Guardian 24,990 – Brummie
Posted by manehi on April 21st, 2010
Struggled quite a bit with the top right corner until 17 dropped. Enjoyable puzzle overall.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FITFUL | FIT + FUL[l] |
| 4 | TRIPOS | rev( PI[ous] inside SORT=”class”) |
| 10 | HEAR TELL OF | H[ard] + EAR=spike [of corn] + [William] Tell + O[hio] + F[orce] |
| 12 | SEE STARS | SEES + TARS=salts [as in sailors] |
| 13 | PRESCHOOL | POOL=kitty [in betting] around (Cher’s)* |
| 15,9 | DOWN ARMS | DOWN=blue, ARMS=wings |
| 16,25 | FEEL FREE | FEE around ELF=goblin + RE=about |
| 17 | INTUITION | =the sixth sense not mentioned in the other clues. IN TUITION. |
| 21 | EYELINER | EYE=hole [as in needle] + LINER=boat. |
| 22 | DIE OFF | |
| 24 | IVORY COAST | James IVORY [wiki] + COAST |
| 26 | RATIFY | to make ratlike |
| 27 | GDANSK | hidden inside “smuG DAN’S Kind” |
| Down | ||
| 1 | FARCEUR | such as Ben Travers [wiki]. (care)* in FUR |
| 2,11 | TASTE DEFEAT | (teste[s] daft a&e)* |
| 3 | UNHITCH | UNHIT + CH[urch] |
| 5 | ROTTER | [t]ROTTER |
| 6 | PILOT BOAT | PILOT=prototype + O=ring inside BAT=”echo locator” |
| 7 | SPORRAN | is where a Scotsman’s ready=money might be put. |
| 8 | LANSDOWNE ROAD | A[lice] in (wonderland so)* |
| 14 | SMELL A RAT | ELLA [Fitzgerald] in (smart)* |
| 16 | FLYOVER | FLY=sharp + OVER=finished |
| 18 | UPDATED | UP + DATED |
| 19 | OFF-PEAK | OFF + PEAK which sounds like “peek” i.e. “spy, broadcast” |
| 20 | UNICEF | hidden in “ChateaU NICE Farm” |
| 23 | ELFIN | (life)* + ‘N’ = “and shortened” |
April 21st, 2010 at 12:32 pm
7a — A sporran is worn (with kilt etc.) by a “traditional” Scotsman and it’s where he puts his “ready,” i.e. money.
April 21st, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Whoops! It’s too early in the morning. I meant 7d, not 7a
April 21st, 2010 at 12:35 pm
Hi manehi
22ac is DIE (spotted thing) OFF (sick) rather than a cd.
7dn is where a Scotsman would put his money (ready).
April 21st, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Bill – thanks, I thought it could be something like that but didn’t know the “ready”=money bit. Post updated.
April 21st, 2010 at 12:37 pm
Thanks manehi. I too struggled with top right corner. I was stuck with Stupid for backward in 4 across until I twigged “examination”.
In 7 down I think a sporran is where you keep your ready cash.
April 21st, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Many thanks, Manehi, like you I struggled with the NE corner but even then I failed with 8d.
After cheating, Lansdowne Road only rang a very tiny bell because I am very proud to say that I’ve never seen a rugby match in my life.
In any event, it’s been closed since 2007 but, even when it was open, it was in Dublin!
Otherwise very enjoyable but I do implore setters to be more sporting by confining their sporting clues to England.
April 21st, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Gaufrid, 22ac – you’re right, of course. I think that was a leftover from a previous blog. Must agree with Bill, far too early in the morning…
April 21st, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Thanks manehi.
A real challenge as we would expect from Brummie. The usual piece by piece style yet again predominates. A style
that I’ve become accustomed to over the years and still find hard to solve.
Some of the wordplay, as ever, is a sheer delight. Sparkling examples include 13 across which is as witty as you could want. Similarly, 8 down is a beautifully constructed clue.
Other smart clues of note were ‘Fitful’ and ‘Ivory Coast’ as well as the use of ‘eye’ for hole.
Bravo Brummie!
April 21st, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Thanks manehi. I got through all this OK except for 1d whom I not heard of. In 1a FIT=very attractive seems a poor option. Several other clues or bits of them also felt ungainly, eg the last two letters of 10a. What was the unpunctuated in 15,9? I did quite like 26a though.
April 21st, 2010 at 12:58 pm
Thanks, manehi.
In 16dn, why does sharp = FLY?
I didn’t get very far with this, despite having seen the comment about the mini-theme and cheated on 17ac, but that’s normal for me, sadly.
April 21st, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Thanks, manehi. Wow, this was hard! I often felt as if I wasn’t on Brummie’s wavelength, or tuned into what Ian calls his ‘piece by piece’ style. Solved in fits and starts, with much recourse to check button. I did very much like the surface of 13ac!
April 21st, 2010 at 1:08 pm
Re 16d. I thought it was Fly as in 1970s slang for sharp, fashionable, impressive. Must admit it did watch the great great film Superfly last week which helped!
April 21st, 2010 at 1:31 pm
molonglo asked:
> What was the unpunctuated in 15,9?
‘Unpunctuated’ means remove the punctuation. The clue had “wing’s unpunctuated”, so treat this as wings = arms.
April 21st, 2010 at 1:32 pm
So close – only two missing today (4ac, 5dn). I should have known 4ac as my Dad did one. Completely failed to spot the mini-theme until 17ac, by which time I’d already got the referenced clues. 10ac took me ages as I didn’t know spike = ear or marksman = tell (although that one should have been obvious).
I thought this was great fun. Even when I was struggling at the start, the clues made me want to keep going.
April 21st, 2010 at 2:02 pm
Well, certainly a tough one today. Thanks to Brummie and manehi.
We had one mistake (INDUCTION instead of INTUITION). The “wing’s unpunctuated” seems a clumsy device, but then I am being a little inconsistent, since I liked Araucaria’s “Deranged orange” of a while back.
RATIFY was fun.
April 21st, 2010 at 2:44 pm
Well it didn’t take long for “my turn”. I enjoyed this immensely and got through in good time with recourse to Google only to verify 4ac and 1dn. Brummie put up a few cultural hurdles but I got over or around them OK this time. I hadn’t heard of 4ac, of course, but it was not dificult to “guess and Google”. My heart sank when I saw “sports venue” because I know nothing of soccer but was pleasantly surprised when Lansdowne Road jumped out of the anagram fodder. Hardest for me was the NW corner but eventually remembered the English habit of referring to an attractive lady as “fit” (or “fi’”). I don’t understand why and the expression hasn’t travelled beyond England’s borders as far as I can tell. Has it made it into Chambers?
I am with Pricklewedge #12 on how FLY = sharp but I think the expression is more recent than the 70s at least where I was, and I remember the 70s too.
April 21st, 2010 at 2:45 pm
Bryan #6
“It’s [Lansdowne Road] been closed since 2007 but, even when it was open, it was in Dublin!”
But “Work is now well underway on the construction of the new stadium … “.
Dublin? A far nicer venue!
April 21st, 2010 at 3:02 pm
Re Colin @16: I thought FLY was far LESS recent than the ’70s — 19th century, to be exact. I believe it was slang then for artful or untrustworthy. As was “sharp.” That was how I figured out 16d, anyway. But perhaps I should stop living in the past.
April 21st, 2010 at 3:02 pm
Excellent crossword, the most enjoyable for some time.
I notice my old favourite Ben Travers appeared again making this crossword very inaccessible to my children’s generation. Hands up who knows when a Ben Travers play was lest performed commercially without having to look it up. It’s not as though he was Shakespeare or Bernard Shaw who we might expect younger people to have heard of. Oh calamity, I say.
April 21st, 2010 at 3:03 pm
Eyesight’s not what it was. That should have said ‘last’ performed commercially.
April 21st, 2010 at 3:09 pm
Colin
Regarding your query regarding ‘fit’ in Chambers, yes it has made it – “Highly attractive, sexually desirable”.
Resorting to Collins for ‘fly’ we get – “knowing and sharp; smart” and it goes back much further than the ’70s (COED and Collins give the origin as C19). My main recollection is it being used to describe a spiv.
April 21st, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Is a pilot boat more an aid to a navigational aid as they don’t actually do any piloting?
April 21st, 2010 at 3:42 pm
I do wish that sports fans would realise that a very large portion of the world has zero interest or at best complete indifference to any of it. To a very large number of us sport of any kind is an intrusion into our lives. Away with it and more Dad’s Army references ;^)
April 21st, 2010 at 3:50 pm
I am never keen when I see Brummie’s name as compiler because I do not think I am remotely on his wavelength. I found this a real struggle although I did like particularly 27a and 20d not only because I knew the answers were right unlike a number of the clues on the grid today.
April 21st, 2010 at 3:53 pm
Great crossword from Brummie, plenty of wit and variety in the clueing. The senses thing around 17a was very well done, and many other clues were excellent – RATIFY, TASTE DEFEAT, I liked in particular. Not keen on ‘disconnected’ for ‘fitful’; I get the connection with, say, ‘sporadic’, but I don’t think it quite works.
Tom @19, I saw Rookery Nook at Menier’s Chocolate Factory last summer, with my son, in an audience about equally divided between my generation (and older), and his; very funny it was too – so don’t worry – Ben Travers lives on.
April 21st, 2010 at 3:58 pm
Thank you Gaufrid re Chambers and ‘fly’. I show Collins Thesaurus as having:
Fly – adj.(Slang, chiefly Brit.) cunning, knowing, sharp
But the American Heritage Dictionary also lists:
2. Slang Fashionable; stylish. This is recent, even current and close enough in meaning to sharp for me.
I am sure you are correct that Brummie was referring to the Collins definition, but it is interesting that I was able to get there with a more modern, less British usage of the word.
April 21st, 2010 at 4:08 pm
I agree with rrc about the strange quality of Brummie’s wavelength. It is,I am sure, most offensive to any bat to have itself defined as a mere “echo locator” (6 d.) By the way, a Scotsman may put his ready cash, or, more usually his “readies” in his sporran (8 d) but never, never, never his “ready”.
April 21st, 2010 at 4:10 pm
I thought this was great after yesterday’s contribution. I took nearly 80′, with top right being a struggle.
Bryan #6 “Otherwise very enjoyable but I do implore setters to be more sporting by confining their sporting clues to England.”
England? Perhaps you mean Britain or even UK?
April 21st, 2010 at 4:15 pm
Thanks manehi. A tough but very satisfying puzzle which deserved more time and closer attention than I allowed it. Like Mr. Jim I fell for ‘induction’. I vaguely felt it wasn’t quite right, but I didn’t see intuition – a lovely answer to an excellent clue. I also like 10a. which I nearly missed – I started trying the outlandish ‘hear shot of’ and was reminded of the correct answer when trying to check this.
April 21st, 2010 at 4:52 pm
Dave @ 28, I’m surprised that you are the first to comment on Bryan’s earlier comment (unless you count Don @ 17 – but I don’t understand what he means – sorry, Don!).
Perhaps Bryan can explain what he means if he’s still there? I’m not being antagonistic by the way, I just thought his words were…well… bizarre!
I suppose I get the point about certain specialist references being obscure, but Lansdowne Road (from a fairly obvious anagram) is fair enough i think. There are often plenty of literary and “high culture” references which have me foxed. I don’t see how I’d be helped if I knew they were going to be English. Surely the whole beauty of doing a cryptic crossword is that (a lot of the time) you can discover an answer, from the wordplay, that you would never have heard of otherwise.
April 21st, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Dave Ellison @28
I really did mean England.
But that was a concession. I had thought of limiting it to Lancashire but I’m not quite that xenophobic.
Well, not yet.
April 21st, 2010 at 6:23 pm
Great wordplay throughout. Can’t praise highly enough. Testing in parts – unusual, different. Particularly liked the use of the 5 senses and the requirement for a bit of intuition. Good stuff.
And fly looks familiar to me – common round the North for untrustworthy.
April 21st, 2010 at 6:31 pm
Great crossword, lovely surfaces though I must admit I intuited intuition and didnt get the theme til coming here. I loved RATIFY. As for fly it is in commonn usage here in Belfast usually in the form of a “fly man” meaning a dodgy character.
April 21st, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Almost got there, hard work. Is anyone going to answer #25 re disconnected? I’d like to know too please.
April 21st, 2010 at 7:05 pm
Hi Derek
I cannot find any suitable correlation in the usual dictionaries but for synonyms of fitful Chambers Thesaurus gives “sporadic, intermittent, occasional, spasmodic, erratic, irregular, disconnected, haphazard, uneven, broken, disturbed”.
April 21st, 2010 at 7:14 pm
What first worried me about ‘fitful’ was the ‘fit’ part which is not glossed as ‘very attractive’ in my (older) dictionaries. The word itself gets meanings such as spasmodic, capricious, having irregular periods of activity which, like sporadic, seem to imply some idea of disconnectedness.
April 21st, 2010 at 8:07 pm
If something is fitful it might be said to be misfiring, partly successful or similar. Something of a curate’s egg!
April 21st, 2010 at 9:31 pm
A great crossword from Brummie I thought and the only one this week that I’ve nearly finished. Just missed out on BOAT of PILOT BOAT fame. I couldn’t think of a suitable word to fit the clue although it’s obvious when the answer is seen. Ah well, there’s always tomorrow.
April 21st, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Forgot, a spiv used to be referred to as a fly-boy, a sort of Arthur Daly character.
April 22nd, 2010 at 1:57 am
Ah, good to see Lansdowne Road remembered again.
It’s forever burnt in my mind for the deafening silence accompanying Michael Lynagh’s try in the corner in the final minutes of the ’91 RWC quarter-final.
But don’t mention the quarter-final of ’07 . . . sheesh.
April 22nd, 2010 at 8:02 am
“Fit” is very common slang among teenagers & twenty-somethings meaning attractive. A nice counterpart to the completely inaccessible (to me) “Travers” – did anyone get both?
April 22nd, 2010 at 9:40 am
‘Fit’ as in ‘She’s as fit as a butchers dog’ I assume. Very much in the Cyclopsian vein as beermagnet would testify, I’m sure.
April 22nd, 2010 at 10:09 am
As fit as a butcher’s dog has nothing to do with looks, that’s to do with fit as in healthy.
It’s fit as in ‘She’s well fit, innit.’