On the harder end of the Izetti spectrum after several benign ones from our well-known setter.
As I write this blog (now 0200 UK time), this puzzle still isn’t available on the Club site, so you may have to do it on the (non-Club) puzzles page.
A lesser-spotted ‘painter’ at 12a crossed with a non-ionic ‘One’s charged’ at 6d crossed with a new ‘leading comedian’ at 13a and a new def at 16d so no complaints that this was just more of the same.
My LOI 2d caused me a lot of grief – just too clever for me.
Eventually finished in 14:22.
Thanks to Izetti
Definitions underlined in bold. Deletions and letters in wordplay not appearing in answer indicated by strikethrough.
| Across | |
| 1 | Cook with herb — prescribed amount (6) |
| DOSAGE – DO (‘Cook’) SAGE (‘herb’) | |
| 4 | Sailor with a rod wandering about on ship (6) |
| ABOARD – AB (‘Sailor’) then anagram (‘wandering about’) of A ROD | |
| 8 | Goods vehicle departs (7) |
| CARGOES – CAR (‘vehicle’) GOES (‘departs’) | |
| 10 | Was first to get outside work and made great strides? (5) |
| LOPED – LED (‘was first’) containing (‘to get outside’) OP (‘work’) | |
| 11 | Clothes carried by laundresses (5) |
| DRESS – Hidden (‘carried by’) launDRESSes
DRESS here as in the ‘clothes’ one is wearing, rather than a specific garment. |
|
| 12 | Drink, something bitter for painter (7) |
| CHAGALL – CHA (‘Drink’) GALL (‘something bitter’)
No, not ABSINTHE. |
|
| 13 | Ban a panto — naughty leading comedian (3,6) |
| TOP BANANA – Anagram (‘naughty’) of BAN A PANTO
Hello, this looks familiar; almost but not quite. |
|
| 17 | Supervise, as a bishop (7) |
| OVERSEE – Definition with cryptic hint
A ‘bishop’ is OVER (=in charge of) a SEE |
|
| 19 | Instrument with which celebrity enthrals India (5) |
| SITAR – STAR (‘celebrity’) containing (‘which enthrals’) I (‘India’)
The whole clue could also be read as an extended definition. |
|
| 20 | Posed wearing fine material (5) |
| SATIN – SAT (‘Posed’) IN (‘wearing’) | |
| 21 | Sleeplike state, having eaten hot portion (7) |
| TRANCHE – TRANCE (‘Sleeplike state’) containing (‘having eaten’) H (‘hot’)
One of those non-technical words which seems to have become more common over the last few decades. This wasn’t however confirmed by the OED – the surge in its popularity (both slight exaggerations) began in the 1940’s-1950’s, though has continued this century. |
|
| 22 | Wild animals — any he’s found roaming? (6) |
| HYENAS – Anagram (‘found roaming?’) of ANY HES | |
| 23 | Really popular exploit (6) |
| INDEED – IN (‘popular’) DEED (‘exploit’) | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Maybe the Sixties baddy plunged into river (6) |
| DECADE – CAD (‘baddy’) contained in (‘plunged into’) DEE (‘river’)
It took a while to expunge ‘swinging’, even though it has too many letters. |
|
| 2 | Plays out (6,7) |
| STREET THEATRE – Cryptic definition
Mm… Either very frustrating (my experience) or very clever. LOI by some margin. ‘Out’ as in “outside”. |
|
| 3 | Derbyshire town starts to seem sticky with viscous liquid around (7) |
| GLOSSOP – S Not sure if I’d heard of this market town in the High Peak borough of northern Derbyshire. Fact for the day, courtesy of Wikipedia: The German philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (yes, he’s in the song so counts as a real philosopher) stayed at the Grouse Inn in Glossop in 1908 while at Manchester University. |
|
| 5 | Like scientific establishment set up in wood (5) |
| BALSA – Reversal (‘set up’) of both AS (‘Like’) and LAB (‘scientific establishment’) | |
| 6 | One’s charged leading character, quiet leader? (5,8) |
| ALPHA PARTICLE – ALPHA (‘leading character’) P (‘quiet’) ARTICLE (‘leader?’)
‘Leader?’ for ARTICLE as in “editorial”. |
|
| 7 | Led astray, eating strange piece of cake! (6) |
| DODDLE – Anagram (‘astray’) of LED containing (‘eating’) ODD (‘strange’) | |
| 9 | Cameras shot holy books in religious ceremony (9) |
| SACRAMENT – Anagram (‘shot’) of CAMERAS then NT (‘holy books’)
I didn’t know, but Protestant churches on the one hand and Roman Catholic and Eastern churches on the other, have different SACRAMENT(s). |
|
| 14 | Avoid drink? Don’t commit to a view (7) |
| ABSTAIN – Double definition
The question mark in the first definition since you can ABSTAIN from other things apart from ‘drink’. The second definition as in ABSTAIN from voting. Both seem pretty much the same thing to me. |
|
| 15 | For the most part, put up with school soup (6) |
| BORSCH – BOR |
|
| 16 | Finish after day five as main man? (6) |
| FRIEND – END (‘Finish’) following (‘after’) FRI (‘day five’)
Well, ‘day five’ of the working week anyway. I thought ‘main man?’ may be referring back to give a meaning of a “man Friday”. However looking it up, I see that ‘main man’ is in the usual references as a N. American informal term for a trusted or best male friend. |
|
| 18 | Plant with two names found in salt water (5) |
| SENNA – NN (‘two names’) contained in (‘found in’) SEA (‘salt water’) | |
Held up with 12a having got c*a****, ‘drink,something bitter for a painter’ and putting in chablis. 😥. Must learn to get all the crossers. So near yet so far.
STREET THEATRE is brilliant, surely, since most bloggers here contend the two word clues are almost always double definitions? I enjoyed it anyway
Horrible!Chock-full obscurities.Give up,especially on SE corner.Time for a rebrand,should be call Slow Cryptic