Went through this pretty quickly and almost sequentially. Thank you Hurley for an enjoyable puzzle although it was marred I think by 5D at which my eyebrow went so far up my forehead that it seems to have become permanently lost amongst my hair.
Incidentally, great little one-liner for this community:
“I told my wife she painted her eyebrows too high. She looked surprised!”
FOI was 1A. LOI was the said 5D because I kept looking for some other way in which it might work. I think it might have been my COD if it had worked, but otherwise I don’t really think I have one. But as it is traditional to make a choice I will pick 8A as it has the smoothest surface that I can see.
Definitions are underlined and everything else is explained just as I see it as simply as I can.
| Across | |
| 1 | Bother from unexpected source — swear initially! (4) |
| FUSS – take the initial letters (‘initially’) of From Unexpected Source Swear. | |
| 3 | Polish securing place to sleep by Lake Country (8) |
| SCOTLAND – SAND (polish, as in sanding a floorboard) ‘securing’ COT (a place to sleep) + L (lake). | |
| 8 | A group working in desert (7) |
| ABANDON – A + BAND (a group) + ON (working). | |
| 10 | Matching set of furniture in clubs perhaps, ultimately adequate (5) |
| SUITE – SUIT (clubs ‘perhaps’ – one of the suits in a deck of cards), + E (‘ultimately’ inadequatE). | |
| 11 | Small, mischievous creature at church event in sort of restaurant? (4-7) |
| SELF-SERVICE – S (small) + ELF (mischievous creature) + SERVICE (church event). | |
| 13 | Small piece that’s extra about Southern Liberal (6) |
| MORSEL – MORE (extra) ‘about’ S (southern) + L (Liberal) | |
| 15 | We hear unique German article a marvel (6) |
| WONDER – WON (sounds like ONE (unique)) + DER, one of the many forms of the German definite article. | |
| 17 | Enrolled compulsorily — odd precincts do (11) |
| CONSCRIPTED – straight anagram (‘odd’) of PRECINCTS DO. | |
| 20 | A complex system of paths creates surprise (5) |
| AMAZE – A + MAZE (complex system of paths). | |
| 21 | Mistaken leg name leading to confusion (7) |
| MELANGE – straight anagram (‘mistaken’) of LEG NAME. | |
| 22 | Limit broken by industrious worker, aggressive (8) |
| MILITANT – anagram of LIMIT (‘broken’) + ANT (worker. The ANT is one of the main types of worker you meet in Crossworld, the others being BEE and HAND (and there are probably a few others if you think hard enough)). | |
| 23 | Old actress Mae’s direction (4) |
| WEST – double definition, as in MAE WEST, whom you will also sometimes meet as rhyming slang for a VEST. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Sea for me strangely frightening (8) |
| FEARSOME – straight anagram (‘strangely’) of SEA FOR ME. | |
| 2 | This covering could make tool quiet at first (5) |
| SHAWL – AWL (tool) with SH (quiet ‘at first’) | |
| 4 | Container a railway emptied for flier (6) |
| CANARY – CAN (container) + A + RY (a RailwaY ’emptied’ – i.e. with the contents, the inner letters, removed.) Of course we also often meet RY as a straight contraction for railway but that’s not what’s happening here as it would spoil the surface. | |
| 5 | Upset to some extent, civilian omits ethical character statement (11) |
| TESTIMONIAL – see preamble. I think this is simply an editorial error. It is nearly a very clever reversed hidden word but it doesn’t quite make it: ‘upset’ (i.e. reversed in this down clue) ‘to some extent’ civiLIAN OMITS EThical. Except that the I and the A are the wrong way round unless I am just being thick and someone can show me how it really works. Perhaps if it read ‘Almost upset to some extent…’ it might work? | |
| 6 | Flavouring from Pakistan, I see — delightful! (7) |
| ANISEED – hidden word, but no problem with this one: ‘from’ pakistAN I SEE Delightful. | |
| 7 | Something done, however you look at it (4) |
| DEED – i.e. whether you look at it backwards or forwards (or indeed upwards or downwards in this down clue). | |
| 9 | Judgment of exceptional minds — recent (11) |
| DISCERNMENT – straight anagram (‘exceptional’) of MINDS RECENT. | |
| 12 | Inclination of duke that is seen in funds for student (8) |
| GRADIENT – D (duke) + IE (id est, that is) ‘seen in’ GRANT (funds for student). | |
| 14 | Upset everyone in island (7) |
| ROCKALL – ROCK (upset) + ALL (everyone). My geography is rubbish but I believe Rockall is a tiny island a couple of hundred miles north of Scotland. Most people have heard of it because there is a sea area named after it that features in the Shipping Forecast. | |
| 16 | Last word about copper’s insight (6) |
| ACUMEN – AMEN is the last word. Put it ‘about’ CU (Cu is the chemical symbol for copper) and you should achieve some insight into the answer. | |
| 18 | Slight colouring from drinking bout — new start needed! (5) |
| TINGE – BINGE (drinking bout) with a ‘new start’. | |
| 19 | Friend at outset mentions tree (4) |
| PALM – PAL (friend) + M (Mentions ‘at outset’). | |
Anyway, I found this pretty straightforward and a pleasant start to the week.
FOI Fuss
LOI Amaze — no idea why I couldn’t see it straightaway
COD Rockall — I’ll check out the link now
Many thanks Hurley and Don — and I echo Don’s compliments to all setters
FOI – 10ac SUITE
LOI – 5dn TESTIMONIAL
COD – 16dn ACUMEN
Biffed testimonial somehow.
Blew a fuse at the use of polish / sand, just because a dictionary says something may mean they haven’t been corrected for some reason.
FOI — 1dn “Fearsome”
LOI — 14dn dnf
COD — 8ac “Abandon”
Thanks as usual!
LOI Rockall
COD Militant (made me smile for some reason)
Tricky but led you around nicely so that even Scotland was getable after playing with bed and failing.
Melange dragged from the depths…my WOD
A good workout. Biffed Testimonial near the end because I wasn’t looking for a hidden and just thought it all looked to complicated to unravel!
Thanks all
John George