Running late this morning so it's a laconic blog you'll be getting (sounds of cheers from ![]()
jackkt et al). Did this on paper in an unremarkable, but pleasingly rational, 11:44. At first I thought it a bit middle-of-the-road for a Friday puzzle, but actually I think this may be because it both (a) uses exactly the same grid as the last one I blogged, and (b) contains a very similar clue to last week's 1ac at 22dn, and almost the same answer in the same grid location at 24dn! So a nagging sense of familiarity may have done the proverbial, but I don't think that's the puzzle itself's fault.
Good construction, commendably unbiffable definition parts, and a few smile-raising clues (1dn, 5dn, 17dn) make this an overall winner in the eyes of the Friday judge. My clue of the day though goes to the very clever indeed 11ac. Thanks setter!
Oh, by the way, there are still Plans Afoot for more London-based Setters & Bloggers meetups but I've been sick as a basenji all month so November has fallen by the wayside. Anyone got any availability/desired dates for December?
Across
1 Plant employees' outer clothing protected by uniform (6)
SESAME - E{mploye}S' ["outer clothing"] protected by SAME [uniform]
4 Variety of tips welcomed by female follower of fashion (7)
HIPSTER - (TIPS*) ["variety of..."] welcomed by HER [female]
9 Outstanding all-rounder finally eliminated from water sport (5)
OWING - {r}OWING [water sport, "eliminating" the final letter of {all-rounde}R]
10 Special operations winkling out European killer (3, 6)
RAT POISON - (OP{e}RATIONS*) ["special...", "winkling out E (European)"]
11 Affecting circulation of the French best seller? (9)
EMOTIONAL - reverse ["circulation of..."] LA NO. 1 TOME.
12 Sea air I discovered east of Australia (5)
OZONE - ONE [I] discovered east (i.e. to the right) of OZ [Australia]
13 Meaning to dismiss Head, causing disagreement (4)
RIFT - {d}RIFT [meaning, "to dismiss Head", i.e. its first letter]
14 Lack of harmony is issue in waltz, say (10)
DISSONANCE - IS SON [is issue] in DANCE [waltz, say]
18 Type of bread with pickle, good with some water (10)
WHOLEGRAIN - W HOLE G [with | pickle | good] + RAIN [some water]
20 Fish choking nets (4)
HOKI - "netted" by {c}HOKI{ng}
23 Plant, one found near river, secured by stake (5)
BRIAR - I [one] found near R [river], secured by BAR [stake]
24 Wise caterers employed by Southbank theatre will? (9)
PROVIDENT - said caterers will PROVIDE N.T. (the National Theatre, that is)
25 Flower otherwise withers (5,4)
WHITE ROSE - (OTHERWISE*) ["withers"]
26 Writer's current book dispatched without back cover (5)
IBSEN - I B SEN{t} [current | book | dispatched "without back cover"]
27 Prepare for attack from English forest, briefly (2, 5)
EN GARDE ENG ARDE{n} [English | forest "briefly"]
28 Vintage red? We will imbibe one mouthful between meals? (6)
CHEWIE CHE [(Guevara), a famous old-time red] + WE imbibing I [one]. A somewhat annoying word for gum, it seems...
Down
1 Screws up protecting small business? No-one's a winner with this (5, 4)
SCORE DRAW - WARDERS reversed [screws "up"], protecting CO ["small" business]
2 Good number beginning to faint in science fiction film, perhaps (7)
SPIN-OFF - PI NO. F [good | number | "beginning to" F{aint}] in SF [science fiction]
3 Woman heading off big game, stampeding (6)
MAGGIE - ({b}IG GAME*) ["heading off", "stampeding"]
4 Accommodation no longer available to rent? That's a pity, on reflection (5)
HOTEL - LET OH [no longer available to rent | that's a pity], all reversed ["on reflection"]
5 Advocate not supporting single European currency? (8)
PROPOUND - If you are not in favour of the Euro, you are presumably PRO-POUND instead...
6 Old silver coin collection rejected as well: new (7)
TESTOON - reverse of SET [collection "rejected"] + TOO N [as well | new]
7 Stove with burners - all a stockist has (5)
RANGE - double def
8 £5 I've spent on line? That's the limit (8
FRONTIER - F{ive}R [£5, with the "I've" spent] ON TIER [line]
15 Fielder finished top (8)
SLIPOVER - SLIP OVER [fielder | finished]
16 Old weapon put in cold storage for life (9)
EXISTENCE - EX [old] + STEN [weapon] stored in ICE [cold]
17 My twice-used letter opener? (4, 4)
DEAR, DEAR - "DEAR" is the first word of many letters; twice over.
19 Thinking old doctor will turn up to fix hip at home (7)
OPINING - O [old] + G.P. reversed [doctor "will turn up"], to fix IN IN [hip | at home]
21 Supervised deliveries? Bless! (7)
OVERSAW - OVERS AW [deliveries | bless!]
22 Polish: spoken European language (6)
FINISH - homophone of FINNISH ["spoken" European language]
23 Former singer and blog writer, oddly (5)
BOWIE - B{l}O{g} W{r}I{t}E{r}, "oddly". Few were odder than the Thin White Duke. In a good way.
24 Experts on English translation exercise (5)
PROSE - PROS [experts] on E [English]
jackkt et al). Did this on paper in an unremarkable, but pleasingly rational, 11:44. At first I thought it a bit middle-of-the-road for a Friday puzzle, but actually I think this may be because it both (a) uses exactly the same grid as the last one I blogged, and (b) contains a very similar clue to last week's 1ac at 22dn, and almost the same answer in the same grid location at 24dn! So a nagging sense of familiarity may have done the proverbial, but I don't think that's the puzzle itself's fault.Good construction, commendably unbiffable definition parts, and a few smile-raising clues (1dn, 5dn, 17dn) make this an overall winner in the eyes of the Friday judge. My clue of the day though goes to the very clever indeed 11ac. Thanks setter!
Oh, by the way, there are still Plans Afoot for more London-based Setters & Bloggers meetups but I've been sick as a basenji all month so November has fallen by the wayside. Anyone got any availability/desired dates for December?
Across
1 Plant employees' outer clothing protected by uniform (6)
SESAME - E{mploye}S' ["outer clothing"] protected by SAME [uniform]
4 Variety of tips welcomed by female follower of fashion (7)
HIPSTER - (TIPS*) ["variety of..."] welcomed by HER [female]
9 Outstanding all-rounder finally eliminated from water sport (5)
OWING - {r}OWING [water sport, "eliminating" the final letter of {all-rounde}R]
10 Special operations winkling out European killer (3, 6)
RAT POISON - (OP{e}RATIONS*) ["special...", "winkling out E (European)"]
11 Affecting circulation of the French best seller? (9)
EMOTIONAL - reverse ["circulation of..."] LA NO. 1 TOME.
12 Sea air I discovered east of Australia (5)
OZONE - ONE [I] discovered east (i.e. to the right) of OZ [Australia]
13 Meaning to dismiss Head, causing disagreement (4)
RIFT - {d}RIFT [meaning, "to dismiss Head", i.e. its first letter]
14 Lack of harmony is issue in waltz, say (10)
DISSONANCE - IS SON [is issue] in DANCE [waltz, say]
18 Type of bread with pickle, good with some water (10)
WHOLEGRAIN - W HOLE G [with | pickle | good] + RAIN [some water]
20 Fish choking nets (4)
HOKI - "netted" by {c}HOKI{ng}
23 Plant, one found near river, secured by stake (5)
BRIAR - I [one] found near R [river], secured by BAR [stake]
24 Wise caterers employed by Southbank theatre will? (9)
PROVIDENT - said caterers will PROVIDE N.T. (the National Theatre, that is)
25 Flower otherwise withers (5,4)
WHITE ROSE - (OTHERWISE*) ["withers"]
26 Writer's current book dispatched without back cover (5)
IBSEN - I B SEN{t} [current | book | dispatched "without back cover"]
27 Prepare for attack from English forest, briefly (2, 5)
EN GARDE ENG ARDE{n} [English | forest "briefly"]
28 Vintage red? We will imbibe one mouthful between meals? (6)
CHEWIE CHE [(Guevara), a famous old-time red] + WE imbibing I [one]. A somewhat annoying word for gum, it seems...
Down
1 Screws up protecting small business? No-one's a winner with this (5, 4)
SCORE DRAW - WARDERS reversed [screws "up"], protecting CO ["small" business]
2 Good number beginning to faint in science fiction film, perhaps (7)
SPIN-OFF - PI NO. F [good | number | "beginning to" F{aint}] in SF [science fiction]
3 Woman heading off big game, stampeding (6)
MAGGIE - ({b}IG GAME*) ["heading off", "stampeding"]
4 Accommodation no longer available to rent? That's a pity, on reflection (5)
HOTEL - LET OH [no longer available to rent | that's a pity], all reversed ["on reflection"]
5 Advocate not supporting single European currency? (8)
PROPOUND - If you are not in favour of the Euro, you are presumably PRO-POUND instead...
6 Old silver coin collection rejected as well: new (7)
TESTOON - reverse of SET [collection "rejected"] + TOO N [as well | new]
7 Stove with burners - all a stockist has (5)
RANGE - double def
8 £5 I've spent on line? That's the limit (8
FRONTIER - F{ive}R [£5, with the "I've" spent] ON TIER [line]
15 Fielder finished top (8)
SLIPOVER - SLIP OVER [fielder | finished]
16 Old weapon put in cold storage for life (9)
EXISTENCE - EX [old] + STEN [weapon] stored in ICE [cold]
17 My twice-used letter opener? (4, 4)
DEAR, DEAR - "DEAR" is the first word of many letters; twice over.
19 Thinking old doctor will turn up to fix hip at home (7)
OPINING - O [old] + G.P. reversed [doctor "will turn up"], to fix IN IN [hip | at home]
21 Supervised deliveries? Bless! (7)
OVERSAW - OVERS AW [deliveries | bless!]
22 Polish: spoken European language (6)
FINISH - homophone of FINNISH ["spoken" European language]
23 Former singer and blog writer, oddly (5)
BOWIE - B{l}O{g} W{r}I{t}E{r}, "oddly". Few were odder than the Thin White Duke. In a good way.
24 Experts on English translation exercise (5)
PROSE - PROS [experts] on E [English]