I found this quite challenging and there was a period where I thought I wasn't going to get anywhere at all.
Eventually, it did click into place and I finished it. Getting the hang of the setter's devices probably helped. There were a lot of anagrams which were composed of a shortened word plus one or more other words. In terms of clues, I liked 8, 11 and 18.
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | NOVEL |
Fresh melon topped with slice of veal, that’s unusual (5)
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([M]elon + v[eal])* |
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| 8 | AYLESBURY |
Drinks delivered to purchase outside Rook and Duck (9)
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Hom of ales + (buy(=purchase) around r{ook}(=chess abbrev)) |
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| 10 | MISHAP |
Laugh after girl clipped poodle’s fringe, a disaster! (6)
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(Ha(=laugh) after Mis[s](=girl clipped)) + p[oodle] |
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| 11 | NEBRASKA |
Where to find Lincoln, largely naked, frantically grabbing underwear (8)
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Nake[d]* around bras(=underwear) |
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| 12 | REMNANTS |
Workers tailing King Edmund regularly getting scraps (8)
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Ants(=worker ants) after (R{ex}(=king) + odd letters of edmund) |
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| 13 | TIDE |
Water flow from the hydrant falling for one day (4)
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Not totally sure on this but I think it might be "the" with h{ydrant} replaced by I d{ay}. I've not managed to find h as an abbrev for hydrant but it seems quite likely to be so used in e.g. planning and architecture. |
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| 15 | PARCHED |
OAP ultimately bent and withered (7)
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[OA]P + arched(=bent) |
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| 17 | ENQUIRE |
Old paper trails Police Commission finally investigate (7)
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Quire(=old paper) after [Polic]e [Commissio]n |
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| 20 | HARP |
A note raised blowing small instrument (4)
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[S]harp(=a note raised minus s{mall}) |
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| 22 | TROUBLED |
Anxious, unpleasant old woman scratching backside drew blood (8)
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Trou[t](=unpleasant old woman losing last letter) + bled(=drew blood) |
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| 25 | CARDINAL |
It flies highest (8)
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DD. A cardinal is a bird and cardinal can mean of the highest importance. |
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| 26 | PIERCE |
Run through article checking source of references (6)
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Piece(=article) around r[eferences] |
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| 27 | PERIMETER |
Safe crossing swamp going round the edge (9)
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Peter(=slang for safe) around mire<(=swamp) |
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| 28 | CLOSE |
Stop penny-pinching (5)
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DD |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | POLICEMAN |
Officer snubbed complaint about inhaling drug (9)
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Complain[t]* around e{cstasy} |
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| 2 | MECHANIC |
Artisan tea taken by chaps in cafeteria primarily (8)
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(Cha(=tea) in men(=chaps)) + i[n] c[afeteria] |
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| 3 | GYMNAST |
Jim said Stan’s happy, he’s doing cartwheels! (7)
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Hom of Jim +Stan*. Happy here is used in the sense of drunk as an anagram indicator. The def is maybe slightly questionable, as not all gymnasts do cartwheels. |
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| 4 | VERBOTEN |
Not allowed to bonk occasionally … ever? That’s outrageous! (8)
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(To b[o]n[k] + ever)* |
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| 5 | ABOARD |
Sailor reportedly rowed on (6)
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Ab(=able seaman) + hom of oared |
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| 6 | BRAKE |
Slow bedroom action, kissing experimentally to begin with (5)
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B{ed}r{oom} + a[ction] k[issing] e[xperimentally] |
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| 9 | SPIN |
When cycling legs go round (4)
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Pins(=legs) with the S cycling to the front |
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| 14 | BRIEFCASE |
Attache in sharp suit (9)
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Brief(=sharp) + case(=suit) |
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| 16 | EXPANDED |
Grew old and during exercise died (8)
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Ex(=old) + (and in PE(=physical education)) + d{ied} |
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| 18 | UMBRELLA |
Cover me and rub vigorously all over! (8)
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(Me rub)* + all< |
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| 19 | STALKED |
Express journalist behind lies finally tracked down (7)
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[Lie]s + talk(=express) + ed{itor}(=journalist) |
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| 21 | ALDRIN |
Buzz perhaps from occasional drinking (6)
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Hidden in "occasional drinking" |
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| 23 | OOPS |
River in South Ohio rising? Oh dear! (4)
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(Po(=Italian river) in S{outh} O{hio})<. O is listed as an abbrev for Ohio, although more commonly two letter abbrevs are used. |
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| 24 | LAYER |
Blanket agreement accepted by both sides (5)
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Aye(=agreement) in L{eft} R{ight}(=both sides) |
Nice job, Boznut. I enjoyed many of the surfaces and, on the whole, I got my head around the devices – nothing desperately fiendish but many well-disguised. UMBRELLA my COTD. MISHAP, PARCHED, HARP, PIERCE, MECHANIC, EXPANDED and ALDRIN my other big ticks.
Hydrant = H is in Chambers. I guess from the little yellow H’s on the street.
Thanks both
Thanks Boznut for well-crafted crossword that I found fairly straighforward. I couldn’t parse TIDE and I used the check button to make sure the duck was correct but all else fell into place without much problem. I had many favourites including MISHAP, PIERCE, MECHANIC, EXPANDED, STALKED, ALDRIN, OOPS, and LAYER. Thanks NealH for the blog.
Looking back I don’t know why I found this so challenging as it’s all well put together. ALDRIN is one of the bestest hiddens I have come across and, like others I enjoyed UMBRELLA and MECHANIC.
Thanks Boznut – I’ve commented on MyCrossword but would like to reiterate my appreciation for this puzzle’s clever constructions. Favorites included NOVEL, AYLESBURY, CARDINAL, PIERCE, BRAKE, UMBRELLA, ALDRIN, and the very nice closing clue LAYER. Thanks again and also to NealH for the write-up.