BOBCAT kicks off the week…
I found this a bit more challenging than a usual Monday puzzle, and it took a while to spot the feline Nina.
Thanks BOBCAT!
ACROSS
7. Somewhat powerful nationalist army unit? (4)
ULNA
[powerf]UL NA[tionalist] (somewhat)
As in part of the arm
8. Where one may digest single literary work interminably? (10)
UNIVERSITY
UNITY (one) may digest (I (single) + VERS[e] (literary work, interminably)) &lit
10. Run at high speed without wearing things out (6)
STREAK
STREAK (run at high speed) &lit
11. Spartan character to change, adopting Latin social code (8)
CHIVALRY
CHI (Spartan character) + (VARY (to change) adopting L (Latin))
12. Half-sized can or bottle (8)
DEMIJOHN
DEMI (half-sized) + JOHN (can)
13. Was very unhappy about cocaine being reviewed and cut off (6)
DETACH
(HATED (was very unhappy) about C (cocaine))< (<being reviewed)
15. Personal examination of disorganised cops in Trenton curtailed by author (13)
INTROSPECTION
(COPS IN TRENTO[n] (curtailed))* (*disorganised) by I (author)
18. Use AI to contain disease native to S America (6)
AGOUTI
AI to contain GOUT (disease)
20. Vanilla drink heads up orders I’ve taken (8)
CHAPLAIN
PLAIN (vanilla), CHA (drink) heads up
22. A tiny bit in tune or out of kilter? (8)
NEUTRINO
(IN TUNE OR)* (*out of kilter)
24. Craze for City historically breaks Arsenal’s heart (6)
FURORE
(FOR, UR (city, historically) breaks) + [ars]E[nal] (heart)
25. Money-making professional kitty breeder? (4-6)
FUND-RAISER
26. Help young woman out of her clothes (4)
AIDE
[m]AIDE[n] (young woman, out of her clothes)
DOWN
1. Complimentary coffee provided for first one involved in discharge (10)
FLATTERING
LATTE (coffee) provided for first I (one) involved in FIRING (discharge)
2. Paper covering possibly facile improvement on nature? (4-4)
FACE-LIFT
FT (paper) covering (FACILE)* (*possibly)
3. Flyer seeking pre-natal adoption (6)
CUCKOO
4. Regular exercise police mounted to protect port (8)
PERIODIC
(PE (exercise) + (CID)< (police, <mounted)) to protect RIO (port)
5. They say you won’t land in Brittany (6)
USHANT
“you” = U (“they say”) + SHANT (won’t)
6. Player taking the lead for the most part (4)
STAR
STAR[t] (lead, for the most part)
9. Collapsed unconscious, having eaten most of pie without attracting attention (13)
INCONSPICUOUS
(UNCONSCIOUS)* (*collapsed) having eaten PI[e] (most of)
14. Variation of genetic resistance encompasses a degree of metric scale (10)
CENTIGRADE
(GENETIC R (resistance))* (*variation) encompasses (A + D (degree))
16. Novel sort of sin (8)
ORIGINAL
17. Extremely ineffectual lot remonstrate against abuse (3-5)
ILL-TREAT
I[neffectua]L L[o]T R[emonstrat]E A[gains]T
19. Scruffy, loose, lacking finish and dirty when discharged (6)
UNTIDY
UNTI[e] (loose, lacking finish) and D[irt]Y (when discharged)
21. Pay for a fine car (6)
AFFORD
A + F (fine) + FORD (car)
23. Australians finally recycle problem boomerangs (4)
EMUS
[recycl]E (finally) + (SUM)< (problem, <boomerangs)
Quite tricky and the leopard (as is it’s won’t) was hard to spot. INCONSPICUOUS my favourite.
It was very tricky but fair.
I first encountered an AGOUTI in Costa Rica where it was a nuisance when we camped on the beach. Failed to spot the leopard.
Thanks Bobcat and Teacow.
Thanks for the blog , quite tricky and very good clues , missed the leopard . I spend half my life thinking about NEUTRINOs , devious little b……. , the Borrowers of the Particle Physics world .
I never felt I was on the same wavelength as the setter, making a tricky puzzle more difficult.
Liked ILL TREAT, ORIGINAL, and DETACH
A couple of questions. I am afraid that STAR does not seem right to me (“taking the lead” is doing double duty). Is the definition not “player” by itself? Why is “collapsed” an anagram indicator? Yes, you break words down to make an anagram, but you also rebuild them. The latter seems to be missing with “collapsed”. Why is ULNA an army unit? My dictionary only lists the bones.
Thanks for the help parsing FURORE and CUCKOO. Thanks Bobcat and Teacow
Martyn@4 The ulna is part of your arm and hence an army unit.
We suppose the leopard can be described as inconspicuous. 😊
Thanks, Bobcat and Teacow.
Thanks Bobcat and Teacow.
I think 10ac is just a cryptic definition for STREAK. I cannot see wordplay that would be needed for an “& lit” clue, as I understand the term.
7ac: As indicated by Peter@5, “army unit?” has to be interpreted as “unit of an arm”, the question mark indicating the whimsical meaning attached to “army”.
I would call 6dn a definition (“Player”) with helpful wordplay: some people call this an extended definition. I agree with Martyn@4 that “Player” is a sufficient definition, and the rest of the clue is needed for the wordplay, but the choice of wordplay is meant to help the solver towards the intended answer.
Thanks Bobcat for a challenging crossword. I ended up revealing USHANT and DETACH. I saw PUS ending the top row and SY beginning the bottom row so I thought PUSSY was the Nina and never looked for LEOPARD. Favourites included ULNA, STREAK, DEMIJOHN, AIDE, and ORIGINAL. Thanks Teacow for the blog.
Army unit = unit of the arm? Wow, now I have seen everything. Thanks Petert@5 and PB@7.
Martyn@9 , how about – Army type = Octopus ? I have seen that a few times .
Don’t be shy Roz @3, blighters won’t offend 🙂
Cuckoo gave me a laff. Pre-natal adoption is nearly as quirky as ‘Ows yer farver’.
Grant@11 , count the dots .
I found this quote hard but stuck in there and was rewarded with a lot of laughs and learning. Thank you all
Gave up with a few to go. Felt my time was being wasted, not invested.
I’m afraid I don’t enjoy Bobcat.
5 dn stumped me. Looking up my mapping app I found a town Cruson (“cruise on” = you won’t land?) in Brittany which considerably slowed down the top right corner.