NTSPP 754 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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NTSPP 754

by StephenL  

A Puzzle by Starhorse

+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - +

The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid.

Starhorse delivers the alternative to today's enjoyable SPP with an enjoyable NTSPP so many thanks to him.

Across

1a Boss's research incomplete (4)
STUD: A synonym of research as a verb loses its last letter (incomplete). There's only one boss

4a Revellers swear Lisa's drunk (10)
WASSAILERS: Anagram (drunk) of SWEAR LISA’S

9a Legal health benefit? (14)
CONSTITUTIONAL: Double/cryptic definition one an adjective, the other a noun and possible health benefit

10a Claim arsenic's found by stonier ground (9)
ASSERTION: The chemical symbol for arsenic plus an anagram (ground) of STONIER

11a Chooses to reject worst possible contribution (4)
OPTS: Hidden and reversed (contribution/to reject)

13a Capture Yorkist leader instead of a dog (4)
TYKE: A synonym of capture with Y (Yorkist leader) substituted for A.

14a Stubborn player blocks official line (10)
REFRACTORY: A player in a theatre perhaps “blocks” or goes inside an informal official and a RailwaY line

16a Carried on after a split (10)
PERSEVERED: A synonym of A or “for each” and a synonym of split or cut

19a Too large to stay in mansion regularly (4)
ALSO: The single letter abbreviation for Large inside alternate letters of mAnSiOn.

21a Song starts to annoy residents in Ayr (4)
ARIA: The initial letters the last four words in the clue

23a Delays cooking meat admitted with embarrassment (9)
ASHAMEDLY: Anagram (cooking) of DELAYS with some meat from a pig inserted (admitted)

25a Angry student briefly argued about artist - they'll learn (14)
UNDERGRADUATES: Anagram (angry) of STUDENt plus ARGUED placed around the usual abbreviated artist.

26a They predict conditions in sport, involving the players (10)
WEATHERMEN: A synonym of sport as a verb placed around THE from the clue plus one of players. Neat

27a Tackle husband's old friends (4)
KITH: A synonym of tackle as a noun plus the single-letter abbreviation for husband.

 

Down

2d Revolutionary wrong to upset broadcaster (7)
TROTSKY: A reversal of a legal wrong and a media broadcaster

3d Assertive woman in seedy club loses tips and messes up (9)
DISHEVELS: An informal description of an assertive woman in the usual seedy club and the tips of LoseS

4d Party where one plays tricks with Verdi's composition (5,5)
WHIST DRIVE: Anagram (composition) of WITH VERDI’S

5d Seal small cabin on one side (4,3)
SHUT OFF: The single-letter abbreviation for Small plus a cabin or shed and one side of a cricket field

6d Passionate shepherd only has one daughter (4)
AVID: A biblical shepherd boy loses the first instance of the single-letter abbreviation for Daughter. Not this Shepherd!

7d Advanced ominously, at first slowly (5)
LENTO: A synonym of advanced as one may some money say and the initial letter of Ominously

8d Tell-tale on in a while (7)
RELATER: The usual “on” or regarding plus a word meaning in a while

12d Give young lady help, once (10)
HANDMAIDEN: A synonym of give or pass and an old fashioned name for a young lady

15d Typical exchange with Evangelist (9)
TRADEMARK: A synonym of exchange and a biblical evangelist

17d English defeat in Nebraska is coming (2,5)
EN ROUTE: The single-letter abbreviation for English and the state abbreviation for NEbraska into which is inserted a heavy defeat

18d Where one might deliver lunch, perhaps without a drink (7)
ROSTRUM: A (Sunday perhaps) lunch minus the A plus a strong alcoholic drink. Very smart.

20d Way to describe strange chief (7)
SALIENT: An abbreviated way in the sense of road placed around (to describe) a synonym of strange

22d Check German saloon's on time (5)
AUDIT: One of crosswordland’s favourite car manufacturers and the single-letter abbreviation for Time.

24d Recommend cancelling start of witch hunt (4)
URGE: Another word for a witch hunt or expulsion loses (cancelling start) its first letter.

 

 

19 comments on “NTSPP 754”

  1. Very enjoyable with just the right level of trickiness for a lunchtime solve – thanks to Starhorse.
    My last answer was 6d due to my lack of knowledge of OT shepherds. If the shepherd had been capitalised I’d have identified the umpire immediately.
    My ticks went to 16a, 26a, 5d and 12d.

  2. Caffeine required, in fact I considered going for a refill, for a good Saturday morning cranial workout.

    I did need to enter, some incorrect, answers into the grid and ‘Check’ as I progressed but that was the only e-help I resorted to.

    Smiles for 23a, 2d, 17d, and 18d.

    Thanks Starhorse and thanks in advance to CS or SL?.

    1. Stephen will be reviewing this one – a rare sighting of a weekend when I only have to prepare one blog post

  3. Very nice. I found the SE corner considerably harder than the rest but overall this was a nicely challenging puzzle and a lot of fun. with 26a my favourite.

    Many thanks to Starhorse and to whomever does the review.

  4. I’d agree with Gazza that this was just right for a lunchtime solve

    Thanks to Starhorse and, in advance, to StephenL

  5. How nice to see you again, Starhorse. I always remember the time when you decided to change your name and we all berated you for even considering it!
    Quite a challenge you gave us today and a couple of parsings almost drove me to drink.
    Plenty of ticks on my sheet, I’ll single out for mention – 9,26&27a plus 2,5&17d.

    Many thanks for the Saturday entertainment.

  6. Lovely puzzle. Quite tricky, but not unpleasantly so. Favourites were 19a, 26a and 22d.

    Many thanks to Starhorse and StephenL in advance.

  7. duncanj above has summed up my thoughts precisely: quite tricky but not unpleasantly so. Thanks.

  8. A few tricky bits that held us up at the end (3d,16a and 24d) but they did eventually yield in what we found an enjoyable solve.
    Thanks Starhorse.

  9. What a pleasure to see Starhorse in the NTSPP slot & such a shame that the puzzle has attracted so few comments. Much trickier than the SPP but enjoyably so. Eventually figured out the whys I think unless Stephen tells me otherwise the morrow. Lots of likes but reckon I’d plump for 14&26a plus 12d.
    Many thanks

  10. Very much what others have said – an enjoyable puzzle if a bit tricky in places.
    I did find in 25ac that the clue reads awkwardly in that the answer is the plural of a synonym for the singular ‘student’. ‘They’ of course stands on its own as part of the definition but it appears to refer back to something earlier in the clue, possibly ‘student’ and ‘artist’ but there’s a strong tendency to associate it just with ‘student’. I wonder if the clue could have been constructed slightly differently to indicate removal of an S and a T from ‘students’ to read better and impart a hint of ‘clue as definition’ character. But that’s a lot of words for what is only a minor point which didn’t spoil the enjoyment.
    Thanks, Starhorse and SL.

    1. Morning. When I looked at the puzzle again yesterday (it’s a while since I wrote it) that was one I was a bit dubious about for exactly the reason you state. It definitely needed a different construction to read smoothly.

  11. Falling asleep last night so didn’t complete the grid, but refreshed with morning tea I corrected a couple that I had pencilled in and sailed over the finish line. A very nice puzzle from Starhorse; I particularly enjoyed the cluing for the 4-letter answers, which therefore deserve their own podium: 11a, 19a and 27a. Lots to like elsewhere, with 25a, 12d and 18d on the longer word podium. LOI was 3d. 13a had held me up for while as I had not heard the word used in this sense.
    Thanks, Starhorse, and thanks also to SL.
    P.S. I would be quite happy if the notorious Shorerats were to be resurrected, but I doubt the first appearance could be bettered… :grin:

  12. Very enjoyable puzzle. In the midst of preparing for Rookie Corner, I wanted to have some rest. In the meanwhile, I opened Big Dave’s and saw the NTSPP on the top. Being a Sunday and with some free time, I started solving this immediately and was extremely thrilled. I had no problem in solving this and really enjoyed till the end. There many too many clues that I liked in this puzzle such as 14a, 19a, 23a, 25a, 26a, 2d, 6d, 12d, 17d, 20d and 22d and the best of them all was 26a. After solving the puzzle, I saw that the review has also come up which I will read after posting this comment. Thanks to Starhorse for the excellent puzzle and to StephenL for his review.

  13. Many thanks for the review, Stephen. I do hope Starhorse pops in to say hello to us all.

  14. Morning all. Thanks to Stephen for the review and for all the comments.

    I don’t think Jane will ever let me forget my brief name change back in Rookie corner days. I think that’s around 8 years ago! I can assure Spartacus that Shorerats will not be reappearing – but hopefully I will, in a while.

    1. Thanks for popping in, Starhorse. No, I won’t let you forget – it comes to mind whenever I see your name! What have you been up to since the good old Rookie Corner days?

  15. Thanks for the review Stephen – great Jon Herington solo on the DF track – my fav on the album. Hope to see a Dharma Toughie soon

    1. Ah thanks, very kind of you, there’s one coming up in the not-too-distant future.
      I agree re the music, I love that Donald Fagen track too.

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