| Across | Answers and Clues | Explanations |
| 1 | STARTING POINT | |
| Major can race it on redeveloped base (8,5) | STAR + TIN + GP + anagram of IT ON | |
| 9 | TITANIC | |
| Sunken vessel is intact strangely, apart from bow of ship (7) | Anagram of IS INTACT minus (S)HIP | |
| 10 | SOLOMON | |
| Unaccompanied monk losing support of king, a wise man (7) | SOLO + (MONK minus K) | |
| 11 | LOOSE | |
| Promiscuous ladies, say, curtailed sex (5) | LOO + (SE)X | |
| 12 | OVERTHROW | |
| Crush resistance in obvious manner (9) | R inside (OVERT + HOW) | |
| 13 | DIAGNOSE | |
| Prod proboscis pierced by a pinpoint (8) | (DIG + NOSE) outside A | |
| 15 | CAMPER | |
| Recreational vehicle arrived, taking parking next to river (6) | CAME outside P + R | |
| 18 | PATINA | |
| Bit of butter in a shallow Roman pan (6) | PAT + IN + A | |
| 19 | COVETOUS | |
| Small bay, in our opinion, is wanting (8) | COVE + TO US | |
| 22 | WENT AHEAD | |
| We disrupted heat and took the lead (4,5) | We + anagram of HEAT AND | |
| 24 | ACUTE | |
| A copper tube hollowed out is sharp? (5) | A + CU + T(ub)E | |
| 25 | RETREAT | |
| Go back to doctor again (7) | Double Definition | |
| 26 | NIT-PICK | |
| Be unduly critical returning metal tool (3-4) | TIN reversed + PICK | |
| 27 | SILENT PARTNER | |
| Passive investor, loaned a standard amount in rent, is given backing (6,7) | (LENT + PAR) inside [(RENT IS) reversed] | |
| Down | Answers and Clues | Explanations |
| 1 | SETTLED | |
| Test requiring a rewrite was first worked out (7) | Anagram of TEST + LED | |
| 2 | ASTRONAUT | |
| One relocated to Saturn? (9) | A + anagram of TO SATURN | |
| 3 | TENSE | |
| A character ejected from unruly Senate is unable to relax (5) | Anagram of SENATE minus A | |
| 4 | NECROPSY | |
| Treatment of corpse in main mortuary ultimately? (8) | Anagram of CORPSE inside [MAI(N) + MORTUAR(Y)] | |
| 5 | PISCES | |
| Sign reformed members of Spice Girls at the end (6) | Anagram of SPICE + GIRL(S) | |
| 6 | ILL AT EASE | |
| Strange guy found behind villa with head cut off (3,2,4) | TEASE after V(ILLA) | |
| 7 | TIMER | |
| Clock-watcher’s area of responsibility in recession (5) | REMIT reversed | |
| 8 | ANSWER | |
| A cross-section of Australians were solvent (6) | australiANS WERe | |
| 14 | NONPAREIL | |
| Nothing limiting about clip is unique (9) | NIL outside (ON + PARE) | |
| 16 | PROFUSION | |
| Abundance of uranium stored in refurbished prison (9) | (OF + U) inside anagram of PRISON | |
| 17 | COLD SNAP | |
| Old vessels tied up following onset of cyclonic period of wintry weather (4,4) | [OLD + (PANS) reversed] after (C)YCLONIC | |
| 18 | POWERS | |
| Influential authorities pressure those in debt? (6) | P + OWERS | |
| 20 | SPEAKER | |
| Orator came away from peacemakers confused (7) | Anagram of PEACEMAKERS minus CAME | |
| 21 | NEWTON | |
| Scientist not familiar with nitrogen? (6) | NEW TO + N | |
| 23 | NATES | |
| Bum had a meal served in tin sent back (5) | ATE inside (SN reversed) | |
| 24 | ALTER | |
| Modify components in general terms (5) | generAL TERms |
SO
8d – the “cross section” simply meant – over two words as well as hidden &
14d – I really didn’t get past “NON” for “Nothing” – everything else was just ‘made up’
Lovely work David but I – “Must do Better”
Richard
I interpretedd non pareil as no parallel = no equal = unique
Now I see 14d Arthur, makes the coloured sprinkles from Grandma’s kitchen even more memorable.
I went NON = Nothing, then got the PARE bit & shrugged my shoulders over the IL bit. Beautiful piece of work from David.
David – please clarify which part of the 8d clue is the definition. I believe that it’s “solvent”. Others have suggested that it might be “A” or “A cross”.
One definition of “solvent” in the Macquarie Dictionary is “something that solves or explains”.
Hi Greg,
If SOLVENT isn’t the definition, what role does it play in the clue? Other definitions I consider to be not Stickler-like.
Best
David
A ‘cross’ (X) would mean section of Australians were unsolved or wrong. No such word as unsolvent apparently.
David asks “what is the purpose of the word solvent?” As I said in the blog last week, it completes the phrase. The clue could not stop at “A cross section of Australians were” but the last word could have been rich, unemployed or any of a multitude of words and the clue would have worked for me and many other solvers who were not aware that this construction was not Stickler like. Crosswords from sources as reliable as Guardian and as unreliable as the daily news include hidden clues which do not stop as soon as the hidden answer has been included. They contain words which have no purpose in the clue other than to provide a clue which makes sense.
One issue in this debate is whether we can ignore the punctuation (hyphen) in cross-section.
Many references indicate that punctuation should be ignored.
Alec Robins in his book on Crosswords gives only one example of a hyphen. In this the hyphen is ignored.
One is needed in mid-term for domestic help. (4)
He records that a (one) is needed in mid. To create maid. This is a “term for domestic help”.
I could not find a reference to punctuation or hyphens in my search of Chambers crossword Manual by Don Manley.
So is it legitimate to break 8a into A cross (answer) and section of Australians were solvent.
I believe so, but David as a setter sees things differently.
Less compelling for me is the argument that Solvent is the definition
Frankly I am unimpressed by the Macquarie dictionary. However, I will concede the point, and accept that that was David’s intention. I did wade through many on line dictionaries to find any which defined solvent as the solution. Eventually I came upon the phrase. “something that solves or explains”.
Next I searched for a synonym for solvent.
Thesaurus com does not list either answer or solution as a synonym.
Power thesaurus ranks solution as no 1 and answer as no 5.
Reversing the question, I found in the power thesaurus
Synonym for answer revealed solution as no 5 and solvent was not listed
Synonym for solution revealed answer ranked no 1 and solvent ranked 6.
In the final analysis I think we have to agree to disagree.
This debate has been interesting and educational which supports the value of the blog and David’s willingness to share his knowledge and experience.
To me it’s simple:
* There is at least one major dictionary and/or thesaurus which says that “solvent” can mean “answer” – which makes it fair game as a definition.
* So far I haven’t seen a dictionary or thesaurus which says that “a cross” can mean “answer”. Also, if this were the definition, then “solvent” would be redundant, which doesn’t happen in The Stickler.