An enjoyable puzzle that I thought had an ‘old fashioned’ feel to it (not a criticism, just an observation). Thanks Hamilton.
| Across | ||
| 1 | VAMPIRE BAT |
Seducer, one’s about to strike bloodsucker (7,3)
VAMP (seducer) I (one) RE (about) BAT (to strike)
|
| 7 | POSH |
Fashionable Peterborough (4)
double definition – nickname of Peterborough United football club
|
| 9 | STAG |
The theatre is not quite suitable for such parties (4)
STAGe (the theatre) is not quite=unfinished
|
| 10 | LOCKER ROOM |
It’s the key location for changing gear (6,4)
cryptic/double definition
|
| 11 | INDIGO |
Blue, but bad indigestion hasn’t set in (6)
INDIGestiOn with SET IN removed – I think bad indicates the letters are not removed in order? Maybe there as misdirection to try and get you to look for an anagram?
|
| 12 | SHANGHAI |
Trick into going abroad; here, perhaps (8)
double definition
|
| 13 | HABANERA |
Stadium graduate and husband return to for dance (8)
ARENA (stadium) BA (graduate) and H (husband) all reversed (return to?)
|
| 15 |
See 8
|
|
| 17 | SILO |
Foolishly, it’s back in store (4)
found reversed (it’s back) in foOLIShly
|
| 19 | DEAD HEAT |
Ade hated taking off tie (4,4)
(ADE HATED)* anagram=taking off
|
| 22 | CALAMARI |
Mollusc prompted a false alarm in the Channel Islands (8)
A ALARM* anagram=false in CI (the channel islands) – my Chambers spells the mollusc species calamary. Calamari in English is a food dish, or at least a plural so molluscs? Can anyone help?
|
| 23 | PAMPAS |
Plain secretary calls in teetotallers to hold legislator (6)
PS (secretary?) contains (calls in) AA (teetotallers) containing (to hold) MP (legislator)
|
| 25 | DEFINITELY |
Badly identify the Spanish held without question (10)
IDENTIFY* anagram=badly holding EL (the, Spanish)
|
| 26 | ALTO |
Singer completely to get her off (4)
ALTOgether (completely) with GET HER removed (off)
|
| 27 | HYMN |
Sing in praise of Guy, so it’s said (4)
guy sounds like (so it’s said) him
|
| 28 | LAST RESORT |
T, when everything else has failed? (4,6)
the last letter of resort is T
|
| Down | ||
| 2 | ANTENNA |
Feeler for girl holding curtain back (7)
ANNA (girl) holding NET (curtain) reversed
|
| 3 | PAGRI |
Dad goes to the middle of Agra for single turban (5)
PA (dad) with aGRa (middle of) with (for) I (one, single)
|
| 4 | ROLLOVER |
Press left a deferred payment (8)
ROLL (press) OVER (left)
|
| 5 | BACKSEAT DRIVERS |
Encourage advertisers who are challenging self-opinionated travellers (8,7)
BACK (encourage) ADVERTISERS* – I’m not sure if ‘who are challenging’ is an anagram indicator or part of the definition
|
| 6 | TOECAP |
To step back: there’s something on your shoe! (6)
TO then PACE (step) reversed
|
| 7 | PARAGRAPH |
Passage to Brazilian state instituting good rail and parking hub (9)
PARA (Brazillian state) then first letters of Good Rail And Parking Hub
|
| 8,15 | STOMACH ACHE |
Tolerate pain? This sort? (7,4)
STOMACH (tolerate) ACHE (pain)
|
| 14 | ADORATION |
Love party in an allotment! (9)
DO Party) in A RATION (allotment)
|
| 16 | TAXPAYER |
Unfortunately, extra pay makes him Osborne’s friend! (8)
(EXTRA PAY)* anagram=unfortunately
|
| 18 | IMAGERY |
Pictures of twin online (7)
IMAGE (twin) on RY (line, railway)
|
| 20 | ADAPTER |
Sort of plug for pitta bread (bit taken off and chewed) (7)
(PitTA bREAD)* anagram=chewed with BIT removed (taken off)
|
| 21 | RADIAL |
Call again but change the second to tire (American) (6)
ReDIAL with the second letter changed
|
| 24 | MEANS |
Intends to have money (5)
double definition
|
*anagram
definitions are underlined
definitions are underlined
Thanks PeeDee and Hamilton, I enjoyed this. I could not parse 13A but since I had gone for MACARENA, that was always going to be hard, so thanks for putting me right. I queried HYMN as a verb and IMAGE as a twin (other than as part of spitting image) but they were both in the dictionary. Live and learn.
Thanks Hamilton and PeeDee.
11ac: I took this as “bad indigestion” = INDIGOSETIN, and then remove “set in”. I did not even notice that the letters of the answer can be found in the right order in “indigestion”.
23ac: Chambers 2008 gives “private secretary” among the meanings of PS abbrev.
Hi Urieka – I wanted 13 across to be MACARENA too, but it was not to be. I was unable to get the tune out of my head for a frustratingly long while.
Pelham, my old Chambers 1983 that I had with me at the time doesn’t list PS, it has been added later. It seems strange as a Private Secretary is not a new invention, I would have expected to find it in older dictionaries too. Your reading of 11ac is better I think.
Thanks Hamilton and PeeDee
Know I’m late to it, but enjoyed this a lot. Seemed to be lots more to many of the clues than what one first thought – with a number of them taking quite a while to parse. A couple of compound anagrams which can be tricky – INDIGO and ADAPTER (originally had written in adaptor, until I worked out the anagram material). PAGRI was new to me and had to look it up after deriving it from the clue.
Think you may have a slight error with 2d – the girl should be ANNA rather than ANNE.
Thought that BACKSEAT DRIVER was very clever.
Thanks bruce, fixed now.