Hello everybody.
A very fine puzzle from Longitude which, in my humble opinion, is one of the best of this year so far.
One of the most fun parts of doing these blogs is trying to pick a favourite from the clues on offer. This grid made that task all but impossible given the large number of beautifully constructed surfaces. I often say this as an aspirant setter, that seeing the level of skill on display here is both inspiring and humbling.
As it’s too hard to choose I’ll go with Mentions in Dispatches for 15, 17 & 24d, and the quite subtle (for me at least) misdirection in the use of “Bishop” for “Pope” in 10a.
Thanks, (and “we are not worthy”) to Longitude for the grid.
ACROSS
1. Affection simulated by AI strangely irks sceptics at first (3,4)
AIR KISS
AI [AI] strangely irks [anag “strangely” = RKIS] sceptics at first [S]
5. Dance with retired doctor showing lack of coordination (7)
DISCORD
Dance [DISCO] with retired [backwards] doctor [= RD]
9. Field buzzed with energy (5)
RANGE
Buzzed [RANG] with energy [E]
10. Rise to embrace bishop with a melodramatic show (4,5)
SOAP OPERA
Rise [SOAR] to embrace bishop [POPE] with a [A]
11. Student leaving out cap means to collect money (6)
EARNER
Student [LEARNER] leaving out cap [LEARNER]
12. Model recalled art teacher’s education (5,3)
TRAIN SET
Recalled [backwards] art [= TRA] teacher’s education [INSET]
In the UK (and very possibly elsewhere), teacher training days in schools are known as “inset days”
14. Woke in the end with leg broken (11)
ENLIGHTENED
Anag [“broken”] IN THE END + LEG
16. English bachelors head out (3)
EBB
English [E] bachelors [BB]
18. Endless source of milk for hot drink (3)
TEA
Endless source of milk [TEAT]
19. Complicated ode, abridged and broken down (11)
BIODEGRADED
Anag [“complicated”] ODE ABRIDGED
21. Start to eat deconstructed sandwich wife’s left in layers (8)
ECHIDNAS
Start to eat [E] deconstructed [anag of] sandwich wife’s left [- W]
22. Farewell note for Mat (6)
TATAMI
Farewell [TATA] note [MI]
25. Discreetly get shot of Asian food smell in burial chamber (9)
PHOTOBOMB
Asian food [PHO] smell [BO] in burial chamber [TOMB]
26. Charlie secures head of screwdriver in screw (5)
TWIST
Charlie [TWIT] secures [around] head of screwdriver [S]
27. Discuss loudly after very engaging summit (5,2)
SPEAK OF
Loudly [F] after very [SO] engaging [around] summit [PEAK]
28. Knight, courageous one, experiencing change of heart gets cut (7)
SIRLOIN
Knight [SIR], courageous one[LION], experiencing change of heart [IO – OI]
DOWN
1. Handshake perhaps is one welcome when introducing people (9)
AGREEMENT
One [A] welcome [GREET] when introducing [around] people [MEN]
2. Chilling pair at heart of horror (1,3,1)
R AND R
Pair at heart of horror [RR]
3. Vehicles essentially picking up diver in danger at sea (7)
ICEBERG
Vehicles essentially [IC] picking up [backwards] diver [GREBE]
4. Beginning to scratch bum cheek (4)
SASS
Beginning to scratch [S] bum [ASS]
5. Notice group cutting venison for spit (4,6)
DEAD RINGER
Notice [AD] group [RING] cutting [inside] venison [VEAL]
6. Legendary one saved squirrels (7)
STORIED
One [I] saved [STORED] squirrels [around]
7. Spotted in lover’s pendant, go red? (9)
OVERSPEND
Hidden word [“Spotted in”] LOVER’S PENDANT
8. Plan of road heading uphill and back (5)
DRAFT
Road [RD] heading uphill [backwards] and back [AFT]
13. Beef dish got mixed with saffron (10)
STROGANOFF
Anagram [“mixed”] GOT + SAFFRON
15. Despicable look at last of burglars breaking in (9)
LOATHSOME
Look [LO] at [AT] last of burglars [S] breaking [inside] in [HOME]
17. Series of shuttle launches got through terrible moment, not taking off (9)
BADMINTON
Terrible [BAD] moment [MIN], not [NOT] taking off [backwards = TON]
19. Foundation degree in education and music (7)
BEDROCK
Degree in education [BED = B.Ed] and music [ROCK]
20. Priest offers shelter to accident’s first responder (7)
REACTOR
Priest [RECTOR] offers shelter [around] to accident’s first [A]
21. Displays latex posing pouches (5)
EXPOS
Hidden word [“pouches”] LATEX POSING
23. Friend and I leave after mum comes around (5)
AMIGO
I leave [I GO] after mum [MA] comes around [backwards]
24. Maybe sister and I pulled up waders (4)
IBIS
Maybe sister [SIBLING] and I pulled [- Longitude “LNG] up [backwards]
I assume this is a debut and an excellent one. Eimi can sure pick ‘em.
I had 24d as simply a reversal of SIB + I, sib being a recognised abbreviation for sibling. Some may object to unindicated Americanisms but they don’t bother me at all (just American spellings).
Comment #2
Nice to see this debut puzzle from another MyCrossword compiler who consistently sets at this level and always gives my mind a bit of a stretch. I found this one quite gentle but there’s nothing wrong in that when the clues are so smoothly constructed and a pleasure to read. As our blogger says, hard to pick a favourite. DISCORD, EARNER, TWIST, SIRLOIN, AGREEMENT, DEAD RINGER and STROGANOFF is my (fittingly “long”) shortlist.
Thanks both
Some very good clues here, I always enjoy simple constructions like TATAMI.
IBIS I parsed simply as Hovis above
I’m one of the mild objectors and am a little sad that americanisms have crept in to our language to the point that ASS for arse is now used without an indication of its mainly US usage and of course whether woke = ENLIGHTENED very much depends on ones standpoint!
Thank you Longitude and Leedsclimber
Perfect blend of difficulty levels and crafty devices. Some very cunning definitions, and misdirections.
Can’t find fault in any clue -it’s top class setting, AND, a helluva lot of fun.
Just a thought on 17(d), BADMINTON ( which is a cracker), being a down clue, I took ” not taking off”, as “not going upwards” as opposed to “backwards”.
Hats off, both Longitude & LC
Agreed, super clues.
Sibling is actually an expansion of sib, rather than the other way round.
Wasn’t going to do the Indy today but with that intro from the blogger how could I resist.
Some super clues with some sneaky definitions with ‘series of shuttle launches’ my favourite.
Did not know TATAMI
TRAINS SET, BADMINTON and REACTOR amongst a host of favourites today.
Thanks Longitude and LeedsClimber
James@6 interesting info…I thought “sib” was one of those yoof things, like “brill”, but sib is the origin, as you say, and sibling is the more recent extension. Who knew?
Well, James, obviously.
Got in muddle with PHOTOBOMB, but overall a great puzzle… basically all the down clues seemed to float my boat…
Thanks Longitude and Leedsclimber
I am always happy to allow some latitude to a new setter, but there was absolutely no need today. DEAD RINGER and SOAP OPERA were my picks of a fine bunch.
Thanks James. I never knew that about sib either (obviously). I’ll add it to the list of “wow, did that come first?” list. One of my favourites in that list is that the verb “edit” comes from “editor”, not the other way around.
Thanks for a fun set of clues and congratulations on the debut. Liked lots of the downs in particular, of which my favourites were probably AGREEMENT, R AND R and SASS. Thanks to both. Nice one
Thanks Leedsclimber, and thanks Longitude, welcome.
Annoyingly difficult, but when I got each of those difficult ones, I was delighted. 19a, LOI.
Have smilies all around: 10a, 12a, 16a, 19a, 22a, 25a, 26a, 28a, 2d, 5d, 6d, 17d, 20d, 24d
More, please.
Thanks to Leedsclimber and congrats to Longitude.
To address Doofs’ mild demurral @4, I’d suggest, as an apposite reworking of 4D: Beginning to smooch Trump’s bum cheek (4)
Some nice constructions here – particularly in 1A, 27A , 6D and 21D.
In 4D, as others have pointed out, there needs to be a North American indicator, given what it says in Chambers, and in 28A it would have been better, and more precise, in my view, to have used a reversal indication.
I don’t think the indicators in 3D and 17D really work as intended. In 3D, the transitive meaning of “picking up” is intended, but the sentence is constructed in such a way that the verb has to be interpreted as acting intransitively, as “vehicles essentially” does not form part of the wordplay. This means that “picking up” here has to take the intransitive meaning of “improving”, and, therefore, does not fulfil the function of a reversal indicator. A past participle (such as “raised”) of a transitive verb would have worked fine. As far as 17D is concerned, “taking off” seems pretty dodgy: it means “departing the ground”.
Correction to comment above, Please disregard the words after “acting intransitively” in the first sentence of the last paragraph. I meant to erase that bit, but left it too late.
Thanks everyone for a warm welcome and for all the comments.
Thanks especially to Leedsclimber for the blog and kind words!