A Puzzle by Zebedee
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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.
After a promising debut, Zebedee returns to entertain us. Unlike the polish of the first crossword, this one was rougher around the edges and there were more errors in the clues – perhaps the constraint of fitting the Nina around the perimeter of the grid contributed to this. The commentometer reads as 5/24 or 20.8%
Across
7a Sick, perhaps? Yes indeed (3,3)
ILL SAY: A three-letter word meaning sick followed by a three-letter word meaning perhaps.
8a Joke punchline loses thread in divided state (6)
PUNJAB: A three-letter word for a joke followed by a three-letter word for a punch (punchline without the line – loses thread).
9a Fade out when not paying attention (4)
DEAF: An anagram (out) of FADE. When, if used as a link word should link the definition to the wordplay, not the wordplay to the definition.
10a Sly intimation in undone flies (8)
INNUENDO: An anagram (flies) of IN UNDONE.
11a Maroon pig discovered very recently (7)
ISOLATE: The middle letter (discovered) of pig followed by a two-letter word meaning very and a four-letter word meaning recently.
13a Bold roguery leaves odd smell (5)
ODOUR: The even letters (leaves odd) of the first two words of the clue. I think oddly leaving would be better as the alternate letters indicator as leaves odd is rather stilted.
15a Disorderly trip in boat gets dry right away (5)
ROWDY: A three-letter word for a trip in a boat followed by the outer letters (right away) of dry.
17a Journalist on traile of most appalling material (7)
WORSTED: The abbreviation for editor (journalist) after (on the trail of) a five-letter word meaning most appalling. Take care with spelling in the clues.
20a Heavenly number, married, abandons dinner perhaps (8)
ETHEREAL: A five-letter word for an old type of anaesthetic followed by a four-letter for something of which dinner is an example (perhaps) without (abandons) the abbreviation for marriage.
21a Run out of gear during spot-welding when retired (4)
IDLE: The answer is hidden (during) and reversed (when retired) in the sixth word of the clue.
23a Go along with hesitation in time (6)
HUMOUR: A two-letter word used when expressing hesitation in a four-letter word for a period of time.
24a Without sex enter nightmare about naked nun (6)
NEUTER: An anagram (nightmare) of ENTER around (about) the inner letter (naked) of nun. Some editors will not accept a noun as an anagram indicator.
Down
1d This is one corner of a sail (4)
CLUE: Double definition.
2d American with atypical flu finds drug coming in handy (6)
USEFUL: A two-letter abbreviation for American followed by an anagram (atypical) of FLU that includes the abbreviation for ecstasy. I don’t think that finds really works as a containment indicator.
3d Old musicians have a year wearing heels (7)
LYRISTS: The two-letter abbreviation for year inside (wearing) a five-letter word meaning heels or leans. This is one instance where the indefinite article should be omitted as the clue implies that the a is included in the solution. Also, for the cryptic grammar to work, have needs to be having as you cannot have A have B as the cryptic construction.
4d Express view over scotch, perhaps (5)
OPINE: The abbreviation for over followed by a four-letter word of which Scotch is an example, perhaps. You can falsely capitalise common nouns but the convention is that you should not place a proper noun into lower case to do so. There is also the repetition of perhaps as a definition by example indicator.
5d Dropping barrel roll with aim to relax (6)
UNBEND: A three-letter word for a bread roll with the B (barrel) moved to the end (dropping) followed by a three-letter word meaning aim or purpose.
6d It might be seen in Algeria, Inverness and Dunedin (8)
SANDDUNE: The answer is hidden (it might be seen) I the final three-words of the clue. The it might be seen in is doing double duty as part of the definition and the wordplay. This should be avoided. The enumeration given in Chambers is 4-4.
12d Quick way which could result in gas? (8)
SHORTCUT: Split the solution 5,3 and you have an indication of how you could get from gash to gas.
14d Try to have fling with chick (7)
GOSLING: A two-letter word meaning try followed by a five-letter word meaning fling.
16d Moaned about evil spirit (6)
DAEMON: An anagram (about) of MOANED.
18d Star drinks cocktail – it’s a slippery slope (6)
SKIRUN: The name of our solar system’s star includes (drinks) a three-letter word for a cocktail of sparkling wine and blackcurrant liqueur. The enumeration should be 3,3.
19d Scrap soap in hospital, reverting to past (5)
RETRO: A three-letter dialect word for a scrap followed by a two-letter abbreviation of a hospital soap series all reversed (reverting). Where a dialect word is used, it is best practice to indicate this.
22d Change to Angolan law that is reversed when American leaves (4)
LWEI: The law from the clue without the A (when American leaves) followed by a reversal of the abbreviation of that is. The cryptic grammar here is slightly astray as it suggest that you reverse everything once you have removed the abbreviation for American.
Welcome back to RC, Zebedee. I am sorry to say I found this less enjoyable and much tougher than your debut offering although there were still some promising signs.
There were a couple of typos (which should be easy to avoid by using a spellchecker!), and some of your surface readings didn’t make sense, e.g.: 13a, 15a, 20a.
A few specific comments:
– Repetition of “perhaps” as an indicator for a definition by example.
– I don’t think “nightmare” works as an anagram indicator in 24a.
– Scotch should be capitalised in 4d as it is referring to Scotch pine.
– According to the BRB, 18d should be enumerated (3,3)
– I am not sure that 22d works as the word order of the clue implies that LW should be reversed as well as IE. “Change to Angolan law when American leaves that is reversed” would be OK, but that would make the surface a bit clunky.
My ticked clues were 7a, 11a, 21a, 1d, 5d & 14d.
Well done and thank you, Zebedee. Thanks too in advance to Prolixic.
Pretty tricky I thought though twigging the Nina helped me to fill in my last few answers. I enjoyed the struggle.
I liked 7a, 8a, 15a and 14d.
Thanks a lot Zebedee. I look forward to your next puzzle (though please make it a little gentler!).
Apart from the NW corner, I found the rest quite tricky although that corner did reveal a useful part of the nice Nina
Thanks Zebedee and in advance to Prolixic
A very enjoyable RC puzzle, much time and effort was put into creating this one! Fine clues gave a pretty tough but satisfying challenge. I did spot two typos and would much prefer the usual 15×15 grid than this 13×13. Never heard of 22d and it’s taken me a while to conclude that it does (for me) parse OK. Don’t think I’ve seen “nightmare” as an indicator before, but I’m happy in the sense of disorganised/mixed-up/confused. Only heard of Scots Pine but research shows it can be Scotch. Can’t see any Nina but now people have mentioned it I’ll be obliged to scrutinise for ages and probably never find it. I really liked many of these clues and will go for 14d as my favourite.
Should be “Scots pine”.
Jose, my main concern regarding “nightmare” is that I’m not sure if it is OK to use a noun in this way after the anagram fodder. Prolixic will clarify tomorrow!
I too missed the Nina. Even after I saw Gazza’s comment, it took me ages to find it.
I guess “enter nightmare” is a bit “journalese”, maybe not one for the purists. But it’s OK by me.
I never notice a grid unless it contains something very unusual such as triple unches and I hadn’t even spotted that this one was 13×13 until I read your comment.
Thought this was going to be a really fun solve when my first answer in, 7a, really made me smile. Sadly, our setter didn’t seem able to keep the momentum going into the ‘down’ clues. I suppose the constraints of the Nina played a large part but it was still slightly disappointing.
I’ll leave the rights and wrongs to our experts but just say that my biggest ticks went to 7,10,17&23a plus 14d.
Thank you, Zebedee, it’s obvious that you’ve got the talent, perhaps use it a little more judicially next time?
Welcome back, Zebedee.
I would echo RD’s opening paragraph. In addition to some of the previous observations, I couldn’t see any point in “spot-welding” in 21a when “welding” would have been perfectly adequate and “have” in 3d needs to be “having” to make the cryptic grammar work (and the indefinite article is unnecessary). I would recommend sticking to 15 x 15 grids as well. Top two clues for me were 10a and 6d.
Many thanks, Zebedee.
I wonder if “spot-” was introduced deliberately to introduce an extra hyphen to split weld-ing onto two lines in the clue and therefore enhance the camouflage of the reverse lurker?
Introduced should read included. My brain is decidedly in decline!
Welcome back, Zebedee. It’s good to see you here again.
I enjoyed this puzzle very much. Two clues aside, I didn’t find it as tough as I thought it would be. That said, finding the Nina was a great help and a lot of fun!
I have several top clues: 7a, 8a, 15a, 21a, 23a and 5d, 6d and 14d.
(I hadn’t noticed the trebble unches until now! How unobservant can one be?!)
Many thanks Zebedee for the enjoyment. Well done for persevering! I hope we shall be seeing you here again soon.
I’m much looking forwarding to reading Prolixic’s expert analysis and guidance — for which appreciative thanks in advance.
Thank you, Zebedee. We did struggle with some answers and had to reveal some letters so we shall certainly read Prolixic’s review tomorrow. We look forward to your next one – but gentler, please.
Thanks to everyone for the helpful comments. Still learning!
Many thanks for the review, Prolixic. Scrupulously fair as always and taught me a new dialect word in ort!