I've not seen this compiler before but I see that there have been a number of previous puzzles. I thought it was of a very high standard with some great clues.
I liked 29A, 14D and 28D for the very smooth surface reading.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SKIP |
Bound to drink around end of week (4)
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Sip(=drink) around [wee]k |
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| 4 | DESERTS |
Places with few grasses or leaves (7)
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DD |
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| 10 | IZARD |
13 perhaps head off to find antelope in the Pyrenees (5)
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[W]izard. The izard is another name for the Pyrenean chamois. |
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| 11 | ARTHROPOD |
Moth ultimately ensnared by dreadful trapdoor spider? (9)
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[Mot]h in trapdoor*. |
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| 12 | MEANEST |
Tightest locks on street securing back of house (7)
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(Mane(=locks i.e. hair) + st{reet}) around [hous]e |
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| 13 | MERLIN |
Short route following French sea bird (6)
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Lin[k](or possibly lin[e]) after mer(=French word for sea) |
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| 15 | THONG |
Host runs out in revealing swimsuit (5)
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Th[r]ong(=host, as in a large group of people) |
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| 17 | RESISTANT |
Opposing trains set off (9)
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(Trains set)* |
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| 20 | HOME VIDEO |
Amateur recording movie shot in high definition initially earns Oscar (4,5)
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(Movie* in h{igh} d{efinition}) + e[arns] O[scar] |
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| 21 | DUCAT |
Old money train discovered (5)
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[E]ducat[e](discovered=dis-covered) |
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| 22 | ALBINO |
White whale, maybe seen through special binoculars (6)
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Hidden in special binoculars |
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| 24 | EMPEROR |
Rare poem about a missing penguin? (7)
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(R[a]re poem)*. The emperor is a species of penguin. |
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| 27 | CHARACTER |
Sign formal document retaining account (9)
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Charter(=formal document) around ac{count} |
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| 29 | GOTTA |
Must be off – heading to town – cheers! (5)
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Go(=be off) + t[own] + ta(=cheers) |
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| 30 | TAKE OUT |
Watch Bob leaving date (4,3)
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[S]takeout(Bob here used in the sense of s{hilling}) |
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| 31 | BINS |
Throws away out-of-date jams? (4)
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Bin[d]s(=jams in the sense of difficult positions with d{ate} removed) |
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| DOWN | ||
| 2 | KEDGE |
Light anchor king found on border (5)
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K{ing} on edge(=border) |
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| 3 | PLASTERED |
Penny was on top, holding one in bed tight (9)
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(P{enny} led(=was on top)) around aster(=type of flower, hence in a flowerbed) |
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| 4 | DATUM |
Time for everyone to stop raving over bit of information (5)
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(T{ime} + U(=for everyone in cinema classification)) in mad<(=raving) |
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| 5 | SURPRISED |
Stunned pair is inside safe and sound finally (9)
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((P{ai}r is) in sure) +[soun]d |
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| 6 | RIP |
Almost ready for final message (1,1,1)
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Rip[e](=ready) |
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| 7 | SODA |
Stirs around drink (4)
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Ados<(=stirs as a noun) |
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| 8 | MISMATCH |
Michigan school’s principal meets one fired after strike, causing conflict (8)
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Mi{chigan}(postal abbrev) + s[chool] + match(=something that fires up after being struck) |
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| 9 | PARANORMAL |
Weird old man smuggled medium parts for use in trap (10)
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Pa(=old man i.e. father) + ran(=smuggled) + (m{edium} in(=parts) oral(=for use in trap, where trap is slang for mouth)) |
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| 14 | INACCURATE |
Copper infiltrates where bottles of ale are stored? Wrong (10)
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Cu(=symbol for copper) in "in a crate"(=where bottles of ale are stored) |
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| 16 | GIVE IT A GO |
I’ve got a big cooked topside of beef cut to try (4,2,1,2)
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(I've got a [b]ig]* (b[eef] removed) |
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| 18 | STONE CRAB |
Cycling old woman stopping to skewer some seafood (5,4)
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(Crone(=old woman) with the first two letters cycling to the back) in stab(=skewer) |
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| 19 | TUTORIAL |
Test cases sorted out for lesson (8)
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Trial(=test) around(=cases) out*(anagram signalled by sorted) |
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| 23 | OCTET |
Group of over one hundred and twenty regularly shunned (5)
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O{ver} + c(=one hundred) + even letters removed from twenty |
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| 25 | PAGAN |
Druid perhaps, with power once more, ousting leader of Iceni (5)
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P{ower} ag[i]an |
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| 26 | SCUT |
Rabbit’s tail shortened near beginning of surgery (4)
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Cut(=shortened) after s[urgery] |
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| 28 | ARK |
Mum fleeing ocean predator in old boat (3)
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[Sh]ark, with mum used in the sense of staying silent. |
A fine puzzle. In addition to the clues highlighted by NealH, I enjoyed INACCURATE.
Nice puzzle, Liari. Congrats. Nice succinct clues and smooth constructions. Trademark birds and penguins. HOME VIDEO, ALBINO, DATUM, GIVE IT A GO, STONE CRAB and PAGAN are my faves.
Thanks both
Excellent surfaces. Admirable. Thanks to Liari and NealH
Fabulous puzzle, lots of very nice clues. In particular I ticked THONG, GIVE IT A GO, ALBINO, INACCURATE, ARK and TUTORIAL.
Thanks, Liari and Neal
Normally, crosswords in the Independent are too hard for me, but this was doable – probably this being Monday – albeit not easy. Didn’t get some of the parsing; jorums included SCUT, IZARD and KEDGE. Liked MERLIN and CHARACTER. Thanks Liari and NealH!
Great stuff from Liari who pops up far too infrequently. Although it says in her blog she will be debuting in a national publication this month so hopefully be seeing more.
Liked PLASTERED and MISMATCH
Thanks both
Thanks Liari, that was excellent. I liked the abundance of great surfaces. My top picks were SKIP, ARTHROPOD, HOME VIDEO, BINS, PLASTERED, MISMATCH, and GIVE IT A GO. I missed SCUT and couldn’t parse TUTORIAL. Thanks NealH for the blog.
Yes, just right for me, a goldilocks puzzle. IZARD and KEDGE were jorums for me, too.
I’m catching up, a bit at a time, after a short break from doing daily cryptics. I found this quite tricky, but looking back on it I can’t exactly see why. (To be fair, my brain is fried after a very trying day at work, so maybe it’s that. The train ride home is a less than ideal setting for a puzzle of this type, too.) Some lovely surface readings and nothing too obscure. Thank you for the challenge.