A Puzzle by Serbosh
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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 to Serbosh with their first foray into the Rookie corner. I believe that they have been active on MyCrossword before appearing here. As may be expected from a Rookie setter, there were quite a few loose ends in the clues. The biggest problem was the repetition of wordplay indicators. Despite this, this was a good start, though the commentometer is on the high side at 8/34 or 23.5%.
Across
1a Drawing straight lines can be gruelling when legless (6)
RULING: Remove (less) the letters in leg from gruelling. Some indication that the letters in leg are not in order when removed should be included.
5a Book First Lady and Queen with time for tea perhaps? (8)
BEVERAGE: The abbreviation for book followed by the name of Adam’s wife (first lady), the single letter abbreviation for queen and a three-letter word for time.
9a Run with sharp object (4)
DART: Double definition. I am not concerned about with as a link word though some may differ in their approval of it.
10a Reportedly, warden has skill in combat (7,3)
MARTIAL ART: A homophone (reportedly) of marshal (warden) followed by a three-letter word for skill.
11a To move fast baller swaps directions (6)
BARREL: Swap the abbreviations for left and right in the word baller. Dictionaries differ as to the American usage of this solution so you can get away with not indicating this.
12a Doctor series turned out more stylish (8)
DRESSIER: The two-letter abbreviation for doctor followed by an anagram (turned out) of series.
14a Stars bring misfortune to a good number of Derby fans (9)
HEXAGRAMS: A three-letter word meaning bring misfortune to followed by the A from the clue, the abbreviation for good and the collective name for fans of Derby Country football club.
17a Delight sweetheart well into evening (5)
ELATE: The middle letter (heart) of sweet followed by a four-letter word meaning well into the evening. Not all editors would accept constructions such as sweetheart to indicate the middle letter of sweet though it is a trademark of Beam in the Daily Telegraph!
19a Last drops of herbal tea after setback for company (5)
TESLA: The final letters (last drops of) herbal tea after a reversal (back) of set. Again, not all editors would accept an unindicated lift and separate to split set and back to get the wordplay.
22a Leading lights had sample remixed? (9)
HEADLAMPS: An anagram (remixed) of HAD SAMPLE.
26a Perpetual victor as 4 might attest? (3,5)
THE HOUSE: Cryptic definition of who ultimate wins in casinos.
29a Twisting curve of the back as knight turned right (6)
SPIRAL: A six-letter word meaning of the back with the abbreviation for knight changed to the abbreviation for right.
30a Unwell, you, Ian and Tim somehow becoming enlightened (10)
ILLUMINATI: A three-letter word meaning unwell followed by an anagram (somehow) of U IAN TIM. A homophone indicator is required for the you to get U.
31a Joy at first, getting laid with ease (4)
GLEE: The first letters of getting laid, followed by two letter E (ease). Again, a homophone is required to get from ease to EE.
32a Drive fashionable Tesla bearing reportedly bad smell (8)
INSTINCT: A two-letter word meaning fashionable and the abbreviation for Tesla includes (bearing) a homophone (reportedly) of stink (bad smell). Avoid repeating wordplay indicators. Reportedly was used in 10a.
33a Start of reluctant nomad travelling with no pattern (6)
RANDOM: The first letter (start) of reluctant followed by an anagram (travelling) of NOMAD.
Down
2d Part of fun: a war exploiting ignorant (7)
UNAWARE: The answer is hidden (part of) in the third to sixth words of the clue.
3d Train around Europe exercising in trailer (9)
INTERRAIL: An anagram (exercising) of IN TRAILER.
4d Initially guarded walker becomes risk-taker (7)
GAMBLER: The first letter (initially) of guarded followed by a six-letter word for a walker.
5d Rise in activity overcoming bloody monotony (7)
BOREDOM: A four-letter word for a rise in economic activity around (overcoming) a three-letter word meaning bloody.
6d At heart devout kid, transcendent in speech (5)
VOICE: The middle letters (at heart) of third to fifth words of the clue. Avoid repeating wordplay indicators. Heart (as in sweetheart) was used as a middle letter indictor in 17a.
7d Characters occasionally riot Leeds (5)
ROLES: The odd letters (occasionally) in the final two words of the clue. Whilst I am lenient for Rookies having less than polished surface readings, they must make some grammatical sense. This does not.
8d Chap smuggling gun in clothing (7)
GARMENT: A four-letter word for a chap includes (smuggling) a three-letter word for a gun.
13d Witness prime cuts of beef served after starter of soup (3)
SEE: The second and third (prime cuts) of beef after the initial letter (starter) of soup. There are two repetitions of wordplay here. The first is the use of after as a positional indicator (see 19a) and starter is too similar to start of used in 33a.
15d A quiet wood (3)
ASH: The A from the clue followed by a two-letter word meaning quiet.
16d Place to recuperate when going back into relapse (3)
SPA: The answer is hidden and reversed (going back into) in the final word for the clue. Another repetition of a wordplay indicator here. Back was used as a reversal indicator in setback in 19a.
18d Trusting in slimline and gin cocktail with no looking back (7,2)
LEANING ON: A four-letter word meaning slimline followed by an anagram (cocktail) of gin and a reversal (looking back) of the NO from the clue. Another repetition of back as a reversal indicator.
20d Record pulled from cell phone with disregard for rank (7)
ECHELON: Remove the LP (pulled from) CELL PHONE and make an anagram (disregard) of the letters that remain. I don’t think that disregard works as an anagram indicator.
21d Trouble running through meadow (3)
ADO: The answer is hidden (running through) the final word of the clue.
23d Get lean dancing – graceful (7)
ELEGANT: An anagram (dancing) of GET LEAN.
24d I infiltrate homeless to find document (7)
DOSSIER: The I from the clue inside a six-letter word meaning homeless. Two points here. As I is used as a letter and not a pronoun, it should be I infiltrates or, to maintain the grammatical structure of the sentence, I may infiltrate. Secondly, the word required in the solution is a person who is homeless, not homeless itself.
25d Control area with body odour (7)
PLACEBO: A five-letter word meaning an area followed by the abbreviation for body odour.
27d Frequently visit family member after end of lunch (5)
HAUNT: A four-letter name of a family member after the final letter (end) of lunch. Another repetition of after as a positional indicator.
28d Intercourse or rugby – A or B? (5)
UNION: Triple definition, the final one from mathematical set theory. The middle definition should be clued as a form of rugby.
We did spot a few ‘not quite right’ bits along the way but managed to complete the solve with enough smiles and chuckles to keep us amused. Certainly bodes well for subsequent puzzles.
Thanks Serbosh.
Just about what the 2Kiwis wrote. I look forward to the experts’ analyses.
Thanks Serbosh and thanks in advance to Prolixic.
Welcome to RC, Serbosh, with what I thought was a fine debut. It was a pleasure to solve and I have only minor comments:
1a – You need an anagram indicator when removing letters which appear in a different order in the source word. Legless could fulfil this function but then it would be doing double duty.
9a – I don’t think you can use “with” to link double definitions. Let’s see what Prolixic says.
11a – A double US whammy! For me, both the definition and answer are North American.
31a – If I am parsing this correctly, you need a homophone indicator to get from “ease” to EE.
2d – Clunky surface.
13d – I am not convinced that “prime cuts” means remove the first and last letters.
20d – I don’t think “disregard” is a suitable anagram indicator (although I have little doubt it will appear in an anagram indicator list somewhere!)
24d – “Homeless” is an adjective (except when referring to “the homeless”) so doesn’t work to define “dosser”.
28d – I don’t understand the reason for including “A or B”. The clue seems to work well without that phrase.
Very well done and many thanks, Serbosh. I look forward to your next submission. Thanks too in advance to Prolixic.
13d I took ‘prime’ to refer to prime numbers, i.e. letters 2 and 3 of beef.
I agree with our foreign correspondents and with a couple of RD’s points – I haven’t counted but there do seem to be quite a few anagrams. I enjoyed your debut, Serbosh, so thank you
Thanks in advance to Prolixic
An enjoyable puzzle – thanks to Serbosh.
The clues I liked best were 14a, 26a and 27d.
Welcome, Serbosh.
A lot of invention on display but quite a few “nearly but not quite” clues unfortunately detracted from the overall enjoyment for me. Homophone indicators were missing in successive clues (30a and 31a) and the cryptic grammar doesn’t work in 24d with “infiltrate”, quite apart from the other flaw that RD mentioned. I think “A or B” in 28d is purely there as surface padding. “Riot” in 7d is an intransitive verb, one can’t “riot something”. I agree with RD about the need for a second anagram indicator in 1a and “back” was repeated as a reversal indicator. I had a few other minor niggles, but I’m sure Prolixic will mention those in his review.
Congratulations on a promising debut, Serbosh, but I’d be hoping to see far fewer errors in a second puzzle. Many thanks.
Really enjoyed your crossword, Serbosh, thank you. Favourites were 1a and 31a (we took ‘with ease’ to indicate add 2 of letter e to the gl) We look forward to your next one. Thanks in advance to Prolixic. Now to try the crosswords we missed whilst on holiday …..
Hello everyone!
Many thanks for the warm greetings, completed puzzles and detailed comments. Special mention to Mr K and Prolixic for accepting my submission and taking the time to detail areas for improvement. I must say I was a little disappointed to have made so many errors in repetition, but I’m determined to avoid this next time.
Much appreciation again.
Welcome to the blog, Serbosh.
Thanks for your enjoyable puzzle; I’m looking forward to your next one.