Mudd is today’s setter.
A comparatively straightforward puzzle from Mudd this morning, with a couple of clues taking longer than they should have for me to solve – ACRONYM (couldn’t work out why “condensation’ was in the clue at first) and TWEETER (my LOI) – even though there were few alternatives that could have fitted in, given the crossers. I didn’t have any quibbles, and overall this had a Monday Guardian feel with obvious anagrams and double definitions. A couple of US cities is not enough to be a theme and as long as you knew Sylvester Stallone’s nickname, no real general knowledge was required.
Thanks Mudd.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | JOYSTICK |
Girl’s flash director? (8)
|
| JOYS (“girl’s”) + TICK (“flash”) | ||
| 5 | ESPRIT |
Spirit shown by priest when dancing (6)
|
| *(priest) [anag:when dancing] | ||
| 9 | SQUABBLE |
Young bird qualified after losing head in fight (8)
|
| SQUAB (“young bird”) + (a)BLE (“qualified”, after losing head) | ||
| 10 | SUMMER |
Heyday for accountant, perhaps? (6)
|
| Double definition, the second referring to one who does sums. | ||
| 12 | LAGER |
Drink, glorious on reflection (5)
|
| <=REGAL (“glorious”, on reflection) | ||
| 13 | GRANDIOSE |
Majestic bubbly organised (9)
|
| *(organised) [anag: bubbly] | ||
| 14 | STAPLE |
Dropping back, a little help at school essential (6)
|
| Hidden backwards in [dropping back, a little] “hELP AT School” | ||
| 16 | CHICAGO |
US city, voguish earlier (7)
|
| CHIC (“voguish”) + AGO (“earlier”) | ||
| 19 | ACRONYM |
Comrade entering in the morning — condensation initially seen? (7)
|
| CRONY (“comrade”) entering AM (ante meridiem, so “in the morning”)
Groups of words condensed into their initials become acronyms, |
||
| 21 | TIERED |
Game and wine ranked (6)
|
| TIE (“game”) + RED (“wine”) | ||
| 23 | VINDICATE |
Originally valid point, free from suspicion (9)
|
| [originally] V(alid) + INDICATE (“point”) | ||
| 25 | STALL |
Pack up table at market, say (5)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 26 | GOOGOL |
Extraordinary number try to get mark reversed (6)
|
| GO (“try”) + <=LOGO (“mark”, reversed) | ||
| 27 | AT RANDOM |
Foreign money invested in basic unit, arbitrarily (2,6)
|
| RAND (South African currency, so “foreign money”) invested in ATOM (“basic unit”) | ||
| 28 | SWEDEN |
Country where journalist has broken story after revolution (6)
|
| Ed.(editor, so “journalist”) has broken <=NEWS (“story”, after revolution) | ||
| 29 | CRITERIA |
Standards erratic, I suspect (8)
|
| *(erratic i) [anag:suspect] | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | JUSTLY |
Way to break up month in legitimate manner (6)
|
| St, (street, so “way”) to break up JULY (“month”) | ||
| 2 | YOUNGSTER |
Youth… wrinkly… rusty… gone! (9)
|
| *(rusty gone) [anag:wrinkly] | ||
| 3 | TUBER |
Root, something with valves, we hear? (5)
|
| Homophone/pun/aural wordplay [we hear] of TUBA (“something with valves”) | ||
| 4 | COLOGNE |
Scent record when in shape (7)
|
| LOG (“record”) when in CONE (“shape”) | ||
| 6 | SOUNDBITE |
Broadcast is done, but it’s a memorable clip (9)
|
| *(its done but) [anag:broadcast] | ||
| 7 | RAMBO |
Sly character in mob marched uphill (5)
|
| Hidden backwards in [in…uphill] “mOB MARched”
(John) RAMBO is a character in a series of five movies starring Sylvester Stallone, whose nickname is Sly. |
||
| 8 | TURNED ON |
Aroused, no? (6,2)
|
| [turned] <=ON becomes “no” | ||
| 11 | TALC |
Powder that’s also like chalk, on all surfaces (4)
|
| First letters of [on all surfaces] T(hat’s) A(lso) L(ike) C(halk) | ||
| 15 | PANTIHOSE |
Women’s tights: criticise one wearing the aforementioned items (9)
|
| PAN (“criticise”) + I (one) wearing THOSE (“the aforementioned items”) | ||
| 17 | ALEXANDER |
Law also entering new era for great leader? (9)
|
| LEX (“law”) + AND (“also”) entering *(era) [anag:new] | ||
| 18 | LAS VEGAS |
Star hugged by damsel in US city (3,5)
|
| VEGA (“star”) hugged by LASS (“damsel”) | ||
| 20 | MEAT |
In conference, come together for food (4)
|
| Homophone/pun/aural wordplay [in conference] of MEET (“come together”) | ||
| 21 | TWEETER |
Pretty short period for speaker (7)
|
| TWEE (“pretty”) + [short] TER(m) (“period”) | ||
| 22 | ALUMNA |
Woman after graduation screwed up manual (6)
|
| *(manual) [anag:screwed up] | ||
| 24 | NOOSE |
Love gathered in by bouquet catcher (5)
|
| O (“love”, in tennis) gathered in by NOSE (“bouquet”) | ||
| 25 | SMART |
Sharp sting (5)
|
| Double definition |
Very enjoyable and nothing too taxing. I kept looking for an acronym in the clue for ACRONYM, as usually happens, and it took me a while to recognise the (clever) definition. Twee is a bit pejorative in my eyes, whereas pretty is not, but I guess they pass for synonyms.
A bit held up by entering “sprite” for 5A – a bit unfair to have mutliple equally valid solutions to a clue I always think. Otherwise slightly tangential definitions came with straightforward wordplay, or vice versa so everything slotted together.
Thanks Mudd and loonapick.
I did the same, JOFT, trap for young (or not) players 🙂
Thanks for the blog , good puzzle and suitable for newer solvers .
Snap , SPRITE for me as well until I got to the Downs .
VEGA very visible at the moment at the apex of the Summer Triangle asterism .
It will become the Pole star and our brightest visible star in the future .
Thanks Mudd and Loonapick. I had enough checked letters already in place before making a serious attempt to solve 5ac so had no problems with that, but I did have PEAR (sounding like “pair” verb) at 20dn based on the checked A until I convinced myself that 19ac really had to end with M. MEAT fits the generality of the definition “food” slightly better, but PEAR gives a reason for Mudd to use “In conference” as a soundalike indicator.
Another SPRITE here, but quickly corrected after getting 7d. I also puzzled briefly over ‘condensation’ in 19a. Otherwise nothing to frighten the horses, but none the worse for that.
Thanks Mudd and loonapick.
Yes, I was another with SPRITE until 8d suggested ‘try again’. Liked the puzzle very much and agree that this was on the gentle side.
I found JUSTLY satisfyingly deft.
Like Geoff, I’m not sure I’d equate ‘pretty’ with ‘twee’; ‘pretty pretty’, however, does work, as in ‘I found the teashop a little too pretty pretty/twee for my taste’.
A gentle puzzle that I enjoyed a lot.
I could have ticked many clues, and will mention SOUNDBITE for its surface and the clever TURNED ON (nice), CRITERIA (succinct and misleading), SWEDEN (nice surface).
All parsed.
Thanks Mudd and Oriel
This made a change after Coot in the Indy. Restful and sweet.
Thanks Mudd for a very satisfying crossword. I failed with TWEETER and didn’t understand ACRONYM but all else fell into place without much problem. My top picks included STAPLE, SWEDEN, CRITERIA, YOUNGSTER, SOUNDBITE, and TURNED ON. I’m another who initially had ‘sprite’ but I soon realised that the fodder for 6d did not contain a P. Thanks loonapick for the blog.
Glad we weren’t the only ones with SPRITE for 5ac, eventually realising our mistake when we couldn’t account for P in 6dn. That unlocked the NE corner for us but we struggled with the NW corner till we saw 2dn as an anagram. Not a very solver-friendly grid, though, being basically four mini-puzzles. We got everything in the end, though. Favourites were ACRONYM, VINDICATE and PANTIHOSE.
Thanks, Mudd and loonapick.
Thanks Mudd and Loonapick,
I was another member of the SPRITE error club. Hence 7 down starting with an “I” and ending with “O” lead me to consider an answer based on the “sly” IAGO. Realising 7 down must be RAMBO, 5 Across had to be reviewed.
Fun. Didn’t really understand TWEETER and STAPLE until I read the blog. Nearly but not quite a pangram. Thanks.
Another SPRITE here, but when RAMBO arrives no war, no law can stop him.
I finished up with SOUNDBITE, SQUABBLE and ACRONYM. So many crossers! I’m pleased to say they all fell quite quickly with a bit of focus.
Good separation of setting personae from MUDD/Paul today, but not too taxing under either alias.
Thanks MUDD and loonapick
I put sprite as well. But also Romeo for Rambo. But that didn’t hurt crosses. Had everything for joystick but kept thinking it must be some film director i never heard of!
Thanks all
Being French I thought of ESPRIT (rather than SPRITE) immediately.