As the south scorches and the north gets comfortably warm Dalibor provides a Saturday puzzle.
Oh and the world cup continues at anti scocial hours played in strange atmospheres.
Some complex clue constructions from Dalibor and a couple of unfamiliar answers (for me anyway) – one latin, one american slang. I liked 15 ac linking Keir and Kemi, the straight humour of 23ac, 5dn for its smooth surface and relevant message, but 1dn was arguably my favourite – linking three cities to get an artist who only obviously has one.
Is there a hidden theme / message? Very possibly but it eludes me.
Thanks Dalibor – some complex parsings but good fun.
Key * anagram; underline definition; Rev. reverse
Across
1 Wind from the east Portuguese region wiping out half of five hundred, say, in city centre (9,6)
Rev fart (wind) = Algarve (Portuguese region) – ve (half of five) + square (hundred say) = TRAFALGAR SQUARE
9 Loveless workers’ association introducing tea for free (7)
union (worker’s association) – o (loveless) around cha (tea) = UNCHAIN
10 Tireless criminal abandons a son for being unproductive (7)
(tireless – s)* = STERILE
11 After retirement I see a way of working in US city (5)
Rev. aha (I see) + Mo (way of working) = OMAHA
12 Try to follow lunar astronaut circling earth who’s missing in Hampshire town (9)
Aldrin (astronaut) – in around e (earth) + shot (try) = ALDERSHOT
13 House dependency, conservatory, in the end leaves a mark (9)
semi (house) + colony (dependency) – y (conservatory in the end) = SEMICOLON
15 Sign Keir’s opponent is losing her head when drinking orange juice (5)
Kemi (Keir’s opponent) – k around oj (orange juice) = EMOJI
16 Wrongly ordered energy drinks, a mistake (5)
e (energy) + laps (drinks) wrongly ordered = LAPSE
18 Criminal activity in team work (6,3)
in + side(team) + work (job) = INSIDE JOB
20 A mixture of sad and humane but not embarrassed (9)
(sad + humane)* = UNASHAMED
23 Opera stars covering Bob Marley? (5)
Hidden opeRA STArs = RASTA
24 Right around fireplace is a butterfly (7)
rt(right) around ingle (fireplace) = RINGLET
25 Inferior school shut (7)
sch(school) + lock (shut) = SCHLOCK – a new word on me American Yiddish slang it would seem
26 Anarchic contra not pro FBI’s measure of green policy (6,9)
(contra not pro FBI)* = CARBON FOOTPRINT
Down
1 With added height, being short, this artist would represent three cities (8-7)
3 cities TOULOUSE LA and UTRECHT – ht (height) = TOULOUSE LAUTREC
2 Surprisingly AC Milan dropping name for club initially gets praise (7)
(ac milan)* = ACCLAIM
3 A drapery that’s hard to break is falling down? (9)
a valence (drapery) around h(hard) = AVALANCHE
4 A dose of Farage no alternative for the City (5)
Hidden faraGE NO Alternative = GENOA
5 People like Trump and Putin lacking leadership for members of the local community (9)
presidents (People like Trump and Putin) – p = RESIDENTS
6 Unconventional rock band dismissive of new record’s opening (5)
Queen (rock band) – n for r (record’s opening) = QUEER
7 Symptom of a cold caught an hour after noon – go away! (7)
at 1 (an hour after noon) + shoo (go away) = ATISHOO
8 Exciting comprehensive that won’t leave you cold (8,7)
electric (exciting) + blanket (comprehensive) = ELECTRIC BLANKET
14 Working title of film oddly omitted recurring theme (9)
(title + of + fl)* = LEITMOTIF
15 Position in church Liz mostly combined with shepherd after second husband left (9)
(li + shepherd – h)* = ELDERSHIP
17 One organises nationals in real power going to heaven (7)
Rev. real p (power) around nn(nationals) = PLANNER
19 Swedish tenor Björling accepting old incomplete birthright citizenship (3,4)
Jussi (Swedish tenor Björling) around ol (old incomplete) = JUS SOLI (another unfamiliar word for me)
21 Instrument’s initial temperature increases which is welcome (5)
cello (instrument) swapping h (hot) for c (cold) = HELLO
22 TV channel doesn’t show very popular dance music (5)
discovery (TV channel) – very = DISCO
Well I learnt something today, had never heard of the RINGLET butterfly although it couldn’t have been anything else. JUS SOLI required a google of the singer and then a check of the term so not a clean finish. SCHLOCK also new to me, I doubt it will ever enter my regular lexicon.
Twencelas your constituents for 14d should use +im and 2d needs an added C and a subtracted N.
I agree 1d was a cracking clue.
Thanks both
Beaten by JUS SOLI having encountered neither the Swedish tenor nor the solution making a solve pretty much impossible. Yes, some very complex constructions (and a sixteen word clue, even for a 15 letter solution, is a bit much to get my head around in the early hours). With several cities appearing in clues and solutions, I wondered if there was a theme but suspect that is coincidence.
I agree with Doofs re ACCLAIM. ‘Dropping name for club initially’
Thanks both