I mentioned last week that, in the paper’s relaunch, they’d moved the puzzle away from the penultimate page. Well, there must have been a problem or two, because, this week, if you go to that page, you’re told where to find the crossword (on P 75 again)

A little trickier than usual.

Solving time: 26 mins

ACROSS

* = anagram

7 T(ER)RAIN I wondered what “very important lady” meant, it turned out to be the Queen. Was slow with this - I was looking for the name of a country at first.

10 I(RON)S IDES Beware the Ides of March (Julius Caesar) Fateful day.

12 BERN A RD The German form of the Swiss capital - the French form, also more commonly used in English, I think, is Berne.

14 PEE RAGE Not sure if I should think too deeply about these matters, but the “yourself” seemed surplus in the cryptic reading.

15 TOLBUTAMIDE (bloated tum I)* Drug used in diabetes so I don’t think there’s an &lit element, but am open to correction.

21 TSARINA (Sinatra)* This was very clever and I got it only near the end - only slight doubt was whether the definition “a high-class foreign woman” should have indicated in some way that such have not been around for a while.

26 KARA CHI arak = arrack reversed Reasonably obscure, I thought, but it’s in the Concise OED under both spellings. Karachi, a port in Pakistan and, at one time, its capital.

27 U PSI LON(e) Three Greek characters in two successive clues! You need to know the more commonly used ones (used in crosswords, that is) for the cryptics.

DOWN

2 MARS HALL The post-World War II Marshall Plan to aid recovery in Europe (provided by the USA)

3 E(N)ID Eid, a Muslim festival.

6 DE (French for of) VICE As Napoleon was French, it’s his.

7 TRILBY Double definition. George du Maurier’s very popular book (1894)

13 DOUBLE CHIN “chin-chin” used in toasts, not the kind you put in a toaster.

18 J ARGON One of the inert gases.

20 IN SECT My last answer “One I often deem to be worker in religious organisation”

The last three words give the wordplay. I think the definition may be suggesting that the setter clues insect often as a worker but I’d have associated this more with “ant”. And ANT-HILL is in this puzzle too!

The answer has to be right, though, I think.

21 I C(I)CLE Cycle less y (edge - i.e. end letter - of city).

There are few perks associated with this role, but it’s a real pleasure to comment on a brilliant puzzle every now and then and today is one of those days.

Nestor is one of my favourite setters both in the Indy and when he appears elsewhere in barred puzzles in the EV, Inquisitor and Listener series.  Elegant clue writing, together with superb grid structure make his puzzles a must solve and today is no exception.

Having already finished today’s Guardian and Times in the middle of the night during the first of four power cuts, I was somehow still in a good mood
after particularly enjoying the first across clue in the Pasquale puzzle.   I was delighted to see another group of fine clues here, especially 16 across (laugh out loud!), 27 across, 5 down  and 7 down.  1 down held me up for a while, as I didn’t think I’d see that in a puzzle!

All in all, a terrific challenge and a joy to solve.  Bravo Nestor!

Solving time: 31 minutes (enjoyed every second!)

ACROSS      * = ANAGRAM  CD = Cryptic definition   (R)= Reversal

8  ALI  AL(E) +  I  - definition is his old quote about “Float like a butterfly,
  sting like a bee”
9  ARCHIPELAGO  I was in the dark about this clue - but it’s just hit me.
  CHIP in ARE + LAG + O / Definition =  A bunch of (Florida) Keys!
11 TWANG W in TANG
12 OPERATION  RATION in OPEN
13 IMRAN KHAN ”I’M RANK” +  NAH (R)  Another nice “&Lit” clue
15 ALOOF ALOO in an Indian restaurant is Potato + F
16 PEERAGE PEE - RAGE!!!  Comment is superfluous!
18 ASTERIX IS EXTRA*
20 GAMUT GA(G) + MUT(E)
22 OYSTER BED I presume “where shellfish stew” is the definition, although I am a little  unsure of “Stew”.  Couldn’t find a link in Bradford’s.  OY + DEBRET(TS)
  [of Peerage Book - hence 16 reference].
24 ANDROCLES C in AND ROLES = with responsibilities
26 CELEB B + ELEC(T) (R)
27 HOMO SAPIENS Students of crosswords looking for a nice example of an “& Lit” clue  should look here, and at 5 & 7 down.   MAN’S I HOPE SO *

DOWN
1 CAPTAIN PUGWASH Another laugh out loud clue!  WATCHING A PUP AS *
2 DISAGREE GAS (R) in DIRE + E
3 JARGON J + ARGON(AUTS)
4 ECHO  H in ECO
5 LIFE ON MARS  A fabulous anagram  ALIEN FORMS
6 MEGAWATT Indonesian PM = Megawati Sukarnoputri   MEGAWAT(I) + T
7 PACINO Another belter -  Al Pacino played a cop in the film Cruising.
10 OF NO FIXED ABODE  Cryptic def.  Inept DIY-er wouldn’t have a fixed abode!
14 HIEROGLYPH   I + GORE (R) + LY(M)PH after H
18 ART HOUSE THOUS in ARE
21 MADAME AD in MAME
23 EXCUSE Another clever clue  X (24TH) + Q’S (17TH)
25 SUEZ  SUE + Z

Thank you Nestor, here’s to the next one!

A good, not too difficult puzzle from Pasquale, with two long double-entry clues of 24 letters each making up the perimeter. Both were very clever anag + lits, but such clues present an immediate dilemma. Do you sit and try to work out the long anagrams cold, leaving the rest of the puzzle half-solved, or do you, as I did, wait for the checking letters to give the game away, like in a game of hangman. The trouble with that is that the anagram becomes almost incidental, you just decide it looks about right and admire the setter’s ingenuity. Took just over 10 mins.

ACROSS:

1, 7dn. WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE. Anag everything except ‘unfairly’.

 8. MALAISE. A in EMAILS*. No spam here, but a nice use of ‘junk emails’.

9. BUM(P OF)F. FOP< in BUMF. Someone remind me why misleading upper case (Dandy) is deemed acceptable, but not misleading lower case?

16. NEBRASKAN. SKA in BANNER*.

19. RIF(f)LE. Pleasing use of ‘half-hearted’ with good misleading surface.

21. IN(MAT)ES. Or clients, as we should probably call them these days.

24. ENA M(O)UR(der). Girls name much beloved of setters, if not of parents.

25. (G)RUMBLER. Interestingly, quite a few complaining words start GR (grouse, gripe etc).

DOWN:

1. WELLS ET. Film is often ET, but cathedral perhaps more often Ely than Wells.

2. O(RINO)CO. A tributary of the Amazon (I think), not just a womble.

3. A WEST RUCK. Ref Mae (’is that a gun in your pocket…?’) West.

4. TAB OO. Interesting one. BAT< is the rising cricketer. But is ‘pair’ a recognised term for two ducks in one match, or is the reference to be taken from the definition, as the batsman wouldn’t want such a record mentioned?

5. TEMPE RA.  Ref ancient Greek valley of beauty.

6. B(LOU(i)S)ON. Emerging, here, means disappearing.

10, 26 ac. FREDDIE STARR ATE MY HAMSTER. Ref. famous Sun headline of the 70s, which became a template for such outrageous and fictitious stories. Anag everything except’misled’.

15. PEN TAG RAM. ‘Mark’ for ‘tag’ - as in graffitti - and ’stars’ for ‘ram’ (astrology) both less than obvious, but the word itself is clearly defined.

18. ART FORM. F in MORTAR*.

22. SA RAH. ‘SA’ for ’sex appeal’ lives on in Crosswordland long after being consigned to oblivion by the living language.

This puzzle struck me as a classic Cincinnus, fairly easy but very elegant.

Across
1. APPENDIX. Figure it out; it’s lovely.
5, 26. FRENCH POLISH
9. ANNALIST - ANNA + LIST
10. STARER - *(SARTRE)
11. UPROOTED - *(DOUR POET)
12. STROLL - ST + ROLL
14. STENTORIAN - *(ONE STARTIN)[g]
18. IN MEMORIAM - IN + ME + M + OR + I + AM
22. KEENED - KEEN + ED
24. ESTHER - hidden word
25. MISTAKEN - *(STAN MIKE)
27. ENTRANCE - double definition

Down
1. ABACUS - A + B(A C)US
2. PANTRY - P(ANT)RY
3. NELSON - double definition
4. INSPECTORS - *(CENSOR SPIT)
6. ROTATION - R + [p]OTATION. I guessed the answer easily but figuring out the wordplay for this one was tough.
7. NARCOSIS - *(OSCARS IN)
8. HURTLING - HURT + LING
13. ANDALUSIAN - AND + A(L U)SIAN
15. PICK ME UP - double definition
16. EMMENTAL - reverse(ME) + MENTAL
17. AMMETERS - ‘AMM(E T)ERS
19. TARTAR - TAR + TAR
20. JERKIN - JERK + IN
21. AT ONCE - A + TON + C[hang]E