A Puzzle by Jeemz
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The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid.
Jeemz provides this weekend's alternative exercise in lateral thinking with a tricky but very clever puzzle so thanks to him.
Across
1a Initiation of proper internal security in British Museum (7)
BAPTISM: A synonym of proper or suitable plus an abbreviated Internal Security sit inside an abbreviated British Museum
5a Menagerie's reported after neglecting this hot dog (4,3)
SHIH TZU: A homophone (reported) of a synonym of menagerie follows an anagram (neglecting) of THIS plus the abbreviation for Hot.
9a Huge foot soldier attracts a lot of flak (9)
FANTASTIC: Put together the single-letter abbreviation for Foot, a “soldier” insect, A from the clue and all but the last letter of a synonym of flak or criticism.
10a Zoom spreading across country is providential (5)
FLUKY: A synonym of zoom or travel rapidly placed around a familiar country.
11a Saucy nickname pretty much describes Diogenes? (5)
CYNIC: Hidden (pretty much describes) in the clue. The question mark indicates a definition by example.
12a That person's possessed by source of evil wailing spirit (7)
BANSHEE: A third person pronoun inserted into (possessed by) a cause or source of distress or negativity
15a Fish tea at Billingsgate? (4)
CHAR: Double definition, the less obvious being how a cockney (in Billingsgate) may refer to tea.
16a Clear space for the shy here perhaps (10)
FAIRGROUND: Synonyms of the first two words give a place where one of the attractions could be a coconut shy.
18a Doing time, ponder atonement (10)
REDEMPTION: Anagram (doing) of the following two words.
19a Knockout buffets with crumpet on the counter (4)
STUN: A reversal of a synonym of buffets as a verb using crumpet, the crumpet being one's head.
21a Doctor playing pelota avoiding a blob (7)
DROPLET: The usual abbreviated doctor plus an anagram (playing) of PELOT(a).
22a Extremely deficient parcel does bring dressing for GI say (5)
RANCH: Remove the outer letters (extremely deficient) from a parcel or collection of items giving an American (for GI) dressing
25a Originally petrol injection car engineered somewhere in Italy (5)
CAPRI: Anagram (engineered) of the initial letters of Petrol and Injection plus CAR. Some editors would require insertion/containment indicators for the single letters as is the case in 5a.
26a Typically too old to be touring continent (2,7)
ON AVERAGE: A term (4-3) surrounding (to be touring) a two-letter abbreviated continent
27a Settle back catching second half of trending news (7)
TIDINGS: A reversal (back) of a synonym of settle contains (catching) trenDING.
28a Listen once and try King's English pronunciation at the end (7)
HEARKEN: A synonym of try (in a court perhaps) plus abbreviations for King and English and the final letter of pronunciatioN. The once indicates the definition is archaic.
Down
1d Clot's going outside despite being hit (4)
BIFF: An abbreviated Bloody Fool (clot) placed outside a two-letter synonym of despite being
2d Coin's devalued. Get it now! (5,3,7)
PENNY HAS DROPPED: Cryptic/double definition….what a cruciverbalist may claim when finally solving a clue.
3d Script written in pencil at intervals rejected (6)
ITALIC: Hidden (written in) and reversed (rejected) in the clue.
4d Fallacy of really scratching itch occasionally (4)
MYTH: An exclamation meaning really plus alternate (scratching occasionally) letters of iTcH.
5d Plunder ancient mound exposing hand cart (4,6)
SACK BARROW: A synonym of plunder plus a burial mound of earth and stones.
6d Child runaway sides with soldiers (8)
INFANTRY: A small child plus the sides or outer letters of RunawaY.
7d Difficult problem to solve in Brazil? (5,3,2,5)
TOUGH NUT TO CRACK: A cryptic definition of an idiomatic phrase to describe a difficult problem based upon the “Brazil” being an example of a type of food.
8d Barren yet not giving up (10)
UNYIELDING: Double definition, both quite straightforward
13d Love to escape staggering day care cost for big baby (7,3)
SCAREDY CAT: Anagram (staggering) of the following three words less the abbreviation for love (to escape)
14d Like "The Crown," based on reality it's concealing debt (10)
FACTITIOUS: A reality plus IT'S from the clue placed around the usual abbreviated acknowledgment of debt giving a description of type of programme of which The Crown is an example.
17d Captivating Society "Bird Predator" demonstrates painter's medium (8)
EMULSION: A three-letter bird plus an apex predator which is placed around the single-letter abbreviation for Society.
20d Having initially such a bad experience, Nicaragua abolished old airline (6)
SABENA: The initial letters of words 3,4,5,6,7&8.
23d Launder money, exchanging lucre essentially for bit of wonga (4)
WASH: Replace the letter C (luCre essentially) of a fast disappearing method of payment with that which heads Wonga.
24d Heading for victory over a German vessel (4)
VEIN: The initial letter of Victory plus a German indefinite article.
Thanks to Jeemz for the lunchtime entertainment.
I thought that this was quite tricky in places and I had to verify that the 5d hand cart and the 22a dressing existed. I couldn’t find either in Chambers or Collins and needed to ask Mrs Google.
The clues I liked best were 26a, 6d and 7d.
Caffeine most definitely required! Plus progressively completing and checking the on-line grid with some e-help.
Smiles for 16a, 26a, 2d, and 7d.
Thanks Jeemz and thanks in advance to Prolixic(?).
:phew: I found this really tough but I did enjoy the challenge despite not being able to parse what I feel sure must be the correct answer to 1d.
I see we have yet another in the seemingly never-ending list of “anything goes” anagram indicators in 5a.
I applaud the American indicator in 22a and I had a lot of ticks on my page with 1a, 26a & 7d my top picks.
Many thanks to Jeemz and in advance to whomever.
Hi RD. I’ll be doing the review for this.
In that case, thanks in advance to SL! :smile:
I took 1d to be a 2-letter abbreviation for a fool containing a conjunction that can mean despite.
And, that abbreviation is straight out of the BRB.
and “despite being” is the synonym of the conjunction: eg the food was delicious despite being a bit too spicy
Thanks very much, Gazza. Mmm…
I’ve never come across that abbreviation for fool before and so it didn’t occur to me. However, I see it is in the BRB. Also, I’m not totally convinced that “despite” = “if” but it’s probably just about OK.
Hallo folks. I do feel a bit of a BF (does that help with 1d RD?) for not checking whether the solutions to 5d and 22a were in Collins or Chambers. However, since I’ve always known a 7d by this name I’d assumed it was what everyone called them; and as we are able to buy the own label version of what’s reportedly America’s favourite dressing from Sainsbury’s I’d thought that too was common parlance – perhaps not! Thanks for checking and for the feed back Gazza.
It’s a long time since I’ve heard of that airline! Had to solve this in bits and pieces during the day and I’m still not sure I’ve got everything correctly parsed – SL’s review will tell. Leader board here features 1a plus 2,7,8&13d.
Thanks to Jeemz for an enjoyable NTSPP.
We had to work quite hard but did eventually get everything sorted. The only one we had not heard of was the 20d airline but it was generously clued.
Thoroughly enjoyed the solve.
Thanks Jeemz.
Thank you for the challenge, Jeemz. It took us a while as we only returned from holiday this morning after a sleepless flight. We did get the answer to 1d but couldn’t parse it until we read Gazza’s explanation above. Favourites were 2d, 16a, 7d and 1a. We still can’t parse 4d even though we have what we’re sure is the right answer. Thanks also to SL for his words of wisdom tomorrow.
Most of this generally enjoyable puzzle was reasonably straightforward, but I needed a letter reveal to complete the extreme NW, and had a couple of xxxxed answers for which I need Stephen’s parsing. The abbreviation in 1a was new to me, likewise the answer to 5d – and I see it is apparently British in origin!
Thank you Jeemz, and in advance, Stephen.
First NTSPP for ages (I was in hospital). Quite a challenge but I almost finished – hadn’t heard of (or had forgotten about) RANCH dressing. Thanks, Jeemz and SL.
Thanks Stephen L for the nicely done unravelment of the clues.
Thanks too, to all those who took the time to have a go at solving the puzzle and for your comments The puzzle was created some months ago so the 1a reference to British Museum security may now seem a little outdated. It’s good to see that a number of clues got ticks of approval.
I didn’t fill in my answers for 1d and 19a until SephenL had indeed confirmed my (worst?) suspicions on the wordplay – hmm! For some reason I had never heard of the “hand cart” being described as 5d, although we have one in the shed. We refer to it as a trolley, but the 5d term has good e-references as well as an interesting history. Having lived in the US for 4 years the “dressing” is both familiar and a family favourite. My best-liked clues have a grid symmetry to them – 2d, 7d, 8d and 13d. I was also impressed by the inventive surface in 17d!
Thanks to Jeemz for the fun puzzle and to StephenL for his adept hints & tips.
Thanks Spartacus for your comments. 19a of course is a bit of an old chestnut that occurs only too regularly in crosswords. That means it’s one of the words that are tough for compilers to clue. It certainly caused me to work hard to find an original wordplay. Sorry if I fulfilled your “worst” suspicions with it!
:wink:
Many thanks for the review, Stephen, which cleared up my doubts about a few bits of parsing. I did wonder how you were going to explain the answer to 5a but, of course, our setter had been helpful by disguising part of it as an anagram! Last time I saw it clued, the setter had not been as generous!
Re 5a, I was pleased the homophone related to the second word and not the first Jane!
Perish the thought. It never occurred to me to do otherwise!
Thanks Jeemz. Really enjoyed the puzzle. Unfortunately 22a was too 7d for me without Stephen’s hint – couldn’t dredge up the parcel synonym & was hopelessly lost down a blind alley looking for military attire – can’t stand the stuff anyway. Love the term at 14d, which I’ve not come across before, & had to check on the cart & airline post solve. I had the same thoughts as Jane re 5d. 9a was my favourite from plenty of ✅s.
Thanks to Stephen for the review, the Squeeze song & for explaining my 1d b**f in – never heard of that abbreviation before.
A bit late with this one, but thanks to Jeemz for a tough yet tasty cookie!
Runaway favourite is the superb 2d, absolutely brilliant. Ticks also for 11a, 16a, 18a, 6d, 8d, 23d. Needed Mr G’s help on four clues; the airline and clot proved a bit too obscure for this noggin. I thought that bf=boyfriend, although that is synonymous with ‘bloody fool’ I suppose 🤔🤣
Thanks Jeemz for a fab challenge and SL for the review 👍😎
Thanks AB glad you enjoyed the challenge. I used to use that airline in my working days on regular trips to Belgium. I know it then used to be “affectionately” known as “such a b****y experience never again” so thought a modified version would work ok!
Big apologies for this late comment, Jeemz. I solved this last weekend but have been thoroughly disrupted by problems caused by an ancient boiler and heating system — not to mention a leak!
Fortunately I still have my paper copy to hand with my comments on it.
I thought this was an excellent puzzle. Plenty to like, with my fave being 2d. I have many ticks, including 1d, 3d, 5d (one of my last in but the wordplay is very clear and I gleaned what it was), 7d, and 15a. The 13d anagram is also among my top likes!
Most appreciative thanks to Jeemz for a most enjoyable NTSPP. And many appreciative thanks to StephenL for the excellent illustrated review. Despite having the checking letters, I needed enlightenment for the only clue that defeated me, and that was 22a.
Thanks Catnap. Glad you enjoyed it. 2d was my favourite too. You have my sympathy with boiler problems. We’ve been having those for a few months until finally being told that it was in danger of exploding! So no heating for a while and finally a new boiler that does actually work!