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.
Welcome back to Zebedee with a much improved crossword. Overall the quality of the clues and the surface readings were better. There were some technical errors and an overreliance on using foreign articles and swapping letters. However, the commentometer reflects the improvements as 3/32 or 9.4%.
Across
1a Playing piano, Mary gets urge to light up (9)
PYROMANIA: An anagram (playing) of PIANO MARY.
6a Identify problems with insecticide? (5)
DEBUG: Double definition. I don’t think that the second part of the definition works as the word requires a noun for insecticide but the solution is a verb.
9a Obsessive agreed, swapping points to explore make-up (7)
ANALYSE: A four-letter word meaning obsessive followed by a three-letter word meaning agreed with the two compass points swapped.
10a Information from computer confused a detour (4-3)
READ-OUT: An anagram (confused) of A DETOUR.
11a Pit a soccer team against flipping everyone (6)
AXILLA: The A from the clue followed by the number of players in a soccer team in Roman numerals and a reversal (flipping) of a three-letter word meaning everyone.
12a The German conservationists follow order with compliance (8)
OBEDIENT: A German word for the and the abbreviation for National Trust (conservationists) after (follow) a three-letter abbreviation for an order bestowed by the monarch. I think that follow does not quite work here. You can have follow in the context of A and B follow C to give the solution but here the construction is AB follow C where following is required to maintain the cryptic grammar.
14a Swimmer is part of radio broadcast (4)
TUNA: A homophone (broadcast) of tuner (part of radio).
15a Priti Patel (Conservative for a time) went to pieces for part of speech (10)
PARTICIPLE: An anagram (went to pieces) of PRITI PATEL after replacing one of the Ts (a time) with a C (Conservative).
18a Submissiveness provided overwhelming ecstasy, suggesting deviance (10)
DIFFERENCE: A nine-letter word meaning submissiveness with the E (ecstasy) replaced by (overwhelming) a two-letter word meaning provided.
20a Person might climb here in Lycra gear (4)
CRAG: The answer is hidden in the final two words of the clue.
23a During wedding I am struck by Charlotte’s bottom and speak freely (8)
UNBUTTON: A five-letter word for a wedding with the I replaced (struck by) a four-letter American word (Charlotte’s) for a bottom. Because the I in the clue is a personal pronoun but in the cryptic reading is simply a letter the “am” does not work. For example, you would not say B am struck by… The solution to this is to use a word such as I maybe struck or one is struck…
24a The Italian goes back after child discarding top of Dr Pepper (6)
CHILLI: A reversal (goes back) of the Italian word for the after the child from the clue once the D (top of Dr) has been removed (discarding).
26a Retired legend dressed in fat dancer’s costume (7)
LEOTARD: A three-letter word for the end of the leg (legend) reversed (retired) inside (dressed in) a four-letter word for fat. Perhaps some indication that you need to split legend into two words would be better.
27a Champion Pole drinks beer? On the contrary (7)
APOSTLE: A three-letter word for a type of beer contains a four-letter word for a pole.
28a Sycophant accepted being demoted for the present (5)
TODAY: A five-letter word for a sycophant with the A (accepted) being moved back in the word (demoted).
29a Deserters to some extent confused a general in retreat (9)
RENEGADES: The answer is hidden (to some extent) and reversed (in retreat) in the fifth to seventh words of the clue.
Down
1d Posed as demented cat lady with open heart (9)
PLAYACTED: An anagram (demented) of CAT LADY PE (the middle letter – heart – of open).
2d The French overturned boring monarch’s rule to arrange things differently (7)
REALIGN: The French feminine singular for the reversed (overturned) in (boring) a five-letter word for the rule of a monarch.
3d Ephemeral creature might take to the air (6)
MAYFLY: Split 3,3 the solution might suggest might and take to the air.
4d Festive occasion lifts Spanish city (4)
NOEL: A reversal (lifts) of the name of a city in Spain.
5d Son becomes graduate in puzzles, giving performances in 26, perhaps (10)
ACROBATICS: A nine-letter word for a type of word puzzle with the S (son) replaced by (becomes) a BA (graduate).
6d Do cryptically, making plan with no chance of success (4,4)
DEAD DUCK: Words that might be abbreviated to D and O.
7d Drinking session suggested by Nigel when the Spanish left (5-2)
BOOZE-UP: How a crossword setter might describe NIG (Nigel when the Spanish word for the is removed) in a down clue
8d Gained access to best ever tenor parts (3,2)
GOT AT: The abbreviation for greatest of all time (best ever) includes (parts) the abbreviation for tenor. I am not sure that the definition in the clue matches the meaning of the solution, which means needled or annoyed rather than gained access to.
13d Effrontery with ability to steal daughter’s cosmetic (4,6)
FACE POWDER: A four-letter word meaning effrontery followed by a five-letter word meaning ability that includes (to steal) the abbreviation for daughter.
16d Gadgets which help prepare soldiers’ destination (3,6)
EGG TIMERS: Cryptic definition where the soldiers are slices of bread or toast that may be dipped at breakfast.
17d Attempt to ensnare irate criminal giving third degree (8)
TERTIARY: A three-letter word meaning attempt includes (to ensnare) an anagram (criminal) of IRATE.
19d Antibody essentially penetrating Nancy’s cold swelling (7)
FIBROID: The middle two letters (essentially) of antibody inside (penetrating) the French word (Nancy’s) for cold.
21d First cousins are so badly altered (7)
RELATED: An anagram (badly) of ALTERED.
22d Queen dons skimpy underwear for press (6)
THRONG: The abbreviation for regina (queen) inside (dons) a five-letter word for a type of skimpy underwear.
23d Dark until terminals of lamppost are switched (5)
UNLIT: The until from the clue with the outer letters (terminals) of lamppost switching places.
25d Constable’s vehicle to lose power, I hear (4)
WAIN: A homophone (I hear) of wane (to lose power).
Some tricky wordplay in places. Took ages to see how 6d worked but penny finally dropped. A big tick beside that one. Still not sure about Charlotte in 23a and Nigel in 7d, so more thinking required there.
An enjoyable solve for us.
Thanks Zebedee.
I think Charlotte refers to Charlotte Carolina, butt I’m puzzled by Nigel as well…. Otherwise excellent – many thanks Zebedee
You’ve changed your alias since your last comment in 2021. Both aliases will work from now on.
You need to read the answer to 7d as a cryptic clue and remove the Spanish ‘the’ from NIG[el].
Thank you very much.
Hello again, Zebedee. For me this was your best puzzle yet. I found it challenging but I really enjoyed the solve. Very well done for taking on board the need to improve your surface readings, which are much better this time.
I’m not completely sure if 6a works even with the question mark and, although it made me smile, some editors won’t allow the lift and separate device in 26a.
Parsing 7d took me some time but, when the penny dropped, this became my favourite.
Many thanks, Zebedee, I anticipate a low commentometer score. Thanks too in advance to Prolixic.
Very enjoyable with some inventive clueing – thanks to Zebedee.
23a is amusing but I don’t think the cryptic grammar quite works.
Top clues for me were 29a, 6d, 7d and 8d.
More like this please.
Hi Zebedee, I found this to be your most approachable puzzle to date and it looked as though you’d paid rather more attention to surface reads this time. Like others, I didn’t think that the definitions at either 6 or 23a quite worked and I wasn’t overly persuaded by 14a but there was still plenty to enjoy. The 16d gadgets raised a smile and my top three were 3,6&7d.
Many thanks, Zebedee, hope to see more from you soon.
Welcome back, Zebedee.
Yes, there were cryptic grammar errors in 12a (the verb should be “following”) and 23a (“one is” rather than “I am” would solve this) but what I found more disappointing was the over-reliance on swapping letters (I counted at least six such instances) and “the German”, “the French”, “the Italian” and “the Spanish” all appearing in the same puzzle! A little more variety and being less dependent (fixated?) on just one or two specific clue devices would be extremely welcome.
I certainly detected an overall improvement in the surface readings, so credit where credit’s due.
Many thanks, Zebedee.
Thank you for the puzzle, Zebedee. We did manage to complete it but we were unable to parse one or two clues so thank you also to Prolixic for the explanations. Favourites were 23d, 28a and 16d. We look forward to your next one.
This was an enjoyable lunchtime treat, Zebedee.
I agree with what has been said previously. I didn’t find it too challenging, but it took me a while to work out 7d.
I thought the lurkers were good, especially 14a and 25d. I also liked the anagrams.
As well as the above mentioned, I have many ticks on my printout, including 24a, 1d, 3d, 13d, and 16d, this last being my favourite.
Well done on your improvement, Zebedee. And many thanks for the entertainment.
Many appreciative thanks to Prolixic for the excellent review.
Thanks everyone for comments and feedback. In 8d I used the straightforward definition as in “the dog has got at the meat”. Maybe annoyed would have made a better clue.
I’ll keep on up the learning curve (I hope).
Very late in checking back for the review but many thanks as ever for your analysis, Prolixic.