DiaX by Radler
+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - +
The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid
The title of the crossword, telling you exactly where to find help with solving the crossword certainly helped to make this Radler NTSPP more solver-friendly than many of his puzzles
Across
1a Desert dweller pruned winning rose (4,2)
CAME UP: An animal that lives in the desert without its final letter (pruned) and a simple way of saying winning
5a One abandoned deduction of coinage (8)
NEOLOGIC: An anagram (abandoned) of ONE and a synonym of deduction
9a Skiver ultimately drawn in by short day? Yes! (4)
TRUE: The ultimate letter of skiveR inserted into (drawn in by) an abbreviated day of the week
10a Suspect crooked old barrier that won’t open (6,4)
LOCKED DOOR: An anagram (suspect) of CROOKED OLD
11a Found egg slices two consumed (8)
INITIATE: An egg that has appeared in several crosswords lately inserted into the Roman numeral for two, a synonym for consumed being added at the end
12a Problem drawing like the curt old lady (6)
ASTHMA: Drawing breath rather than a picture – an adverb meaning like, the first two letters (curt) of THe and an informal name for a mother (old lady)
13a Low stand for somewhere in the middle (4)
MEAN: Triple definition
15a Chocolate, alcohol and drug welcoming space flight enabler (4-6)
AERO-ENGINE: A brand of chocolate, an alcoholic spirit and the abbreviation for the drug Ecstasy ‘welcoming’ a printer’s space the width of the letter N
16a Default score, United block abnormal bet (3,2,1,4)
RUN UP A DEBT: A score in cricket, the abbreviation for United, a block of paper and an anagram (the second three-letter anagram!) of BET
20a Was sorry about coming across as offensive and cross (4)
RUED: A homophone (coming across as) of offensive and cross
22a “Showers” he’s saying “over at the start” (6)
WASHES: A reversal (over) of a proverb or saying goes before HES (in the clue)
23a Twist as villain edges to lady with stick (8)
CURLYCUE: A villain, the ‘edges’ to LadY and a stick used in snooker
25a Dummy approved less of which skill I must replace (10)
ARTIFICIAL: Approved with the OF at the front of the word is replaced by skill and I (from the clue)
26a Twin one observed on playground ride (4)
ESAU: The twin brother of Jacob in the Old Testament gives his name to a childhood rhyme “I saw xxxx sitting on a see-saw, how many Ss in that?’
27a Got up again from seat, prime bits to discern (8)
REARISEN: A seat or bottom and the prime letters of dIsCeRn
28a Orders policeman is even getting around (6)
TIDIES: Getting even goes around an abbreviated Detective Inspector (policeman)
Down
2d Barb naked mounts engineer (7)
ARRANGE: The inside letters (naked) of bARb and an abbreviated chain of mountains
3d Say no to scrapping, right way to leave fighter (5)
EJECT: Say no to something without the abbreviation for Right
4d Ukrainian city reverses a tax cut (7)
POLTAVA: A reversal of A (from the clue) a type of tax and a verb meaning to cut
5d Transmutation of elements dispels earlier account closer to religion (7,8)
NUCLEAR REACTION: An anagram (dispels) of EARLIER ACCOUNT followed by the last letter of religioN
6d Dismay on a Wednesday, forget the date (7)
OVERAWE: On top of, A (from the clue) and the abbreviation for Wednesday without (forget) the abbreviation for Date
7d I acquired experience training dogs later (3,6)
OLD STAGER: An anagram (training) of DOGS LATER
8d Female athlete? (7)
IRONMAN: If you split FEMALE 2,4 you get a chemical symbol and a male
14d Not so seemly love interest enjoying raunchy overtures (9)
NAUGHTIER: Love or nothing, an interest and the ‘overtures’ to Enjoying and Raunchy
17d Selection of beer tap under counter in tight spot (2,1,4)
UP A TREE: Hidden in reverse in bEER RAP Under
18d Criticises American behind, then feels bad (7)
ASSAILS: An American word for the bottom and then feels ill or bad
19d Little sweet and sour hamper (7)
TARTLET: Sour and a verb meaning to hamper or hinder
21d Australian behind mirror (7)
EMULATE: An Australian bird and behind time
24d What winds up Harry Green? Fellow’s going to resign (5)
YIELD: The letter at the end (winds up) of HarrY and a piece of green land without the abbreviation for Fellow
I found the bottom half of the puzzle tougher than the top but I did eventually fill the grid and thoroughly enjoyed the struggle. Many thanks to Radler.
Spurred on by the title I did find the two long diagonal Ninas. Are there any more?
I can’t find the required spelling of the 23a twist in either the BRB or Collins and I don’t understand what the 26a hairy twin has to do with a fairground ride (I did wonder whether the twin could be spelt with a final W, but apparently not).
I have masses of ticks on my printout including 12a, 13a, 20a, 22a and 25a but I’ll choose 8d as my favourite because I love that type of clue.
If I solve a Radler puzzle whilst sitting in bright sunshine I would normally expect to get sunburn, but today I was aided by the superb Nina(s), and perhaps Radler himself was constrained by the construction – hope it didn’t make him ‘cross’
If the puzzle was perhaps not as tricky as usual, the quality of the clues was in no way reduced, as the many ticks on my printout attest. I can’t decide on podium places, so am going to list them all – 5, 11, the ‘triple’ 13, 23, 25 & 27 Across and 2, 8, 14 & 18 Down. Ninas sometimes lead to setters including some obscure answers, but not today; the only check I needed to make was the ‘Ukrainian city’, for which the wordplay was clear. I’m not sure I have determined the precise wordplay for the 26a ‘Twin’, so I’ll look forward to StephenL’s comments tomorrow.
Many thanks and congratulations to Radler on creating this masterpiece, and my thanks in advance to Stephen.
P.S. I just remembered the tongue-twister required for 26a!!!
Thanks for the reminder of the tongue-twister which explains 26a for me.
Another Radler dnf for me, but I did get further than the last time. Got most of the north completed, the south was my undoing. Thought 15a was excellent. Thanks Radler, third times a charm, hopefully 🙏
Reading the two previous comments may help you to find something in the grid which may be of assistance when trying to finish the crossword
Will pick up the baton again!
The heads up given in the title turned out to be a huge help. Still a significant challenge as Radler puzzles always are but great fun to slowly unpick it all. Ticks all over the page so not going to pick a favourite.
Thanks Radler.
Well, I got a few answers in the NW and SE corners, enough to be confident what that part of the nina was. That gave me a toehold for a few more clues and I made a tentative guess at the rest of the nina; once I’d unscrambled the anagram for 7dn I was fairly confident about that too. So, with a bit of help from Word Wizard I was able to finish. Last in was 12ac – oddly enough seeing that I suffer from it (although it’s well under control).
A nice enjoyable challenge. Thanks, Radler and CS.