Robert Teuton has provided us with a middle level puzzle with a few clues requiring a bit of special knowledge, but nothing that is too hard to figure out. For once, I was able to parse all the clues without asking George for help. The answers are the usual mixture of Spenser, Shakespeare, Latin, Greek, and slang, with the more obscure meanings preferred. Have can mean tolerate? Apparently it can, at least according to Chambers.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | I improvise a pointed tool bedding first of lupins (8, two words) |
| AD LIBBER – A D(L)IBBER. A dibber, more usually a dibble, is a tool used to make holes to plant seeds. | |
| 7 | Back-hander stroke? (4) |
| DASH – Double definition; both a back-hander and a dash can mean a bribe. | |
| 10 | Space to enter correct Mephisto in Scotland? (5) |
| FIENT – FI(EN)T, i.e. an en dash. | |
| 11 | Metal ornamenting one railroad in New Orleans (6) |
| NIELLO – N(I ELL)O. Ell is more usually spelled el. | |
| 13 | Son mad with us tangling ferns (8) |
| OSMUNDAS – Anagram of SON MAD + US. | |
| 14 | Correct pronunciation yet poor otherwise cribbing conclusion of speech (8) |
| ORTHOEPY – Anagram of YET POOR + [speec]H. | |
| 15 | In contact with the Devil largely producing tension (5) |
| TONIC – TO NIC[k], i.e. Old Nick. | |
| 16 | A drink to hold? Thanks! (5) |
| PINTA – PIN + TA. Hands up if you biffed Fanta! | |
| 17 | Sea creature? Routine to carry catch back with operator (10) |
| CTENOPHORE – C(NET backwards,OP)HORE. | |
| 19 | Female singer’s an act performing a short time (10) |
| CANTATRICE – Anagram of AN ACT + TRICE. | |
| 22 | Cloth that’s dark blue essentially (5) |
| PERSE – PER SE. | |
| 24 | Worked up for some time sheep died (5) |
| TEWED – T + EWE + D. For very few, actually. | |
| 27 | Reservation about nobbling small bird throwing stick (8) |
| SQUAILER – S(QUAIL)ER, where the enclosing letters are RES backwards. Are quails small? | |
| 28 | Clears up muddles on the spot (8, two words) |
| SUR PLACE – Anagram of CLEARS UP. | |
| 29 | Wavy? Smooth over in case of nuisance (6) |
| NEBULE – N(LUBE backwards)E. A term of heraldry, as I suspected. | |
| 30 | Strip of linen trimmed back on rector’s robe (5) |
| CIMAR – AMIC[e] backwards + R. | |
| 31 | Good practice for US force (4) |
| GISM – G + ISM. | |
| 32 | “Course of studies loses us” the French utter explicitly (8) |
| SYLLABLE – SYLLAB[us] + LE. | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Brewing drop of ale with kick (5) |
| AFOOT – A[le] + FOOT. | |
| 2 | Breaking code she quit club (11) |
| DISCOTHEQUE – Anagram of CODE SHE QUIT. | |
| 3 | Motor race shortened, one I loved once (5) |
| LEMAN – LE MAN[s]. | |
| 4 | Carbohydrate dyestuff lacking depth (6) |
| INULIN – IN[d]ULIN. | |
| 5 | Sprinkled port carelessly on couch (7) |
| BEDROPT – BED + anagram of PORT. | |
| 6 | In garden a tendril’s growing out (5) |
| ENATE – Hidden in [gard]EN A TE[ndril’s]. | |
| 7 | Courtesy car’s back on almost empty (6) |
| DEVOIR – DEVOI[d] + [ca]R. | |
| 8 | Hydrocarbon? Perhaps bitter about range of knowledge (6) |
| ALKENE – AL(KEN)E. | |
| 9 | Mark avoiding magic herb in blooming Shakespearean festival (7, two words) |
| HOLY ALE – H([m]OLY)ALE. Moly was the magic herb in the Odyssey. | |
| 12 | Left bats to creep about exhausted animal with slender tail (11) |
| LEPTOCERCAL – L + anagram of TO CREEP + CA + A[nima]L. | |
| 17 | Cutting back bushes to catch rat (7) |
| COPSING – COP + SING. | |
| 18 | Numpty to tolerate relative (7) |
| HAVEREL – HAVE + REL. Yes, the word have has a multitude of meanings, all of which can be found in Chambers. | |
| 19 | Boy caught by punches out of ring (6) |
| CRUMBS – C + RUMB[o]S. Rumbo is a sort of rum punch. I will admit, I was aided by Penfold’s avatar in this one. | |
| 20 | Dried root of wild ginger like lily? (6) |
| ASARUM – AS ARUM. | |
| 21 | Teaching aids no good in special garb (6) |
| REALIA – RE[g]ALIA. | |
| 23 | Cartoon character in Australia, one with ginger hair? (5) |
| BLUEY – Double definition, of which the second is in Chambers. | |
| 25 | Intrigue around mother lying about belly as before (5) |
| WEAMB – WE(MA backwards)B. An OE and ME word, related to womb. | |
| 26 | Mishap for Ed is his injury involving radius (5) |
| DRERE – D(R)ERE. Evidently the setter is on a first name basis with Edmund Spenser, and has taken the liberty of using one Spenserian word to make another one. | |
Fun puzzle, not too tricky. Always happy to see PINTA in a grid because it reminds me of Tony Hancock. Glad to not be of service!
Finished almost a week ago, but memorable as always.
There’s a separate volume of Chambers for proper names, right? B-boy CRUMBS was my last, or nearly last, in.
Had never heard of BLUEY (either sense) either!
I wonder whether DIBBLE is more usual in the US? I’ve only ever heard and used DIBBER.
QUAILS are very small – the smallest British, if not European, game bird. Tiny eggs must be a quarter the volume of a hen’s egg.
I finished this last Sunday, but left the wordplay for HOLY ALE and DRERE to sort out later. That happened yesterday very quickly. Rather liked DRERE once I understood it.
NHO bluey in either sense so had to google for such a cartoon character. Turns out the second sense is Australian as well.
Certainly more challenging this week.
Didn’t find this one too bad. Re 27ac, while the quail may be small for a game bird, it’s a great deal bigger than a wren or a goldcrest (96g in mass cf about 12g and 5.5g) or even a robin (up to 22g). Maybe the clue should have specified game bird.
Slight correction in 7a. DASH can mean ‘a stroke of the pen’, according to Chambers, as well as a bribe.
Thanks Robert Teuton and Vinyl. I solved the top half very quickly but struggled a bit with southeast corner. Was baffled by Ed Spenser – so thanks for explaining that.