This was an excellent puzzle from a very consistent setter.
The pick of the clues for me was 19A – possibly one of the best hidden definitions I’ve seen.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | BACK SEAT DRIVER |
Rugby players upset club, one making unwelcome suggestions (4,4,6)
|
| Backs(=Rugby players) + eat(=upset) + driver(=club in golf) | ||
| 9 | BROWNIE |
Toast? That is a delicious snack (7)
|
| Brown(=toast as a verb) + i.e.(=that is) | ||
| 10 | BORSCHT |
Child not quite right having eaten school soup (7)
|
| Bo[y] + (r{igh}t around sch{ool}) | ||
| 11 | SITCOM |
Father Ted maybe to meet Catholic order (6)
|
| Sit(=meet) + C{atholic} + OM(=order of merit). Sits is a synonym for meet in the sense of “The Council sits/meets tomorrow”. | ||
| 12 | MOLDOVA |
Cast finished broadcast in European country (7)
|
| Hom of “mould over” | ||
| 15 | ROUND |
Shot that takes golfer hours (5)
|
| DD referring to a round in a gun and the full 18 hole round in golf | ||
| 17 | MAELSTROM |
Eddy West, dead in France, knocked over by Lexus on vacation (9)
|
| Mae(=actress Mae West) + (mort<(=French word for dead) on L[exu]s) | ||
| 19 | DESCARTES |
He thought he was mad, asserted leader of council (9)
|
| (Asserted + c[ouncil])*. The def refers to Descartes’ famous phrase “I think therefore I am”. | ||
| 21 | BRASH |
Husband against underwear that’s showy (5)
|
| H{usband} next to bras(=underwear) | ||
| 22 | AGITATE |
A soldier thanks those exhausted in campaign (7)
|
| (A GI(=general infantryman)) + ta(=thanks) + t[hos]e | ||
| 24 | JOB LOT |
Miscellaneous collection of biblical characters (3,3)
|
| Job + Lot(=characters from the bible) | ||
| 28 | ON THE GO |
July? I must avoid motorway – it’s busy (2,3,2)
|
| [M]onth(=July as an example) + ego(=I in Latin) | ||
| 29 | ENDEMIC |
Common disease to wipe out wild mice (7)
|
| End + mice* | ||
| 30 | MAY CONTAIN NUTS |
Can nuns act in time over contaminated food warning? (3,7,4)
|
| May(=can, as used in sentences such as “Can/may I have a biscuit?”) + (nuns act in t{ime} o{ver})* | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | AFOOT |
Rear ducks to be restricted in the air (5)
|
| OO(=ducks) in aft(=rear). The def is in the sense of “the game’s afoot”. | ||
| 3 | KEN DODD |
Comedian‘s demise unusual: topped by butt of wisecrack (3,4)
|
| (End(=demise) + odd(=unusual)) with [wisecrac]k on top | ||
| 4 | EVEN |
What is 2+5 if you subtract 1 at the start? (4)
|
| &lit. [S]even | ||
| 5 | TABOO |
Unspeakable filling from fajita book (5)
|
| Hidden in fajita book | ||
| 6 | REREDOS |
Red rose transformed decoration in church (7)
|
| (Red rose)*. A reredos is an ornamental backing to the altar. | ||
| 7 | VICE VERSA |
Wrongdoing against Nebraskan periodically? On the contrary (4,5)
|
| Vice(=wrongdoing) + v{ersus} + even letters of Nebraskan | ||
| 8 | ROTE |
“Thoughtless repetition,” lecturer’s marked on paper (4)
|
| Hom of wrote | ||
| 9 | BESTRIDE |
Mount champion horse? (8)
|
| CD/DD. Champion horse = best ride. | ||
| 13 | SMUT |
Corporation’s put up indecent material (4)
|
| Tum’s<(=corporation’s) | ||
| 14 | EMPHATIC |
Impeach President, ultimately turning decisive (8)
|
| (Impeach [Presiden]t)* | ||
| 16 | UNSIGHTLY |
You and me, every evening, entwined? That’s revolting! (9)
|
| Us(=you and me) mixed with nightly | ||
| 18 | EASY |
Lubed up Greek scored no problem (4)
|
| [Gr]easy | ||
| 20 | ART DECO |
Foreign actor accepting of French style (3,4)
|
| Actor* around de(=of in French) | ||
| 21 | BROADEN |
Extend course flanked by Scottish mountain (7)
|
| Road(=course) in ben(=Scottish mountain) | ||
| 23 | TROUT |
Fish in river caught by hawk (5)
|
| R{iver} in tout(=hawk, in the sense of ticket touts etc) | ||
| 25 | LIMIT |
Check statement of one chasing after lecturer (5)
|
| I’m it(=statement of person chasing in a game of tag) after l{ecturer} | ||
| 26 | ZOOM |
Unknown animal noise repelled fly (4)
|
| Z(=unknown in X,Y,Z) +moo<(=animal noise) | ||
| 27 | YETI |
Hairy creature besides Coot (4)
|
| Yet(=besides)+I(=Coot, the compiler) |
Good puzzle. Neat blog.
Thanks Coot and NealH.
Liked BACK SEAT DRIVER, DESCARTES (COTD), ON THE GO, MAY CONTAIN NUTS, EVEN,
UNSIGHTLY and LIMIT.
EVEN
Did Coot also want us to think of 6, which is 7-1, is EVEN?
Yes, KVa. I didn’t explicitly say it but that is the &lit bit of the clue for EVEN.
Thanks NealH
An excellent puzzle, as NealH said.
I particularly enjoyed BACK SEAT DRIVER, MAELSTROM (lovely word), AGITATE, MAY CONTAIN NUTS, EMPHATIC and DESCARTES, which I too had as pick of the bunch.
I think I may have seen JOB LOT before but it still amused me, as did UNSIGHTLY.
Thanks to Coot for an enjoyable workout and to NealH for a fine blog.
Great stuff from Coot but was slowed down by expecting a pangram at one point which I thought must be in UNSIGHTLY as I was expecting a U from US.
Great stuff. As with others I enjoyed the long clues at the top and bottom.
Thanks Coot and NealH
An expert work of setting, something to enjoy in every clue.
25(ac): “I’M IT” is very cunning.
2(d), I suspect that ALOFT is the intended red herring; which is indeed, “in the air”. This phrase I think of as “something undecided”, whereas “there’s something in the wind”, means “there’s something afoot”. I’m only splitting ‘airs…it’s a solid clue.
17(ac), MAELSTROM, the Mae West trick is a frequent play, but I still feel an indicator would be fairer to solvers who haven’t seen it umpteen times.
Cool stuff from Coot, great blog NealH: cheers both
As others have said, very smooth cluing from the ever-reliable Coot. DESCARTES certainly the pick of the day. Other big ticks included JOB LOT, ON THE GO and ROTE. The surface for YETI is amusing: those who have encountered the setter in person will know he chose his moniker due to a somewhat different follicular circumstance to that implied in the clue. Slight eyebrow raise when I encountered MAELSTROM which I would have considered somewhat more than an eddy but I see Chambers defines the latter as a whirlpool. Scale is the issue but I guess the lexicographers must have encountered some extremely small whirlpools.
Thanks Coot and NealH
Sheer brilliance for DESCARTES Coot. I tilt my hat to you. 🙂
E.N.Boll& @6. My first thought for 2d was AROSE but it didn’t have enough ‘holes’, so to speak. Like other DESCARTES was COTD.
It’s all been said, really. DESCARTES is a cracker. LIMIT is smart, JOB LOT’s fun and the elegantly simple SITCOM took me longer than it should. Ta lots to Coot for yet another belter and NealH.
Hovis@9 yes, me too, as they say…I initially suspected arse might well be involved! ” Rear duck restricted”, and we’d have cracked it open!
But as you say, two holes were needed, whereas our “arse” only works with one hole.
I agree DESCARTES was a good ‘un, but I vaguely recall similar clues before, along the lines…”The thinking man’s philosopher”.
Lovely puzzle. Really enjoyed all of this with particular likes for JOB LOT, MAY CONTAIN NUTS, BACK SEAT DRIVER, EASY, but could select more. As others have said, DESCARTES is wonderful. Thanks Coot and NealH
Thanks both. Plenty to enjoy, here, as a Monday requires. EASY was coincidentally no problem, however I don’t remember previously seeing ‘score’ rather than say ‘score off’ as a synonym for anything suggesting removal, noting it does equate to ‘scratch’ but not necessarily in that sense, or so I thought.
Many thanks to everyone who has solved and/or commented on this puzzle, and of course to NealH for an impeccable blog.
I have enjoyed the chat about AFOOT. I’d realised from test solves that ALOFT might provide a distraction but the possibility of AROSE hadn’t occurred to me!
Quite annoyed with myself for putting ALOFT instead of AFOOT, then coming here to see why LO is “ducks”.
Thanks as ever to setter and blogger.
Thanks to Coot and NealH for excellent crossword and blog. I know DESCARTES is top clue, l agree, but JOB LOT; hee hee.
Thanks Coot for an excellent crossword. I had a long list of likes — BACK SEAT DRIVER, BORSCHT, DESCARTES, JOB LOT, ON THE GO, ENDEMIC, VICE VERSA, ROTE, and ART DECO. I initially entered ‘tums’ instead of SMUT for 13d (if you ignore the apostrophe in ‘corporation’s’ it works) but MAELSTROM cleared up my confusion. I revealed the nho KEN TODD as well as SITCOM, not aware of Father Ted. Thanks NealH for the blog.
Thanks to Coot for providing me with proof of my existence (i.e. making me think). Another AROSE here (ducks being another way of saying love). I have only myself to blame for googling the apocryphal comedians Kim Seed and Kid Smee.
Petert. I wondered if there might be a Kim Seed but left the clue for a bit and when I next looked Ken Dodd immediately came to mind. So no wasted googling this time for me.
DESCARTES made my day, one of many excellent clues. Thanks both!
A late night solve for me but had to say how much I enjoyed this one. So many clever clues but can’t see beyond JOB LOT for favourite.
Many thanks to Coot and to Neil for the review.