BOBCAT kicks off the week…
A very enjoyable, and slightly trickier than usual, Monday morning puzzle, with the expected feline Nina.
Thanks BOBCAT!
ACROSS
1. Linguistic classification of ‘peroration’? (4,2,6)
PART OF SPEECH
8. Top spot for Athenian social influencers? (7)
OLYMPUS
9. Blooming sex god moving East to meet blinding Greek goddess (7)
ROSEATE
EROS (sex god, moving E (east)) to meet ATE (blinding Greek Goddess)
11. Comparatively rowdy number one’s reined back, cut by 50pc (7)
NOISIER
NO (number) I’S (one’s) + (REI[ned] (cut by 50pc))< (<back)
12. Folded metal-covered envelope finally cracks (7)
PLEATED
PLATED (metal-covered), [envelop]E (finally) cracks
13. Guarantee to relinquish right to proceed (5)
ENSUE
ENSU[r]E (guarantee, to relinquish R (right))
14. Contrary South American granny can completely lose control (2,7)
GO BANANAS
(SA (South American) + NANA (granny) + BOG (can))< (<contrary)
16. Money offered by first bidder for cutter (3-6)
TIN-OPENER
TIN (money) + OPENER (offered by first bidder)
19. What you hope to do alone must secure victory (5)
SOLVE
SOLE (alone) must secure V (victory)
21. Very much turned on by husband wearing uniform in retirement (3,4)
NOT HALF
(ON)< (<turned) by (H (husband) wearing (FLAT (uniform))< (<in retirement))
23. Powerful way of organising units approaching recurring element of exercise (7)
INTENSE
IN TENS (way of organising units) approaching E (recurring element of ExErcisE)
24. I’m pragmatic about celebrity being repeatedly snubbed (7)
REALIST
RE (about) + A-LIST[er] (celebrity, being repeatedly snubbed)
25. Wreck component of Fitbit or pedometer (7)
TORPEDO
[fitbi]T OR PEDO[meter] (component of)
26. Nervy theatre director mostly ensured good runs, strangely enough (12)
NEUROSURGEON
(ENSURE[d] GOO[d] RUN[s] (mostly))* (*strangely enough)
DOWN
1. Fleming perhaps excluded from doctor’s field of study (7)
PHYSICS
PHYSIC[ian]S (doctor’s), IAN (Fleming perhaps) excluded)
2. Cold-blooded character in theatre fired up by energy (7)
REPTILE
REP (theatre) + (LIT)< (fired, <up) by E (energy)
3. Greens too disorganised to produce something having vital effect (9)
OESTROGEN
(GREENS TOO)* (*disorganised)
4. Bad temper held back left wingers in the end (5)
STROP
(PORT (left) + [winger]S (in the end))< (<held back)
5. Space filled by plant from China? (7)
EASTERN
EN (space) filled by ASTER (plant)
6. Moderate in hurry to take over Cameroon’s interior (7)
CHASTEN
HASTE (hurry) to take over C[ameroo]N (interior)
7. Raised voice against note for the auditors (12)
COUNTERTENOR
COUNTER (against) + “tenner” = TENOR (note, “for the auditors”)
10. Newton looked tense about body’s inherent structure (12)
ENDOSKELETON
(N (Newton) + LOOKED TENSE)* (*about)
15. Counsel airline over multiple rights restricting development of its base (9)
BARRISTER
BA (airline) over (RRR (multiple rights) restricting ((ITS)* (*development of) + E (base)))
17. Salty sort of apple tart inside boxes on the counter (7)
NITRATE
([appl]E TART IN[side] (boxes))< (<on the counter)
18. More sickly vegetable ushering in Starmer’s stomach upset? (7)
PEAKIER
PEA (vegetable) ushering in KEIR (Starmer, stomach upset, i.e. swap the E and the I)
19. No charge laid against group making demand for liberation (3,4)
SET FREE
FREE (no charge) laid against SET (group)
20. Light in computer network centre barely working (7)
LANTERN
LAN (computer network) + ([c]ENTR[e] (barely))* (*working)
22. Holidays affect pets if taken regularly (5)
FETES
[a]F[f]E[c]T [p]E[t]S (taken regularly)
I liked PART OF SPEECH and NOT HALF. I looked up “soreate” before getting ROSEATE. Thanks, both
Ashamed to admit I missed the Nina 🙂
Good fun with some quirky clues
Cheers B&T
I found this extremely tricky, hardly any solutions surrendered easily.
In fact, spotting CHEETAH was a boon, I was in a right old struggle in the top half of the grid.
I can’t quibble, everything works, and I felt pretty chuffed to finish.
Tough but, ultimately, fair.
Thanks Bobcat & Teacow
Thanks Bobcat. I found this challenging at times but everything slipped into place, sometimes from the definitions alone with the parse coming afterwards. My top picks were GO BANANAS, NOT HALF (fun surface), TORPEDO, PHYSICS, CHASTEN, SET FREE, LANTERN, and the hidden CHEETAH. Thanks Teacow for the blog.
Challenging in places but I got it all with a little bit of help from a wordfinder (for CHASTEN, which then gave me ROSEATE – I’d forgotten Ate as a Greek goddess). A very nice PDM when I got NEUROSURGEON. And I managed to spot the nina – after finishing.
Thanks, Bobcat and Teacow.