NTSPP – 471
A Puzzle by Gazza
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The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid.
The Mary Poppins of cruciverbalism (practically perfect in every way) returns to entertain us.
Across
1 Regular outgoings rise and rise? (8,6)
STANDING ORDERS – Two instructions to stand up (rise and rise) might give this form of regular outgoings.
10 Horny African American inhabits one coastal city after another (5)
NYALA – The single letter abbreviation for American inside the abbreviations for New York and Los Angeles (one costal city after another).
11 Muppet stuns Kermit minimally with clout lacking power (9)
NUMBSKULL – A five letter word meaning stuns followed by the first letter (minimally) of Kermit and a four letter word meaning clout without the initial P (lacking power).
12 Tight-fitting garment’s more conspicuous at the front (7)
BUSTIER – Someone like Barbara Windsor with two notable assets at the front may be thus described.
13 Jolly colleague bringing in sweet for leading pupil (7)
ACUTELY – A four letter word for a colleague has the first L (leading pupil) replaced by a four letter word meaning sweet.
14 Produce yearly income enjoying large dividends at first (5)
YIELD – The first letters (at first) of the second to sixth) words of the clue.
16 Poorly managed Devon side swiftly went down (9)
NOSEDIVED – An anagram (poorly managed) of DEVON SIDE.
19 Treat oneself to linguine cooked with a pinch of dill (7,2)
INDULGE IN – An anagram (cooked) of LINGUINE D (pinch – first letter – of dill).
20 Having abandoned eggs long-tailed penguins are going places (5)
GENTS – Remove the OO (having abandoned eggs) from a word for long-tailed penguins.
22 Plain fence not covering hidey-hole (2,5)
EN CLAIR – The inner letters (not covering) of fence followed by a four letter word for a hidey-hole.
25 English paper relocating right to end of Central Line (7)
EQUATOR – The abbreviation for English followed by a six letter word for a paper size with the R moved to the end.
27 Old American model can add Queen to her friends? (3,6)
TIN LIZZIE – A three letter word for a can followed by an informal way of saying Elizabeth (Queen to her friends).
28 Humped fetish losing half its value in the end (5)
TOTED – Another word for a sermonical tribal pole or fetish with the final letter M halved to give a D.
29 Unfortunately still learning to box with unrestricted clinching (3-2,9)
ALL-IN WRESTLING – An anagram (unfortunately) of STILL LEARNING includes (to box) the abbreviation for with.
Down
2 Leave behind article on self-catering featured in Vogue (9)
TRANSCEND – The two letter indefinite article and the abbreviation for self-catering inside (feature din) a five letter word for vogue or fashion.
3 Scotsman eating nothing when upset in canteen (5)
NAAFI – A three letter eponymous Scottish man’s name includes (eating) the abbreviation for Fanny Adams (nothing) with all the letters then reversed (upset).
4 Wacky racing? One’s being rude (9)
IGNORANCE – An anagram (wacky) of RACING ONES.
5 America’s minor airline groups originally set up predecessor to Delta (5)
GAMMA – A two letter abbreviation for America followed by the first letters (originally) of the second to fourth words of the clue with all the letters reversed (set up).
6 Release reprobate, one given second chance (6,3)
RESCUE DOG – A six letter word meaning release followed by a three letter word for a reprobate.
7 Posh duchess initially seduced in old earl’s shed … (5)
EXUDE – The abbreviation for posh and the first letter (initially) of duchess inside (seduced in) a two letter prefix meaning old and the abbreviation for earl.
8 … turned out the old duke stuck to climbing mountains (7)
SPLAYED – The old way of saying the and the abbreviation for duke after (stuck to) a reversal (climbing) of the name of a range of mountains.
9 Clark maybe succeeded originally being superior (6)
SNOBBY – The abbreviation for succeeded before (originally) the name of the old cricketer Mr Clark.
15 Spotted best friend in Dubrovnik? (9)
DALMATIAN – Double definition of a breed of dog and someone from Dubrovnik.
17 Maybe sound not so daft (9)
SENSELESS – A five letter for what hearing or sound is an example of followed by a four letter word meaning not so.
18 Cardinal in Lyon’s game for a wager (5-2-2)
VINGT-ET UN – A French cardinal number and another name for Blackjack (game for a wager).
19 Reserve shakes each cold drink (4,3)
ICED TEA – A three letters word for reserve or coolness followed by the abbreviation for Delirium Tremens (shakes) and the abbreviation for each.
21 Shut up Communist’s in tears (6)
SHREDS – A two letter word meaning be quiet or shut up followed by the archetypal colour for communists.
23 Regent’s possibly tracked down among Jamaican alcoholics (5)
CANAL – The answer is hidden (down among) in the final two words of the clue.
24 Panzers essentially surrounded by two lots of soldiers (one with cutting edge) (5)
RAZOR – The middle letter (essentially) of Panzers inside the abbreviation for Royal Artillery and Other Ranks (two lots of soldiers).
26 Prior to university going over load of books on Israel (5)
UNTIL – The abbreviation for university followed by the abbreviation for New Testament (books) and the IVR code for Israel.
What a pleasure to have a Gazza puzzle to brighten a grey day here in the South East.
The left-hand side went in fairly smoothly, but I found the right more of a challenge. One clue has yet to be fully parsed. Many ticks on my printed page, but podium places go to 16a, 15d and the delightful 7d/8d combo, I can imagine the twinkle in the setter’s eye when he came up with that!
Many thanks to Gazza for yet another superbly entertaining puzzle.
What a joy. This had everything I enjoy in a puzzle – challenging but not impenetrable (and I agree with Silvanus that the RHS was considerably tougher than the left), great surfaces, humour, clever disguises and more.
As I was nearing the end of my solve I was anticipating a pangram but the J proved elusive.
Like Silvanus, my page is littered with ticks and I see that my double ticks are identically the same as his podium choices.
Many thanks, Gazza. This was crossword heaven.
I meant, of course, ” Like Silvanus’ “. The thought of him being covered with lots of tattoos of ticks is quite unsettling.
Like Silvanus, I found the E, especially the NE, more challenging than the W and I did have to do some reveals to confirm my thoughts.
However, I think Gazza has helped to unscramble my brain after the back pager scrambled it.
Favourites – 12a and 3d, especially for the ‘nothing’ element.
Thanks Gazza.
I solved the bottom half first and then slowed a bit for the top.
I suppose the ‘leading pupil’ in 13 is as in a learner driver.
I ticked some others: 20A, 25A, 27A and 19D.
Thanks Gazza – nice one!
I took the “leading” in 13a to be indicating which pupil should be replaced.
Brilliant and hugely enjoyable. I found this high quality crossword to be a steady solve, except up in the NE where a couple of answers were unfamiliar to this foreigner. Smiles throughout, with the penny drop on the “going places” in 20a being the biggest laugh out loud moment. Not far behind in amusement level were 10a, 12a, 25a, 2d, 8d, 15d, 21d, and 19d. Thanks to Gazza for brightening my weekend, and in advance to Prolixic for the review.
Having had my conscience pricked by one of our contributors to this page, I’ve spent much of the day working in the garden. What a delight it was to return indoors and find a Gazza creation awaiting attention!
Virtually every clue ticked – no surprise there – and my podium places were awarded to 16&20a plus 6d.
Lovely stuff from my shining knight – many thanks Gazza.
Excellent Sunday morning fun for us. We’re still chuckling over the ‘going places’ in 20a as well as the surface reading of the 7d/8d combination. We searched the completed grid several times looking for the missing J.
Many thanks Gazza.
With second thoughts we have decided that the missing J was busy working on his puzzle for Wednesday.
Well, that was fun! I ended up in the NE trying to dredge up the second word of 1a. 8d was my favourite, but the whole thing was a delight. Apropos of nothing, I hope that Everyman this week is back on form, after the debacle of 3 weeks ago.
Thank you Gazza; what a hugely enjoyable puzzle! I was a bottom up person, with the NE corner last to fall. I was completely oblivious of a pangram potential and so I spent no time at all looking for a ‘j’.
A definite north-south divide for me in terms of difficulty, but hugely enjoyable throughout. Beautifully done.
Many thanks Gazza and in advance to Prolixic for the review.
Beaten by several clues so will wait for the review. An entertaining distraction as we await the imminent arrival of grandchild number 3. Thanks Gazza.
Wonderful stuff and of course lots of smiles and ticks on the page. Not quite finished…I’m still puzzling over 13A. 7D/8D my hands-down favorite. Thanks, Gazza!
That was a pleasure to solve, thanks Gazza. Inventive clueing throughout, although I’m waiting for the review to parse 28a.
I found the NE corner to be the hardest and it took some spousely intervention to break the deadlock with the answer to 6d.
Favourites (amongst much competition) were 19a, 25a, 27a, 29a, 15d, and 21d.
Thanks in advance to the reviewer as well.
A fabulous crossword – thank you Gazza.
I couldn’t get started but once I got 1a the top half became possible and I finished that before I had more than a couple of answers lower down.
Tried to justify ‘rhino’ for 10a but that was never going to work.
I now know more about the blasted long-tailed penguins than I ever needed to and probably know everyone with the first name or surname of Clark.
I still have a couple of answers that I think are right but can’t quite see why they are – maybe they aren’t.
Too many good clues to pick out all of them so a few of then are 11, 12, 20 and 27a and 7/8d and, my favourite, 6d.
Thanks again to Gazza and, in advance, to Prolixic.
I seem to be having an east west split here. West was easier and I am reluctant to hit reveal in the east.
12a and 9d amused me (why are Clarks known by that name?) and I need to work out where the W comes from in 29a. If 18d would get off the tip of my tongue and on the paper all would be clearer.
Thanks Gazza and reviewer.
Review will be up later this evening
Many thanks for the review, Prolixic. Love the Mary Poppins analogy!
Thanks to all who attempted the puzzle and special thanks to all who commented. Many thanks also to Prolixic for the well-illustrated review – I’ve never been likened to Mary Poppins before!
Just to clarify the Nobby clue – I didn’t mean it to refer to the cricketer (who’s so obscure that I doubt that even Rabbit Dave has heard of him). Nobby is a nickname commonly used for anyone called Clark. The Wikipedia article here explains it and provides possible explanations (none of them rude) for why Nobby is used as a nickname for any Mr Clark.
Apologies, it appears I forgot to comment on Saturday. Great fun, loved the going places in particular. Thanks for the fun.
Grab yer bumbershoot and you’ll be gone with the wind
Wasn’t going to miss out on a Gazza.
A real pleasure to solve.
Found the NW corner the hardest. Even checked if Clark was Notty.and wondered why 15d was Bulgarian!
After rectification, everything was in order.
Liked the shakes in 19d and the going places in 20a of course.
Favourite 16a.
Thanks to Gazza and to Prolixic.
Late to the party again so there’s not really anything I can add except that in terms of difficulty it was a Goldilocks puzzle.
Thanks, Gazza and prolixic.
A few days late on this, but it made my holiday even better. Many thanks Gazza.