NTSPP 764 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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NTSPP 764

A Puzzle by Meles

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The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid.

Meles gets another turn in the NTSPP spot this week with a very enjoyable pangram. Thanks to him.

Across

1a Tradition to miss a bit of my day on vacation in detention (7)
CUSTODY: Remove the initial letter of My from a synonym of tradition and add “DY (day on vacation).

5a Old-fashioned pointless saccharine rubbish (7)
ARCHAIC: Anagram (rubbish) of sACCHARIne (ie once the various letters representing compass points have been removed)

10a Flavour enhancer found in sherbet (4)
HERB: Hidden

11a Naively cite only fake news to be entertained (10)
INNOCENTLY: Anagram (fake) of CITE ONLY “entertaining” the abbreviation for News

12a Imitation of English king met with zeal, at first (6)
ERSATZ: Abbreviations for English and King, a synonym of met and the initial letter of Zeal

13a A way to access transport (8)
ENTRANCE: Double definition, the second a verb.

14a Cargo shorts hot as finally worn by cool guys (9)
SHIPMENTS: The final letters of shortS hoT and aS placed around (worn by) synonyms of cool and guys

16a A short day, one even shorter and many more of them (5)
MONTH: A fun clue that relies on abbreviated MONday andTHursday

17a The setter replaces ace in team that has a lot of suckers (5)
SQUID: Replace the abbreviation for Ace in a team or pack with a first person pronoun (the setter)

19a Complaint raised at the bar? (9)
OBJECTION: Cryptic definition, the bar being in the legal sense

23a Prospect of gold in Central American country (8)
PANORAMA: Place one of the two usual golds in a South American country

24a Club when not drinking becomes very loud, one might have a smoke (6)
PUFFER: A club on a golf course with the abbreviation for dry or teetotal replaced with that for very loud musically. Another fun clue

26a Cunning small creature deserted monstrous Loch (10)
SHREWDNESS: Put together a small mole-like mammal, an abbreviation for Deserted and the loch said to be home for a mythical swimmer.

27a Regularly unsteady, being manipulated (4)
USED: The alternate letters of the second word in the clue

28a Peculiar is that man, we hear, making an arduous journey (7)
ODYSSEY: A homophone (we hear) of a synonym of peculiar, and “is he” (is that man)

29a Perhaps promotional poem is not in one's best interest (7)
ADVERSE: Whimsically how one could describe a “promotional poem”

 

Down

2d Expose aunt and her cavorting (7)
UNEARTH: Anagram of AUNT and HER.

3d Returning a one-piece that shows some leg (5)
TIBIA: Reverse (returning )A from the clue, the letter representing one and synonym of piece. I'm not sure if some editors would allow this, the one-piece being hyphenated. A fun clue though

4d Doctor is hot when removing jacket in rain (7)
DRIZZLE: An abbreviated doctor and the inner letters (removing jacket) of a synonym of is hot.

6d Repeat from memory and move elsewhere if you say it slightly wrong (6)
RECITE: A homophone (only one letter changes hence “slightly”) of a word meaning move elsewhere. Nice.

7d Wait a minute? (4,5)
HANG ABOUT: A double/cryptic definition, the less obvious one being an exclamation. But used in the same context they mean the same thing so I'm not sure this entirely works

8d Criminal apologetic, I'll ignore, being somewhat upset (7)
ILLICIT: Hidden and reversed (being somewhat upset)

9d Foolish Brits venerate those lacking backbone (13)
INVERTEBRATES: Anagram (foolish) of the following two words

15d Busy chairpersons taking tea to people inside (9)
PRISONERS: Anagram (busy) of chaIRPERSONS (taking tea). I think “to see” would work better but a good clue

18d Put a stop to question asked initially, subsequently dropped (7)
QUASHED: Abbreviation for QUestion plus Asked and (subsequently) a synonym of drop or cast

20d Finish off quite cross sat out in the elements (7)
EXPOSED: The final letter of quitE, the letter representing a cross and a synonym of sat (for an artist maybe)

21d They are in first and badly resent spending time after work (7)
OPENERS: Anagram (badly) of RESENt (spending time) after the usual abbreviated work. Great surface read

22d A desperate gambler might blame this but he's the villain of the piece (6)
BADDIE: If we split the solution (an informal villain) 3-3 we could whimsically have an excuse for a desperate gambler

25d "Force this country to be captured by the French" - surely you didn't mean that! (5)
FLUKE: The abbreviation for Force, and this country inside (captured by) a French definite article. A good ‘un to end with.

 

 

15 comments on “NTSPP 764
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  1. An enjoyable puzzle – thanks to Meles.
    At one stage I thought we were going to get a pangram but it didn’t materialise.
    I may be missing something in 7d but it doesn’t seem very cryptic.
    Top clues for me were 16a, 20d and 22d.

  2. That was fun, no caffeine required!

    Smiles for 5a. 13a, 26a, 28a, 7d, and 20d.

    Thanks Meles and thanks in advance to Stephen L (?).

  3. A perfect pangram for the NTSPP slot. It was great fun from start to finish with excellent clueing and smooth surfaces, although I can’t see anything cryptic about 7d.

    My page is littered with ticks, and my podium comprises 16a, 23a & 28a.

    Many thanks to Meles and in advance to SL (?)

  4. It may not be sufficiently cryptic for our experts, but I thought 7d was great fun and it earned a place in my top three along with 28a & 20d.
    Spotted the pangram but can’t see a theme this time unless I’ve missed something.

    Thanks to Meles for a very enjoyable NTSPP.

  5. Thank you, Meles, very enjoyable. Several favourites but will go for 1a, 14a, 16a and 25d. More like this, please, and thanks in advance to Stephen L.

  6. A nice puzzle to pass a dull, cool West Coast weather day. No rain, but decidedly cool at 16C … compared to the hot summer days we had.
    Liked this one but I found it was a little tricky in spots.
    Favourite were 23a, 26a, 3d & 4d

    Thanks to Stephen L

  7. An enjoyable solve, and a pangram to boot; what more could one want. I particularly liked the clues for 5ac and 15dn.
    Thanks, Meles and SL.

  8. Thanks to everyone who has solved and commented and especially to Stephen L for the excellent review.

    A few comments about 7d which is interesting. I’ve tried this style of clue a few times (double definition but the same word) and does always seem to illicit a mixed response. Think I’ll shelve that, or at least try to find a way of indicating it.

    Thanks again, until next time!

  9. Crosswords had to take a back seat this weekend as a break in the seemingly incessant rain was an opportunity to get into the garden. I had this crossword to look forward to, though, and was able to relax and enjoy it after a busy couple of days. I had enough favourites ticked to award podium places in both directions: 1, 11 & 23 across; and 3, 9 & 15 down. I was surprised by the abbreviation used in 26a, and didn’t really see 7d as a double definition; but I guess if it is intonated quite differently it might just scrape through! I noticed enough letters in the first few clues I solved to put me on pangram alert, but once I had finished the puzzle I forgot to check back… Well done to Meles for the pangram, and to other reviewers for being more alert than me!
    Many thanks to both Meles and StephenL.

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