A very pleasant puzzle with a mixture of nice clues and good starter clues. A number of the starter clues needed a reference to Chambers to verify an easily derived word, such as EGESTA at 13A and EASLES at 28A, which is good clueing in my book. I liked the “say” and the “perhaps” at 26A and 25D respectively, no definition by example here.
(S) = starter clue; (C) = Chambers used to verify some portion of clue or answer
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | PNEUMA – P(NE)UMA; NE=old English for “not”; breath, spirit (C) |
| 5 | IODINE – “deposition” take away “post” then sick=anagrind; I=definition=chemical symbol for IODINE |
| 9 | OIL,PAINTINGS – OILP(AINT)INGS; (spoiling)* containing AINT=is not (S) |
| 11 | BETHANKIT – B=bowled + (kent hit a)*; a grace rather than W G; nice clue (C) |
| 12 | PETRA – PET-RA; cherished=PET; AR=Arab, reversed (=from the east); ancient city in Jordan; nice clue |
| 13 | EGESTA – E+(gets)*+A; excreta (see “egest” in Chambers); (S), (C) |
| 14 | STEAR – S-TEAR; S=is; rent=TEAR; old spelling of “steer” (C) |
| 18 | OUISTITI – OUIS-TITI; OUIS=yes in France more than once; TITI=small tree; a french marmoset; nice clue (C) |
| 19 | RENDZINA – RE-N(D)Z-IN-A; D=dimension; a fertile soil type (S), (C) |
| 21 | UNGAG – UN-GAG; UN=”a” in French (S) |
| 22 | PROBED – PRO-BED; for=PRO; congress=have sex=BED; nice clue |
| 24 | SDEIN – S-D(E)IN; to disdain=slight (see “sdeigne” in Chambers); S=South in Bridge, an opponent of East (C) |
| 26 | PARCHEESI – PAR-CHEES(e)-I; a board game; note the “say” Derby; (S), (C) |
| 27 | LITTER,BASKET – L(aden)+anagram of “better+ask+(saud)i+(distric)t”; bin is definition; nice clue |
| 28 | EASLES – (m)EASLES; hot ashes; (S), (C) |
| 29 | ACTURE – (f)ACTURE; facture=workmanship; f=fine; the Bard’s word for a performance (C) |
| Down | |
| 1 | POOP – two meanings; facts (meaning 4 in C); tony=a simpleton=nincompoop=POOP (meaning 6 in C) (C) |
| 2 | NICETIES – NICE-TIES; reference Nice in France |
| 3 | UPBRAIDS – U-PB-RAIDS; U=union; PB=chemical symbol for lead; twit=upbraid; nice clue |
| 4 | AITU – (UT-I-A) reversed; UT=doh=do; a polynesian demigod (c) |
| 5 | INHERING – IN-HER(r)ING; r=recipe taken out; sticking; (C) |
| 6 | OTAGO – O-TAG-O; pair=cricket jargon for no score in both innings; area of S Island NZ (S) |
| 7 | INKSLINGER – (l)INKS-LINGER; “links” = golf course, remove l=left; hack=definition=journalist; nice clue (C) |
| 8 | ESTATING – (agents+it)*; old=veteran word for to give an estate to somebody; (S), (C) |
| 10 | STERNPORTS – STERN-PORT-S; hard=STERN; left=PORT; succeeded=S; opening at stern of ship; nice clue |
| 14 | SCRAPPLE – S-CR-APPLE; S=has; APPLE make iPods; an American meatloaf not the singer; nice clue (C) |
| 15 | GUILDERS – (girls due)*; (S) |
| 16 | STUNDIST – STUN(D-IS)T; D=God; a member of Russian Protestant sect; (C) |
| 17 | STRAINER – S-TRAINER; S=has; (S) |
| 20 | TE-HEE – TE(HE)E(r); “teer”=plaster; alternative spelling of tee-hee (C) |
| 23 | PEBA – P-EBA(y); P=page; “e-bay” remove y=algebraic unknown; an armadillo (C) |
| 25 | NOTE – dote=show affection then change d=daughter to n=name; do=doh=NOTE (note the perhaps) (S) |
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