Nestor has sometimes been described as one of the easier of the Saturday Independent setters. I guess these things are relative, as I found this one quite a challenge.
Still, I got there in the end. No obvious 14th of February thematic material jumps out at me, though I’ve a history of missing that sort of thing.
| Across | ||
| 4 | METATARSI | Satisfied with old computer maker retaining small skeletal components (9) |
| MET + (S in ATARI). | ||
| 8 | SOUSA | Thus his country marches to his tunes (5) |
| SO + USA. American composer John Philip Sousa, of course. Well known for his marches, so the clue could conceivably be &lit. | ||
| 9 | KILIMANJARO | Great height and weight filled out by one chap with beer? (11) |
| (I + MAN + JAR) in KILO. | ||
| 10 | REFINANCE | Get new backing for Zuma’s party, enlisted by Polish (9) |
| ANC in REFINE. | ||
| 11 | PESTO | Italian dressing Donatella’s middle in Mexican piece (5) |
| [dona]T[ella] in PESO. | ||
| 13 | TWOSOME | Double spread turned into substantial publication (7) |
| SOW< in TOME. | ||
| 15 | TINDERY | Preserve energy to interrupt hardliner, easily fired (7) |
| TIN + (E in DRY). DRY as in “A person who favours strict adherence to hardline right-wing Conservative policies” was new to me, but it wasn’t too much of an obstacle. | ||
| 17 | SUNDIAL | Daytime marker placed students in reverse order (7) |
| LAID + NUS. | ||
| 19 | SCRATCH | Leader of High Court bends over to relieve irritation (7) |
| (H[igh] + CT + ARCS)<. | ||
| 20 | IBSEN | Analgesic has succeeded for university professor who wrote plays (5) |
| From IBUPROFEN, but with S in place of (U + PROF). | ||
| 22 | CREAM SODA | Mixer‘s musical finish covering lots of paper (5,4) |
| REAMS in CODA. | ||
| 24 | OLIVE BRANCH | Pacific offer from section of Green Party? (5,6) |
| A nice whimsical second definition. | ||
| 25 | DITCH | Abandon urge to follow daughters (5) |
| D + ITCH. | ||
| 26 | OWNERLESS | Len’s worse off but not possessed (9) |
| (LEN‘S WORSE)*. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | ISOCRATES | Society in India values teacher from Athens (9) |
| SOC in (I + RATES). this chap. | ||
| 2 | OUT OF BOUNDS | Prohibited description of exhausted kangaroo? (3,2,6) |
| Another nice whimsical secondary definition. | ||
| 3 | OAKEN | Nothing removed except for top of tree from certain wood (5) |
| 0 + [t]AKEN. | ||
| 4 | MELANGE | Mix up, say, underlying em dash (7) |
| M + ELAN + EG<. | ||
| 5 | TEMPEST | Art filling in for stormy event? (7) |
| This made me chuckle. Think of old timey speech, as in “thou art working as a temp”. | ||
| 6 | TIN-OPENER | Pretension abandoned when son leaves, one often turns to free food (3-6) |
| PRETEN[s]ION*. | ||
| 7 | SPRAT | Lift waterproof sheets that cover small fish (5) |
| TARPS<. | ||
| 12 | SWEET POTATO | Brush-stroke taking Turner’s lead? Answer in oil from flower or vegetable (5,6) |
| (T[urner] in SWEEP) + (A in OTTO). | ||
| 14 | ORIENTEER | Renoir somehow welcoming support to deal with difficult landscape (9) |
| TEE in RENOIR*. | ||
| 16 | YO-HEAVE-HO | You only live once, endless bliss and heroin replacing Liberal workers’ chant (2-5-2) |
| (HEAVE[n] + H) in YO[l]O. | ||
| 18 | LE CARRE | Some smart-Alec arrested an intriguing tale-teller (2,5) |
| [smart-A]LEC ARRE[sted]. John, needless to say. | ||
| 19 | SIENNAS | Saint Mary’s mother traditionally is got up in earthy tones (7) |
| (S + ANNE + IS)<. Saint Anne is the mother of Mary “according to Christian and Islamic tradition“. | ||
| 21 | BELOW | Not above cutting grass with ecstasy (5) |
| E in BLOW. | ||
| 23 | MAHDI | Who’s to save Muslims from upsetting primitive urges with haram meat? (5) |
| (ID + HAM)<. Pork is of course declared forbidden or “haram” in Islam. | ||
* = anagram; < = reversed; [] = removed; underlined = definition
Thanks Simon and Nestor,
I think there is a suggestion that this may be Nestor’s 100th, and very nice it was too.
Well spotted, MW. At least four suggestions, even.
Congratulations to Nestor indeed!
I’m also assuming this was Nestor’s 100th puzzle so congratulations are in order, spotting the nina helped me flesh out the NW corner, and TWOSOME was my LOI. I thought the definition for 6dn was an absolute belter.
Maybe if I’d noticed the Nina, I would have got 11ac right instead of entering PESTA for some reason. I can’t remember my thought processes at the time, but I guess it was a slip of the pencil on my part.
I missed the two mini-ninas but it would not have connected- very nice puzzle.Thanks for the parsing of 20a(yes I’m from the other side!) and I love 9a.
Very good puzzle with a clever nina. Liked TWOSOME, OLIVE BRANCH, TEMPEST and TIN-OPENER especially.
Superb puzzle! Fantastic fun! Some of the clues were sublime – especially enjoyed TEMPEST and IBSEN. I agree with AndyB re 6dn’s surface (TINOPENER) and liked BELOW – blow for grass indeed; someone’s in the know! One of the better crosswords of late.
Oh! and is it Nestor’s 100th I wonder?! Many congratulations – and thanks. And a well-deserved nod to Simon from the Gods of efficiency!
copmus@5 – Have I missed something? Only spotted the centenary Nina (that pops up four times)…..?