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.
I think that Zebedee has hit their stride with this crossword. In particular the repetitions in wordplay have been eliminated and most of the technical infelicities have gone. The commentometer reads as 1 / 29 or 3.4%. As under 5% is generally the benchmark for promotion to the NTSPP, I think we should next see Zebedee there.
Across
1a Secretary from Bangkok drunk, I hear (6)
TYPIST: A homophone (I hear) of THAI (from Bangkok) PISSED (drunk).
4a Band organising respite after dropping a tab (6)
STRIPE: An anagram (organizing) of RESPITE after removing (dropping) one of the letters E (a tab or ecstasy).
9a Ruler in Middle East initially retrogressive (4)
EMIR: The initial letters reversed (retrogressive) of the first four words of the clue. I don’t think that this clue really works as the wordplay and the definition are combined and the whole clue does not really provide the definition for an &lit clue.
10a Small disagreement over more up-to-date prayer (10)
WORSHIPPER: The abbreviation for small and a three-letter word for a disagreement all reversed (over) followed by a six-letter word meaning more up-to-date.
11a Bishop’s penetrating look over summerhouse (6)
GAZEBO: The abbreviation for bishop in (penetrating) a four-letter word meaning look followed by the abbreviation for over.
12a One may go faster here, or two may potentially (8)
MOTORWAY: An anagram (potentially) of OR TWO MAY.
13a Spy chief’s doing well to deceive (9)
MISINFORM: The name of the spy chief in the Bond films with the ‘s expanded to IS followed by a phrase (2,4) meaning doing well.
15a Father is back – note to follow (4)
SIRE: A reversal (back) of the IS from the clue followed by a two-letter musical note.
16a Men doing without hard hats (4)
CAPS: A five-letter word for men without the abbreviation for hard.
17a Claudio at sea with us, getting a bit sour (9)
ACIDULOUS: An anagram (at sea) of CLAUDIO followed by the US from the clue.
21a Kissed audibly before examination of the chest (8)
PECTORAL: A homophone (audibly) of PECKED (kissed) followed by a four-letter word for a test.
22a Cut hair for free? (6)
UNLOCK: Fancifully, the solution, split (2-4) might indicate a haircut.
24a Lunatic display behind empty shopfront leading to fight (10)
MOONSTRUCK: A four-letter word meaning display your behind followed by the outer letters (empty) of shopfront and (leading to) a four-letter word for a fight.
25a Sean Connery perhaps seen in discotheque (4)
SCOT: The answer is hidden (seen) in the final word of the clue.
26a Ideal gas inhaled by Conservative (6)
THEORY: The chemical symbol for Helium (gas) inside (inhaled by) a four-letter word for a conservative.
27a Condition of article accepted by uncle (2,4)
IN HOCK: Cryptic definition of an item held by a pawnbroker (uncle).
Down
1d Pity man playing drums (7)
TYMPANI: An anagram (playing) of PITY MAN.
2d Unadulterated horsetail soup (5)
PUREE: An four-letter word meaning unadulterated followed by the last letter (tail) of horse. Some editors will not allow constructions such as horsetail to mean the last letter of horse.
3d Could get swan with firearm? (4-3)
SAWN-OFF: A reverse anagram where the solution read as a clue in its own right would create the word SWAN.
5d Haiti has attempt eventually to reconstruct island (6)
TAHITI: An anagram (to reconstruct) of HAITI T (attempt eventually).
6d Just communicate information initially about origin of life (9)
IMPARTIAL: A six-letter word meaning communicate followed by the first letter (initially) of information, the abbreviation for about and the first letter (origin) of life.
7d More than half cricket team dined in lift (7)
ELEVATE: The first four-letters (more than half) of a six-letter word for a cricket team followed by a three-letter word meaning dined.
8d Nose around Zebedee’s annual return and go red or yellow perhaps (7,6)
PRIMARY COLOUR: A three-letter word meaning nose or inquire around a two-letter contraction for I am (Zebedee’s) and the abbreviation for annual return followed by a six-letter word meaning go red.
14d Compete in ridiculous helplessness (9)
IMPOTENCE: An anagram (ridiculous) of COMPETE IN.
16d Singer extremely uplifted after smoke (7)
CHEROOT: The four-letter name of an Americal singer followed by a reversal (uplifited) of a three-letter word meaning extremely.
18d Brahms and Liszt weirdly under Khatchaturian’s skin (7)
DRUNKEN: An anagram (weirdly) of UNDER KN (the outer letters – skin – of Khatchaturian). The definition needs a noun as the answer but the solution is an adjective. Also, the correct spelling of the composer’s name is Khachaturian, though it seems that the “Khat” beginning is a common mistake, even on some music sites.
19d Reveal identity of relative dumping earth on tree (7)
UNCLOAK: A five-letter word for a male relative without the E (dumping earth) followed by a three-letter name of a tree.
20d Men at work discovered Cicero, perhaps (6)
ORATOR: The abbreviation for other ranks (men) followed by the at from the clue and the inner letters (discovered) of work.
23d Catch idiot stuck in toilet interminably (5)
LASSO: A three-letter word for an idiot inside (stuck in) a three-letter word for a toilet without the final letter (interminably).
Thank you Zebedee for an enjoyable end to my weekend of cruciverbalism. I am not sure how many of your previous puzzles I have completed but I suspect that it is not very many and this one was ‘different.’
Smiles for 1a, 21a, 24a, and 18d.
Thanks again and thanks in advance to Prolixic.
Lots of trickiness in here which had us working quite hard, but everything did eventually come together. 1a set the tone and raised a big smile so that gets our vote for top clue.
Thanks Zebedee.
I thought this was excellent, Zebedee, and I anticipate a very low commentometer score.
I will be interested in Prolixic’s take on 9a. The definition seems to be the first four words and the entire clue is wordplay so it is neither an “all-in-one”, nor is it a “semi all-in-one” (which I believe is when the entire clue acts as the definition while only part of the clue provides the wordplay).
“Brahms and Liszt” means “drunk” not “drunken”, so I don’t think 18d quite works.
Other than that, this nicely challenging puzzle was a pleasure to solve. I concur with the 2Ks about 1a.
Many thanks, Zebedee, and very well done.
An enjoyable crossword, thank you Zebedee, although I am from an age when a secretary and 1a are two separate roles!
Like RD, I will be interested to read Prolixic’s thoughts on 9a. Thanks, in advance, to him
A very entertaining puzzle – thanks Zebedee.
I liked 13a, 3d, 20d and (my favourite) 24a.
Thank you, Zebedee, very enjoyable puzzle. We can’t sort out the ‘en’ ending in 18d. Favourite was 1a, also liked 21a. We look forward to your next one. Thanks also to Prolixic.
Welcome back, Zebedee.
As others have said, this was a high-quality, very entertaining puzzle pitched at just the right level of difficulty, I felt. I’m not a fan of “horsetail” to clue E and I couldn’t find “AR” as an accepted abbreviation for “annual return”, but I didn’t consult every single dictionary available. My favourite clue was 10a, but several others came into contention.
Many thanks, Zebedee, and congratulations on an excellent crossword.
Silvanus, AR (capitalised) appears as Annual Return in the BRB.
Ta – couldn’t figure that out either
Quite tricky in places & both an accomplished & very entertaining puzzle. Can’t remember encountering that spelling of 1d before & 17d wasn’t exactly familiar either. 1a was a fun starter albeit I’ve seen a variation of it before in the Graun. Lots of ticks – 10,13&24a + 3&20d particular likes.
Many thanks Zebedee
Hugely enjoyable, and I clearly had the fortune to tune in from the start, for it fell quite swiftly.
Nice variety of clue types, good surfaces, fairly clued.
Horsetail is akin to RayT’s sweetheart – a lift-and-separate clue (or Playtex, as SloopJB called it on Saturday!) is not universally acceptable. I too had a ? against AR, but I see above that it is quite kosher.
So many ticks but podium places to three across clues, 13, 24, & 27.
Many thanks to Zebedee and, in advance, Prolixic.
Thanks to Prolixic for the review, and many congratulations to Zebedee on a well-deserved promotion. I look forward to seeing you in the NTSPP slot in future.
Congrats Zebedee – well deserved. I’d have happily gone all in on your elevation but the bookies had stopped taking bets
Thanks Prolixic and everyone else for the positive comments. It’s been a really educational trip on Rookie Corner.
P.S. Speaking as a London escapee, I would argue that ‘Brahms and Liszt’ is an adjective and in ‘He was completely Branhms and Liszt last night,’ so can be used as equivalent to adjectival ‘drunk’, and my e-version of Chambers lists drunken as (sometimes) drunk (a.)
Thanks for popping in to comment.
Just one observation from me about 18d. I did consider your explanation but I think there is a danger in being too thesaurus driven. If A = B and B = C, in crossword terms that does not necessarily mean A = C. The acid test in such cases is, can you find a sentence where you can replace one by the other?
I tried and failed when solving to do this for “Brahms and Liszt” and “drunken”.
Nevertheless, this was an absolutely top-notch puzzle. Very well done!