A medium-difficulty Gemelo this week.
I completed this one in two sittings. It has the customary mix of obsolete and obscure words that we expect from Azed and his successor, but one clue really stood out for me (correlating BURNSITE with www.kindle.com is genius.
Thanks, Gemelo.
| ACROSS | ||
| 2 | BADMASH |
Dishonest Indian rejected fish dish, based on what comes next? (7)
|
| [rejected] <=DAB (“fish”) + MASH (“dish, based on what comes next” i.e. SPUD (solution to next across clue)) | ||
| 7 | SPUD |
Start digging into second course after main (4)
|
| S (second) + PUD(ding) (“course after main”) | ||
| 10 | NUGAE |
Trifles, each piece on the counter (5)
|
| <=(ea. (each) + GUN (“piece”), on the counter) | ||
| 11 | AT-HOME |
Social function sounded endless (6)
|
| (f)ATHOME(d) (“sounded”, endless) | ||
| 12 | DRESSING-ROOM |
Where to change remix of SOS with Modern Girl that’s not finished (12)
|
| *(sos modern gir) [anag:remix of] where GIR is GIR(l) that’s not finished | ||
| 14 | CASSETTE |
Television station’s retaining old music format (8)
|
| CASTE (“station”) retaining (television) SET | ||
| 15 | OSTIAK |
Siberian is OK at swimming (6)
|
| *(is ok at) [anag:swimming] | ||
| 18 | MIRIN |
Casually making foul Japanese wine (5)
|
| “Miring” is “making foul”, and dropping the G (MIRIN‘) makes it casual | ||
| 19 | PIERROT |
Clown‘s become corrupt after walk on water? (7)
|
| ROT (“become corrupt”) after PIER (“walk(way) on water”) | ||
| 20 | ITALICS |
This is covering one in white powder (7)
|
| IS covering I in TALC (“white powder”) | ||
| 21 | GUIDE |
Steer that’s good for Highland cattle in the end (5)
|
| GUID (Scots word for “good”, so “good for Highland”) + (cattl)E [in the end] | ||
| 23 | BASSED |
Gull, probing bottom of lake, tried to catch fish (6)
|
| ASS (“gull”, as in “idiot”) probing BED (“bottom of lake”) | ||
| 25 | TWEEDLER |
Con man‘s less blatant when leaving subway without marijuana (8)
|
| (sub)TLER (“less blatant”, when leaving (off) SUB(way)) without WEED (“marijuana”) | ||
| 27 | ARGENTINIDAE |
Family of fish trained in 3 dances (12)
|
| *(trained in age) [anag:dances] where AGE is the solution to 3 down. | ||
| 29 | KAIKAI |
More than one king said to peel food for Wellington (6)
|
| K (“king”) + (s)AI(d) [to peel] more than once, so K(AI)K(AI) | ||
| 30 | PLOTS |
Tracts I forgot to mention about Abraham’s nephew (5)
|
| PS (“I forgot to mention”) about LOT (“Abraham’s nephew”) | ||
| 31 | ECCE |
Behold Italian province removing Latin (4)
|
| (l)ECCE (“Italian province”, removing L (Latin)) | ||
| 32 | SCEPTRE |
Queen with tense muscles reflecting monarchic authority (7)
|
| [reflecting] <=(ER (Elizabeth Regina, so “queen”) with T (tense) + PECS (“muscles”)) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | AND NO MISTAKE |
Certainly don’t ask me in a rampage (12, 3 words)
|
| *(dont ask me in a) [anag:rampage] | ||
| 2 | BURNSITE |
Who loves poetry from www.kindle.com, say? (8)
|
| www.kindle.com could be a website about an e-reader but it could also be about kindling (i.e.burning things) so a BURN SITE, and a BURNSITE is a lover of the poetry of Rabbie Burns. | ||
| 3 | AGE |
One unwillingly kept apart from host for a long time (3)
|
| (host)AGE (“one unwillingly kept”, apart from HOST) | ||
| 4 | DASHI |
What’s pocketed by board as hirelings clear stock? (5)
|
| Hidden in [what’s pocketed by] “boarD AS HIrelings”
Dashi is a clear stock in Japanse cuisine. |
||
| 5 | ARIA |
Strain of virgin going unclothed (4)
|
| (m)ARIA(n) (“of virgin”, going unclothed) | ||
| 6 | SANSEIS |
Third-generation immigrants without English lives (7)
|
| SANS (“without”) + E (English) + IS (“lives”) | ||
| 7 | SHRED |
Modicum of resistance amongst cast (5)
|
| R (resistance) amongst SHED (“cast”) | ||
| 8 | POOTERISH |
Poirot? He’s surprisingly bourgeois as a fictional protagonist (9)
|
| *(poirot hes) [anag:surprisingly]
Charles Pooter is the pretentious protagnist of G & W Grossmith’s Diary of a Nobody. |
||
| 9 | DEMENTEDNESS |
Insanity of French ends with me sent insane (12)
|
| DE (“of” in “French”) + *(ends me sent) [anag:insane] | ||
| 13 | STRATEGIC |
Possibly decisive, so drinking bitter up, say (9)
|
| SIC (“so”) drinking <=TART (“bitter”, up) + e.g. (for example, so “say”) | ||
| 14 | CANID |
Almost shut up dead wolf ? (5)
|
| [almost] CAN I(t) (“shut up”) + D (dead) | ||
| 16 | SEGAR |
Smoke‘s fumes rising (5)
|
| <=RAGES (“fumes”, rising)
“Segar” is a variation of “cigar” |
||
| 17 | MODERATE |
Calm couple injecting another shot in retirement (8)
|
| MATE (“couple”) injecting <=REDO (“another shot”, in retirement) | ||
| 19 | P-CELTIC |
Politically correct movement that’s not planned to support the Spanish language (7)
|
| PC (politically correct) + TIC (“movement that’s not planned”) to support EL (“the” in “Spanish”)
P-Celtic are Celtic languages where the “kw” sound” becomes the “p” sound. |
||
| 22 | WEEKE |
In general, people lengthen middle of candle for Ed (5)
|
| WE (“in general, people”) + EKE (“lengthen”)
Weeke is the same as wick in the poetry of “Ed”mund Spenser. |
||
| 24 | STILT |
What raises the pace of special pitch? (5)
|
| S (special) + TILT (“pitch”) | ||
| 26 | EIRE |
Nation‘s taxman no longer going into what’s held by peer (4)
|
| IR (Inland Revenue, so “taxman no longer”) going into [what’s held by] (p)EE(r) | ||
| 28 | DOR |
Mock old waste collector? (3)
|
| Double definition, the first being an old word for “mock”, the second being a kind og dung-beetle, which “collects waste” |
Since the Gemelo series started I have solved them on my computer and try to get as far as I can without looking anything up. It’s been a while since I managed to complete the grid correctly under these conditions but I did this time despite a few words that I only got from the wordplay: BADMASH, ARGENTINIDAE, DASHI and WEEKE.
It took me a while to see that ‘what comes next?’ in 1a refers to the next answer, that ‘food for Wellington’ wasn’t just KAI in 29a, and that ‘www.kindle.com’ could be a BURN SITE. I didn’t know the province in 31a so I only decided that answer couldn’t be ECCO when I guessed that 22d was WEEKE, but I was surprised when I checked that answer in Chambers and realised ‘middle of candle’ didn’t mean part of the wax between the top and the bottom. I also initially thought that 19d obviously didn’t start with PC and found it tricky to get from TLER to (sub)TLER.
Thanks, loonapick and Gemelo.
Thanks for the blog , another excellent solid Plain puzzle . Three in a row , just what we need plus the occasional special . I could not find DASHI in Chambers93 so glad it was hidden . ITALICS was neat , I liked the definition for WEEKE but not sure about Ed for Spenser though we will get used to it . My blissful ignorance of all matters IT helped me with BURNSITE , I only knew one meaning of kindle .
A bit of a Japanese flavour this week, with MIRIN, DASHI and SANSEIS. Ok for me, as I spent a year living in Tokyo (though a very long time ago now). I stupidly wrote in ECCO at 31ac, which gave me issues with 22dn; that in turn left me scratching my head over 25ac, trying to find a 4-letter word for marijuana. Once I had that, I realised my error and WEEKE followed on. 1dn was an excellent anagram – until I got the K, I was still not quite believing it was an anagram!