands (9) |
| PULVILLAR – UP [turned] -> PU, VILLA (residence) in L R (left, right; both hands). | |
| 13 | Formerly distinguished compiler’s coming in without bits of information by The Times (8) |
| EXIMIOUS – I’M (compiler’s), in EX (without) I O (1 0; bits of information) US (The Times). | |
| 15 | Dine out, entertained by eg ladies from Slavic set (6) |
| WENDIC – (dine)* [out] in WC (e.g. ladies). A member of a branch of the Slavs that once occupied the north and east of Germany. | |
| 17 | Haggard female votes for a bit of a laugh (6) |
| AYESHA – AYES (votes for) HA (a bit of a laugh). A Ryder Haggard heroine. | |
| 19 | Vessel filled with claret wine US lawman knocked back to begin with (8) |
| PRAECAVA – ERAP (US lawman) [knocked back] -> PRAE, CAVA (wine). The superior vena cava, the vein carrying blood from the head, arms and thorax. “Vessel filled with claret”. Nice one! | |
| 22 | Kind of rock record I perform with eg Google or YouTube (9) |
| EPIDOSITE – Rats. I entered this wrong online after solving correctly on paper. EP (record) I DO (perform) SITE (e.g. Google or Youtube). | |
| 23 | What opponents of ChatGPT etc may do in the sticks down under (5) |
| BOOAI – BOO AI (what opponents of ChatGPT etc may do). A remote rural place in New Zealand. | |
| 24 | Conservative in wing of building greeting emissary (5) |
| ELCHI – C (conservative) in EL (L-shaped wing of a building), HI (greeting). A Turkish ambassador. | |
| 25 | Small parts of gold round outside of precise medical instrument (9) |
| AURISCOPE – S (small) in [parts] AURIC (of gold), O (round) [outside of] P{recis}E. An instrument for examining the ear. | |
| 26 | Old Nick is perhaps like a skeleton (6) |
| OSTEAL – O (old ) STEAL (nick). | |
| 27 | Soldier astride horse from the East Indian region (7) |
| PARGANA – PARA (soldier) outside NAG (horse) [from the east] -> GAN. A division of an administrative district or zillah in India. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Ginger’s family relish live competition hosted by Zidane, every so often (13) |
| ZINGIBERACEAE – ZING (relish), BE (live) RACE (competition) in, [hosted by] alternate letters [every so often] of zIdAnE. Bravo. | |
| 2 | Plant oil or accompaniment for it? Grunt carrying one litre (7) |
| GINGILI – GIN (accompaniment for it, as in “Gin and It”), I (one) L (litre) in GI (American private; grunt). | |
| 3 | Musk maybe worn by instigator of unruly uprising in crown, as Edmund has it (5) |
| NOULE – First letter of Unruly in ELON (Musk, maybe) [uprising] -> NOULE. Edmund as in Edmund Spenser. | |
| 4 | Fruitless moan over entering part of Oceania briefly (8) |
| ACARPOUS – CARP (moan) O (over) in AUS{tralia} (part of Oceania) [briefly]. | |
| 5 | European dons Roman mantle in the Spanish Main? (6) |
| PAELLA – E (European) in PALLA (Roman mantle). Ho ho. “Spanish main” mean “Spanish main course”. | |
| 6 | Surreal age — I end up having reptilian body parts (9) |
| ANGUIPEDE – [Surreal] (age I end up)*. | |
| 7 | Ross’s confused lover, by lake, bitten by fly (7) |
| FANKLED – FAN (lover), L (lake) in KED (fly). Ross as in Ross and Cromarty, i.e. Scottish. | |
| 10 | Counterfeiter penning Slavic novel, article and set of Victorian letters (4,9) |
| FORS CLAVIGERA – (slavic)* [novel] in FORGER (counterfeiter) A (article). Wonderfully obscure. The name given by John Ruskin to a series of letters addressed to British workmen during the 1870s. They were published in the form of pamphlets. The letters formed part of Ruskin’s interest in moral intervention in the social issues of the day on the model of his mentor Thomas Carlyle. | |
| 14 | Footprint of yours truly in Berlin certainly not by broken tile (9) |
| ICHNOLITE – ICH (I, yours truly, in German; in Berlin) NO (certainly not), (tile)* [broken]. A fossilised footprint. | |
| 16 | Rector’s beginning to cut cost over academic work, making helpful ruling on course (4,4) |
| FREE DROP – R{ector} [‘s beginning] in FEE (cost), DR (doctor; academic) OP (work). A golfing term. | |
| 18 | Many a fine, upright character aboard vehicle that lady holds up (7) |
| ERIACHS – I (upright printed character) in CAR (vehicle) all in SHE (that lady) all reversed [holds up] -> ERIACHS. The blood-fines paid by murderers to their victims’ families in old Irish law. | |
| 20 | Latin American lover sullen when drug-free, in the grip of sober people (7) |
| AMOROSA – MOROS{e} (sullen) without the E (ecstasy) [when drug-free} in AA (Alcoholics Anonymous; sober people). | |
| 21 | Saving diamonds, cover armour in bits of metal (6) |
| LIMAIL – LI{d} (cover) without [saving] the D (diamonds), MAIL (armour). | |
| 23 | Tailed Balkan resident, tailing group flying lower (5) |
| BASER – BA (British Airways; group flying) SER{b} (Balkan resident) without the last letter [tailing]. | |
I did rather enjoy this one, though it took me almost an hour and a half. Three words in the bottom left were actually in my ken, the immortal She, the ambassador (too many Mephistos, maybe) and OSTEAL. I came a cropper, though, with an entered FANGLED, which I didn’t check properly because it looked strongly like a Scottish (or possible T E Lawrence) word for confused, and GED misremembered as the fly. Bang goes 100 quid!
Another excellent crossword and blog. I do enjoy the wordplay used in these crosswords even though I have to use several dictionary aids to get the answers.
Nobody would be able to solve these puzzles without checking a dictionary (or sometimes two or three) to justify definitions and/or wordplay. No typos. Yipee.