As the deities turn the heating up, Stamp provides some cryptic entertainment.
A new setter for me to blog – interesting clues. Took me a littel time to get on teh correct wavelength but when I did it was a good experience. Some very neat clues and humorous ones – 16dn was one I pick out, also 18ac for its double misdirection – probably my favourite was 1dn but others were just about as ingeniously clued.
Thanks Stamp – hope to catch you again soon
Key: Rev. reversed; * anagram; underline definition; DD double definition
Across
1 Straggle headed by elderly goose (7)
lag (straggle) after grey (elderly) = GREYLAG
5 Parents postponing employment of second hot water bottle? (7)
mothers (parents) moving mo (postponing second) = THERMOS
9 Computer at home backing up sound system (5)
Rev. Mac (Computer) + in (at home) = NICAM
10 This provides cover until para breaks out (9)
(until para)* = TARPAULIN
11 Rough-spoken insolence that groom must polish up? (5,5)
Homophone of hoarse + brass (insolence) = HORSE BRASS
12 Sierra tailgates Clio maybe out of motorway services (4)
s (sierra) after muse (Clio maybe) – m (motorway) = USES
14 Press that is keeping in check broadcasting tycoon? (11)
mill (press) + ie (that is) around on air (broadcasting) = MILLIONAIRE
18 Carol fast approaching in SEAT (6,5)
lent nigh (fast approaching) in sit = SILENT NIGHT
21 Range of adult recordings (4)
a (adult) + lps (recordings) = ALPS
22 Lame fox managed with reduced prey perhaps (3,7)
(lame fox + pre)* = FOR EXAMPLE
25 Dan Brown’s first hit having shortage in stock (5,4)
b(brown’s first) + belt(hit) around lack (shortage) = BLACK BELT
26 Patron cross about new charges (5)
door (cross) about n (new) = DONOR
27 Characters line street wanting work (7)
l(line) + (street)* = LETTERS
28 Constantly inbound, regularly returning vessels (3-4)
iNbOuNd regularly + Rev. pots (vessels) = NON STOP
Down
1 Indian sides in garnish finish off tandoori (6)
g and h (sides in garnish) + I (finish off tandoori) = GANDHI
2 Occasionally gearbox can be mounted again (6)
Rev. gEaRbOx CaN bE occassionally= ENCORE
3 Explosive change I implement (6,4)
(I implement)* = LIMPET MINE
4 Fix up label or it might snap (5)
Rev. tag (label) + or = GATOR
5 Stabbing item about to corrode (9)
thing (item) about rust (corrode) = THRUSTING
6 Going through hairpieces, a usually hairy chap (4)
Hidden hairpiecES A Usually = ESAU
7 Material holding up Piers, a lot of type? (8)
moles (holding up piers) + kind (type) – d = MOLESKIN
8 Second politician, rejecting leader, left (8)
s(second) + minister (politician) – m (leader) = SINISTER
13 Formal outdoor feature that could spell danger for setter? (4,6)
cryptic indicator to danger – knot garden = KNOT GARDEN
15 Solitary types intruded upon by fellow city dwellers (9)
loners (solitary types) around don (fellow) = LONDONERS
16 Where Turks might be slain – but not normally (8)
(slain but)* = ISTANBUL
17 Facetious female’s backchat mostly rubbish (8)
f(female) + lip (backchat) + pants (rubbish) – s = FLIPPANT
19 Wood being crushed by stone instrument (6)
st (stone) around pine (wood) = SPINET
20 Wind once again concerning with sharp blow (6)
re (concerning) + w (with) + rap (sharp blow) = REWRAP
23 Giant going down when completely shorn (5)
setting (going down) – sg (shorn) = ETTIN
24 Cultured dairy product mainly found on European island (4)
skyr (cultured dairy product) – r = e (european) = SKYE
My faves: TARPAULIN, SILENT NIGHT, FOR EXAMPLE, GANDHI,
KNOT GARDEN, ISTANBUL and ETTIN.
Thanks Stamp and twencelas.
This was great fun. I’ve never heard of either ETTIN or SKYR and, for me, 4d is an Americanism – Collins and Chambers both agree.
Some clever clueing and smooth surfaces added to the enjoyment. I had plenty of ticks with SILENT NIGHT, GHANDI and ISTANBUL my top picks.
Many thanks to Stamp and to twencelas.
26a is ROOD< about R, with ‘charges’ to denote the inclusion.
Lovely crossword. Love Stamp/PostMark’s ability to work out such nice surfaces.
A slightly sticky Stamp, for me, because I misspelled GANDHI, 1(d), which I always do; and initially went for TITAN in 23(d), having never heard of ETTIN.
Shoot the solver, not the setter, because this is all, lovely stuff. Precise, fair, and tight clue sentences, yet the surfaces are lyrically composed.
8(d), SINISTER, is a perfect, and topical, example.
5(ac), THERMOS, says to me, a setter who eschews the obvious ( anagram) for a much craftier option.
HORSE BRASS, 11(ac), has everything that a cryptic clue should have, it’s a winner, amongst many others.
Giant stamp of approval, and thanks, Stamp & twencelas.
Lovely puzzle – most enjoyable. Like MC @3, I particularly admire Stamp’s surfaces. (Mike, I think you meant to write ROOD<about N – I liked the use of 'charges'.)
There were the same gaps in my knowledge as Rabbit Dave's – my first thought for 24dn was BUTE (puzzled for a minute why 'butter' was a cultured dairy product!). I shall try to get ETTIN into conversation.
My favourites chime exactly with KVa's, with the addition of ENCORE, because it took me a stupidly long time to see, although the answer was so clear.
I don't understand the explanation of KNOT GARDEN – I had DANGER as an anagram of GARDEN?
ENBoll& @3 sums it up perfectly – I love the use of 'lyrically'.
Thanks to Stamp and twencelas.
KNOT GARDEN was interesting, a reverse anagram, but also images of maybe poisonous plants or the poor dog getting confused by the planting. I plumped for Pelting and Elton rather than Setting and ETTIN. A lovely puzzle.
Re KNOT GARDEN: I meant (@5) that I don’t understand the explanation given in the blog.
Setter dropping in to thank twencelas for a thorough and timely blog and commenters for having a go at the puzzle and then posting here. The most rewarding thing about having a puzzle published is the opportunity to get feedback so it is much appreciated.
One tiny tweak for the blog: ‘hot’ is part of the definition for THERMOS.
wrt KNOT GARDEN, it has actually appeared in a clue for DANGER set by the late Alberich back in 2020. I could have chosen other solutions for 23d but I think ETTIN is a lovely word. And I would happily commend to those who have not yet encountered it the cultured dairy product that is skyr.
Thanks. Stamp
Eileen@7
Well, I initially went for “KNIT GARDEN”, as to how a setter might anagramise DANGER from GARDEN.
Using “knit ” as the anagrind.
Which works, but I had a rethink, and plumped for “knot” as the anagrind, a distant memory from a hedge maze, where the hedges were arranged as a twisted knot.
To be honest, I fluked it!
cryptic indicator to danger – knot garden = KNOT GARDEN
I managed to track down the still much-missed Aberich’s puzzle/blog:
*(garden) [anag:knot] – Doh! (Thanks, loonapick. 😉 )
Stamp@8
I can but quote a very old joke: “My thermos flask, keeps my hot drinks hot, and my cold drinks, cold…but how the hell does it know?”
You are on your own, that ETTIN is a lovely word!
And with skyr…
Eileen @5. Yes, I did of course mean N not R. I note that I accidentally entered my actual name @3 (my details not being remembered) in case anyone was wondering. The picture of one of my cats is a bit of a give-away.
Generally fun but tripped up by my lack of overlapping general knowledge with the setter. Ettin, mole that isn’t an animal or a chemical unit, Clio, knot garden, and nicam (still no idea about that one). Thanks all.
Thanks Stamp. I found this quite tricky and I needed several nudges to finish. I was unfamiliar with HORSE BRASS, NICAM, and ETTIN and some of the parsing was beyond me. Still it was worthwhile due to great clues like SILENT NIGHT, LONDONERS, ISTANBUL, TARPAULIN, ALPS, MILLIONAIRE, DONOR, and NON STOP. Thanks twenceles for the blog.
Tricky in places, ie I needed a little help, but some cracking clues in this! My particular favourite was GANDHI. I could see the instructions but found myself letters short, so it was a good example of a lovely PDM, so thanks PM! My other picks were THERMOS, SILENT NIGHT and MILLIONAIRE amongst some excellent completion. As others have noted, Stamp does produce polished surfaces. Thanks to setter and twencelas. Cheers!