Today’s puzzle is brought to us by Izetti, and took me a bit over seven minutes to complete. Would have been a minute quicker if not for a bad case of vertical dyslexia at 20dn, which persisted even after I got the “Unlucky” message. Strange message by the way, I mean it’s not really down to luck is it?
Anyway, that makes it about average difficulty I think. Aside from possibly the Hamlet character and the ancient land at 20dn, there aren’t too many obscurities here. Of course that’s a reckless statement to make as it depends so much on the individual. One man’s goanna is another man’s buckminsterfullerene, I always say.
Enough waffle, let’s just thank Izetti for the entertainment and get on with the parsing. Clues are reproduced in blue, with the definition underlined. Anagram indicators are bolded and italicised. Then there’s the answer IN BOLD, followed by the parsing of the wordplay. (ABC)* means ‘anagram of ABC’.
| Across | |
| 8 | Deep regret about bit of food, almost (7) |
| REMORSE – RE (about) + MORSE{l} (bit of food, almost) | |
| 9 | East European set about making escape with romantic intent (5) |
| ELOPE – E (East) + POLE (European) all reversed (set about) | |
| 10 | The Spanish in time will get put off (5) |
| DELAY – EL (‘The’ in Spanish) in DAY (time) | |
| 11 | Lear set to be disturbed Shakespearean character (7) |
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LAERTES – (LEAR SET)* Ophelia’s brother in Hamlet. |
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| 12 | Trouble taken to protect thunderous god’s hefty beast (9) |
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CARTHORSE – CARE (trouble) to ‘protect’ THORS (thunderous god’s) Had to check to see whether THOR was from Greek or Roman mythology, but of course he’s Norse. Nice to see them getting a turn. |
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| 14 | Sheep rolling over is hurt (3) |
| MAR – RAM (sheep) ‘rolling over’ | |
| 16 | Animal stuck in grating (3) |
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RAT – Hidden in gRATing I think hiddens are more satisfying when spread across multiple words, as in 22ac. |
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| 18 | Managing Director embracing change had reflected deeply (9) |
| MEDITATED – MD (Managing Director) ’embracing’ EDIT (change) + ATE (had) | |
| 21 | One’s other half may be fantastic parent, right? (7) |
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PARTNER – (PARENT)* + R (right) I’d have been happier with just “other half” as the definition. And I don’t think the surface reading would have suffered much without the “One’s”. I have a similar (very mild) complaint at 15dn, but I’m happy for someone to spring to the setter’s defence. |
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| 22 | In general, one remote type who remains aloof (5) |
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LONER – Hidden in generaL ONE Remote That’s more like it. |
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| 23 | Ethnic groups in competitions (5) |
| RACES – Double definition | |
| 24 | Problem getting scene of WWI battle in order (7) |
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SUMMONS – SUM (problem) + MONS (scene of WW1 battle) A sum is pretty basic as far as problems go, but very popular with crossword setters. I guess SUM fits into most grids more easily than say PROVING THE RIEMANN HYPOTHESIS. |
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| Down | |
| 1 | Publicity person, awfully crude creator (8) |
| PRODUCER – PRO (Public Relations Officer) + (CRUDE)* | |
| 2 | Better getting rid of leader who proceeds slowly? (6) |
| AMBLER – {g}AMBLER [better, without the first letter (getting rid of leader)] | |
| 3 | Sound of donkey in Berkshire village (4) |
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BRAY – Double definition The barman said to the bloke next to me “What are you drinking, donkey?” I said to the bloke “What’s that all about?” He said “ee-yaw, ee-yaw, ‘e always calls me donkey”. |
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| 4 | Trader expensive — the Parisian is taken in (6) |
| DEALER – DEAR (expensive) ‘taking in’ LE [French for ‘the’ (the Parisian)] | |
| 5 | English chaps in temporary accommodation, part of large building? (8) |
| TENEMENT – E (English) + MEN (chaps) in TENT (temporary accommodation) | |
| 6 | Shakespearean weaver in bed (6) |
| BOTTOM – Double definition, the first one referencing a character in A Midsummer Night’s Dream | |
| 7 | Notice bishop upset busy groups (4) |
| BEES – SEE (notice) + B (bishop) all reversed (upset) | |
| 13 | Fellow is participating in sound philosophical system (8) |
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HUMANISM – MAN (fellow) + IS in HUM (sound) According to Wikipedia, Humanism prefers critical thinking and evidence over acceptance of dogma and superstition. Sounds reasonable to me, though God knows why. |
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| 15 | Charity gets one looking embarrassed and angry (3,5) |
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RED CROSS – RED (looking embarrassed) + CROSS (angry) Slightly loose clue I thought. The “one” is required for the surface reading but is superfluous in the wordplay. |
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| 17 | The car breaking down in the country a long time ago (6) |
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THRACE – (THE CAR)* Thrace was part of south-east Europe back in the day. And long before that it WAS Europe. At least that’s what they called it. There’s your history lesson for today. |
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| 19 | Most awful din curtailed repose (6) |
| DIREST – DI (din curtailed) + REST (repose) | |
| 20 | Foremost idiot turning up is unimportant (6) |
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TINPOT – TOP (foremost) + NIT (idiot) all reversed (turning up) I saw it, parsed it, solved it but proceeded to enter TINTOP. Still couldn’t see it for ages after finishing the rest of the puzzle. |
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| 21 | Left a small opening (4) |
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PORT – Double definition The first definition requires you to be facing forward on a ship of course. |
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| 22 | The French doctor seen as mild-mannered type (4) |
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LAMB – LA (French for ‘the’) + MB (doctor) MB as in Bachelor of Medicine, quite common in Crosswordland. |
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‘Charity makes one embarrassed and angry’ might have been a tad smoother but there may well be a better setting. ‘Embarrased and angry for charity’!?
Re- Reimann – as far as is known all the non-trivial zeroes occur at 1/2 + bi for some b. No others have been found in a lot of searching. But are they all of that ilk? The Riemann Hypothesis suggests thety might well be – yet nobody has so far been able to establish the proof. Perhaps Verlaine would like to have a bash?
COD 17d THRACE WOD TINPOT
Verlaine doesn’t come here.
Edited at 2016-10-28 05:05 am (UTC)
PlayupPompey
Dan sees chapel restored in Belgian village
If you wanted to work it inro a clue, you might use P_____ initially!
Izetti