A Puzzle by Meles
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The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid.
We last saw Meles back in January but he's more than made up for his absence with a highly entertaining and clever puzzle so thanks to him.
Across
1a It's time to get aggressive - why are my hands cold?! (3,6,3,3)
THE GLOVES ARE OFF: Double/cryptic definition.
9a Combine dancing with a little gas, that's charming! (8)
BECOMING: COMBINE* (dancing) plus G (a little gas).
10a Bring about unbounded happiness (6)
ELICIT: A synonym of happiness without the outside letters (unbounded)
11a Feature supper oddly in part of play (6)
ASPECT: An insertion of the odd letters of SuPpEr into a part of a play
12a This gives the appearance of looking grand (girl with verbal agreement) (5,3)
GLASS EYE: The abbreviation for Grand, a synonym of girl and a homophone (verbal) of a word expressing assent
13a Mark's ultimately very hairy (5)
SCARY: A mark on the skin maybe and the final letter of very.
15a Irrational to be taken in by sort of miracle, from practical experience (9)
EMPIRICAL: An irrational number inside MIRACLE*
18a Getting what a medical practitioner should be? (9)
PROCURING: If we split the solution (a synonym of getting in the sense of acquiring) 3,6 the wordplay becomes crystal clear. Very nice
19a A selection of what's easily lost (2,3)
AT SEA: Hidden (a selection of)
21a Overdo it with work, also a lot of food (2,3,3)
GO TOO FAR: String together synonyms of work, also and all but the last letter of food.
23a Delicate period around home time (6)
DAINTY: A period of 24 hours around the usual (at) home plus Time
25a Sign of the twins returning, perhaps by small car (6)
GEMINI: The usual perhaps or say reversed and what used to be a small car
26a Charlie chooses and criticises trifles (3-5)
NIT-PICKS: Synonyms of Charlie or twit and chooses or opts for.
27a Doctors suspect final part of vital organ is failing (7,8)
PLASTIC SURGEONS: SUSPECT vitaL ORGAN IS* (failing). Great surface read and nice to have doctors as a definition rather than the usual anagram indicator.
Down
2d Bounders struggle to bound in these? (5)
HEELS: Double/cryptic definition, the bounders I suspect only ever appearing in cryptic crosswords these days!
3d George (half-cut) ran into Richard (more than half-cut) having lines... (9)
GEOMETRIC: GEOrge plus a synonym of ran into plus RIChard. Fun clue
4d ...yet that is poor, regularly turning to addictive drug (6)
OPIATE: Alternate letters of yEt ThAt Is PoOr reversed.
5d Digital indications of planned union activity? (10,5)
ENGAGEMENT RINGS: Cryptic definition, the digits being bodily
6d Song about essentially heavenly mother? (3,5)
AVE MARIA: A typically operatic song placed around heaVEnly and MA for a smart &lit
7d Live with society's descent to the bottom, finding ways to escape (5)
EXITS: A synonym of live with the abbreviation for Society moved to the bottom
8d Children's story has nothing to obscure reality (5,4)
FAIRY TALE: An abbreviated Fanny Adams (the polite version!) plus REALITY*
14d Officer gathers a piece of evidentiary material (9)
CORPOREAL: A military officer around the initial letter of Evidentiary.
16d Based on instinct, the setter's supporting indigenous people taking on Tesla (9)
INTUITIVE: An abbreviated I have (the setter’s) “supports” some indigenous people containing an abbreviation for Tesla
17d Independent art with good following, if criminal? (8)
GRAFFITI: I plus ART plus G plus F plus IF* (criminal) for another smart extended definition.
20d Boss, on paper, annoyed I tortured interns (6)
EDITOR: Hidden (interns as a verb)
22d Salad of moist leaves (5)
OMITS: MOIST*
24d Where Barbie often looks for a sign? (5)
TOKEN: Split the solution (a synonym of sign) 2,3 and all is clear
Caffeine required in the SW but partly because of an incorrect ending to 16d in the SE. Otherwise very enjoyable.
Smiles for 1a, 13a, 21a, 2d, 3d, and 22d.
Thanks Meles and thanks in advance to Stephen L.
What a splendid NTSPP. Most of this went in very smoothly but the last few held out for a while, especially the parsing of 17d, which became my favourite.
Many thanks, Meles. This was great fun. Please keep them coming!
My goodness – have I ever ticked so many clues…? Lots of lovely surfaces combined with clever wordplay and I heartily agree with RD – do keep them coming, Meles! But ‘there has to be a winner’ (or in this case winners) and I have selected three from each direction to stand on their respective podiums: 15, 18 & 27 across and 3, 5 & 17 down. With so many good clues to choose from, I expect we’ll see a wide range of favourites in today’s comments.
Many thanks to Meles for such splendid entertainment and, in advance, to StephenL.
Very enjoyable NTSPP. A few places where a good surface read was sacrificed to the wordplay, such as in 12a, but otherwise no complaints here.
Biggest ticks went to 1,15&18a plus 16&22d.
Thank you for a diverting solve, Meles.
Thanks for the puzzle Meles, that was excellent. Favourites for me were 1a, 18a and 17d.
Thanks in advance to StephenL.
Great fun – thanks Meles.
I have a host of ticks on my printout including 1a, 18a, 21a, 2d, 3d and 5d with my favourite being the oustanding &Lit at 6d.
A top quality puzzle that was really good fun to solve. The very clever 6d was our favourite too.
Thanks Meles.
Many thanks for a cracking puzzle Meles. Found it quite tricky in places. Not entirely confident with a couple of my parsings (21a&17d) & one or two others travelled on a later bus. Ticks all over the shop – 1,15,18&27a plus 3,5&6d particular likes.
Enjoyed this solve on a dull/wet Saturday afternoon.
Favourites include 1a, 25a, 27a, 5d & 22d
Thanks to Meles
Off to take the dog for a wet walk ….ugh!
A late evening solve for me after a busy day. Glad I found the time though. I thought this was a gem of a puzzle with great variety of clever clues. I’m not sure if I have parsed a couple correctly 17d and 16d.
Difficult to pick out favourites but I’ll give a mention to 12, 18, and 19a, 2, 5, and 24d.
Thanks Meles for a really well crafted enjoyable puzzle.
Many thanks for the review, Stephen, parsing now all confirmed which is always a bonus! Thanks again to Meles for the puzzle.
Many thanks to everyone who solved and commented, and especially to Stephen for the review. I’m pleased this one seems to have gone down well. Thanks again, until next time.