Certainly got my money’s worth here! Puzzles like this can be positively addictive.
I indicate (Ars Magna)* like this, and words flagging such rearrangements are italicized in the clues.
| ACROSS | |
| 1 | Peacekeeper unhappy about splitting risk (4,5) |
| BLUE BERET BLUE, “unhappy” + BE(RE)T …The United Nations: Still a great idea… |
|
| 6 | Reason to oust a duke or two (5) |
| DEUCE DE |
|
| 9 | Camera parts we see selling and going wrong (4-5,6) |
| WIDE-ANGLE LENSES (we see selling and)* |
|
| 10 | Very little bank to confine a river (6) |
| RARELY R(A)(R)ELY |
|
| 11 | Firm delivered after objections withdrawn (8) |
| STUBBORN BUTS<=“withdrawn” + BORN, “delivered” |
|
| 13 | What’s in store for me are irresistible temptations (10) |
| SHOPAHOLIC CD |
|
| 14 | Decorative case retained in perp{etui}ty (4) |
| ETUI Hidden |
|
| 16 | Calm day before noon (4) |
| EVEN EVE, “day before” + N(oon) |
|
| 17 | Like living beings, so alarming somehow (10) |
| ORGANISMAL (so alarming)* …Yes, it’s a word! Though rarely heard, it’s not absurd… |
|
| 19 | Drink in university knocked back without a song (3,5) |
| TIA MARIA M(A)IT<=“knocked back” + ARIA, “song” |
|
| 20 | This setter wears very poor coats (6) |
| PAINTS PA(I)NTS |
|
| 23 | Poe’s subject and novel are brutal, impure (9,6) |
| PREMATURE BURIAL (are brutal, impure)* The protagonist of the eponymous short story by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1844 in Philadelphia’s Dollar Newspaper, does not himself undergo such a fate but deals with and eventually overcomes an obsession with the possibility, as this was a known phenomenon at the time. Wikipedia: « A safety coffin or security coffin is a coffin fitted with a mechanism to prevent premature burial or allow the occupant to signal that they have been buried alive. A large number of designs for safety coffins were patented during the 18th and 19th centuries and variations on the idea are still available today.… The fear of being buried alive peaked during the cholera epidemics of the 19th century, when fear of contagion led to quick burials without making a difference between the dead and the dying… » |
|
| 24 | Flower borders thought extremely shabby (5) |
| TATTY TA(T |
|
| 25 | Crude experiences entertaining the French (9) |
| TASTELESS TASTE(LES)S |
|
| DOWN | |
| 1 | One inclined to show respect and retreat (5) |
| BOWER DD, one cryptic |
|
| 2 | Spy less than secret about top grade info (10,5) |
| UNDERCOVER AGENT UNDER, “less than” + COVERT, “secret” inserting A, “top grade” + GEN, “info” |
|
| 3 | Full cargo left to feed cold-blooded creatures (8) |
| BOATLOAD BOA (snake) + TOAD hugging L(eft) |
|
| 4 | Temper resistance with maturity (4) |
| RAGE R(esistance) + AGE, “maturity” |
|
| 5 | Dramatic article by a pilot bagging top speed (10) |
| THEATRICAL THE, “article” + TRI(C)AL, “pilot” holding C, the speed of light |
|
| 6 | Society gals bored by we nerdy types (6) |
| DWEEBS D(WE)EBS |
|
| 7 | Dirty plum skins are not unsafe (15) |
| UNSPORTSMANLIKE (plum skins are not)* …Certainly a… creative anagrind. |
|
| 8 | German city chess champ holds one prerequisite (9) |
| ESSENTIAL ESSEN, “German city” + T(I)AL Mikhail Tal (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was known as “The Magician from Riga.” |
|
| 12 | One stops flow of travel round Tokyo market we hear (10) |
| TOURNIQUET “tour Nikkei,” the Nikkei being the index for the Tokyo Stock Exchange Americans pronounce this quite differently, sounding the terminal T. |
|
| 13 | Rooms reported by spy as best place to make contact (5,4) |
| SWEET SPOT “suite” + SPOT, “spy” (verb) The precise place you want the ball to hit on your racket, bat, etc., for the cleanest shot |
|
| 15 | Real gut I adapted for binding (8) |
| LIGATURE (Real gut I)* |
|
| 18 | Track by a wedding venue singer (6) |
| CANARY CANA, site of the biblical wedding where (allegedly) water was turned into wine + RY, railway, “Track” |
|
| 21 | Where to buy cheaper booze on board (5) |
| SALES SS indicates a steamship, here laden with ALE. |
|
| 22 | Gets up and down (4) |
| SEES Palindromic, “up and down” |
|
25:02
Blueberry juice anyone?
I must admit to having not thought of that!
I didn’t know of the pronunciation difference of TOURNIQUET; and the only market I could think of, Tsukiji, I spent some time trying (and failing) to recall. Another great puzzle from Robert; I especially liked SHOPAHOLIC & SWEET SPOT.
Favourite was 23a, least favourite 1a. Just as in real life, intriguingly.
Around 30 minutes, from memory.
Very enjoyable and at 80 minutes I certainly got my money’s worth! No unknowns, no aids, and I spotted the pun at 1/6.