Solving time: 38 minutes and the second consecutive puzzle very much at the easier end of the spectrum*. I wondered if the setter was hungry when he compiled it as there seem to be a lot of food references one way or another. I’ve listed them in the hidden part of this intro, so if you haven’t yet solved the puzzle don’t venture further for now. *Having written that the puzzle was quite easy I neglected to mention there were two Down clues that had me scratching my head as to their parsing and it has since turned out that my best efforts to explain them were incorrect, so thanks to first commenter Paulmcl for putting me right.
Food words in clues and ANSWERS: Spice x 2, NUTMEG, Cheese x 2, FETA, Ate, Consumed, MEAT, LINGUINI, Fish, Pasta, TURMERIC, Food, AU GRATIN, Ration, PANINI, French Bread, Sandwiches, OIL, GUM. There’s a hint of ‘gin’ towards the end to wash it all down with but unfortunately it’s clued as ‘trap’.
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]
| Across | |
| 1 | Father’s put in lock — to prevent this? (8) |
| TRESPASS – PA’S (father’s) contained by [put in] TRESS (lock) | |
| 6 | Ring not new? Bloke disheartened girl (6) |
| PHOEBE – PHO{n}E (ring) [not new], B{lok}E [disheartened] | |
| 9 | Spice fanatic turned over excellent specimen (6) |
| NUTMEG – NUT (fanatic), GEM (excellent specimen) reversed [turned over] | |
| 10 | Theater award involving a literary key (8) |
| TONALITY – TONY (theater award) containing [involving] A + LIT (literary). Well I’ve learned something today as despite being a huge fan of theatre I always assumed that TONY was an acronym standing for ‘Theatre(s) Of New York’, but apparently its official name is the ‘Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre’, and ‘Tony’ is not an acronym but simply short for ‘Antoinette’. The spelling ‘theater’ in the clue helpfully indicated the side of the Atlantic we needed to be thinking of . | |
| 11 | Cheese — lot getting consumed a different way? (4) |
| FETA – FATE (lot) with ATE (consumed) reversed [a different way] | |
| 12 | Expert on land, dodgy at moorings (10) |
| AGRONOMIST – Anagram [dodgy] of AT MOORINGS. Soil managament and crop production is his area of expertise, so he’s associated indirectly with today’s food theme. | |
| 14 | Lean on women’s organisation quietly to produce what’s hoped for? (4,4) |
| WISH LIST – WI (women’s organisation – Women’s Institute), SH (quietly), LIST (lean) | |
| 16 | Comedian avoiding limits of strident mockery (4) |
| JEER – JE{st}ER (comedian] [avoiding limits of strident] | |
| 18 | Satisfied about article providing essential material (4) |
| MEAT – MET (satisfied), containing [about] A (article). For the avoidance of controversy it’s perhaps best to take this as a figurative definition of ‘meat’ such as this one in the SOED: matter of importance or substance; the gist or main part (of a story, situation, etc.) | |
| 19 | After switching components, escape epidemic (8) |
| OUTBREAK – BREAKOUT (escape) switches its components to supply the answer | |
| 21 | Strangely no opening for cricket players getting out too often? (10) |
| NARCOLEPSY – Anagram [strangely] of NO C{ricket} [opening] PLAYERS. Falling asleep rather too easily, usually at inappropriate places and/or times. | |
| 22 | Go for no fine work on metal? (4) |
| ETCH – {f}ETCH (go for) [no fine]. Alternatively it may be on glass or stone, for example, hence the question mark. | |
| 24 | Finally you will tuck into fish in foremost of Italian pasta (8) |
| LINGUINI – {yo}U [finally] contained by [will tuck into] LING (fish) + IN, I{talian} [foremost] | |
| 26 | Fancy a grand change will come about (6) |
| VAGARY – VARY (change) contains [will come about] A + G (grand – a thousand dollars or pounds) | |
| 27 | Essence in article recalled acrimony (6) |
| ANIMUS – SUM (essence) + IN + A (article) reversed [recalled] | |
| 28 | Reduced opportunity to get Central America spice (8) |
| TURMERIC – TUR{n} (opportunity) [reduced], {a}MERIC{a} [central] | |
| Down | |
| 2 | Course not permitted in religious studies (5) |
| ROUTE – OUT (not permitted) contained by [in] RE (religious studies – Religious Education) | |
| 3 | Understanding town’s upset about the map being redrawn (11) |
| SYMPATHETIC – CITY’S (town’s) reversed [upset] containing [about] anagram [redrawn] of THE MAP | |
| 4 | Food allowed in summer month excludes nothing served with cheese? (2,6) |
| AU GRATIN – AUG (summer month) RATI{o}N (food allowed) [excludes nothing] | |
| 5 | Absolute limit wrongly put in trio sonata (10,5) |
| SATURATION POINT -Anagram [wrongly] of PUT IN TRIO SONATA | |
| 6 | French bread I used when going about Northern Italian sandwiches (6) |
| PANINI – PAIN (French bread) + I containing [going about] N (Northern) | |
| 7 | Fuel line is operating at first after set-up (3) |
| OIL – L{ine} + I{s} + O{perating} [at first] reversed [after set-up] | |
| 8 | Biblical seductress has sneakily to ensnare Hebrew after flutter of eyelid (9) |
| BATHSHEBA – BAT (flutter of eyelid), anagram [sneakily] of HAS containing [to ensnare] HEB (Hebrew) | |
| 13 | Officer left, not entirely keen about United in group of teams (5,6) |
| MAJOR LEAGUE – MAJOR (officer), L (left), EAGE{r} (keen) [not entirely] containing [about] U (united) | |
| 15 | Initial repetition, not all repetition (9) |
|
ITERATION – |
|
| Don’t go and stop some cricket (4,4) | |
| STAY OVER – STAY (stop), OVER (some cricket) | |
| 20 | Fixes to tour US city and Midwest feature (6) |
| PLAINS – PINS (fixes) contains [to tour] LA (US city). An opportunity missed for more French bread! | |
| 23 | Exclamation over trap taking tail off dog (5) |
| CORGI – COR (exclamation), GI{n} (trap) [taking tail off] | |
| 25 | Bit of latex taken from blue tree (3) |
|
GUM – |
|
It was a bit harder but I got 1a straightaway and that always inspires confidence. Eventually I had two left, 15d and 24a. I biffed Iteration and then tried to find something better. Finally I saw Narcolepsy and reverse-engineered the parsing -COD for me.
Could not parse Gum either. David