Some tasty stuff served up here, and it all went down fairly easy. One bit (25) did briefly stick in my craw.
I indicate (Ars Magna)* like this, and words flagging such rearrangements are italicized in the clues.
| ACROSS | |
| 1 | Make this with ice cream and use nuts (6) |
| SUNDAE (and use)* …It’s not officially part of the definition, but nuts are indeed one thing that might top your sundae. While Merriam-Webster is satisfied with “a dish consisting of ice cream served with toppings (such as crushed fruit, syrup, nuts, or whipped cream),” it is amusing that the Collins entry is illustrated with a photo that does not match its more specific description: “a tall glass of ice cream with whipped cream and nuts or fruit on top”—no nuts, no fruit! |
|
| 4 | Donning black uniform in time for breakfast (8) |
| MOURNING MO(U)RNING |
|
| 9 | Part of speech bishop added on short notice (6) |
| ADVERB ADVER |
|
| 10 | Champion! Finishing early to grab a drink (8) |
| ADVOCAAT ADVOCA(A)T |
|
| 12 | Country fruit tree regularly pruned (9) |
| SULTANATE SULTANA, “fruit” + TrEe |
|
| 13 | Reason why hearts murmured (5) |
| CAUSE “cores” …If you say so! |
|
| 14 | Fitting in with everyone in Victoria? (12) |
| INSTALLATION IN ST(ALL)ATION |
|
| 18 | Work on coaches, removing one set of gears (12) |
| TRANSMISSION TRA |
|
| 21 | Aristocrat but not of the French game (5) |
| CHESS |
|
| 22 | Phone receiver put to specific use (4-5) |
| RING-FENCE RING, “Phone” + FENCE, “receiver” (of stolen goods) to restrict the use of money in a grant, fund, etc. to one particular purpose (Not an American term!) |
|
| 24 | With face scratched, uses ointments (8) |
| UNCTIONS |
|
| 25 | Dog bringing in first aid (6) |
| BASSET B |
|
| 26 | Uplifting meals during which joy returns (8) |
| FEELGOOD F(GLEE<=“returns”)OOD |
|
| 27 | Island resident’s fight to retain passport? (6) |
| FRIDAY FR(ID)AY Robinson Crusoe’s sole companion |
|
| DOWN | |
| 1 | Close family safeguarding son’s fur coat (8) |
| SEALSKIN SEAL, “Close” + S(on) + KIN, “family” |
|
| 2 | Writer spreading lies on TV (8) |
| NOVELIST (lies on TV)* |
|
| 3 | Roman courts held “in camer{a” tria}ls (5) |
| ATRIA Hidden |
|
| 5 | Most talented new books (3,9) |
| OLD TESTAMENT (Most talented)* …Somewhat odd to think of a book as being “talented”… |
|
| 6 | Swedes, maybe poor actors, not opening plays (4,5) |
| ROOT CROPS (poor |
|
| 7 | High flyer’s current motors outside for all to see (6) |
| ICARUS I, “current” + CAR(U)S …The name always evokes for me Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts,” and I was just now looking again at the painting that inspired it, Breughel’s wry and aptly titled Landscape With the Fall of Icarus. On first viewing, it’s easy to miss the hapless lad, “white legs disappearing into the green / Water” near one corner of the frame. |
|
| 8 | Water carrier in gallons, say (6) |
| GUTTER G(allons) + UTTER, “say” |
|
| 11 | An actor’s month playing London without underwear (6,6) |
| MARLON BRANDO MAR(ch), “month” + (London)* covering BRA, “underwear” |
|
| 15 | Running in a circle around others (9) |
| ARRESTING A RING surrounds the REST. |
|
| 16 | Celebrated criminal finally charged (8) |
| LIONISED |
|
| 17 | Blood experts attempt to restrict nitrogen (8) |
| ANCESTRY ACES, “experts” + TRY, “attempt” with N(itrogen) inserted |
|
| 19 | Part of neck that is compressed by collar (6) |
| SCRUFF SC, “that is” abbreviated (“compressed”) Latin scīlicet, contraction of scīre licet, “it is permitted to know” + RUFF, “collar” |
|
| 20 | One snooker tool reduced, another free (6) |
| RESCUE RES |
|
| 23 | Learner just possesses talent (5) |
| FLAIR F(L)AIR |
|
This seemed quite a bit easier than Mr. Price’s usual level.
I had no problem with CAUSE – it was one of my favourites – but I thought at the time that it would stir up some more rhotic v. non-rhotic debate.
I’m also fine with ‘bringing in first’ for the B in BASSET – surely similar to ‘at the start’ for an initial letter indicator.
A pity that the two 12-letter across clues were both _ION endings, but perhaps that was forced by the amusing Sunday Morning / Feelgood Friday idea at the top and bottom.
I think the definition for 15 is “reason why” leaving the homophone for “hearts”
Obviously! Thanks, I’ll extend the underline. As a copy editor, I’m always deleting “why” after “reason,” so that might explain the oversight.
21:30
I was going to say I had no problem with ‘in’ in 25ac, but then I noticed it was my LOI. I did have a problem trying to see how hearts=CAUSE; the penny finally did drop, but it took a while. DNK RING-FENCE, and wondered about the hyphen. Some wonderfully elegant surfaces: Writer spreading lies on TV, Celebrated criminal finally charged, inter alia.
I’ve never had ADVOCAAT, but I seem to remember when it came up before a number of comments as to how awful it was.
Very enjoyable, but not particularly easy for me as I needed exactly an hour to complete the grid. The only query I noted on my copy was the presence ‘in’ at 25ac.
25.24
Usual excellent fare from Mr Price with splendid surfaces, not least 1a
BASSET last in, unparsed. Otherwise held up a fair bit by in-mombling CROP ROOTS which delayed MOURNING and CAUSE
Thanks Sandy for the blog
DNF although I had written CAUSE to one side I didn’t see the aural wordplay as I had ‘Reason’ as the definition not ‘Reason why’ which I now see.
CHESS BIFD as I didn’t know DU for ‘of the’ and SCRUFF as I didn’t know SC for ‘that is’ I do now.
Smiley faces against FRIDAY and ARRESTING as they were pleasing solves.
I found this very gentle by Sunday puzzle standards, taking 25:10.
I enjoyed this a lot, but got stymied at the end by 8d for ages. Eventually I revisited 10a and realised ADVOCATE should be ADVOCAAT, with the definition at the other end of the clue, and all became clear.
The 12A wordplay explanation needs SULTANA rather than SULTAN.
“in first” in 25A: There’s nothing about it on my solving copy. I suspect I read it as “at first”, but I now think I was wrong to do so. “In first” can mean the same as “in first place” (e.g. in a race), but that relates to the individual letter rather than the whole word when you convert it to cryptic crossword wordplay. Further thought left for the next time a setter uses it …
Fixed the typo, ta!
9:24, with a minute or two failing to come up with something better than BASSET. ‘X in first’ can indicate that X is leading but not, as far as I can see, the leading part of X.
14.52, suggesting a pleasantly benign solve. Much helped by the additional “hints” in the top and bottom rows.
I didn’t notice that!
Hints?
SUNDAY MO(U)RNING
(FEEL)GOOD FRIDAY
Easter eggs, eh?
Oh. I did mention those in the very first post, so I thought Zabadak was implying something more. (I don’t see how they can really be hints – just something you spot afterwards, surely.)
Seeing “sundae” in place was definitely a help in getting “mourning” because I know Robert does this kind of thing. And at the bottom, I got “Friday” first, was struggling to get “feelgood” from the wordplay and was prompted by its association with Friday, so yes, hints for me!
I didn’t notice them either! 46 minutes, five or ten of which were spent frantically looking for an alternative to BASSET (but not coming up with one). Otherwise on the easy side for Robert, but quite enjoyable nonetheless, with the usual precise clues and delightful surface readings. My COD would be SUNDAE.
Thanks, Guy. It took me forever to see Duchess, and I had to squint to get Frequent from ‘uses’; otherwise I liked the cleverness and the sketchy top and bottom row puns. (All puns are sketchy, so that’s not a dis).
Thanks Robert and Guy
Took this to a Sunday cafe breakfast, still having a few to finish after the coffee and 56 minutes were gone. Spent another 10 back at home a little later to complete the grid. Didn’t parse SCRUFF and didn’t see the clever nina at the top and bottom. Did not have an issue in seeing the word play for BASSET though.
Finished in the NE corner with CAUSE (after taking too long to see ‘cores’), GUTTER (so obvious when seen) and ROOT CROPS (which I too was in a quandary if was this … or CROP ROOTS, as MOURNING was also among the last).
I had a problem with 25-across, but ended up concluding it had to be BASSET or I was beaten. Spent some time trying to force SYLVAN into 12, before coming to y senses. The south-west corner held me up a bit, surmising SC after recognising RUFF. The rest in that quadrant also took me a while. Relieved to find BASSET was the solution! The Sunday Times cryptic continues to be a favourite. Thanks, Robert and Guy.
(P.S. I get the puzzle through syndication in The Australian, so always late to it.)