A fun puzzle with a fun nina!
I didn’t find this especially troublesome and enjoyed many of the clues and surfaces, though I did employ some assistance to complete it, as I’ve been busy and a little off my crossword game.
It was only when I was compiling the blog that I spotted the nina around the perimeter of the grid and in 25, 20, 5d, the clue for which references the perimeter words, the full thing being:
I DON’T LIKE RUSSIAN DOLLS, THEY ARE FULL OF THEMSELVES. There are also a couple of loose connections to the dolls/Russia in two other solutions (DUPLICATES and TSARISTS) but I would think these are just happy coincidences or opportunities taken by the setter.
Many thanks to Henri for the puzzle.
| ACROSS | ||
| 8 | INNATE |
Congenital boozer worried (6)
|
| INN (boozer) + ATE (worried). | ||
| 9 | NAE |
Billy Connolly’s not so famous, losing money (3)
|
| NAME (famous) minus M (money), for ‘not so’ or ‘no’ as a Scot such as entertainer Billy Connolly might say it. | ||
| 10 | PUMA |
Winding up married to absolute animal (4)
|
| PU (up, winding) + M[arried] + A[bsolute]. | ||
| 11 | LEST |
Head of Legal is in Strasbourg in case (4)
|
| L[egal] + EST, (‘is’ in French, as in Strasbourg). | ||
| 12 | ENERVATION |
Wilder perhaps to lose face helping to protect against weakness (10)
|
| ENE (Gene: ‘Wilder, perhaps’ – the original and best film Willie Wonka, losing his face/first letter) + RATION (helping/portion) protecting/including V (against).
I only got this via a word finder and failed to parse it until some discussion with a running friend who got me the ENE which unlocked the rest. Thanks @solesolver or whatever handle you choose if you eventually leave a comment 🙂 |
||
| 13 | TSARISTS |
Supporters of absolutist rule start working with half-sister (8)
|
| (START SIS)* | ||
| 15 | STOLID |
Showing no interest in premiere of Titanic in 3D (6)
|
| T[itanic] in SOLID (3D). | ||
| 16 | NABBED |
Did Nick brighten at last – retired, penning book? (6)
|
| brighteN + ABED (retired – to bed) with B (book) penned/inserted. | ||
| 18 | NUNCIO |
Papal ambassador’s prayer about ‘one love’ (6)
|
| NUN (one who prays, so a pray-er) + C (circa, about) + I O (one, love). | ||
| 20 |
See 25a
|
|
| 22 | SEA LEVEL |
Familiar old golfer guzzling beer by litre, a rising concern? (3,5)
|
| ALE inside SEVE (Ballesteros, Spanish pro golfer) + L[itre]. | ||
| 24 | DUPLICATES |
Copies of Cupid’s Tale pulped (10)
|
| (CUPID’S TALE)* | ||
| 25, 20, 5d | FULL OF THEMSELVES |
Whimsical conclusion of edgy opinion? (4,2,10)
|
| This was gettable from the enumeration and crossers I had, but only upon compiling the blog and spotting the nina did I realise that this is the conclusion of the ‘edgy’ opinion expressed on the perimeter of the grid. | ||
| 27 | ISLE |
I institute small rent cut (4)
|
| I + S + LE[t]. Quite a sneakily hidden definition! | ||
| 28 | LEA |
Barely uncorrupted open countryside (3)
|
| cLEAn. | ||
| 29 | DISCOS |
Insect regularly interrupting parties in clubs (6)
|
| InSeCt inside DOS (parties). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | KNEE |
Articulation of knowledge depleted when new drug is consumed (4)
|
| K[nowledg]E consuming N (new) + E (ecstasy, drug). I wouldn’t naturally think of knee and articulation as synonymous but as nouns they can be. | ||
| 2 | EASTER |
Four dates in spring are set up (6)
|
| (ARE SET)*, for the four day (in the UK and probably some other places) holiday period. | ||
| 3 | REVERSED |
Letters from lover, ever seductive, sent back (8)
|
| Hidden in loveR EVER SEDuctive. Some nice misdirection in the clue meant I solved then parsed this retrospectively. | ||
| 4 | UNLEASH |
Pawnbroker not caught, remains free (7)
|
| UNCLE (pawnbroker) minus C (caught in cricket scoring notation) + ASH (remains). This sense of ‘uncle’ is one I’m only aware of from crosswordland. | ||
| 5 |
See 25a
|
|
| 6 | SPITTOON |
Criminal points to what you can hack into (8)
|
| (POINTS TO)* | ||
| 7 | IMMOBILISE |
International oil company banking millions is over energy freeze (10)
|
| I (international), MOBIL (oil company) banking/including M (millions) + IS, all before (over) E (energy). | ||
| 14 | STAFF NURSE |
US fans fret about health worker (5,5)
|
| (US FANS FRET)* | ||
| 17 | BEHOLDER |
‘How to front a Slade tribute band’ – Observer (8)
|
| BE (Noddy, former lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the English rock band Slade) HOLDER. | ||
| 18 | NEARSIDE |
In Britain the left finally win despite idiot controlling papers (8)
|
| wiN despitE + ARSE (idiot) including/controlling ID (papers). Insert a mental comma after Britain in the definition if the anastrophic word order rankles. | ||
| 19 | ASHTRAY |
Heroin in wrong receptacle (7)
|
| H (Heroin) in AS_TRAY (wrong). | ||
| 21 | MACULA |
Spot batty aristocrat with Frenchman for doctor (6)
|
| Count DRACULA (a ‘batty aristocrat’) with M (French abbreviation for Monsieur, so ‘Frenchman’) swapped for DR (doctor). | ||
| 23 | ELFISH |
Ultimately cue ball angle is tricky (6)
|
| cuE balL + FISH. | ||
| 26 | LOOT |
Spoils ladies, maybe source of tension (4)
|
| LOO (ladies, maybe) + T[ension]. |
Lots of fun from Henri, as MyCrossword aficionados have come to expect, and a great PDM when the Nina and related solution revealed themselves. MACULA, NEARSIDE and SPITTOON (COTD) my pick of the clues. Thanks both.
I was suspicious of ‘edgy opinion’ as soon as I saw it but it took a while to get a handle on the complete phrase. That’s quite a creation and explains a couple of slightly odder words – though nothing too outrageous. I had not encountered ENERVATION either but ‘innervating’ is familiar. ISLE, SPITTOON, BEHOLDER and EASTER my favourites.
Thanks both
Thanks Henri for a puzzle right up my street 😆 I didn’t quite get the clue for FULL OF THEMSELVES until I completed the Nina — very nicely done. Additionally, I enjoyed the clues in general with my favourites being PUMA, REVERSED, UNLEASH, SPITTOIN, and ELFISH. My only miss was BEHOLDER. Thanks simonbyc for the blog.
Very enjoyable, thanks both. Nice bit of innovation with the “edge” bit (initially, I read only the outer-edge Nina as an endless sentence on a loop, starting with “I” and ending in “are). Cool trick, Henri, with enjoyable clueing throughout. Some favorites include KNEE, INNATE (though “boozer” beat me), TSARISTS, SEA LEVEL, ISLE, ELFISH, and LOOT. Thanks again.
Thanks to simonbyc for a great blog and also thanks to commenters for the nice feedback 👍
Any solvers who enjoyed this puzzle may like to have a go at another one of mine…
Very enjoyable. BEHOLDER made me smile and SPITTOON was very clever..
Great fun, with a very well-constructed grid. SPITTOON and MACULA were my picks.
Thanks Henri & Simon
What a fun puzzle and a helpful blog! I dont think I’ve ever seen a joke as a nina+ before but it made me chuckle. BEHOLDER, NEARSIDE, ASHTRAY & MACULA were favourites amongst many.
Quite a challenge for me and stretched my prefrontal cortex with a few of the trickier constructions – had to check the blog a few times (thank you simonbyc). Overall very clever stuff, I particularly liked SPITTOON, BEHOLDER, SEA LEVEL, UNLEASH, IMMOBILISE, thanks Henri
Ha. Nice one Henri and thanks simonbyc. Another appreciating SPITTOON! Podium completed by LOOT and LEST. Fun grid! Cheers!
Very enjoyable, some proper laughs (19d surface, 21d!), some obscure but fair words as solutions, and an example (18d) of the sort of clue I think of as ‘good luck if you had to try and explain to a non-crossword person…’ – i.e. such a well-hidden definition that the answer seems to bear no relation to the clue.
We were scratching our heads trying to parse 25a when Mrs Ffredi spotted the Nina just as I was heading here. Phew!