A nice offering from Dazzler, this. I found it about as close to 'average' difficulty as I could pinpoint, whatever that might mean what with all the different wavelengths floating around. I'm not sure how well known the dog breed is, for example - I hadn't heard of it before it cropped up in the main puzzle some time sufficiently recent for me to remember it, and the NJ of New Jersey made it a write-in. I had, however, forgotten that it is unable to bark, and in my mind I was quite sure it was a cute, fluffy, husky type thing from Japan. Ah, the garbled blurrings of clues past...
Most of it went in quite nicely, then, although I stumbled a bit with my last four clues - 6d, 14d, 19ac, and 22d. I couldn't get 'a' for midday out of my head for 22ac - as in the middle letter of 'day'. (I like that as a clueing device, more often seen in 'midniGht'.) I was also unsure of the 'cunning plan' aspect of 19d, but the dictionary confirmed it. So, a dodge is a cunning plan - as in the Artful Dodger, with DIckens first using the term 'artful dodge' in PIckwick Papers. A very enjoyable puzzle - many thanks to Dazzler.
Most of it went in quite nicely, then, although I stumbled a bit with my last four clues - 6d, 14d, 19ac, and 22d. I couldn't get 'a' for midday out of my head for 22ac - as in the middle letter of 'day'. (I like that as a clueing device, more often seen in 'midniGht'.) I was also unsure of the 'cunning plan' aspect of 19d, but the dictionary confirmed it. So, a dodge is a cunning plan - as in the Artful Dodger, with DIckens first using the term 'artful dodge' in PIckwick Papers. A very enjoyable puzzle - many thanks to Dazzler.
| Across | |
| 1 | Unusual object made of copper and wrought iron mainly CURIO: Cu is copper, followed by an anagram (wrought) of most of the letters (mainly) of IRO[n]. |
| 8 | Not best pleased by term for puzzle CROSSWORD: Cross is not best pleased; a word is a term. |
| 9 | Picture that is providing cover for journal IMAGE: I.E. (that is) goes around MAG (journal). |
| 10 | Two ways in which beer is most flat STALEST: St = street, times it by two and in which goes ALE. If you carefully pour a can of cheap lager on a flat clean floor, before long it will have a complete absence of taste and fizz, and will also be as flat as possible in terms of surface area. The least uplifting experience in terms of consumption, however, requires a dirty floor - which will impart some taste or other. So that's four ways, but only three are achievable at any one time. |
| 11 | Dog not barking— wretched one around New Jersey BASENJI: BASE is wretched, I is one, going around NJ. |
| 12 | Give up extremely detestable sort of meat DELIVER: extremely DetestablE is DE, liver is a sort of meat. I like the definition of 'give up' for 'deliver', rather than the more prosaic 'post', but I do like the image of sending some revolting meat in the post. |
| 16 | Hide in rough bar within sixty minutes HARBOUR: anagram (rough) of BAR goes inside HOUR. |
| 17 | Appearance associated with boss or idiot AIRHEAD: an air is an appearance; a boss is a head. Great surface reading here - probably my COD. |
| 20 | Taxi I catch for meeting of ministers CABINET: Cab I net = taxi I catch. |
| 22 | Before midday object to change AMEND: AM is before midday, an object is an end, in the sense of a goal to be achieved. |
| 23 | Excited economist’s smiles shown on screen EMOTICONS: Anagram (excited) of ECONOMIST. intriguing surface reading here - sounds like something you might be forced to watch in 1984. |
| 24 | That’s too bad: two Es for pupil! TUTEE: that's too bad is TUT, add E and E. A wry, topical clue, given that it's exam time in the UK. |
| Down | |
| 1 | Caught leg making ascent CLIMB: c is our cricket term of the day for caught; leg is limb. |
| 2 | In list notice an open-top motor car ROADSTER: inside ROSTER (list) goes AD[vert] (notice). Lovely concise clueing. |
| 3 | Canoe in trouble in lots of water OCEAN: anagram (in trouble) of CANOE. |
| 4 | Conservative party helping shows thoughtfulness CONSIDERATION: CON = Conservative; SIDE = party (in the political sense of side); RATION = helping. |
| 5 | A sailor, we hear, is offensive ASSAULT: 'A salt' is 'a sailor', and it unquestionably sounds the same as assault. Another contender for COD. |
| 6 | Unknown: a single area ZONE: Z is an unknown in algebra; a single is ONE. This was my last one in - I do like a four word clue, the last three of which could each be the letter a, yet the answer doesn't have an a in sight. ('Single' or 'a single' is more commonly I or ONE, but 'a' has been clued as 'single' before.) |
| 7 | I sorted out journalists EDITORS: anagram (out) of I SORTED. |
| 13 | Passionate animal doctor accepting macho types VEHEMENT: VET accepts in HE-MEN. He-men for macho types is quite good! |
| 14 | What initially gets cut and beaten? WHACKED: W is What, initially, HACKED is cut. My second last one in, and I like it. |
| 15 | Canadian policeman could be free after a second MOUNTIE: to free is to UNTIE, going after MO[ment] for a second. Unlike 6d, where 'a single' can be directly swappable with 'one', I would say 'a second' would strictly speaking have to be 'a mo', but I think that's being overly pedantic. |
| 18 | Find fault with Sunday lunch? ROAST: the first of two very nice double definitions. |
| 19 | Avoid a cunning plan? DODGE: second double definition. |
| 21 | Show disapproval of British bloomer BOOB: show disapproval is BOO, B is British, and a bloomer is a boob is a mistake. |