BOBCAT kicks off the week…
A few tricky parsings, but a fun puzzle with the expected feline Nina.
Thanks BOBCAT!
ACROSS
1. Lancelot’s tips not needed for Camelot role (5)
CAMEO
CAME[l]O[t] (L[ancelo]T (tips) not required)
4. Submission requiring house to accept honour for gold (9)
OBEDIENCE
AUDIENCE (house, to accept OBE (honour) for AU (gold))
9. Setter’s attracted to number game (3)
NIM
IM (setter’s) attracted to N (number)
10. Smart little engine almost goes off the rails (11)
INTELLIGENT
(LITTLE ENGIN[e] (almost))* (*goes off the rails)
11. Looks again at communists’ screening with reference to Austria (7)
REREADS
REDS (communists) screening (RE (with reference to) + A (Austria))
12. Finally starting second half of raunchy novel that commands attention (7)
GRIPPER
[startin]G (finally) + [bodice] RIPPER (raunchy novel, second half of)
14. Grease both sides pinching tube’s lining — I’m incapable (9)
LUBRICANT
L R (both sides, left and right) pinching [t]UB[e] (lining) – I CANT (I’m incapable)
16. Climber in trouble, needing sodium infusion, suffers relapse (5)
LIANA
(AIL (trouble) needing NA (sodium) infusion)< (<suffers relapse)
18. Men taking fillies regularly aboard ship (5)
OILER
OR (men) taking [f]I[l]L[i]E[s] (regularly) aboard
20. I know nothing amusing or novel (9)
IGNORAMUS
22. Wine company accepts credit cards (7)
PLASTIC
ASTI (wine), PLC (company) accepts
23. Perhaps a slimmer sort of don, not American, found around University College? (7)
REDUCER
RE[a]DER (sort of don, not A (American)) found around U C (University College)
24. Duration of study time suffering 50% cut, by suggestion (11)
CONTINUANCE
CON (study) + TI[me] (suffering 50% cut) by NUANCE (suggestion)
26. Runner hides apart from East End Poles (3)
SKI
SKI[ns] (hides, apart from N S (poles) on the East end)
27. North Wales sect denied beginning to unsettle city (9)
NEWCASTLE
N (north) + (WALES [s]ECT (denied beginning))* (*to unsettle)
28. Something aromatic from Benares — incense? (5)
RESIN
[bena]RES IN[cence] (from)
DOWN
1. Voice in opposition to Labour’s principal cuts (9)
CONTRALTO
(CONTRA (in opposition) + TO), L[abour] (principal) cuts
2. Collectors’ items from Malmo and Iberia needing repair (11)
MEMORABILIA
(MALMO and IBIRIA)* (*needing repair)
3. Folding business school taken on by old Rhode Island institute (7)
ORIGAMI
GAM (school, of whales) taken on by (O (old) + RI (Rhode Island) + I (institute))
4. Musketeer, giving priority to love, makes vows (5)
OATHS
ATHOS (musketeer, giving priority to O (love))
5. Supply gentle hint, mainly to improve understanding (9)
ENLIGHTEN
(GENTLE HIN[t] (mainly))* (*supply)
6. Maiden boosted French milk in Italy (7)
INITIAL
(LAIT (French milk) + IN + I (Italy))< (<boosted)
7. Lad unknown in the superior parts of Neath (3)
NYE
Y (unknown) in NE[ath] (the superior parts of)
Nye being the nickname for Aneurin Bevin, a Welsh Politician
8. Landlord mislays the first key (5)
ENTER
[r]ENTER (landlord, mislays the first)
13. Pub upset traditional beer lobby with its misguided introduction of siphonic dispensers (11)
PHARMACISTS
PH (pub, Public House) + (CAMRA)< (traditional beer lobby, <upset) with (ITS)* (*misguided) + S[iphonic] (introduction of)
15. Once more losing heart attending tribunal. It’s a battle (9)
AGINCOURT
AG[a]IN (once more, losing heart) attending COURT (tribunal)
17. Claim Trump’s behind old flame being released from trial (9)
ASSERTION
ASS (Trump’s behind) + [ex]ERTION (trial, EX (old flame) being released from)
19. Wine served up in can is terrible (7)
RETSINA
([c]AN IS TER[rible])< (in, <served up)
21. Grazer scoffing last bit of lettuce is relatively ashamed (3,4)
RED DEER
REDDER (relatively ashamed) scoffing [lettuc]E (last bit of)
22. Nutty type about to be confined (5)
PECAN
CA (about) in PEN (to be confined)
23. Selection of peeled fruit (5)
RANGE
[o]RANGE[s] (fruit, peeled)
25. As things stand, there’s nothing to separate opposing players (3)
NOW
O (nothing) to separate N W (opposing players, North and West in Bridge)
Thanks Bobcat and Teacow
7dn: As given in Chambers 2016 p 1833, Nye is a standard diminutive of the Welsh name Aneurin, currently applied for example to the Swansea born cricketer Aneurin Donald, who is now on the staff of Derbyshire County Cricket Club and playing for Trent Rockets in the Hundred. It is not specific to Nye Bevan.
Although I had never heard of GAM or NIM, I enjoyed the puzzle, skillfully parsed by Teacow. I even found the nina.
Thanks both
Well Pelham Barton @1 , I expect most of us have heard of Nye Bevan few know Nye Donald. The former is more likely to be our man.
SM@3: What I was really trying to say – and obviously failed – is that there does not need to be anyone specifically identified as “our man”.
14A. Is there an indicator missing ? Pinching does for UB, TUBE without lining, but not UB in L and R.
JS@5 L and R are pinching UB ( the lining of tube ) .
Thanks for the blog and the grid in appropriate colours . Very good set of clever clues with intricate wordplay . I will just mention the precision for SKI because there are three poles , Gemelo should take note .
14ac: Further to Roz@6, Chambers 2016 p 889 has “contents” as a meaning of lining under line². Similarly, ODE 2010 p 1028 has one meaning of lining with the usage example leather gloves with fur linings.
Thus “tube’s lining” can mean UB as in the blog.
Thanks Bobcat for a good start to the week. I second Roz’s descriptor ‘intricate wordplay’ and I would add ‘not impenetrable’ (meaning I could solve it 😆 ) Favourites included NEWCASTLE, CONTINUANCE, CONTRALTO, OATH, and RETSINA (I found this surface along with the solution to be highly accurate!) I couldn’t parse ASSERTION. (Maybe I have a mental block regarding Trump as an American indicator.) Nice to see BENGAL TIGERS. Thanks Teacow for the blog.
PB@4
Quite right.
In PECAN I questioned ‘to be confined’ meaning ‘pen’. I think ‘penned’ or ‘pent’ would be more accurate but then the surface would need to be tweaked a bit.
22dn: “to be confined” means “in PEN”, covering the indicator as well as the contents.
I wondered if there was something &littish about NYE, but decided that Bobcat was just being helpful by choosing Neath. I am getting to really enjoy Bobcat.
A nice gentle stroll for a Monday. After getting 1dn and 2dn we guessed TIGERS as a nina but didn’t notice BENGAL.
Thanks, Bobcat and Teacow.
Very late to this but a very enjoyable solve.
I noted the ‘tube lining’ mentioned by Roz @6 and remember that this quibble has come up before and so happily, it did not catch me out.
I did, however, fancy KIM at first for 9 across, thinking of the Rudyard Kipling memory game and K for 1,000…until CONTRALTO came along later.
Loved the Nina.
Ro@6
Are there two sets of poles( magnetic and geographic ) or have I missed something?
Good Monday all round… late to Bobcat, but all went smoothly, except for missing any Nina, no surprise there. SM@15, I think Roz@6 was just complimenting Bobcat on guiding us to remove the correct set of poles ie those on the East end, given there is a pole on the West side of (S)KI(NS)… altho I do believe there are magnetic and true poles… that probably hasn’t been helpful…
Thanks Bobcat and Teacow
Further to Undrell@16, “pole” is often used on its own as an indicator for a single N or S. The most recent example I can find in an FT puzzle was FT 18,349 by Zamorca, where the wordplay for SQUANDERED began “Team grabs pole” (SQUAD containing N). In line with that, the three poles mentioned by Roz@6 are the initial S as well as the final NS of the word SKINS. I hope that has been helpful.
Link to the Zamorca puzzle’s blog
https://fifteensquared.net/2026/04/20/financial-times-18349-by-zamorca/
Thanks Pelham Barton for answering my question; I was thinking ‘CA’ in (contained by) PEN. I clearly needed to re-parse the clue.
SM@15 people have kindly explained for me , I simply meant we were told exactly which poles to remove .
Last week from Gemelo – Runner hides missing poles (3) – similar but not so precise .
Thanks everyone for the clarification.
Finished. The TIGERS helped. I also missed which variant they were. Lots of good clues. You’ve clearly talked it through and also have your own dictionaries so I won’t bother commenting further.
Thanks Teacow.