A little tricky, possibly because I did not solve 1ac on first glance, and had never heard of the tribe. Hopefully any newbies are not put off by the run of harder-than-average puzzles.
Corelli is known for including a (usually literary) theme, but it’s lost on me if it’s present today. Let me know if you find something!
Definitions underlined.
| Across | |
| 1 | Juliet imprisoned in castle keeps unsettling workers on roof (12) |
| STEEPLEJACKS – J (Juliet, phonetic alphabet) contained by (imprisoned in) and anagram of (unsettling) CASTLE KEEPS. I can’t see this word without immediately thinking of Fred Dibnah. | |
| 8 | Old monarch at first just omits his name (4) |
| JOHN – first letters from (at first) Just Omits His Name. | |
| 9 | No good to perform in Kim’s realm (7) |
| KINGDOM – N (no), G (good), and DO (perform) all inside KIM. | |
| 11 | Something fishy a politician kept in shed (7) |
| HALIBUT – A LIB (a liberal, a politician) contained by (kept in) HUT (shed). | |
| 12 | One used to make spirits all the same (5) |
| STILL -double definition. | |
| 14 | Salesperson Pat returns: he knocks (6) |
| TAPPER – REP (salesperson) and PAT, all reversed (returns). | |
| 15 | One sharing billing with new actors (2-4) |
| CO-STAR – anagram of (new) ACTORS. Nice. | |
| 18 | It recoils before young dog, upset (3,2) |
| TIP UP – IT reversed (recoils), then PUP (young dog). | |
| 20 | Second-guess public relations decree (7) |
| PREDICT – PR (public relations) and EDICT (decree). | |
| 21 | Neckerchief found in club — and an anorak (7) |
| BANDANA – hidden in (found in) cluB AND AN Anorak. | |
| 23 | Party attempt a big hit (4) |
| BASH – triple definition. | |
| 24 | Crazy eg ceding best dish (4,8) |
| EGGS BENEDICT – anagram of (crazy) EG CEDING BEST. | |
| Down | |
| 2 | Farewell to old pipe, sadly (6-3) |
| TOODLE-PIP – anagram (sadly) TO OLD PIPE. | |
| 3 | Raise each napkin initially, and peer underneath (7) |
| ENNOBLE – first letters of (initially) Each and Napkin, with NOBLE (peer) underneath. | |
| 4 | A native American, I’ll ask for that regularly (6) |
| LAKOTA – every other letter from (regularly) iLl AsK fOr ThAt. | |
| 5 | Possible Welshman’s skeleton with a different head (5) |
| JONES – bONES (skeleton) with a different first letter (head). | |
| 6 | Copper lead ultimately is something to chew on (3) |
| CUD – CU (copper) and the last letter of (ultimately) leaD. | |
| 7 | What we have in common is military training (10) |
| SIMILARITY – anagram of (training) IS MILITARY. | |
| 10 | A tiny bit secure in Kent town (10) |
| WHITSTABLE – WHIT (a tiny bit) and STABLE (secure). | |
| 13 | How baked beans are sold? About right, so, for native (9) |
| INTRINSIC – IN TIN (how baked beans are sold) containing (about) R (right), then SIC (sic erat scriptum, so). | |
| 16 | What bridge player may do in proverb, ideally (7) |
| OVERBID – hidden in (in) prOVERB IDeally. | |
| 17 | PS: on reflection, wet weather can cause injury (6) |
| SPRAIN – reversal of (on reflection) PS, then RAIN (wet weather). | |
| 19 | Climbing mountain, carefully note alternative strategy (4,1) |
| PLAN B – reversal of (climbing) ALP (mountain), then NB (nota bene, carefully note). | |
| 22 | Dun horse? (3) |
| NAG – double definition. NHO the verb ‘dun’ – to plague, pester, or harass. | |
Started slowly, not getting the first across answer until halfway down the grid. Speeded up appreciably after that but was still slightly disappointed to come in at 18 mins with several unparsed. Still within my previous target range of 15-20 mins, but I have recently (after a good run of times) revised this down to a target of 15 mins. Never mind – there’s always tomorrow!
FOI – 15ac CO-STAR
LOI – 7dn SIMILARITY
COD – 12ac STLL raised a smile although it’s probably an old chestnut
Thanks to Corelli and to William
WHITSTABLE not only known for its oysters but also as the model for “Blackstable” in Somerset Maugham’s “Cakes and Ale”. I think he lived there as a child.
Super puzzle, missed the Nina.
FOI STEEPLEJACKS, LOI JOHN (durr), COD HALIBUT, time 08:47 for 1.2K and a Very Good Day.
Many thanks to the Captain and William.
Templar
Whitstable also known for the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway, a very early railway which opened in 1830. Sometimes referred to colloquially as the “Crab and Winkle Line” …
Cedric
I enjoyed this puzzle and apart from my LOI Lakota, it all went in smoothly enough. The Tribe then followed from wordplay but as it emerged a dim light went on in one of the less frequented parts of my brain and I think on reflection I had heard of them. The NINA eluded me though, naturally enough – they nearly always do.
Just over 10 minutes in all. Many thanks to William for the blog and a good long Jubilee weekend to all
Cedric
I thought I’d been a bit sluggish, but seems it was just a bit tricky!
I used to go to a club called Lakota in Bristol in the early 90’s, so that was a write in.
LOI TIP UP, for no reason. STEEPLEJACKS probably my favourite.
A little over target range.
6:44
An interesting solving experience today – the longer anagrams just popping to mind immediately as I read the clues – steeplejacks/eggs benedict. Also answers such as Whitstable, similarity, Lakota etc etc today. How does that happen (sometimes!). 9a and 10d on first pass made for a speedy completion but as I never keep a timer I have no idea of how quick this one was. Missed the Nina as I am not a CNN-watcher. FOI 1a steeplejacks. LOI 13d intrinsic. COD 21a bandana. Thanks to Corelli for an enjoyable puzzle and William for a concise blog. Will find something else to do this evening!
15:46
Fairly straightforward but not helped by biffing COLE for old monarch. Finally twigged that 3dn had to be ENNOBLE which showed me my error for LOI JOHN.
I did exactly the same thing!
25 mins today which is my target.
Anyone do Which? Magazine cryptic. Bit quirky but usually about the same time for me. This months was a shocker. Tough grid Strange clueing. Took 3 hours. Would have gone in the recycling way before but tennis went on till gone midnight yesterday. No blog as £50 John Lewis voucher prize. It’ll be going on booze if I win. 🤪
16 mins…
Late one for me as I’ve gone away for the long weekend. DNK 4dn “Lakota” but it was fairly straightforward from the wordplay. The rest went in fairly steadily, although I initially thought 20ac was “Presume”.
FOI – 8ac “John”
LOI – 1ac “Steeplejacks”
COD – 13dn “Intrinsic”
Thanks as usual!
Solvedat a steady pace today with a couple of guesses when justthe odd letter missing. Enjoyable!
Done on a hurry before going to hear the Verdi requiem im London
Got John wrong and thus enable.
Concert was good though