A Puzzle by Buddy
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The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid
Buddy returns with another of his clever and entertaining puzzles so thanks to him.
There did seem to be a lot of abbreviations, perhaps something to note for the future.
Across
8a Track academy to claim athletic Swede for America (8)
RUTABAGA: Track/furrow plus abbn for Academy plus (to) claim/acquire plus abbreviation for Athletic
9a Surgeon backs simplistic fix (5)
PATCH: Simplistic/glib plus an abbreviation for a surgeon?
10a Hiccup from taste of barbecue sauce (4)
BLIP: Initial letter of barbecue plus sauce/cheek
11a Comedic art could be egalitarian (10)
DEMOCRATIC: COMEDIC ART* (could be)
12a Speechless about advanced temperature change (6)
MUTATE: Speechless/silent containing abbreviations for Advanced and Temperature
14a Prompt to give up when infiltrated by Military Intelligence (8)
REMINDER: Give up/yield around (infiltrated by) abbreviation for Military Intelligence
15a Proposition disrupted focus of new mother (7)
THEOREM: Anagram (disrupted) of the middle letter of nEw and MOTHER
17a Deep cuts constrain ten secretariats (7)
INTENSE: Hidden (cuts)
20a Drop informer next to seedy bar (8)
NOSEDIVE: An informal name for an informer plus the usual seedy bar
22a Shared dire ultimatum with all except Tim (6)
MUTUAL: ULtimATUM* (dire)
23a Spooner's family advertisin' sewing accessory? (10)
PINCUSHION: Family/blood advertisin’/pluggin’ given the Spooner treatment.
24a Deal with fiascoes regularly (4)
FACE: FiAsCoEs (regularly)
25a Disorganized concert lacks any opening for country singer (5)
TENOR: cONcERT* (disorganized) …lacking both cases of opening letter of country.
26a Singer Lipa introduced to unusually great bachelor (8)
GRADUATE: The given name of Ms Lipa inserted into GREAT* (unusually). Bachelor here in academia.
Down
1d Leave coat by Irish lake (8)
FURLOUGH: A type of (warm) coat plus an Irish term for a lake
2d Vespa starts to wobble after striking pothole (4)
WASP: Acrostic clue.
3d Everton forward ultimately decked by robust tackle (6)
HANDLE: The final letters (ultimately) of EvertoN forwarD contained in robust/hearty. I'm not keen on ultimately clueing more than the final letter of the word immediately preceding it.
4d Identify a bull in bear market? (7)
EARMARK: Hidden. Very smart, great surface read.
5d Astronaut succeeded with walk atop ship (8)
SPACEMAN: The abbreviation for Succeeded plus walk/step over/atop plus a term for a ship.
6d A sober inmate sadly accepting noon execution (10)
ATTAINMENT: A plus abbreviated sober plus INMATE* (sadly) placed around abbreviation for Noon
7d Pick plum (6)
CHOICE: Double definition
13d Childish fuss over inane language added to series of clues (10)
ADOLESCENT: The usual 3-letter fuss plus LanguagE (inane/empty) plus a series of clues or trail
16d Spy young lady overwhelmed by attention at end of party (8)
EMISSARY: A generic term for a young lady inserted into a synonym of attention plus the final letter of party
18d Summon less energy amid alarming shortage (8)
SCARCITY: Summon/subpoena less the abbreviation for Energy inside alarming/frightening
19d Harass bewildered big cheese leaving Switzerland (7)
BESIEGE: BIG chEESE* (bewildered/leaving Switzerland)
21d After surgery, I swallowed this! (6)
OPIATE: Abb. surgery/operation plus I plus swallowed/took. Very smart!
22d Servant cheering, having money for good (6)
MENIAL: Cheering/cheerful with the abbreviation for Good replaced by that for Money
24d Unionist crowds encouraged vendetta (4)
FEUD: An insertion of the abbreviation for Unionists into encouraged/nourished.
An enjoyable puzzle with some of the wordplay requiring thought – many thanks to Buddy.
Given the grid I looked for a peripheral Nina but nothing appeared.
Top clues for me were10a, 4d and 16d.
As Gazza said, an enjoyable puzzle – but in my case some of the wordplay still requiring thought (or help!).
I had a PDM for the definition/solution of 8a but have got 4 letters that I can’t find a home for. Aha, no sooner had I written that then I managed to assign 3 letters, but then the 4th as a required abbreviation…? Fortunately Mrs S had the expertise to know the required ‘Surgeon’, although I wonder if it should formally be preceded by M**? 4d also needed a PDM to spot the correct definition to fit the wordplay – I can see why it received a tick from Gazza, but I had already chosen my favourites. My last uncertainty was the use of ‘inane’ in 13d, but Collins surprised me by having a synonym which achieves the required result. Anyway, I’ll look forward to the review, or other comments, to remove any doubts.
The favourites I referred to were – Across: 22, 25 & the 23 Spoonerism with not-quite-homophone (but I can’t resist a nice Spoonerism); and Down: 1, 3 & 19.
My thanks to Buddy for a the puzzle – lots of clever and amusing surfaces in there.
…or alternatively B**, as I am reminded by Mrs S.
… or even **B?
Yes, indeed so, and it appears to depend on the awarding institution. Mrs S is from the B** school of thought. Plenty of abbreviation opportunities for setters!
Thank you to StephenL for the very thorough review – which did succeed in removing any lingering doubts I might have had about my parsing.
Once again this week, my thoughts on a crossword agree with those expressed by Gazza earlier.
Thanks to Buddy and, in advance, to StephenL
This was certainly challenging with several pieces of complex parsing to be unravelled, but it was great fun and well worth the effort.
I didn’t know the abbreviation for surgeon in 9a, which the BRB describes as archaic.
10a was my favourite.
Many thanks to Buddy for the entertainment.
In the end we were beaten by 3d. Revealed the answer so now see how it works. Certainly had us working hard with lots of fun along the way. Top picks were the 23a Spoonerism and 13d.
Thanks Buddy.
Challenging in places but I got it all unaided. I wasn’t sure about the synonym in 6dn but the BRB gives enough shades of meaning to allow it. In 5dn the term for a ship is historic rather than in current use – as in *** of war or India***.
Thanks, Buddy and Stephen.