A Puzzle by Wilman
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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.
This was a distinct improvement on Wilman’s second crossword – perhaps back to the level of their first in terms of comments though the surface reading of the clues is better. The commentometer reads a 4/32 or 12.5%
Across
1a Staff grabbed by an aggressive sounding and lusty woman (9)
APHRODITE: A three-letter word for a staff or cane inside (grabbed) by A (an from the clue) and a homophone (sounding) of FIGHTY (aggressive). Fighty does not appear as a word in the printed dictionaries so might be considered unfair by an editor.
6a Fetched a bone (5)
COSTA: A four-letter word meaning fetched followed by the A from the clue. I think that fetched is the wrong synonym as it implies money received, not money paid for the word in the solution.
9a Fight free appeal oddly rejected (5)
REPEL: The even letters (oddly rejected) in the second and third words of the clue.
10a Rousing article about trench (9)
THRILLING: A five-letter word for an article or item around (about) a four-letter word for a trench.
11a Animal‘s charred after being skinned and gutted (4)
HARE: Remove the outer letters (being skinned) and the central letter (gutted) from the charred from the clue.
12a I have publicity before I’m introducing spectacular (10)
IMPRESSIVE: The contracted form of I have with a five-letter word meaning publicity before it, all preceded (introducing) by the I’m from the clue.
13a Proffer donation here and now (7)
PRESENT: Quadruple definition.
15a Wants what, originally, is that man’s (6)
WISHES: The initial letter (originally) of what followed by the IS from the clue and a three-letter word meaning that man’s.
18a Perhaps Duke of York‘s fund at zero (6)
POTATO: A three-letter word for a fund followed by the AT from the clue and the letter representing zero.
19a Unlimited ale and bit of lunch guzzled by cougar at back of train carriage (7)
PULLMAN: The middle letter (unlimited) of ale and the first letter (bit) of lunch inside (guzzled) by a four-letter word for a cougar and the final letter (back) of train.
22a Representative at doorway with no right to regret (10)
REPENTANCE: The three-letter abbreviation for representative followed by an eight-letter word for a doorway without the R (no right).
24a What’s integral to joyous Nowell? (4)
SNOW: The answer is hidden (integral) in the last two words of the clue.
26a Al‘s value uncovered by note to receive entrance to university (9)
ALUMINIUM: The middle letters (uncovered) of value followed by a five-letter musical note that includes the first letter (entrance to) of university.
27a Part of optimism, I learnt, is to show happiness (5)
SMILE: The answer is hidden (part of) in the third to fifth words of the clue.
28a Lunatic bears weapon (5)
SABRE: An anagram (lunatic) of bears.
29a Spooner’s joke cheese: it goes off with a bang (9)
GUNPOWDER: A Spoonerism of pun (joke) gouda (cheese).
Down
1d Vents cool zeppelin (7)
AIRSHIP: A four-letter word meaning vents followed by a three-letter word meaning cool.
2d Wikipedia’s contents reportedly great for every subject (9)
HYPERTEXT: A homophone (reportedly) of high (great) followed by a three-letter word meaning for every and a four-letter word for the subject of a sermon.
3d Leer at bogeyman going from right to left (4)
OGLE: A four-letter word for a bogeyman with the abbreviation for right replaced by the abbreviation for left. Try to avoid repeating wordplay indicators. R for right was used in 22a.
4d Prisoner takes note to be friendly (8)
INTIMATE: A six-letter word for a prisoner includes a two-letter musical note. To have to uses of note to indicate a musical note is not ideal.
5d Alarms terribly losing time leading to inaccuracies (6)
ERRORS: A seven-letter word meaning alarms terribly without the letter T (losing time). Alarms terribly would give terrorises, not the noun required.
6d Dashing A-list celeb abandons firstborn to be among the stars (9)
CELESTIAL: An anagram (dashing) of A LIST CELEB after removing the letter B (abandons firstborn). Not all editors will accept this type of wordplay.
7d Novel description of sigh audible before what might follow fee (3-2)
SCI-FI: A homophone (audible) of sigh followed by the word that follows fee and comes before fo fum.
8d Algeria’s capital taken in unrest? (7)
ALGIERS: An anagram (in unrest) of ALGERIAS after removing the first letter (capital taken). Capital here is doing double duty as a wordplay indicator and being part of the solution. I don’t think that the whole clue works as a definition.
14d Costly changing parking for airport’s terminal spanning lots of area (9)
EXTENSIVE: A nine letter word meaning costly changing the P (parking) to a T (airport’s terminal)
16d People returning in intervals of ‘Dunkirk ‘in Falmouth (9)
HUMANKIND: The answer is the odd letters (intervals) reversed (returning) in the final three words of the clue.
17d Sample mince pies I left out mistakenly (8)
SPECIMEN: An anagram (mistakenly) of MINCE PIES without one of the letters I (I left out).
18d Al’s left to lead grand entrances (7)
PORTALS: The ALS from the clue preceded by (to lead) a four-letter nautical word for left.
20d Time for resolutions, were any arranged (3,4)
NEW YEAR: An anagram (arranged) of WERE ANY.
21d Drinking French wine hoarded by crone (6)
HAVING: The French word for wine inside (hoarded by) a three-letter word for a crone.
23d Bowser’s beginning to go after Peach’s relative – what do Mario and Luigi do? (5)
PLUMB: The initial letter (beginning) of Bower after a four-letter word for a fruit that is a relative of the peach.
25d Type of map to look for city (4)
OSLO: The abbreviation for Ordnance Survey followed by a two-letter word meaning look.
We managed after quite a lot of hard work to get a completed grid but there are still some, 8d for example, where the wordplay still escapes us. 1a had us head scratching for a while and set the tone for the puzzle so we’ll go with that as favourite.
Thanks Wilman.
What a difference two weeks make! Completed, albeit with some e-help and I learnt a couple of things – the 6d bone and what the 18a Duke of York is a type of.
But, there are a few parsings for which I will have to await the wisdom of Prolixic. Like the 2Kiwis, I have concerns with 8d – to me, it seems to be somewhere between an incomplete clue and an indirect anagram.
My eyes did have problems with the font and Al in 26a and 18d trying to decide if it was a (metallic) element or a modern abbreviation.
Smiles for 10a, 18a, 28a, 7d, and 16d.
Thanks Wilman and thanks in advance to Prolixic.
8d seems to be causing a few questions, I think it is quite simple when you see it. It is an anagram (in unrest) of ALGERIA’S after removing the first letter (capital taken). The capital is, however doing double duty as part of the definition and the wordplay.
Thanks Prolixic, that was the intended parsing. It was meant to be taken as an &lit, but I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether it was successful or not!
Thanks also to 2Kiwis and Senf for sharing your thoughts so far, I’m happy to hear it was less of a slog.
Thanks Prolixic – that is why you are the purveyor of ‘cruciverbal words of wisdom’!
That’s much better, Wilman! In stark contrast to your submission two weeks ago, this was mostly an enjoyable solve albeit quite challenging in parts.
I think you should avoid using AL or AI (twice!) as they are indistinguishable in lower case.
Only a few comments from me this time:
1a – I may be wrong, but I can’t see how a homophone of “aggressive” leads to either “fright” or “affright”.
6a – For me, “fetched” is not quite synonymous with “cost”. The former refers to money received while the latter is money paid out.
5d – “Alarms terribly” implies a verb whereas “terrors”, the fodder for the clue, is a noun. If you had just omitted “terribly” then “alarms” could be a noun, (This would also be better as “terribly” is too similar to “terrors”).
8d – I don’t think this works. Part of the clue is the definition and the whole clue is the wordplay, so it is neither an “&lit” (where the entire clue is definition and wordplay) nor a “semi &lit” clue (where the entire clue is the definition but only a part is the wordplay). In any event, the answer is too similar to “Algeria’s”.
16d – Although this is a very clever clue, the surface reading doesn’t make any sense to me.
My podium comprises 18a, 28a & 7d.
Well done and thank you, Wilman. Keep going in this direction!
Thank you for your detailed rundown as ever RD. I didn’t think about how Al might look, I’ll make sure he doesn’t make another appearance in future. In 1a “staff” gives the middle most 3 letters to leave “an aggressive” homophone on the outside. 16d’s surface was intended as the intervals (between halves) of the given film in the cinema. Thanks especially for the points on those other clues which passed me by!
Thanks for your reply, Wilman, and for explaining the surface of 16d which I agree is fine now.
Sorry I messed up my comment on 1a. I meant “fight” not “fright” (or “affright”). However, I still can’t see how “aggressive” (adjective) can lead to “fight” (noun or verb).
I took the homophone for aggressive to be fighty (which isn’t in the BRB but is in other dictionaries).
Ah! Thanks, Gazza.
It’s not in Collins either as far as I can see.
An enjoyable puzzle – thanks Wilman.
I thought that it was pitched at just the right level (although, like others I wasn’t keen on 8d).
I particulrly liked 18a, 7d and 16d.
We enjoyed your puzzle, thank you Wilman. We did stumble initially with the 2 AI’s and we didn’t know the bone – but Google helped! Favourites were 18a, 19a and 10a. More please and thanks in advance to Prolixic.
Welcome back, Wilman.
I didn’t have the chance to comment on your last puzzle a fortnight ago but this one is a distinct improvement, I feel. My quibbles have largely already been raised by RD, but I’ll add that it’s not a good idea to have two “lurkers” appear in the space of three clues (24a and 27a) and I think “briefly” in 6d would prove a much better alternative to “abandons firstborn”. 12a seems a rather strange backward Lego construction as well.
Not being a computer gamer I didn’t understand the references to Bowser and Peach in 23d, but it’s actually a very clever clue. My least favourite clue was unsurprisingly 8d.
Well done on the progress made, much more still to improve on, but a firm step in the right direction. Many thanks, Wilman.
Thank you again to all for giving this a go and sharing your thoughts. All the specific advice is really useful, and I’m glad it was a more enjoyable affair.
Thank you especially to Prolixic for the fantastic review as ever – I’ll bear your points in mind for the future.