We couldn’t remember blogging a Vigo puzzle before but, after checking, we found that we had – back in 2015. Given our comments about 5d and 9ac, we are having concerns about memory lapses – we thought that solving crosswords was supposed to help!
Anyway, a fairly straightforward solve today with no ‘&lits’ or ‘cryptic clues’ this week thank goodness – we have a fairly hectic day ahead. Thanks Vigo.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | Exchange lies concealing source of investment (5) | |
| ANGEL | ‘Concealed’ or hidden in the clue exchANGE Lies | |
| 4 | Curtains separate around hazard (9) | |
| DEATHTRAP | DEATH (curtains) PART (separate) reversed or ‘around’ | |
| 9 | Hear radio broadcast complaint (9) | |
| DIARRHOEA | An anagram of HEAR RADIO – even with the anagram helping us we still had to check the spelling in Chambers! Joyce made up a mnemonic some years ago for one of her students who worked in a care home to help with the spelling but she couldn’t remember it. | |
| 10 | Restored from death, Romeo lives with nurse (5) | |
| RISEN | R (Romeo as used in the phonetic alphabet) IS (lives) EN (nurse) | |
| 11 | Promote cheer around centre of Montevideo (7) | |
| ELEVATE | ELATE (cheer) around EV (middle letters in Montevideo) | |
| 12 | European soldiers returning to mid-east oddly missing adversaries … (7) | |
| ENEMIES | E (European) MEN (soldiers) reversed or ‘returning’ mId-EaSt with odd letters missing | |
| 13 | … scattered over housing section (6) | |
| SPARSE | SPARE (over) around or ‘housing’ S (section) | |
| 15 | Struggles, missing wife, to get son on the move (8) | |
| RESTLESS | ||
| 18 | Things bird found in receding river (8) | |
| ENTITIES | TIT (bird) inside or ‘found in’ SEINE (river) reversed or ‘receding’ | |
| 20 | Foul setter on ship getting high (4,2) | |
| MESS UP | ME (setter) SS (ship) UP (high) | |
| 23 | Way beneficiary reported brigand (7) | |
| CORSAIR | Sounds like or ‘reported’ COURSE (way) HEIR (beneficiary) | |
| 24 | Always showing excitement about gold (7) | |
| FOREVER | FEVER (excitement) about OR (gold) | |
| 26 | Bond starts to uncover nefarious international terrorist enterprise (5) | |
| UNITE | First letters or ‘starts’ of Uncover Nefarious International Terrorist Enterprise | |
| 27 | Spooner’s fish dish is to be encouraged (4,5) | |
| TAKE HEART | A spoonerism of HAKE (fish) TART (dish) | |
| 28 | Distribute handy cure for disorder (3,3,3) | |
| HUE AND CRY | An anagram of HANDY CURE – anagrind is ‘distribute’ | |
| 29 | Weapon was re-examined having backfired (5) | |
| TASER | A reversal or ‘backfire’ of RESAT (was re-examined) | |
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | Letter opener chopped up dead seers (9) | |
| ADDRESSEE | An anagram of DEAD SEERS – anagrind is ‘chopped up’ | |
| 2 | Serious head of governing party (5) | |
| GRAVE | G (first letter or ‘head’ of Government) RAVE (party) | |
| 3 | Stockholders step back after French article (7) | |
| LARIATS | STAIR (step) reversed or ‘back’ after LA (French article) | |
| 4 | Condemned like St Paul’s with hole in (6) | |
| DOOMED | DOMED (like St Paul’s) with O (hole) inside | |
| 5 | Came to a vigil with Scottish hooligan (8) | |
| AWAKENED | A WAKE (vigil) NED (Scottish hooligan). We needed to check NED as we had never come across THIS meaning before – or if we had, we hadn’t remembered it. | |
| 6 | Crop top with footless deer on front (7) | |
| HARVEST | VEST (top) with HAR |
|
| 7 | Headless spirit in peril (9) | |
| RISKINESS | ||
| 8 | Criticises suppressing good for fast results (5) | |
| PANGS | PANS (criticises) around or ‘suppressing’ G (good). Presumably, if you are fasting this may result in hunger pangs. | |
| 14 | Elysium possibly back Queen biography (9) | |
| AFTERLIFE | AFT (back) ER (Queen) LIFE (biography) | |
| 16 | Celebrity in court following second disorderly arrest (9) | |
| SUPERSTAR | UP (in court) following S (second) and an anagram of ARREST – anagrind is ‘disorderly’ | |
| 17 | Unstable new currency gets nervous reaction (8) | |
| NEUROTIC | N (new) EURO (currency) TIC (nervous reaction) | |
| 19 | Exchange upcoming missile with a German (5-2) | |
| TRADE IN | DART (missile) reversed or ‘upcoming’ as it is a down clue EIN (German for a) | |
| 21 | Bits of corn on baking range one hears (7) | |
| EARSHOT | EARS (bits of corn) HOT (baking) – Joyce is worried that her range is not as good as it was. | |
| 22 | Rotten guide is not quite right (3-3) | |
| OFF KEY | A play on the fact that a guide is a KEY and if it was not quite right it may be OFF | |
| 23 | Tightly embrace object of desire (5) | |
| CRUSH | Double definition | |
| 25 | Six aluminium and sulphur containers (5) | |
| VIALS | VI (six) AL (aluminium) S (sulphur) | |
Fairly gentle, but entertaining and several more difficult ones to keep the grey matter ticking over. I liked ‘Stockholders’ in 3D and ‘fast results’ in 8d. A few dangers lurking about as one mini-theme and resurrections/eternal life as another – don’t know if there’s anything more to it. Sorry but I can’t help with you mnemonic which might be interesting!
Thanks to Vigo and B&J
Thanks, B and J – as you say, a straightforward puzzle but no less enjoyable for that.
A nice clue for 9ac, with which I had the same difficulty as you in entering: if ever you remember the mnemonic, Joyce, please let us know. 😉
In spite of having been married to a Scotsman, I didn’t know NED but the answer came easily, as Puck in the Guardian gave us ‘Come to a vigil before noon (6)’ last week.
I rather liked 10ac for its alternative ending to the tragedy!
It doesn’t make a deal of difference but I read 22dn as OFF [rotten] KEY [guide] with the definition as ‘not quite right’.
Thanks, Vigo, for an enjoyable puzzle.
Didn’t do this crossword so this is perhaps a little off-topic, but you may have noticed yesterday’s Times Quiz by Olav Bjortomt question 13: The website Fifteensquared is devoted to which hobby? New enlarged audience I wonder?
Enjoyable stuff from Vigo. Puzzle was towards the harder end of her spectrum, I thought, with some really nice constructions that had me head-scratching a while. Unlike our esteemed bloggers, I got Ned immediately, but then it is the pseudonym I use to set GK puzzles for Scotland’s Sunday Herald so was at an advantage.
Didn’t spot a theme other than what WP @1 mentioned, though I’d bet there is one. Lots of good clues with my pick of the bunch being 18a and 19a so thanks to Vigo for an engaging puzzle and to B&J for the blog. Thanks also to WR@3 for the info about the Times Quiz question – I’m sure Gaufrid will know if there’s been a leap in traffic due to the mention.
I enjoyed this one, thought I was going to fail on the last couple but somehow made it home.
I’ve been doing crosswords for some time but have never really understood the use of ellipses as in 12 & 13 ac. Sometimes one clue truly does lead to the other but plenty, and this seems to be one of them, don’t seem to have any connection.
If anyone can spare the time to enlighten me I’d be most grateful!
Thanks to Vigo and B&J
Dooof@5 – AFAIK, the ellipsis is used mostly for a surface reading (to make one clue continue into the other) and has no cryptic function at all. In that sort of case, it is a useful device to help a setter deal with a recalcitrant clue or just to make things more interesting for the solver surface-wise.
However, it is not always so, I believe I am correct in saying that some setters may use the device to have part of the second clue (wordplay or definition) at the end of the first clue (or vice-versa) and the ellipsis indicates this linkage. So, as rough example:
1a – Definition of 1a / wordplay of 1a / start of wordplay for 2a …
2a – … further wordplay for 2a / definition for 2a
Hope that helps and is roughly accurate – I’ve not written a clue of this type (other than just the surface type given in the first paragraph here) so perhaps a setter who has, or a solver who has solved one, could step in if I have given inaccurate info.
*Doofs – apologies for incorrect spelling.
Hoskins@6
I answer to many variations on that nickname, no apology needed!
Thanks for the answer, not sure I’m there yet, but appreciate your trying! To me there might as well be ellipses between any two random clues, I can’t see anything about the surfaces in 12 & 13 that lend themselves to this device over any other pair of clues…
P.S. See what I did there!
chuckle
I think I saw, Doofs – or is it a double see what you did there and the Vigo theme is pairs?
To try and clarify my points at @6. If we take the surfaces (ignore the cryptic reading) of the two clues here:
European soldiers returning to mid-east oddly missing adversaries …
… scattered over housing section
and put them together as one sentence (as the ellipsis wants us to) we get.
European soldiers returning to mid-east oddly missing adversaries scattered over housing section
which can be read as a whole sentence whereas putting Vigo’s 1a and 2a together would create a nonsense sentence and so wouldn’t work with an ellipsis as can be seen in:
Exchange lies concealing source of investment curtains separate around hazard
Does that make more sense?
Got it!
Many thanks for indulging me.
Glad to be of service. 🙂
Queen Victoria has given us an excellent daily cryptic here, I think.
Just the last few that held me up: I couldn’t see AWAKENED or SUPERSTAR for ages. Otherwise some concise and precise clueing. Liked CORSAIR particularly.
Thanks to B&J for the usual fine blog. If it’s any consolation, I’m a good speller, but I always have to look up DIARRHOEA. It’s certainly not phonetic, is it? Mind you, English is probably the least phonetic language on the planet.
Thanks Vigo and B&J.
Silky smooth as ever – like WordPlodder @1 I really liked ‘stockholder’ and ‘fast results.’
I wonder if Joyce’s mnemonic was similar to the one a nurse friend once told me:
Dash In A Rush Run Home Or Else Accident!
Thanks Cornick – I still cannot remember it but I think your version is very good.
Thanks you BertandJoyce for the blog. The way I remember how to spell diarrhoea (which I know doubt as it has just been underlined by the spellchecker) is: Dash In A Real Rush, Hurry Or Else Accident. I think it was from Gervais Phinn. (Another suggestion is Doesn’t It Always Really Run Horribly Over Each Ankle but not keen on that image!). Thank you also to everyone who took the time to comment. wordplodder was on the right track as far as where some of the entries came from. There are a number of titles of episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in there, hence all the risen from the dead references.
Victoria
Many thanks Vigo, enjoyed this a lot.
Nice to put a face to a name at Big Dave’s birthday bash.
I quickly completed NW & SE, then slowed down a bit in SW & NE. All lovely surfaces, thank you. Clues I liked most were RISEN, RESTLESS (my loi), FOREVER, GRAVE, DOOMED, SUPERSTAR, NEUROTIC & CRUSH. Like others, I enjoyed ‘fast results’ and ‘stockholders’
My take on 22d OFF KEY was the same as Eileen@2
Thanks again Vigo and thanks B&J
That should have been ‘now doubt’ rather than ‘know doubt’. Wrote comment mid food preparation and failed to hit submit so missed Cornick’s very similar version of the mnemonic which I like very much.
v
Like you, B&J, I’ve had a fairly hectic day so only just finished the crossword. No &lits or cryptic definitions, maybe, but some very ingenious clues that took a bit of teasing out. Very satisfying to complete without help, though.
Doofs@5: Further to Hoskins’ superb explanation of the use of ellipsis, back in January there was a puzzle by Serpent in which an ellipsis was actually the ‘definition’ part of the clue, the answer being ELLIPSIS. See this blog for how it worked.
Thanks, Vigo and B&J
PS
Dutch, it was lovely to meet you at Big Dave’s bash too.
V
vigo@17: As a big Buffy fan, I’m annoyed that I totally failed to spot the theme! I was just saying on a Buffy discussion as how EARSHOT is one of my favourite episodes. However, I don’t see a reference to The Body, which is, of course, the greatest piece of television ever made.