An enjoyable, quirky and slightly more difficult than usual Monday offering, where the tricky vocab is helpfully clued. A couple of clues that stretch things a little, but none the worse for that, in my opinion.
A slightly belated Happy New Year of the Dragon to those who celebrate such things!
29:42
| ACROSS | |
| 1 | Card game with limits on pack, reportedly? (6) |
| PIQUET – sounds like P[ac]K (outside letters [‘limits’] of PACK) | |
| 4 | As is surface of mirror, reflecting shops entered by minister (8) |
| SILVERED – reversal of REV in DELIS | |
| 10 | Companion taking time out from first part of novel? (9) |
| CHAPERONE – CHAP[t]ER ONE | |
| 11 | Bill’s partner visited by doctor in group (5) |
| COMBO – MB (doctor – in Latin) in COO (one part of ‘bill and coo’ – not Ben!) | |
| 12 | Hobson’s choice — with only sugar cubes? (4,2,2,4,2) |
| LIKE IT OR LUMP IT – slightly odd wordplay: if you use cubes rather than granulated sugar, you use lumps. Hobson’s choice refers to situations where you have no real choice. | |
| 14 | Heading past it, leaseholder’s housing (5) |
| TITLE – hidden (and a clever one, to boot) | |
| 16 | Flower put on garlands also by priest (9) |
| DANDELION – AND (also) ELI (priest) in DON (put on); or, if you prefer, DON wraps (‘garlands’) AND & ELI | |
| 18 | How to contain runs after evident result of fielding error (9) |
| OVERTHROW – first cricketing clue: OVERT (evident) followed by (‘after’) HOW containing R (runs) | |
| 20 | Fighting earlier involving leaders in Glorious Revolution (5) |
| AGGRO – G R in AGO | |
| 21 | Note I tremble after death march’s beginning (14) |
| DEMISEMIQUAVER – DEMISE M[arch] I QUAVER | |
| 25 | Poetry in very old language (5) |
| VERSE – V ERSE (old language) | |
| 26 | Blunder in Caribbean location not initiated by an irregular soldier (9) |
| GUERRILLA – ERR (blunder) in [an]GUILLA | |
| 27 | Monk’s home brewing Mary’s ale (8) |
| LAMASERY – anagram* of MARYS ALE | |
| 28 | Music genre for example, a type of jazz that’s retro (6) |
| GARAGE – reversal of EG (for example) A RAG (type of jazz); not a genre I am familiar with | |
| DOWN | |
| 1 | Risky investment — not the first — embezzlement! (10) |
| PECULATION – [s]PECULATION; naughty ecclesiastical practice | |
| 2 | Phoney call from pond life? (5) |
| QUACK – double definition | |
| 3 | Recluse wound up watch in middle of week (7) |
| EREMITE – TIMER reversed (‘wound up’) in [w]EE[k] | |
| 5 | Current transaction, visionary (5) |
| IDEAL – I (current) DEAL (transaction) | |
| 6 | French nobleman failing to keep order, ending in defeat (7) |
| VICOMTE – OM (order [of merit]) [defea]T in VICE (failing) | |
| 7 | Left at the crease doubled up, player upset about that (9) |
| REMAINING – IN IN (batting in cricket – twice) in GAMER (player) reversed | |
| 8 | Portal with bar up, zero getting in (4) |
| DOOR – O (zero) in DOR (ROD reversed) | |
| 9 | Enthusiastic volunteer having to improve before grammar lesson? (2-6) |
| DO-GOODER – if one’s English is really bad, one might think one has to ‘do gooder’ means to improve | |
| 13 | Aggressive and popular solver’s champion, keeping fine (2-4-4) |
| IN-YOUR-FACE – F (fine) in IN (popular) YOUR (solver’s) ACE (champion) | |
| 15 | At this point, Father carried by boy out of that place (9) |
| THEREFROM -HERE (at this point) FR (father) in TOM (boy) | |
| 17 | Piece hot off the press, Times cryptic (4,4) |
| NEWS ITEM – NEW (hot off the press) TIMES* | |
| 19 | Fuel in test that’s explosive, ladies and gentlemen (7) |
| TOILETS – OIL in TEST* (‘explosive’ being the anagram indicator) | |
| 20 | Tanks in piazza stripped, one occupying area after evacuation (7) |
| AQUARIA – [s]QUAR[e] (piazza ‘stripped’) I (one) in A[re]A (after the middle part has been ‘evacuated’) | |
| 22 | Hungry vampire, Dracula biting the vicar last of all (5) |
| EAGER – final letters of [vampir]E [Dracul]A [bitin]G [th]E [vica]R | |
| 23 | House where burglar, say, drops in? (5) |
| VILLA – VILLA[in] | |
| 24 | Bad to be wrongly directed (4) |
| EVIL – LIVE (to be) reversed (wrongly directed) | |
has anyone else been having continuous problems with the crossword website since saturday and less frequently the times site? i must have cleared cookies on about five separate occasions which is what i was told to do.
Yes, me too. Maybe the Times techies will read this, as they certainly aren’t taking any notice of the numerous complaints on the Crossword Club site.
I’m afraid that’s The Times for you these days. They do seem to take their subscribers for granted.
I like it how the puzzles editor will pop up on here from time to time, but almost never on the Times forum which we actually pay for.
I don’t know what the problem is, but have you tried clearing cache rather than cookies?
18’47” but I admit to checking LAMASERY. Could easily have put something else in. Thought BILL’s partner might have been BEN. Glad to learn what PECULATION actually means. Bit like LARCENY – I’ve never been entirely sure. Many thanks
Reading the Jamaican newspaper, The Gleaner, you will find cattle theft referred to as “praedial larceny”.
Slowly plodded my way through this one in just under an hour. NHO LAMASERY (but sounded appropriate) or EREMITE which I looked up early on, then wished I hadn’t as I would have got there from the wordplay. PECULATION was also new to me but was generously clued. Very enjoyable. Favourites were DO-GOODER and LOI PIQUET. Many thanks U.
First confident finish for a while. Liked CHAPERONE.
Thanks U and setter.
25:58 but with VICOMPE. I’d originally biffed VICOMPT, without reading the wordplay carefully. This held up DANDELION for ages, and I forgot to reasses the P before moving on. DANDELION finally unlocked DO GOODER, and TOILETS was then LOI. Thanks setter and U.
Successful in the end but came here for enlightenment of some of the parsings – thanks.
PIQUET! This should’ve run on a Wednesday.
A steady solve completed during some gaps in a busy day. I’ve come across demisemiquaver in a crossword before.
I may be mistaken, but I think ‘hemi-demi-semiquaver’ came up in one of the Jumbos over the Christmas period.
I was not in the correct frame of mind for this, or not on the wavelength, so Mr Ego and I joined forces and cracked it together. FOI AGGRO, LOI DO-GOODER (which he had to explain to me – doh!). Some really nice clues when I got into it. Liked PIQUET, TOILETS, REMAINING, the ‘note’. COD to THEREFROM.
Another like. Especially Do-Gooder for the clue and In Your Face for the phrase
Mer at area after evacuation being ar.a. I’d expected a.a.
But that’s what it is!
Didn’t know PECULATION nor LAMASERY, and failed to think of the mirrors surface as SILVERED, but otherwise fared pretty well: especially liked CHAPERONE, DANDELION and a hidden I saw immediately (!) TITLE. Good, solid crossword.