Category: Weekend Cryptic

Brilliant stuff, as always. For some reason, I had a hard time getting started, and then my progress was slow. All very satisfying in the end.

I had no idea what was going on with the “ace” clue at 9ac. I could see what the answer must be, but the word-play whizzed straight past me for the ball-kid to catch.

10:23. This felt trickier than my time suggests…

I needed some helpers to g-g-get the stuttering clue at 14dn. That in turn gave me enough helpers to finally smell the flowers in the Greek clue at 20ac. The definition at 8dn was a mystery!

Most of this, by far, was very zingy, and more than one clue was spiced with an allusion to… country matters.

13:38. A moderately tricky one from Robert this week, up to the usual elegant and entertaining standard.

I’ve heard Montana called Big Sky Country. I suspect the same could apply to Arizona, but I’m not aware of any major observatories there, despite the reference in 12 across.

This was just delightful, a tasty dish that I virtually inhaled.

I found this easy for a Saturday, although there were a few pieces of wordplay I put aside to think about while writing this blog.