ST 4413 (Dec 26) – More changes

No time clocked for this, but I know I made heavy weather of it, taking over an hour. I don’t think it was that difficult, but I solved it quite late at night when I was probably too tired, and I just didn’t get on the setter’s wavelength.

It’s not just Andy that has taken over from Peter over the festive period. After nearly four years spent blogging the Sunday Times crossword, Neil Talbott (aka talbinho) has also decided to call it a day, and I would like to take the opportunity to thank him for his excellent blogs during that time. I have had to refer to these blogs on many occasions to explain a particularly knotty clue. Anyway, to fill the resultant void, I have volunteered my services, such as they are. I have been doing the ST puzzle regularly for the last couple of years now, before that I only picked it up intermittently. I usually print it off and attempt to complete it during my son’s 30 minute swimming lesson, with mixed success.

This was, I believe, Barbara Hall’s final puzzle before handing over the reins to Peter, although I daresay the actual handover period is a gradual one spread over several weeks. I have to say, I was a little disappointed by this offering. I was hoping to see her bow out with a real Christmas cracker, but I felt this was more of a damp squib that I got little enjoyment from. But this puzzle aside, during her 30 year tenure she has delivered many wonderful puzzles, and I’m sure I speak for the majority in thanking her for her service, and wishing her a long and happy retirement.

This week’s was something of a mixed bag. From the excellent and imaginative INTER ALIA at 10d to the barely cryptic ADHESIVE at 18d. I started quickly enough putting 1a & 1d straight in, but then slowed down considerably in the bottom half. I didn’t help myself by putting PRIVATE HOSPITAL instead of PRIVATE PRACTICE, but once I’d straightened that out, the SW went in easily enough, but the SE had me stuck for a long time. Specifically 18/24/25, with 18, I think, being my last in – I was looking far too deeply at it.

cd = cryptic def., dd = double def., rev = reversal, homophones are written in quotes, anagrams as (–)*, and removals like this

Across
1	PO(LIT + I)CO – My Italian is practically non-existant, but I did Spanish at school, and I remember ‘un poco’ is a little in Spanish, so I assume Italian is the same.
5	SCARES with initial S moved to the end.
10	INTER ALIA – Ingenious and easily my COD. BAN in AL(BAN)IA is literally INTER ALIA.
11	AIRY + S rev
12	AB + “OWED”
13	EX-SERVICE – The best I can come up with here is (ovERSEXed)* + VICE, but for ‘endlessly’ to mean ‘remove two letters from both the beginning and the end’ seems a helluva stretch. Can anyone offer something better?
14	Edgar + F + (ENTRY FOR)*
17	BRA + E – It makes a change to clue BRA without using the word ‘support’.
19	RYES = “RISE”
20	PR + I + MADONNA – Although I’m not entirely sure I can think of any Madonna hits that could comfortably be labelled as rock songs.
22	(A HOCK)* in CO-OP
24	thE + PACT – An epact is the number of days by which the last new moon has preceded the beginning of the year. Not a word I knew.
26	hidden
27	(CREATED AID)*
28	ON IN + La fenicE rev – Again, I’m not entirely happy with ’empty’ meaning the first and last letters of a two-word phrase. I would have preferred a single word like lounge, lodge or even lighthouse. El Niño is a 21st century opera-oratorio by American composer John Adams. I’ve not heard of it before, but it wasn’t hard to deduce from the checkers.
29	HELEN with the L changed to an R, in COT
Down
1	cd
2	rev hidden word
3	dd
4	CH + LOvE
6	TRESS + A rev – TRESS = lock (of hair), an old chestnut.
7	(sIERRA LEONe)* – Another instance of the first & last letters being removed from a two-word phrase. I’m not saying it’s wrong, I’m just personally not very keen on it.
8	STATE + DEPARTMENT – Can ‘department’ mean ‘an act of departing’? I imagine it probably can, but I couldn’t find it defined as such anywhere. No, it’s DEPART within STATEMENT, thanks to Kevin Gregg below
9	RUM preceded by BASS + D
15	cd – chaps from Nice
16	More of a weak joke than a cryptic def.
18	Another very weak cryptic def.
21	M(ALI)AN
23	PR + ADO
25	ADA + GE – Saw = Adage is another old chestnut which I should’ve spotted earlier than I did.