7:55. Not a very difficult puzzle from Dean this week but an absolute delight. 9dn is worth the price of admission on its own.
Definitions are underlined, anagrams indicated like (TIHS)*, deletions like this, anagram indicators are in italics.
| Across | |
| 1 | Candy store folds by spring |
| TUCK SHOP – TUCKS, HOP. | |
| 5 | Siren’s short catchphrase |
| MANTRA – MANTRA |
|
| 10 | Turner’s corrupt men |
| ROTOR – ROT, OR. | |
| 11 | Made a “thing” to pen his new single |
| FASHIONED – FAD containing (HIS)*, ONE. | |
| 12 | Texas city couple run away to hide this |
| FORT WORTH – FOR(TWO, R)TH. Slightly convoluted wordplay: ‘away’ defines FORTH and ‘this’ refers to what you get from ‘couple run’. | |
| 13 | Plot of short written work |
| TRACT – DD. | |
| 15 | Correct graph, printed or otherwise |
| RIGHT AND PROPER – (GRAPH PRINTED OR)*. | |
| 18 | Game full of action replays |
| FOLLOW MY LEADER – CD. This is a children’s game in which players copy (replay) actions performed by the leader. | |
| 22 | Bird baster gets stuffing back |
| EGRET – contained reversed in ‘baster gets’. ‘Stuffing’ here is a noun. | |
| 23 | Daring to capture aged Irish former PM |
| GOLDA MEIR – G(OLD)AME, IR. | |
| 25 | Not believing fellow is in loft |
| ATHEISTIC – AT(HE IS)TIC. | |
| 27 | Notice, and dress in, accessory |
| ADD ON – AD, DON. | |
| 28 | Ignoring cold, mountaineer is able to move supply |
| LIMBER – |
|
| 29 | Ornamental ring beloved of Hero |
| OLEANDER – O, LEANDER. | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Coastal feature that grows economy |
| THRIFT – DD. I hadn’t heard of the plumbaginaceous plant. | |
| 2 | Supply column tracked vehicle |
| CATERPILLAR – CATER, PILLAR. Cue the usual surprise at the use of brand names, which have been in routine use for as long as I can remember. | |
| 3 | Spread most of the crumbs |
| STREWTH – STREW, TH |
|
| 4 | Approach from both sides of exterior |
| OFFER – OFF (from), E |
|
| 6 | One in a tank or one in an aircraft |
| AVIATOR – A, V(I)AT, OR. | |
| 7 | Upturned egg container |
| TIN – reversal of NIT. | |
| 8 | Hearing car, try to cross over |
| AUDITORY – AUDI, T(O)RY. | |
| 9 | Lily Allen’s first LP eh? Sod off |
| ASPHODEL – (A |
|
| 14 | Caught her up, put on manacles |
| APPREHENDED – APPENDED containing a reversal of HER. ‘Manacles’ is the containment indicator. | |
| 16 | Thumping a Liberal could end in injury |
| ALMIGHTY – A, L, MIGHT, |
|
| 17 | Last, despite what is expected |
| AFTER ALL – not quite a DD because AFTER ALL isn’t a dictionary-defined term for ‘last’. | |
| 19 | Giant in old hat exhales audibly |
| OUTSIZE – OUT, sounds like ‘sighs’. | |
| 20 | A story — a funny one — almost repeated |
| AGA SAGA – A GAS, A GA |
|
| 21 | Somewhat unfair, one recruits evening worker |
| IRONER – contained in ‘unfair one recruits’. That kind of ‘evening’. | |
| 24 | Where to get drink without sugar? |
| LOCAL – LO-CAL. Not quite a DD because the second meaning requires a hyphen. | |
| 26 | Half of us are smelly |
| HUM – HUM |
|
25:30
I never did parse FORT WORTH & THRIFT (DNK). NHO Lily Allen; didn’t need to, of course, but it would have added to my appreciation of the clue.
Took a while to see FORTH as “away”!
Children in the USA play “Follow the leader.”
I like the less absolute alternative better… Ha
I prefer Bob Dylan’s version.
😀
I didn’t know the plant ‘sea THRIFT’ but ‘economy’ and checkers got me to the answer at 1dn. I wrote ‘Easy’ on my print-out but no other comments. AGA SAGA turned up again the following day in the QC and gave rise to some discussion,
I wouldn’t say it was ‘easy’ but a fair challenge and ideal for a Sunday when you usually have a bit more time to work through.
Yes, I was thinking easy for a Sunday, especially a puzzle set by Dean.
34:53 so, yes, a pretty straightforward one. LOI THRIFT because I had ROCK SHOP at 1ac and needed to correct it to TUCK SHOP first. The plant thrift was one of the designs on the old thrupenny bit, bringing a touch of humour to the coinage
Another really top class crossword from Dean. Several standout clues but asphodel my COD. With 20dn I kept thinking of Ali Baba for some reason.
I always thought Caterpillar was a generic term but could have become so later, like Hoover. Just checked however and Wikipedia suggests the word predates the company. I noticed Audi though. Again.
The absence of one impossible (for me) clue at the end counts as easier in my book and I agree re. ASPHODEL.
Interesting. The term predates the company but it’s clearly intimately tied up with the invention of this type of track. It’s a little unclear if it was coined by Benjamin Holt (whose company later became the Caterpillar Tractor Company) or in the UK, where the first patent was filed and the machine was in use by the military. However the first citation in the OED is from 1908 and says the term was coined by British soldiers, and Wikipedia says that Holt only bought the patent from its British inventor after that, in 1909. The story cited in Wiki for how Holt came up with the name is also a little too pat to be believed if you ask me.
ASPHODEL was my first in, as a quick scan of the clues made it irresistible to attempt. I’m by no means a plant expert, but I rarely have problems recognising those that come up in crosswords and the three here were no exception. However OLEANDER was my LOI because I misremembered Hero’s lover as Lysander and was trying to solve 24d with a Y end. I also spent some time trying to justify ALI BABA for 26d, as it fits so conveniently, until GOLDA put paid to that. Liked AVIATOR and the excellent hidden in IRONER.
I’m only able to comment here using my phone. On my laptop I get the ‘Not Acceptable!’ error message. Anyone else having this problem?
I had no problem to add the comment after this one on my laptop.
I came here to get the number of the crossword, then went and loaded my solution to make sure it was all green, only to find I never did the crossword at all. So I did it just now. This was gentle for a Dean puzzle, he can be brutal. In the UK I think we normally say FOLLOW the LEADER too, at least I always did as a kid. AVIATOR was my LOI and it was a thing of beauty. I think of a “CATERPILLAR tractor” as a generic term, not a brand name. After all, many of Caterpillar’s (the company) products are not tracked (for example, graders).
According to Collins ‘Follow-my-leader’ is the British name, and that’s certainly what we called it at my school back in the 1950s. Collins also says ‘Follow-the-leader’ is US, Canadian and Irish.
I always followed MY leader.. except often I didn’t
My thanks to Dean Mayer and keriothe.
I don’t remember this giving me much pain. I liked the thought at 23a of Golda Meir being an Irish leader.
Re (O)Leander, anyone else remember Flanders & Swann, “said Hero and Leander, ’tis nobbut slander?” Comes in handy to bring in the right pairs of lovers.
Which song is that from? I bow to none in my love of F & S, but I don’t remember that..
I think it’s called “we’re friends”. Which also contains the wonderful phrase
“They whispered Napoleon pays Josephine’s rent. Nonsense said Bonaparte, she lives on her own apart, in her own apart—ment.”
“Friendly Duet” from “At the Drop of Another Hat” (1964)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxNZbxM1DjY
Various famous couples claim not to be lovers, with different excuses:
Said Samson, “Delilah, she’s my hair styler!
We’re friends, just friends.”
etc.
Thanks! Do love Flanders & Swann..
26.26
Yes, excellent puzzle, much enjoyed particularly IRONER. Thanks Dean and Keriothe.
20 minutes.
– Don’t think I parsed FORT WORTH
– Will probably never remember exactly who Leander was, but OLEANDER was clear enough
– Didn’t know THRIFT as a coastal plant
Thanks keriothe and Dean
FOI Hum
LOI Aga saga
COD Strewth