Great stuff as ever from Dac. Lots of nice clues with great surface readings, and all of them fair.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | REBUSES – RE,BUSES – Easy enough, but as neat a surface reading as you could wish to see |
| 5 | SOFA BED – S,OF,ABE,D |
| 9 | SINGING TELEGRAM – (IN GERMAN GIG LISTEN)* |
| 10 | TOAST – ‘Brown’ here being used (very elegantly) as a verb |
| 11 | ALDERSHOT – ALDERS,HO,T[-errace] |
| 13 | TOPCOATS – The last answer to go in, and I have to admit I initially made a mistake with it. I assumed it was HOT,C[O]ATS, but then realised a moment ago that it’s actually O in TOP CAT’S, he being the cartoon feline! |
| 16 | DEBARRED – DE,BAR,RED |
| 17 | HUGHIE – H,I in HUGE |
| 19 | ARISTOTLE – TOT[-a]L in A,RISE |
| 21 | TONIC – TO,NIC[-k] |
| 23 | PUT IN THE PICTURE – CD |
| 24 | TINTERN – INTER in TN (confines of ‘tumbledown’) |
| 25 | DEAD SET – I presume that this refers to hunting dogs being ready to pick up dead birds, etc.? |
| Down | |
| 1 | RESIT – I in REST |
| 2 | BENJAMIN BRITTEN – JAM in BENIN,”Britain” |
| 4 | SIGNAL – (Fritz) LANG,IS rev. |
| 5 | STEADY ON – (EASY DON’T)* – Another great surface reading |
| 7 | BIRTHDAY HONOURS – (SID HORNBY, AUTHOR)* |
| 8 | DEMITASSE – (TEA MISSED)* |
| 12 | RED CARPET – REDCAR (NE seaside town),PET |
| 14 | CRUSTACEA – CRUST,ACE,A |
| 15 | HEATH HEN – H in HEATHEN |
| 18 | HELPED – PE in HELD |
| 20 | TINGE – Hidden in fruiT IN GEneral |
| 22 | CHEAT – C[-up],HEAT |
23a – a minor point but I thought this was a double def: “told” and “how to utilise frame”.
Ah yes, you’re right, it’s DD not CD.
Excellent puzzle. A little trickier that usual. Re DEAD SET, I think it’s the dog’s position (still) but the prey is not necessarily dead (at that point, anyway). Maybe an expert can advise us.
Some top clues and (if I remember correctly) quibble-free, as usual from Dac. That said, I didn’t really understand DEAD SET either. Chambers gives under ‘set’ the definition “a gun dog’s indication of game”, whatever that means; is this relevant?
COED defines dead set as “a hunting dog’s act of indicating the presence of game.”