A third Monday outing for Dynamo.
I enjoyed this, even if it was all over a bit too quickly. The long anagrams at the top and bottom oft he grid provide a lot of crossers, making this a fairly straightforward and gentle introducton to the solving week.
Thanks, Dynamo.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | ADMONISHMENT |
Awkward sod, Tim Henman, getting a reprimand (12)
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*(sod tim henman) [anag:awkward] |
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| 9 | MATHS |
Oddly, mean to host activity for summer? (5)
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[oddly] M(e)A(n) T(o) H(o)S(t) and cryptic definition |
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| 10 | STOCKINGS |
High cost with monarch’s hosiery (9)
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*(cost) [anag:high] with KINGS ("monarch's") |
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| 11 | UMPIRES |
Court judges politician with fury in America (7)
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MP ("politician") with IRE ("fury") in US ("America") |
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| 12 | YARDAGE |
Distance, say, a horse-drawn cart goes to the west (7)
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<=(e.g. ("say") + A + DRAY ("horse-drawn carriage"), goes to the west) |
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| 13 | HEDONISTIC |
Like a pleasure-seeker in the disco, dancing (10)
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*(in the disco) [anag:dancing] |
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| 15 | LASS |
Girl left behind, as Americans say (4)
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L (left) + ASS ("behind, as Americans say") |
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| 18 | MESS |
Disorder in dining room (4)
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Double definition |
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| 19 | FREE SPIRIT |
Complimentary strong drink for a non-conformist (4,6)
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FREE ("complimentary") + SPIRIT ("strong drink") |
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| 22 | REVISIT |
Return to clergyman, crossword setter and model (7)
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Rev. (Reverend, so "clergyman") + I ("crossword setter") + SIT ("model") |
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| 24 | SKIPPER |
Captain Scott’s starter – smoked fish (7)
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S(cott) ['s starter] + KIPPER ("smoked fish") |
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| 25 | HYDRANGEA |
Flowery shrub from Hyde Park employee, as some say (9)
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Homophone/pun/aural wordplay [as some say] of HYDE RANGER ("Hyde Park employee") |
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| 26 | IDLES |
What lazy person does, spreading lies about Democrat (5)
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*(lies) [anag:spreading] about D (Democrat) |
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| 27 | HALLUCINATES |
Trips in Tulsa Chilean organised (12)
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*(tulsa chilean) [anag:organised] |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | ANTIPODES |
Some want iPod, especially in the UK and New Zealand? (9)
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Hidden in [some] "wANT IPOD ESpecially" |
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| 2 | MISPRINT |
An incorrect character in London-to-Leeds road race (8)
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M1 ("London to Leeds road") + SPRINT ("race") |
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| 3 | NESTS |
Homes for Robin and Jay, perhaps? (5)
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NESTS are "homes for robin and jay" (without the capitals) |
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| 4 | STORYLINE |
Synopsis of plot beginning to shift Conservative policy (9)
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[beginning to] S(hift) + TORY ("Conservative") + LINE ("policy") |
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| 5 | MAKERS |
Manufacturers of extreme bits of magenta kitchenware – ridiculous! (6)
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[extreme bits of] M(agent)A, K(itchenwar)E and R(idiculou)S |
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| 6 | NINJA |
Indian regularly ignored assent from German warrior (5)
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(i)N(d)I(a)N [regularly] + JA ("assent from German") |
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| 7 | AMBUSH |
Attack American president no. 41 or 43 (6)
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Am. (American) + (George) BUSH ("president no. 41 or 43") |
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| 8 | USHERS |
Drug dealers losing head, or theatre workers (6)
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(p)USHERS ("drug dealers", losing head) |
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| 14 | STRATEGIC |
Trained tiger cats, using a cunning plan (9)
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*(tiger cats) [anag:trained] |
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| 16 | ACROPOLIS |
Bizarrely cool Paris citadel many tourists visit (9)
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*(cool paris) [anag:bizarrely] |
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| 17 | OPTIMIST |
In shop, Tim is this person with a half-full glass? (8)
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Hidden [in] "shOP TIM IS This" |
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| 18 | MARSHY |
Planet, hardly empty, with soggy ground (6)
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MARS ("planet") + H(ardl)Y [empty] |
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| 20 | THRASH |
Batter is extremely tough and impetuous (6)
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[extremely] T(oug)H + RASH ("impetuous") |
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| 21 | ASSAIL |
Attack flipping idiot, in trouble (6)
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[flipping] <=ASS ("idiot") in AIL ("trouble") |
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| 23 | VODKA |
Party very upset – Kamala drained alcoholic drink (5)
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<= (DO ("arty") + V (very), upset) + K(amal)A [drained] |
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| 24 | SPAIN |
Son with French bread where tapas may be served (5)
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S (son) with PAIN ("bread" in "French") |
Yep a bit of a Monday quiptic from (monday)* . Pleasant enough though, ta both.
A good one for beginners, with plenty of skill in the clueing for anyone to enjoy or appreciate. Favourites were the nice anagram spot for HEDONISTIC and the Rufus-esque MESS.
On the easier side, but nicely constructed with satisfying surfaces. Admired LASS and THRASH for instance.
Many thanks, both.
My first encounter with Dynamo. Not only was I able to complete this reasonably quickly, I was able to parse all the answers without having to come here to check. LOIs were 2 & 9 with a ‘D’Oh!’ Favourite was 25. Maybe I’m improving (or maybe there will be a flood of “too easy” posts to follow…).
Thanks D & L.
Very Mondayish, although my last two in held me up for a few minutes (YARDAGE and STORYLINE, both of which were straightforward so I’m blaming pre-coffee brain for that). Liked MISPRINT and HEDONISTIC.
Cheers both.
There were so many lovely clues here that it’s hard to choose a favourite but I’ll opt for HEDONISTIC.
I don’t know who Dynamo is, but this did not feel like the same setter as the previous ones to me, but it did feel like one person. No doubt others will have different thoughts.
Many thanks to Dynamo for a very fine Monday offering, and to loonapick for the blog.
A lovely puzzle. Yes, of course it’s simple for experienced solvers, but that doesn’t matter a jot when the clues are so nicely constructed. 1a was witty, as were many others. Thanks to Dynamo and to loonapick.
In a way I wish puzzles like this were on a bigger grid so they’d last longer. But no complaints from me – as straightforward as I found this, I appreciated the clues and it feels like it’s been a while since I was able to solve a cryptic in one sitting.
I do feel like this could have sat well in the Quiptic slot, but there’s room for it on a Monday too.
Thanks Dynamo and loonapick
Not difficult, but very entertaining. I like the way Dynamo forestalled complaints by “as some say” in 25a (one of my favourites) and “as Americans say” in 15a.
Lots to like. FREE SPIRIT was another standout for me.
Very enjoyable.
Favourites: REVISIT, ACROPOLIS, FREE SPIRIT.
Sometimes a quiptic just hits the spot as this one seems to have done. As loonapick observes, the two long anagrams for ADMONISHMENT and HALLUCINATE are nicely done. And I enjoyed the surface of FREE SPIRIT.
Thanks Dynamo and loonapick
Short and very sweet with some lovely anagrams.
Ta Dynamo & loonapick.
I really enjoyed this after having come across something similar in a completely different context in the last couple of days. Good surfaces and cryptic workings that give a satisfying Ahh when the answer presents itself.
I am always very impressed with Setters who create clues with such smooth surfaces that the clue would not look out of place in a normal piece of prose but in the context of a puzzle are a solvable/parsable clue. Great crossword
Thanks Dynamo and loonapick
I think that if Hyde had been left out of the clue, it would still have been solvable, but more cryptic.
What Matthew Newell said.
Easy but good: surely the Rufus replacement the Grauniad has been searching for.
Loved the idea of Tim Henman being an awkward sod and Kamala necking back the vodka 🙂
And I liked the use of “to host” as fodder rather than an envelope indicator in 9a
Cheers L&P
Over very quickly but no complaints. I appreciated the ‘as some say’ in 25a. If more setters did this there would be fewer objections about non-homophones.
As people say relatively easy – but absolutely NO complaints from me on that score. It is essential the Guardian occasionally has ones like this to maintain the interest and enthusiasm for the non-experts who enjoy cryptics.
22ac I knew it was REVISIT but thinking of the Model T car I did wonder about a setter ISI – until I came here.
Thanks setter and blogger.
Good, enjoyable start to the week with smooth clues.
I thought the long anagrams were good and ANTIPODES was well-hidden. I bunged in ‘earthy’ without thinking too much at 18D before I realised it didn’t parse and that caused a short delay with 18A.
Thanks Dynamo and loonapick.
Thanks to loonapick and Dynamo.
I’m looking forward to next week’s Barry Manilow themed crossword from the Irish compiler, O’Mandy
Good anagrams, smooth surfaces, some clever hiddens – a nice Monday puzzle. NESTS was barely cryptic, but I laughed at the Hyde Ranger and that awkward sod Tim Henman (is that the same Tim who reappears in OPTIMIST?)
Smooth surfaces, clever anagrams and hidden answers that are indicated as such. All things that the setter of Friday’s Omnibus puzzle could learn from Dynamo.
Favourite was the tourists visiting ‘cool Paris’. I was briefly held up by lifting and separating ‘court’ from ‘judges’ in 11a, but it’s a pleasant change when such delays last half a minute rather than half a day.
Most enjoyable.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
…and apologies to Gladys@23 for appearing to have plagiarised her post. It wasn’t there when I wrote, honest!
I was chuffed that I completed this though it seems that it was an easy one for the more experienced solvers. It took me several minutes to realise that ‘summer’ could suggest ‘one who does sums’ as well as the season between spring and autumn!
“Monday” but perfectly formed. Excellent, thanks.
This is a great crossword. Suitable for beginners but witty enough for those who can complete it with ease. I’m sorry in a way it wasn’t picked as a Quiptic as I would imagine this would really encourage someone new to the hobby. But still, a great crossword and I can now do yesterday’s Quiptic, as Monday should by law be two moderately easy crosswords with much debate about whether the Quiptic was harder than the Cryptic.
Nice and straightforward, a good confidence booster before I go back to last Friday’s examination. Thanks Dynamo.
I agree with everybody. Fine puzzle. Thanks, Dynamo and loonapick.
Made a late start with this and over very quickly. But in a similar vein to others’ comments, it’s one of the best clued Monday crosswords I’ve ever seen. My son is at Quiptic level and I will be recommending it to him.
Might 3 down be referring to the old tv programme Robin’s Nest? Not sure how Jay fits in though,
sheffield hatter@24: I believe you. Great minds think alike (or fools seldom differ, or something.)
SueB @31: exactly the same thought.
Very nice and Matthew Newell@14 expresses just what I thought, the surfaces were particularly smooth without disrupting the wordplay. Could parse every one.
Pauline in Brum@6, I don’t remember the other Dynamos particularly but it wouldn’t surprise me if it were a collective name for some Monday puzzles!
Worth five stars for 1 across alone!
(Though I like Tim, who seems a lovely person)
Enjoyed this one. Sometimes a restful one is what I am looking for.
Someone on the Guardian site has posted this:
“While the dictionary supports the spelling of 27a, the word’s origins do not. Yet another peculiarity of English spelling that long needs sorting out.”
Has anyone here any idea what he is talking about?
Sue @31 the jay is a bird of the crow family. Positively gaudy compared to his corvid cousins.
me @37
Wiki says this:
The word “hallucination” itself was introduced into the English language by the 17th-century physician Sir Thomas Browne in 1646 from the derivation of the Latin word alucinari meaning to wander in the mind. For Browne, hallucination means a sort of vision that is “depraved and receive[s] its objects erroneously”.
So it seems it has always been spelt with an H in English.
Friday’s difficult solve (Omnibus) put me a day behind, so this classic Monday offering is a very welcome catch up, back on schedule, thank you Dynamo and loonapick.
Nice and easy. Liked 9a.
Thanks both and I undertook this while expecting to sit out a long wait, but it was all over soon and the wait was a short one, so perfect.
muffin@39: I suspect it’s the double ‘L’ that grates. It’s a singleton in the source word and there is no need for it to be doubled – the preceding ‘A’ combined with the subsequent ‘U’ removes any ambiguity that a single ‘L’ might conjure in terms of pronunciation so the second ‘L’ is entirely superfluous – not anything that would keep me awake at night.
[Come on steffen]
Thanks Alphalpha. The spelling seems to date back to the 17th century, though!
me@42: In fact the double ‘L’ introduces ambiguity (‘deck the hallucinations…’).
muffin@43: High time something was done about it then. 🙂 (Any transpontine offerings on this?)
Thanks Dynamo. Yes, a crossword can be easy and good. I value smooth surfaces so I liked this puzzle a great deal. Top picks were UMPIRES, HEDONISTIC, LASS, ANTIPODES, and OPTIMIST. Thanks loonapick for the blog.
Ditto Graham @4
Can confirm this one is gentle for beginners. A rare finish for me, found this a little bit easier than the quiptic. The only thing I had to Google was how to spell hydrangea, but I don’t think that’s cheating since I parsed it correctly.
Cheers loonapick and dynamo.
Now this is more my level.
Failed with 6 clues, unfortunately.
Thank you for the explanations.
PS – if Dynamo wants to release a book of crosswords then I’ll be 1st in line to buy it.