*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone
An enjoyable puzzle with a good mix of clues. The only one I didn’t follow was 21 down.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Attache: Cryptic def (attache case). |
| 5 | Sampler: S[titches] + ampler. |
| 9 | San Marino: Romanians*. Something of an old favourite, this one – I’ve certainly seen it a few times before. |
| 10 | Squab: [Confes]s + qua + B. |
| 11 | Humpback bridge: I wasn’t totally sure on the details of this one. I think it’s (hump = carry) + (over = back) + (subject of contract = [contract] bridge) and the definition is “rise on the way”. |
| 13 | Clergymen: R + gym in clean. |
| 15 | Sprat: Spat around r. |
| 16 | Sable: B in sale. |
| 18 | Set square: (set = fixed) + (square = old-fashioned). |
| 20 | A bit of all right: (i to fall) in (a bright). Def = “sexy woman”. |
| 23 | Idiot: Idi (Amin) + OT (old testament). |
| 24 | Outskirts: Out + S[urrey] + strik[e]<. My favourite clue – a beautiful cricket-based surface reading. |
| 25 | Garment: Gent around arm (= contents of sleeve). |
| 26 | Shyster: S[top] + hyst (short for hysterectomy) + [ov]er. |
| Down | |
| 1 | Also: A LSO (London Symphony Orchestra). |
| 2 | Tonsure: Ton + sure + &lit. |
| 3 | Champagne bottle: excellent cryptic definition. |
| 4 | Evita: [n]ative<. I’m not sure why Evita is the “mother of all musicals”. |
| 5 | Stockinet: (etc so knit)*. |
| 6 | Mistress Quickly: I stress quickly after M. Mistress Quickly is a character who appears in a number of Shakespeare plays. |
| 7 | Launder: LA + under. |
| 8 | Rubber Tree: Rubber + Tree. Although he’s mostly forgotten elsewhere, Herbert Tree still comes up frequently in crosswords. |
| 12 | Ice Skating: (I can get ski)*. |
| 14 | Mess About: Me + bass< + out. |
| 17 | Brinier: in inside brier. |
| 19 | Athirst: At + (Damien) Hirst. |
| 21 | Lotus: Didn’t follow this, apart from it being a flower. |
| 22 | User: US ER. Another great clue. |
21 down. For all to see is U and the thing you draw is LOTS.
21d U (film classification, ‘for all to see’) in LOTS (‘something to draw’)
An excellent puzzle from this talented setter – a little easier than some of his previous ones, I found. Some minor points – in OUTSKIRTS the strik is reversed and I read SHYSTER slightly differently as S HYSTERectomy i.e. half of it. Guessed EVITA straightaway without fully understanding it, but it might have something to do with her being known as the ‘mother of the nation’, I think.
Hi Neal
I found the following quotation from ‘The reason of my life’, by Eva Peron, which might be the answer to your query re 4dn.
“Now if I were asked what I prefer, my answer would immediately come out of me: I prefer my popular name. When a boy says “Evita” I feel like the mother of all the boys and all the weak and humble people of my land. When a worker calls me “Evita” I proudly feel like a “companion” of all the men.”
Sorry, Nmsindy – didn’t see yours!
You’ve explained it much better, Eileen.
Herbert Beerbohm Tree (to be precise) deserves to survive as the begetter of one of the great theatre criticisms – W S Gilbert called his Hamlet: ‘Funny, without being vulgar’.
Whether that is enough to allow him to appear as a reference in a daily puzzle is a moot point though.
In 21dn we are asked to see ‘lots’ as ‘something to draw’. But I can’t see how they are equivalent. A lot is something to draw; lots are things to draw.
Thanks for that wonderful quotation, Phi 🙂
Wil (re comment 8), I’d no problems with this, I’ll have to say – I think what you could draw could be a plural item, as here.
Re Tree, yes, I knew him as an actor only from long acquaintance with crosswords.
My father pointed out to me that Hebert Beerbohm Tree also appears in “Gus: The Theatre Cat” by T. S. Eliot: “For he once was a Star of the highest degree- / He has acted with Irving, he’s acted with Tree.”