24:43. Apologies for the delay this week. I could make up an elaborate excuse involving the clocks going back or something but the reality is that I was very busy and just forgot.
I found this puzzle tricky, with some excellent clues and a few curious ones like 11dn. GENETS was the only unfamiliar word but it did ring a vague bell so no doubt it has appeared here before.
How did you get on?
Definitions are underlined, anagrams indicated like (TIHS)*, anagram indicators are in italics.
Across | |
1 | Gun-toting adolescent in resort |
YARMOUTH – Y(ARM)OUTH. | |
5 | Drive in anger in New York |
TEE OFF – DD. I had no idea this was an American expression, but the dictionaries say it is. | |
9 | As most petrol is now in Deal? |
LEAD-FREE – a reverse cryptic in which the answer is a clue to the word DEAL (anagram of LEAD). | |
10 | Crook that’s put on British accent |
BROGUE – B, ROGUE. | |
12 | Best act following hooligan losing head |
OUTDO – |
|
13 | A bar over top of diner with no-one in it? |
ABANDONED – A, BAN, DONE, D |
|
14 | Places drinkers might get a black eye? |
COFFEEHOUSES – CD. A ‘black eye’ is a type of coffee, apparently: a filter coffee with a double shot of espresso added. It’s not in the dictionaries I checked by Starbucks sells them. | |
18 | A meal for four? |
AFTERNOON TEA – another CD. Four o’clock. | |
21 | Set trend off with small bit of gear |
TENT DRESS – (SET TREND)*, S. | |
23 | Single or a large drink |
ALONE – A, L, ONE. As in ‘one for the road’. | |
24 | Camp man who’s good with a contrary girl |
STALAG – ST (man who’s good), A, reversal of GAL. | |
25 | Minister in party had to have control |
DOMINATE – |
|
26 | Contrary fellow and old females go out |
NOD OFF – reversal of DON, O, FF. | |
27 | Ancient royal on a slide messed about |
LEONIDAS – (ON A SLIDE)*. A king of Sparta. |
Down | |
1 | Like lemon chicken? |
YELLOW – DD. | |
2 | Island port harlot regularly visits |
RIALTO – RI( |
|
3 | Blue or green? |
OFF-COLOUR – DD. ‘Blue’ as in indecent, not sad. | |
4 | Why more felt upset about a migrant vessel? |
THE MAYFLOWER – (WHY MORE FELT)* containing A. | |
6 | Earl embarrassed without right is offended |
ERRED – E(R), RED. | |
7 | Sting and Ora played with another musician |
ORGANIST – (STING, ORA)*. | |
8 | Bog bowl broken by one of a wicked bent |
FIENDISH – F(I)EN, DISH. | |
11 | Leave a crossroads and transfer from A2 to A3? |
MAKE ONES MOVE – two slightly cryptic definitions. A crossroads is a point of decision, so when you leave it you do this. The second is a chess reference. | |
15 | Blood group training helping in surgery |
OPERATION – O, PE, RATION. | |
16 | Guerrilla in a strap after being injured |
PARTISAN – (IN A STRAP)*. | |
17 | Basic colours |
STANDARD – DD, the second a reference to a national flag. | |
19 | Country song mostly welcomed by Atlantic? |
POLAND – PO(LA |
|
20 | Drug-smuggling men can be such beasts |
GENETS – GEN(E)TS. A ‘viverrine’ mammal, related to civets and mongooses. | |
22 | Happy for one taking part in Cold War film |
DWARF – contained in ‘cold war film’. |
Couldn’t get genets.
Thanks, k.
It’s particularly damp in York this morning!
Edited at 2021-10-31 09:45 am (UTC)
MAKE ONES MOVE needed all the checkers.
David
Can’t be too unsanguine, though, after staying up to watch Australia v England. Got to bed forty minutes earlier than I was expecting, too. Thanks, lads.
FOI 1dn YELLOW
SOI 1ac YARMOUTH – Marcus Garvey’s first ship (Black Star)
(LOI) 5ac TEE-OFF!?
COD 18ac AFTERNOON TEA with Mussolini
WOD 21ac TENT DRESS – a big girl’s blouse?
Edited at 2021-10-31 12:37 pm (UTC)
I believe the parsing of dominate given is not right – it should be MIN in DO ATE, which fits the cryptic much better.
Edited at 2021-10-31 01:46 pm (UTC)
Threeshots is a ‘Hammerhead’ or ‘Green Eye’
Portland, Oregon a ‘Stink Eye’
Northern California is known as a ‘Train Wreck’
Parts of the Northeast Coast a ‘Mondo’ or LA ‘Devout’
Alaska a ‘sludge cup’. In Kansas an ‘Oil Spill’
Vancouver a ‘Canadiano’ or ‘Double Drip’/’Doppio Drip’
Wellard Coffee – an ‘Eastenders’ canine reference (UK)
I venture, some of these will be in the dictionaries of the future. My COD 14ac.
Edited at 2021-10-31 01:31 pm (UTC)
https://coffee.fandom.com/wiki/Red_eye
Edited at 2021-10-31 01:38 pm (UTC)
Edwina
Edited at 2021-10-31 03:35 pm (UTC)
Biffed the coffee and NY clues successfully but couldnt get the parsing for DOMINATE and didn’t fancy the inevitable _E_E_S checkers for the animals.
Thanks Keriothe and Mr McLean
Did struggle with this. one across most of Saturday whilst watching the final day of our Melbourne Cup week. Ended up missing TEE OFF (and shame having played a bit of golf) – had started with GET OFF and finally settled on SET OFF (which does both mean ‘drive away’ and is a term ‘to make someone very angry – don’t know if it is US based or not).
Unlike a few others here, enjoyed the challenges that were laid out, with some quite tricky word play and misdirection to be negotiated.
Took ages to see the chess relationship in 11d, which was my last in and became my favourite when I eventually saw what he was doing. GENETS was second last in and again thought that it was clever when the penny dropped with it.