Tango’s fifth puzzle, approachable and very nice.
Tango’s previous puzzles were 76, 100, 75, 90 on the Quitch, and I found this to continue the early trend of odd-easier / even-harder: I finished up in 4:32, I think my quickest time in a while.
Lots of very neat clueing and good surfaces such as “Artificial pitch” and “Struggle with belief”, and I particularly liked the imaginative additions of Chuck Berry and Terry Jones – very nice indeed, many thanks to Tango!
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Checking car can go to begin with (8) |
| AUDITING – AUDI (car) TIN (can) G (Go “to begin with”) | |
| 6 | Struggle with belief (4) |
| VIEW – VIE (struggle) W(ith) | |
| 8 | Fanatic regularly hosting introduction to Chuck Berry (4) |
| ACAI – f A n A t I c “regularly” hosts C (“introduction” to Chuck) | |
| 9 | Liking quiet charm (8) |
| PENCHANT – P (Piano = quiet) ENCHANT (charm) | |
| 10 | City beach pier exposed by work (3,5) |
| SAN DIEGO – SAND (beach) pIEr “exposed” = pare the outer letters, and GO = work | |
| 12 | Murderer’s California home (4) |
| CAIN – CA(lifornia) IN (home) | |
| 13 | Initially pay attention after Associated Press turn up (6) |
| APPEAR – P (“initially” Pay) EAR (attention) after AP | |
| 15 | Son leaves cold region for European peninsula (6) |
| IBERIA – S(on) leaves SIBERIA (cold region) | |
| 17 | Aunt cooked fish (4) |
| TUNA – anagram (cooked) of AUNT | |
| 19 | Wild iris can start to show flowers (8) |
| NARCISSI – anagram (wild) of IRIS CAN and the “start” to S |
|
| 21 | Artificial pitch that’s symbolic of Ireland (8) |
| SHAMROCK – SHAM (artificial) PITCH (rock). I couldn’t equate PITCH and ROCK, but Collins has the equivalence in the sense of a boat rocking/pitching in a rough sea. | |
| 23 | Terrible fate state of mind brought about (4) |
| DOOM – MOOD (state of mind) reversed/brought about | |
| 24 | Love god in hospital drama’s hiding ring (4) |
| EROS – ER’S (hospital drama’s) hiding O (ring) | |
| 25 | Avoid changing its speed (8) |
| SIDESTEP – anagram (changing) of ITS SPEED | |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 2 | Release family member shortly before a politician (7) |
| UNCLAMP – UNCLe (family member) “shortly” before A, MP (politician) | |
| 3 | Island boy pens one epic poem (5) |
| ILIAD – I(sland) LAD (boy) pens I (one) | |
| 4 | In the afternoon, I upset mischievous child (3) |
| IMP – PM (in the afternoon) I “upset” = reverse | |
| 5 | Foolishly ignore old boatman? (9) |
| GONDOLIER – anagram (foolishly) of IGNORE OLD | |
| 6 | He and Clive developed means of transport (7) |
| VEHICLE – anagram (developed) of HE and CLIVE | |
| 7 | Boredom that is on the rise around new northern university (5) |
| ENNUI – IE (that is) “on the rise” = reverse, going around N N U | |
| 11 | Terry Jones too busy, shunning all outsiders? Wrong! (9) |
| ERRONEOUS – shun the “outside” letters of the previous four words | |
| 14 | Philosopher’s calculations are the wrong way round (7) |
| ERASMUS – SUMS (calculations) ARE “the wrong way around” | |
| 16 | Popular retail outlet coming soon (2,5) |
| IN STORE – IN (popular) STORE (retail outlet) | |
| 18 | American woman’s escort (5) |
| USHER – US (American) HER (woman). Collins lists HER as slang for a female: “is the new baby a him or a her?”. The apostrophe-s in the cryptic reading of the clue is therefore a linkword between wordplay and definition: American woman IS (ie, equals) escort. | |
| 20 | Worshippers spending hours in Asian river (5) |
| INDUS – HINDUS (worshippers) “spending”/wasting H(ours) | |
| 22 | Child of king and maid abandoned by mother (3) |
| KID – K(ing) and then MAID with MA (mother) abandoned. | |
I just read USHER as US(American) + HER (woman’s).
I suspect this puzzle will be just the ticket for some of our more querulous commenters, with a number of simple clues using stock cryptic elements. I was scribbling in answers as fast as I could, pausing only for San Diego.
Time: 4:51