NTSPP 798 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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NTSPP 798

by crypticsue  

Ports by Chalicea

+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - +

The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid.

Chalicea provided our lunchtime diversion, as usual with a ‘hidden’ theme * and more chances to find new meanings for words you thought you knew.  *Although if you had done as I did and taken a moment to look at the title of the crossword, the theme might not have been such a mystery

Across

1a  Son laughs scornfully at farm-workers protective garments (6)
SMOCKS:  The abbreviation for Son and ‘laughs scornfully’

5a  Ignored spy based curiously (6,2)
PASSED BY:  An anagram (curiously) of SPY  BASED

9a  Reserve cash for this frozen treat (3,5)
ICE LOLLY: Reserve or coolness and an informal term for money

10a  Short time with irritability changing rapidly (6)
MOBILE: A short period of time and some irritability

11a  Tinned mutton - nothing at all when sweet (5,5)
FANNY ADAMS: A slang name for tinned mutton (best not to investigate where the name came from!) -  add ‘sweet’ to it and you get a slang expression meaning nothing at all

12a  Lively and energetic local farm (4)
WICK: Lively and energetic or a dialect (local) name for a farm

13a  Food item; starters of salad and what infants consume happily (8)
SANDWICH:  The starters of the rest of the words in the clue

16a  Strenuous spell of work with an advertising catchphrase (6)
SLOGAN: A strenuous spell of work with AN (from the clue)

17a  Scratches lines on written forms of musical compositions (6)
SCORES:  Double definition

19a  Revolutionary hitman is related to narrow neck of land (8)
ISTHMIAN: An anagram (revolutionary) of HITMAN IS

21a  Deal effectively with bishop's formal cloak (4)
COPE: Double definition

22a  Dance of King with heavyweight (10)
CHARLESTON:  The forename of our current King and a heavy weight

25a  Insincere talk about administrative subdivision of country (6)
CANTON: Insincere talk and a synonym for about

26a  Cause to grow pale test pilot - regularly tardy (8)
ETIOLATE:  The even (regular) letters of tEsT pIlOt and a synonym for tardy

27a  Mercy one organised for formality (8)
CEREMONY:  An anagram (organised) of MERCY ONE

28a  Manages mounts (4,2)
GETS ON: Another double definition clue

Down

2d  Sort of macho coffee (5)
MOCHA: An anagram (sort) of MACHO

3d  100 centavos for farmer in Algeria (5)
COLON: The monetary unit of El Salvador and Costa Rica, the equivalent of 100 centavos, or a colonial farmer in Algeria

4d  Bill, say, sorted out for courses of studies (7)
SYLLABI: An anagram (sorted out) of BILL SAY

5d  Don't use card to fork out at time of transaction (3,4)
PAY CASH: Double definition

6d  Little Samuel's eating large American pastries (7)
SAMOSAS: The diminutive form of Samuel plus the S (Samuel’s) ‘eating’ the abbreviations for outsize (large) and American

7d  Jostle, turning up to secure boat, getting adequate space (5,4)
ELBOW ROOM: Jostle with a particular part of the body and a reversal (turning up) of a verb meaning to secure boat

8d  Gathering for dancing around adult clubs with a very essentially splashy knitted hat (9)
BALACLAVA: A gathering for dancing goes around the abbreviations for Adult and the card suit of Clubs, with A (from the clue), the abbreviation for Very and the ‘essential’ letter of splAshy

14d  Chilli pepper, thing in vogue in place where craft is secured (9)
ANCHORAGE: A type of chilli pepper and something in fashion, all the xxxx

15d  Insect ultimately destroyed tree bole calamitously (9)
DORBEETLE: The ultimate letter of destroyeD and an anagram (calamitously) of TREE BOLE

18d  Last bit of virtuoso lower part in duet (7)
SECONDO: The last bit of virtuosO isn’t the first O, it is the xxxxxx O

19d  One sorcerer with network of lines in figurative language (7)
IMAGERY: The Roman numeral for one, a sorcery and an abbreviated network of lines for trains

20d  Narrating Switzerland's hero in German (7)
TELLING: Switzerland’s hero, IN (from the clue) and the abbreviation for German

23d  South quietly illuminated schism (5)
SPLIT: The abbreviation for South, the musical instruction to play quietly and a synonym for illuminated

24d  Excel out in the open (not getting gold) (5)
OUTDO: Out in the open without the heraldic term for gold

21 comments on “NTSPP 798”

  1. A thoroughly enjoyable guzzle. Thank you, Chalicea for the entertaining challenge.

  2. I noted nine theme entries, but I expect there may be one or two more… 3d was previously unknown to me, but neither were the currency or the farmer! The checkers led the way there. Six more dictionary checks were needed for answers or bits of wordplay – a Chalicea puzzle is always an education! Podium places went to 25a, 9a and (sharing the bronze medal step) 19d and 24d.
    Thanks to Chalicea and, in advance, to CS.

  3. This was great fun. I even identified the theme and have found 10 entries.

    As usual with this setter, I needed to look a few things up and, of course, they were all in the BRB (even the Tinned Mutton!). However, 15d is given as (3-6) not (9).

    Isn’t “out” unnecessary in 24d?

    With plenty of ticks, my podium choice is 18d (favourite), 9a & 17a.

    Many thanks to Chalicea and in advance to CS.

    1. Your choice of favourite made me look again at 18d. I had indeed overlooked a nice bit of wordplay!

  4. I would have to say that this was a curate’s egg for me led by the ‘not much of an anagram’ in 2d and the perhaps unnecessary ‘out’ in 24d.

    As for the theme, I can only identify seven and one of those is historical.

    A big smile for the wordy 8d.

    Thanks Chalicea and in advance to CS.

  5. I’m currently failing to find a theme – every time I think I might have got there, I can’t find enough of them! Will keep looking, meantime my favourites are 9,22&25a plus 20d.

    Thank you for bringing us another NTSPP Chalicea – a chance for my BRB to take centre stage!

  6. Many thanks, Chalicea, for the enjoyable puzzle but like Jane we are still struggling to uncover enough answers to find the theme. We shall check in with CS tomorrow – thanks in advance, CS.

  7. Thank you Chalicea, always a treat to solve one of your puzzles! I think I’ve spotted 10 maybe 11 themed answers.
    Thanks too to Cryptic Sue.

  8. A learning experience for us in the NW corner and a thoroughly enjoyable solving experience throughout the entire puzzle.
    Thanks Chalicea.

  9. A thoroughly enjoyable quest that taught me lots, some of which I hope to forget soon. I read a huge Wikipedia article on the gruesome murder of a young girl, and it wasn’t until the very end that I found that troops had used her name to mock their rather poor rations!
    I forgot to count the themed items, and the grid reset itself before I remembered. I am sure I missed a few or even elevated some places without such themes
    Thanks in advance to CS and to Chalicea, remind me in which Swiss subdivision you are again?

  10. Thank you solvers – so glad you enjoyed it. I didn’t expect the title to appear – rather a give-away. I believe there were ten of them in the grid. Geneva, Sloop John Bee but over the border in the Jura mountains.

  11. A pleasant afternoon diversion with the bonus of the theme being announced in advanced. I missed 2dn as one of them, but I got the rest including 22ac, not indicated in the blog but it is, or maybe was, one. 19ac waqs ny favourite.
    Thanks, Chalicea and CS.

  12. Does Balaclava count as a port? The town is spelt with a K, of course. Curiously, there is an area in Northern Italy called Secondo Port….but it is nowhere near the sea!
    Thanks again to Chalicea and Cryptic Sue.

  13. Many thanks for the review, CS. Unfortunately, the format in which I obtain the weekend puzzles does not include any titles so I didn’t get any help from that and doing a quick tot of the ones I knew didn’t seem to give me anything like the number of themed entries that Chalicea often includes – that will teach me not to make assumptions…….

    Thanks again to Chalicea for the puzzle – at least I got all the entries correct!

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