A very enjoyable and ingenious puzzle from Fed. Most of it went in pretty smoothly, though for some reason the NW corner help me up at the end. Thanks to Fed for the entertainment.
| Across | ||||||||
| 1 | TO COME | Expected firm book binding (2,4) CO (company, firm) in (bound by) TOME (book) |
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| 4 | IMPERIAL | Risk touring America in August (8) A[merica] in IMPERIL |
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| 9 | OVERT | Up first in The Open (5) OVER (up) + T[he] |
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| 10 | POSTDATES | Comes after Poles gathered in fruit (9) DATE (fruit) in POSTS (poles) |
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| 11 | PUNCH LINE | Judy’s husband having job say, to get to the other side … (5,4) PUNCH (as in Punch and Judy) + LINE (job); “to get to the other side” is the answer to “why did the chicken cross the road?”, so an example of a punchline (Chambers agrees with me in thinking this is a single word) |
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| 12 | RURAL | … of the country. Largely regret going by rail – without one … (5) RU[e] (regret) + RAIL less I |
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| 13 | RACKETEERING | … track engineer working close to train shed – it’s extortion (12) Anagram of TRACK ENGINEER with [trai]N removed or “shed” |
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| 17 | TAX INSPECTOR | Revenue man in quiet zone checks in on duty at the earliest opportunity (3,9) TAX (duty) + IN + P in SECTOR |
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| 20 | SAY-SO | Rumour is, many Ascot odds must be cut (3-2) Remove the odd letters from iS mAnY aScOt |
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| 21 | INNKEEPER | Cool name – probably number one part in nativity play? (9) IN (fashionable, cool) + N[ame] + KEEPER (the goalkeeper in football usually wears the number 1 shirt) |
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| 23 | ASPIRATES | Supplies air to a buccaneer on board ship (9) A + PIRATE in SS (ship) |
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| 24 | PHASE | Worry in audition for stage (5) Sounds like “faze” (to worry) |
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| 25 | STANDARD | Day after Laurel and Hardy discovered model (8) STAN (laurel) + D[ay] + [h]ARD[y] |
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| 26 | ATTEST | Every now and then say, Tati is in French show (6) Alternate letters of sAy TaTi + EST (French for “is”) |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 1 | TROUPERS | Small story about taking posh cast on tour … (8) U (posh) in reverse of S REPORT |
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| 2 | CREW NECK | … band drink meaning Jersey’s cut? (4,4) CREW (band) + NECK (to drink) – crew neck is a style of pullover or jersey |
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| 3 | MATCH | Spill double (5) Double definition |
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| 5 | MISREPRESENTS | Theatre feel bitter about lines girl delivers inaccurately (13) REP (repertory theatre) + RESENT in (“lining”) MISS |
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| 6 | ENDURANCE | Doctor: cure can – having killed cold – end patient suffering (9) Anagram of CURE [c]AN END |
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| 7 | INTERN | Trainee from Bury on reception, ultimately (6) INTER (to bury) + [receptio]N |
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| 8 | LUSHLY | Sumptuously drunk, sitting on lavatory, exhausted (6) LUSH (a drunk) + L[avator]Y |
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| 10 | PRIME MINISTER | Ready before clergyman describes Eden? (5,8) PRIME (to ready) + MINISTER (clergyman) – Anthony Eden was PM from 1955 until 1957, his career effectively ended by his handling of the Suez crisis |
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| 14 | ENAMOURED | Charmed by change of demeanour (9) DEMEANOUR* |
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| 15 | STOPPAGE | Check warehouse facility using powers to knock out door at the back (8) STORAGE (warehouse facility) with [doo]R replaced by two P[ower]s |
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| 16 | PRURIENT | Juicy gossip for you – Salvador Dali Tate Modern exhibit finally showing (8) Last letters of gossiP foR yoU salvadoR dalI tatE moderN exhibiT |
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| 18 | OSCARS | Very upset about Mark getting awards (6) SCAR (mark) in reverse of SO (very) |
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| 19 | MYOPIA | Viewer’s complaint leads to Musical Youth’s opening piano number being cancelled (6) First letters of Musical Youth’s Opening + PIANO less NO (number) |
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| 22 | EXPAT | Cross old man in Egypt on vacation – he’s far from home (5) X (cross) + PA (father, old man) in E[gyp]T |
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Thanks Fed and Andrew
I thought the “take some letters” trick was overused. Worth doing for STANDARD, though.
I didn’t parse TROUPERS properly. I was trying to do something with TROPES for the small story. I really struggled to make TAX INSPECTOR work too.
Elsewhere, all good fun as usual. I was an INNKEEPER.
I liked PRIME MINISTER, MATCH, STANDARD and STOPPAGE.
Thanks Fed and Andrew.
Can someone please explain the earliest opportunity’ bit in the tax inspector parsing? I can’t see it at all.
Quite tough but also enjoyable. The bottom half was easier for me.
I could not parse 15d and 19d IA=’number being cancelled’ as I had MYOP as first letters of Musical Youth’s opening piano – but now I see where I went wrong.
As usual the football trivia went over my head. I did not know that in football (soccer), the number ONE is the main starting goalkeeper on a team (for 21ac) but thanks Google AI for pointing it out to me!
New for me: spill = a thin strip of wood or paper used for lighting a fire, candle, etc. (for 3d) which I guess is like a MATCH.
Shoogled@3 – In the clue, ‘duty at the earliest opportunity’ means put TAX at the start of the answer
Yes, me too held up at the last with the NW corner, which as I tried starting there, made for a slow start. The capital A in AUGUST rather threw me off the scent for that one, and PUNCH LINE was another where I hesitated with Punch in place, but could not quite see the relevance of the whole clue, so thank you, Andrew. INNKEEPER took a while to see as well. Even with this World Cup surrounding us. Does the goalkeeper always wear number one on his back? I don’t suppose the goalie subs on the bench do. Small point…
I liked STANDARD, CREW NECK, PRIME MINISTER. I struggled to put the various bits of TAX INSPECTOR and MISREPRESENTS together.
Comment #7
Loved it, once I’d tortured out the misdirections in the wonderfully slick surfaces. Favourite probably POSTDATES. And 14down for the jolly earworm…
Tricky stuff but well put together I thought. Lots to like. For me TAX INSPECTOR and MISREPRESENTS stand out. Needed help parsing PUNCHLINE and MYOPIA so thanks Andrew.
ronald@5 It does say ‘probably number one’
Couldn’t see the def in PUNCH LINE, just the constituent parts.
The various ellipses in 11d, 12d, and 13d seem to add nothing of substance.
I liked IMPERIAL and RACKETEERING. Demeanour/ENAMOURED is a bit of a chestnut. I’ve certainly seen it more than once.
Toughest puzzle in a while and I also struggled in the NW. My favourite was STANDARD and I also enjoyed the convoluted TAX INSPECTOR, ASPIRATES, INNKEEPER, LUSHLY, PRIME MINISTER and PRURIENT. The use of ellipses in 11, 12 & 13ac was particularly well done.
Ta Fed & Andrew.
Ronald@5
I grew up in England with the old fashioned version of football (soccer), where players wore numbered jerseys according to their positions
1 goalkeeper
2 right back
3 left back
4 right half
5 centre half
6 left half
7 right wing
8 inside right
9 centre forward
10 inside left
11 left wing
I don’t think this formation is used these days, but it is the traditional numbering, so I assume still valid in crosswordland ?
Thanks Fed – a pleasant solve, and not too challenging.
Thanks for the the blog , good set of clever clues with STANDARD standing out for me .
INNKEEPER is a reference to water polo , the keeper will always wear cap 1 .
Never knew a taper to light a candle was called a spill