…this puzzle is constructed. No exotic vocabulary, no CDs (not that I mind either), no stretchy definitions, all quite clear and no questions or quibbles left after solving… and yet I had to look at many of these clues more than once… or twice. The craftsman’s skill is epitomized by the expert dovetailing of anagrind and anagrist in 15 and 16.
I indicate (Mara sang)* like this, and italicize anagrinds in the clues.
ACROSS | |
1 | Wool from a cold mountain area’s clothing (6) |
ALPACA — ALP(A)(C)A, with the final A being “area” …It might get cold where I’m going, so alpaca sweater. | |
4 |
Thieves going through the speaker’s drawers (8) Shades of the Capitol riot! |
KNICKERS — “nickers” | |
9 | Barring passage, ignoring resistance (6) |
EXCEPT — EXCE[-r]PT | |
10 | Maybe Gloria Gaynor’s first and last show (4,4) |
SWAN SONG — That’s Gloria SWANSON, star of silent films and eventually (remarkably apt here) Sunset Boulevard + G[-aynor]. | |
12 | Gross charge (9) |
OFFENSIVE — DD | |
13 | Fume against Liverpool’s top scorer (5) |
RAVEL — RAVE, “fume” + L[-iverpool], with “scorer” indicating a composer, Maurice R. | |
14 | Usher wearing gun as anti-theft device (8,4) |
STEERING LOCK — STEER, “usher”+ IN, “wearing” + GLOCK, “gun” | |
18 | Arctic region secure after crime provided great returns (6,6) |
BAFFIN ISLAND — SIN, “crime” + IF, “provided” + FAB, “great” <=“returns” before LAND, “secure” (as in “I landed that job”) | |
21 | Photo of Ajax’s centre back in operation (5) |
AFOOT — Reverse hidden | |
22 | Detailed curve function follows increase in volume (9) |
CRESCENDO — CRESCEN[-t], “De-tailed curve” + DO, “function” (in the sense of a social event) | |
24 | Fancy working aboard steamship or cutters? (8) |
SURGEONS — S(URGE)(ON)S, with URGE being “Fancy” (in the sense of a whim) | |
25 | Curious question put by university is not for commoners (6) |
QUAINT — Q(uestion) + U(niversity) + AINT, “is not for commoners” | |
26 | Two parts of a horse’s yard and a third being talked of (8) |
FOREFEET — “four feet” | |
27 | Second year “locking in” went fast (6) |
SPEEDY — S(PEED)Y Whee! |
DOWN | |
1 | This boy raised in a mean person’s pub (8) |
ALEHOUSE — A LOUSE, “a mean person” holding HE<=“raised” | |
2 |
Calmed down so long as one has walked around (8) …that often helps… |
PACIFIED — PAC(IF)(I)ED, IF being “so long as” or provided | |
3 |
Gangster, almost completely chicken (5) …like all bullies… |
CAPON — CAPON[-e] Cut ’em off! | |
5 | Native Geordie going on ramble without enthusiasm (3,9) |
NEW ZEALANDER — NE, “Geordie” + W(ZEAL)ANDER | |
6 | Picks up bargains (9) |
CONTRACTS — DD | |
7 | Extremists must abandon gun to make progress (6) |
EVOLVE — [-r]EVOLVE[-r] | |
8 | With wisdom and cunning, keeping time (6) |
SAGELY — S(AGE)LY | |
11 | Weight indicator I intended to hold constant (12) |
SIGNIFICANCE — SIGN, “indicator” + I + FI(C)ANCE | |
15 | Traditional food and beer fatso ordered (5,4) |
ROAST BEEF — (beer fatso)* …So very traditional, in fact, that rude French slang for an Englishman is un rosbif. | |
16 | Make bitter, rum and juice (8) |
JAUNDICE — (and juice)* | |
17 | Line in diary to broadcast with skill (8) |
ADROITLY — (diary to + L)* | |
19 | Bass is regularly one frequency below medium range (6) |
MASSIF — M(edium) + bAsS iS + I, “one” + F(requency) | |
20 | Fear over mix-up after beheading by Henry (6) |
HORROR — H(enry) + O(ver) + [-e]RROR | |
23 | Charlie being intimate with Penny (5) |
CHUMP — CHUM, “intimate” + P(enny) |
I suspect ‘Rosbif’, as applied to us by the French, dates back to Hogarth’s painting: “O, the Roast Beef of Old England (‘The Gates of Calais’)”
The ones I enjoyed were STEERING LOCK, BAFFIN ISLAND, SIGNIFICANCE and SPEEDY. (Went, indeed!)
Thanks to Myrtilus too. Some great surfaces in this.
20:18
Edited at 2022-01-16 12:17 pm (UTC)
FOI 3dn CAPON
LOI 21ac AFOOT
COD 26ac FOREFEET
WOD 4ac KNICKERS
20dn HORROR!? I was when I was little!
I did not record my time as I nodded off!
Favourites were SWAN SONG for the way it brought “Sunset Boulevard” to mind and FOREFEET for the inventive homophone.
Thanks to Robert and Guy
Edited at 2022-01-16 08:23 am (UTC)
In the middle there was lots to like. I thought I had drifted into the Private Eye crossword when I got CHUMP, but it was my mis-parsing and so did not justify the ?! on my paper copy.
David
16dn JAUNDICE a clue of beauty.
They call us rosbifs, we call them frogs, so 15 all, really.
I normally get the hiddens quickly but AFOOT was also my LOI so obviously well disguised
Also really liked the anagrams at 15 and 16 down
Thanks for a great puzzle and blog
I did find the rest of it pretty challenging, and absolutely first class even by the exalted standards of our friend Myrtilus.
?
Printed this one off last night after arriving in Queensland, started it then and took five or six attempts to get it completed in between catching up with my sister after twelve months and the occasional looks at the Australian Open matches on TV.
Beautifully crafted clues and clever misdirection throughout took it to over an hour and a half of solving time. Mainly held up in the SW corner with the well-hidden reversed AFOOT and the tricky to parse HORROR and the NW where I finished up with OFFENSIVE, ALPACA and ALEHOUSE.
Completely missed the pangram.