Crosophile has compiled this week’s Tuesday puzzle. As we all know, there tends to be something going on, some kind of theme, in the Tuesday puzzles – what will it be today, one wonders?
A quick perusal of the clues suggests that any theme is centred on 3, with its references to six other clues. Crosophile has cleverly carved up 3 into two halves, the first of which can be clued in three ways, and the second of which provides a category of which three examples are given. I rather enjoyed this somewhat quirky construct, once I realised what was happening.
My favourite clues today were 1, for both surface-reading and originality; and 17, for both surface and (to me at least) unexpected definition. I needed Chambers to make sense of the draughts reference at 7. I hope that I have parsed the “b” correctly at 5D.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | DE-ICED | Decide to have two couples twist – that’s dispelled frostiness
“to have two couples” means that two pairs of letters in “decide” swap round, i.e. <de>CI<de> becomes “ic” and <deci>DE becomes “id”!; a de-iced windscreen is no longer frosty |
| 05 | BALL GAME | Non-white group embracing, totally, golf and tennis perhaps
[ALL (=totally) + G (=golf, in radio telecommunications)] in BAME (=non-white group, i.e. Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, in UK demographics) |
| 06 | STRUGGLE | Mat somehow gets left outside in combat
RUG (=mat) in *(GETS + L (=left)); “somehow” is anagram indicator |
| 10 | STIGMA | Greek character taking time to make special mark
T (=time) in SIGMA (=Greek character, i.e. letter of Greek alphabet) |
| 11 | MEET | Deal with swarm returning
TEEM (=swarm (with), abound (with)); “returning” indicates reversal |
| 12 | EARWIGGING | Lecture is encouraging on war I roughly intervened
*(WAR I) in EGGING (=encouraging on); “roughly” is anagram indicator; an earwigging is a scolding, telling-off |
| 13 | REPRESENT | Create a picture of about here
RE (=about, regarding) + PRESENT (=here, in attendance) |
| 15 | AFOOT | In the wind at back of boat with clutch of eggs
O O (=clutch of eggs, i.e. pictorially) in AFT (=at back of boat) |
| 16 | ADDER | In board game, a possible way down when way up’s a non-starter
<l>ADDER (=way up); “is a non-starter” means first letter is dropped; the reference is to the board game snakes – hence “adder” – and ladders |
| 18 | SHOWPIECE | Fine example of how species endlessly evolved
*(HOW + SPECIE<s>); “endlessly” means last letter is dropped from anagram, indicated by “evolved” |
| 22 | WORSHIPPER | Maybe destroyer’s love for adult and for every person who loves
W<O (=love, i.e. zero score) for A (=adult)>RSHIP (=maybe destroyer) + PER (=for every) |
| 24 | ACRE | Some ground needing bit of aftercare in retreat
Hidden (“bit of”) and reversed (“in retreat”) in “aftERCAre” |
| 25 | HEARSE | Transport making final journey to catch Southeastern
HEAR (=catch, e.g. a comment) + SE (=southeastern) |
| 26 | INTRUDER | Perhaps burglar’s unskilled breaking into short opening passage
RUDE (=unskilled, uncultured) in INTR<o> (=opening passage, of e.g. piece of music; “short” means last letter is dropped |
| 27 | SEASCAPE | Shilling amateur put in to get free painting
S (=shilling, as in LSD) + [A (=amateur) in ESCAPE (=get free)] |
| 28 | PUFFED | Fed up with following when running out of breath
*(FED UP + F (=following)); “when running” is anagram indicator |
| Down | ||
| 02 | EXTREME | Kill-or-cure? – then dies from the next remedies
When “then” and “dies” are removed from “the next remedies”, what is left is “extreme”, which might describe a “kill-or-cure” treatment |
| 03 | COUNTER-MEASURES | Antidotes from 11,16 or 19 and 4, 15 and 24
COUNTER (=meet, entry at 11; adder, i.e. one counting, entry at 16; or worktop, entry at 19) + MEASURES (=degrees, entry at 4; a foot, entry at 15; and acre, entry at 24) |
| 04 | DEGREES | Qualifications of reactionary Rees-Mogg’s faction set in stone
ERG (=Rees-Mogg’s faction, i.e. European Research Group) in SEED (=stone, e.g. in peach); “reactionary” indicates reversal |
| 05 | BLEAR | Bloody tragic king’s watery-eyed
B (=bloody, when abbreviated as an expletive in text) + LEAR (=tragic king, from Shakespeare) |
| 06 | LASSIE | Maid of Perth’s a fool caught in a falsehood
ASS (=a fool) in LIE (=a falsehood); lassie is a Scottish expression for “girl”, hence “Maid of Perth” |
| 07 | GOING OFF IN A HUFF | Sulky reaction from 3 for a lapse on board?
A huff is a “counter measure (=entry at 3)” in draughts whereby a piece is removed from the board for failing to make a possible capture |
| 08 | MEMENTO | Note about hospital department is something to remember
ENT (=hospital department, i.e. Ear, Nose and Throat) in MEMO (=note, i.e. memorandum) |
| 14 | NTH | Some anthems not defined in ordinal
Hidden (“some”) in “aNTHems”; “nth” refers to an unspecified item in a series |
| 17 | DIOCESE | Before start of encryption there’s scrambled codes, I see
*(CODES I) + E<ncryption> (“start of” means first letter only); “scrambled” is anagram indicator |
| 19 | WORKTOP | Surface from Notts town moving from one end of street to the other
WORKSOP (=Notts town): “moving from one end of street to the other” means letter “s” becomes “t” |
| 20 | CORTEGE | Get held up in main procession with 25
TEG (GET; “held up” indicates reversal) in CORE (=main, as in core business); a cortege is a procession with hearse (=entry at 25) |
| 21 | CINEMA | Alien was seen here and came in after mutating
*(CAME IN); “after mutating” is anagram indicator; the reference is to the series of Alien sci-fi films, begun in 1979 |
| 23 | PRIDE | Finally stop travel to see some lions?
<sto>P (“finally” means last letter only) + RIDE (=travel, as verb) |
DNF as failed to answer 15A, having stupidly put ‘going out in a huff’. Also had to come here for explanations of half a dozen others, and failed to work out the themes, so not one of my best performances. My excuse is lack of practice over the last week or so for ‘technical reasons’. Thanks anyway to Crosophile and RatkojaRiku.
This deserves more than one comment so I’ll say right here that I liked it.Nice theme.
I thought that earwigging meant listening in on other people conversations but apparently it is a scolding too. The clue demanded it be so
This took some getting to grips with, but we eventually got it all after figuring out how 3dn interacted with the clues it referenced, although we couldn’t make the connection to 7dn which we got from the definition, enumeration and a few crossing letters – we’d never heard the term ‘huff’ applied to that move in draughts.
We liked 5ac for its use of a topical acronym, but favourite was 1ac for its ingenuity.
Thanks, Crosophile and RatkojaRiku.
A bit of a struggle but I got there in the end, and even got most of the theme sorted. Couldn’t parse 4dn having totally forgotten ERG.
I’d guessed the second half of 3dn but couldn’t see the first word. I had to go somewhere and as I was climbing the stairs, the first half suddenly came to me.
Thanks very much for the b;og and the comments 🙂
“blog”!