Solving time: 26 minutes
I thought this was going to be a real difficult one on first read through. I got only two of the across clues straight away (SUPERIOR and LONESOME). Fortunately the down clues seemed to come more readily and the whole thing was done pretty quickly (for me).
Across
1 | MILLWRIGHT – sounds like MILL,RIGHT |
7 | CANE – I think this is subtly pointing out that beet and cane sugar are not the same! |
10 | U(N(MA)S)K – was looking for another country for the answer till I realised that this country was UK. |
14 | COL,LAB,ORATED |
20 | A,L(PIN)IST |
21 | FEE,BLE – BLE=regular letters of ballet – I did wonder why sub=FE before I looked at it properly! |
22 | M(USK)ET – I have been to (or through or past) Usk, but knew it as a town, rather than a river. |
23 | L(ONE’S,OM)E |
26 | CHAT,ELAINE – this took a while, I could only think of Guinevere. I had to see what fitted then look it up! |
Down
2 | IMPRISON – anagram of ‘minor is’+P(rison) – I did consider IMP being a criminal minor! |
3 | LEI[sure] |
4 | RO(U)GE[r] – this was last in – I had mistakenly written APTITIDE at 9a! |
5 | GREASER – anagram of ‘agrees’+[ca]R |
6 | TRUMPETER – the trumpeter is a breed of pigeon, which I had to look up to be sure! |
15 | BAL(LIS)TIC – LIS=regular letters of oldies. It was when I came to this that I realised I had 24d wrong – nice to have some cross-checking for once! |
16 | RIFLEMAN – FIR reversed + LE MAN[s] |
18 | PA(T)ELLA |
24 | SEA – I originally wrote SEE, but 15d gives extra help here. |
I was held up in the NE by several I eventually guessed from the wordplay but didn’t actually know, NESTOR, TRUMPETER (pigeon) and GREASER (mechanic, although I have heard of “grease monkey”). There was also some delay in the SW where for a while I could only think of BULLSHI**ER at 12. FLAUNT and MUSKET were my last two in.
I see Foggyweb fell into the same trap as I did at 24 until the second checking letter went in.
Nothing really grabs me as a COD. QED rating: 0-6-6.
Why are no answers given for 9A, 8D, 21D, 25A? Do these need no explanation?
Like all the bloggers, Foggy’s selected the clues which he thinks are most in need of explanation/most interesting. I can explain the four you mention, if you like.
Tom B.
A quick question will usually elicit a response on any that a reader needs help with that haven’t been blogged.
I’ve grumbled about the overuse of “regularly” before, perhaps unfairly, but surely using it twice in the same puzzle, as has been done in this one, is a bit much?
Nifty challenge, 7 raised an eyebrow, I’ve never been a fan of “this is one meaning in both examples of the word but not in both examples of this word” clues. I’ll go for 20 as my masochistic COD.
Is the wordplay in 2d imprisoning the ‘p’ in the anagram? I can’t quite work it out.
What with fighting back against the crooks in 21d, locking up the hoodies in 2d and cracking down on immigration in 10a – have I wandered into the Daily Mail?
I felt there were a lot of awkward surfaces here and nothing really pleasing. No major gripes. QED – 0, 4, 5
Tom B.
Some nice clueing in here, several deceptive moments, although I’m not sure why “oldies” was used at 15 instead of “Allies”.
2D came close to COD but I went for 20 – brought back climbing memories (although I was a rock man, never dared to try ice).
Q-0 E-7 D-7 COD 20
Really not on form today missing the anagram at 2d and taking too long to get self-portrait, superior and others.
Nice to see 24 coming up as a number in the online version for 15d.
I Wonder if George will pick up the Python references at 1 (John Stuart Mill from the philosophers song) and at 26 (another Holy Grail-seeking knight following last week’s Galahad).
Q-0, E-6, D-6.5, COD 10
JohnPMarshall
There are 10 “easies” left out including the bloke to be prosecuted at 12d. I was interested to see how many of the regular contributors were tempted by BULLSHI**ER here – a perpetrator of a process very dear to me – but I was not likewise tempted in this instance.
9a Bent way of thinking, given power for first time (8)
A(T)=>P TITUDE
11a Agile medic dives into river (6)
NI MB LE. Look out for the crocodiles doc.
13a Mother is sometimes so condescending! (8)
SUPERIOR
17a Number one representation in art (4-8)
SELF PORTRAIT. An oily selfie?
25a Shiner makes us gawp endlessly (4)
STAR (E)
7d Read a crime novel about a mutual trust (11)
CAMARADERIE. Anagram of (read a crime) and (a). Not sure I would have spelled it correctly without the anagrist.
8d Sage kept in online stores (6)
NESTOR. Hidden in onli NE STOR es. Did not know about his sageness but saw him lurking there.
12d One may help publicise a man’s watch (11)
BILL’S TICKER. BULLSHI**ER? Really – what cynicism about the advertising industry – surely unfounded?
19a Show off, following relative across lake (6)
F L AUNT
21d With blade, fight criminal (5)
FENCE. The misleading comma seems to be in open season in The Times clues. The answer reads as “With blade fight – criminal”.
Now just off to a “Free Bill Stickers” rally.