A Puzzle by Rahmat Ali
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The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid.
As usual, the setter will be delighted to receive feedback from you, the solvers. We do ask that you remember that for most setters this is a new experience, so please only offer constructive criticism.
Ramat has all the skills to produce excellent crosswords but needs to develop a finishing eye to eliminate the repetitions and to add that final polish to some of the clues to bring them up to the standard of the good ones. The commentometer reads as 5/32 or 15.6%.
Across
1a Shining silver of inferior quality (5)
AGLOW: The chemical symbol for silver followed by a three-letter word meaning of inferior quality.
4a Appropriate Beatles song for singer? (9)
BLACKBIRD: Double definition, the singer being a member of the thrush family.
9a Holding daughter coming out of confinement after resistance (9)
RETENTION: Remove (coming out of) the abbreviation for daughter from a nine-letter word meaning confinement and put the remaining letters after the abbreviation for resistance.
10a Measure some amount of fertile returns (5)
LITRE: The answer is hidden (some amount of) and reversed (returns) in fertile.
11a Look lively in chance to produce pamphlet (7)
BOOKLET: An anagram (lively) of LOOK inside (in) a three-letter word for chance.
12a Gaol revolutionary caused dissension (7)
STIRRED: A four-letter slang word for goal followed by the colour associated with a revolutionary.
13a Note part of the contingent went yesterday (6)
TWENTY: The answer is hidden (part of the) in the final three words of the clue. As a general rule, you can omit the definite or indefinite article.
15a Appraise again engineers recruiting blockheads? (8)
REASSESS: A three-letter abbreviation for engineers includes (recruiting) a five-letter word for blockheads. The two-letter abbreviation for engineers is its own plural so the clue does not work. You would need engineer’s for the wordplay to work.
18a Coastal navigation by explorer arriving ahead of time (8)
CABOTAGE: A five-letter Italian explorer followed by a three-letter before (arriving head of) a three-letter word for time. Arriving seems superfluous to the wordplay.
20a European Commission maze about skin inflammation (6)
ECZEMA: The abbreviation for European Commission followed by an anagram (about) of MAZE.
23a Preacher having beer outside station (7)
APOSTLE: A three-letter word for beer around (outside) a four-letter word for station.
24a Predator who can’t be trusted on the phone (7)
CHEETAH: A homophone (on the phone) of cheater (who can’t be trusted).
26a Over-large study of time long past (5)
OLDEN: The abbreviations for over and large followed by a three-letter word for a study.
27a Baddie moves closer and German steps in (9)
SCOUNDREL: An anagram (moves) of CLOSER includes (steps in) the German for and. For the anagram indicator to work, moves needs to be moving. Also, there is a repetition of in as an insertion indicator – see 11a.
28a Predictions of film actors in advance? (9)
FORECASTS: Split 4,5 this might indicate advance (4) film actors (5). I am not convinced that this clue works as the setter intended.
29a Half of these clues initially depend on wordplay not supposition (5)
DOWNS: The initial letters of the final five words of the clue.
Down
1d Agile vampire, perhaps, one swallowed by a reptile (9)
ACROBATIC: A three-letter word for the type of animal that might be a vampire and the letter representing one inside (swallowed by) the A from the clue and a four-letter word (shortened form) of a reptile.
2d Release child’s toy construction from plastic blocks around August-end (3,2)
LET GO: The four-letter name of the child’s building brick toy around the last letter (end) of August. End of August would be better than August-end.
3d Actress secures permit (7)
WINSLET: A four-letter word meaning secures followed by a three-letter word meaning permit.
4d Intensive campaign surrounding new Jewish pancake (6)
BLINTZ: A five-letter word for an intensive campaign around (surrounding) the abbreviation for new.
5d Misguided ideas around wildebeest forming part of the service (5,3)
AGNUS DEI: An anagram (misguided) of IDEAS around a three-letter word for a wildebeest. Try to avoid repeating wordplay indicators. Around was used in 2d.
6d Victoria’s sheepdogs search around current place when upset (7)
KELPIES: A four-letter word meaning search around the abbreviations for current and place with all the letters then being reversed (upset). Having around as the third use immediately after the second use is rubbing salt into the wound!
7d Step in to bury grain, reportedly (9)
INTERCEDE: A five-letter word meaning to bury followed by a homophone (reportedly) of seed (grain).
8d Fear of slippery adder (5)
DREAD: An anagram (slippery) of ADDER.
14d English doctor, French king and the German jazz up (9)
EMBROIDER: The abbreviation for English and a two-letter abbreviation for a doctor followed by a three-letter word French word for a king and the German for the.
16d Conches on the shore she sells, according to Spooner (9)
SEASHELLS: A Spoonerism of she sells. I know the tongue-twister has the solution immediately following the “she sells” but it is kind of cute as a clue.
17d See gross frenzied female cannibals? (8)
OGRESSES: An anagram (frenzied) of SEE GROSS.
19d Oberon’s wife downgraded at end of film (7)
TITANIC: Name of Oberon’s wife in a Midsummer’s Night Dream with the final letter (at end) changed to a lower grade in a marking scheme. End has already been used as a final letter indicator in 2d. Some editors will not allow wordplay of definition.
21d Slim within a month to turn purified (7)
CLEANED: A four-letter word meaning slim inside (within) a reversal (to turn) of the abbreviation of one of the months of the year.
22d Advanced and hybrid unlike this type (6)
ACROSS: The abbreviation for advanced and a five-letter word meaning hybrid.
23d One nincompoop from the south is not friendly (5)
ALOOF: The indefinite article (one) followed by a reversal (from the south) of a four-letter word for a nincompoop.
25d Cast dice to lose a contest deliberately taking bribe? (5)
THROW: Double definition.
At 18a we learnt a new word that we had guessed correctly from the wordplay. Really enjoyed solving this one as we do so often from this setter.
Thanks Rahmat Ali.
Thank you so much once again, 2Kiwis, for liking my puzzle.
Welcome again to Rookie Corner, Rahmat Ali.
I don’t think 15a works because “engineers” = RE not RES. Also the surface readings for 5d and 21d do not make much sense to me.
On a point of style, I think 2d could have been cut down considerably, e.g. “Release plastic bricks around end of August”.
Those minor points aside, this was an accomplished crossword which was a great pleasure to solve. I finished with a lot of ticks on my page: 1a, 4a, 13a, 23a, 3d & 7d.
Many thanks again, Rahmat Ali, for yet another very enjoyable puzzle.
Thank you so much once again, Rabbit Dave, for finding my puzzle yet another enjoyable one. You are right about the abbreviation RE that itself stands for Royal Engineers and thus a suitable word for S should have been added alongside to it. I also agree that six words to describe LEGO in 2d could have well been reduced to two words.
Thanks for the puzzle Rahmat Ali – very entertaining.
I liked the 29a/22d pair of semi-linked clues. I also liked 1a, 4a and 23a amongst others.
I can’t decide if 16d is a good clue or not. It’s certainly amusing, but it’s a bit of a giveaway when all you need to do is carry on with the tongue-twister.
Thanks again, and in advance to Prolixic.
Thank you so much once again, duncanjwitham, for finding my puzzle very entertaining. I agree with you that 16d is really a giveaway since solvers are already familiar with the legendary tongue-twister, though I myself found it amusing when I had thought of turning it into a spoonerism clue.
Just thought I’d pop a couple of comments (it seems I have been beaten to it tho!)
Concur with RD about 2d and the plural in 15a – I also thought you made 16d far to gentle on us spooner-phobes! So I agree with DJW.
Very enjoyable tho thank you for you excellent efforts and I very much look forward to another of your puzzles.
Thank you so much, Magichatuk, for finding my puzzle very enjoyable.
I’d agree with RD over the clues that don’t quite work with August-end being a particular case in point. Think my favoured entries were 1,13&23a plus 7d.
Thanks for another of your compilations, Rahmat.
Thank you so much once again, jane, for liking my puzzle.
Welcome back, Rahmat Ali.
Despite the puzzle being enjoyable to solve as always, there were quite a few niggles as well. “Around” was repeated as a containment indicator in successive Down clues, in fact it appears three times in the space of five Down clues (i.e. 2d, 5d and 6d). 19d is “wordplay of definition” and “moving” rather than “moves” would solve the cryptic grammar issue with the anagram indicator in 27a. RD has already mentioned the problem with “engineers” in 15a and I agree with him about a few of the surface readings being questionable. I liked the inclusion of “Across” and “Downs”, albeit the former in a Down clue and the latter in an Across clue!
Many thanks once again, Rahmat Ali.
Thank you so much once again, silvanus, for finding my puzzle enjoyable. At least, I could have replaced the second ‘around’ with ‘about’ and reduced the number of repetitions in the down clues. I also agree that moving and stepping in in 27a would have solved the cryptic grammar issue.
Many thanks for the review, Prolixic, I do hope that Rahmat is able to work on your suggestions.
My sincere thanks to Prolixic for his excellent review which is always a great learning for me; this time I learnt that, as a general rule, setters can omit the definite or indefinite article, which was unnecessarily used in the clue of 13a. I will take heed of his advice, inter alia, of developing a finishing eye to eliminate the repetitions while also omitting superfluous words.
We have been away and so unfortunately we missed Rahmat Ali’s crossword until today – but, as always, we thoroughly enjoyed solving this puzzle. many thanks Rahmat Ali – and also to Prolixic. Favourites were 29a and 22 d plus 14d. We look forward very much to your next puzzle.
Thank you so much once again, Hilton, for enjoying solving the puzzle.