I think this was a good Easter crossword challenge – definitely tough towards the end, but it felt like a fair challenge to me, and there are lots of nice clues to enjoy.
The rubric of the puzzle read:
Thirty-six solutions require the inclusion of a common three-letter abbreviation or a three-letter word; a further solution needs two of them. These 38 abbreviations and words fall into two separate themed groups of 19 (not further defined), each appearing twice in the grid. The 37 clues involved consist of the definition of the full grid entry and cryptic wordplay, which omits the three-letter abbreviation or word. Their letter counts are for the required grid entry.
The 19 three letter abbreviations (or three letter word in the case of MAY) were abbreviations of months of the year and days of the week, i.e. MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN and JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC. I’ve highlighted these in red in the answers below.
This was a nice theme, I think – quite accessible, but it still added appreciably to the difficulty of the puzzle, and many of the abbreviations are nicely hidden.
Across
1. Father and young girls, when wife has gone, had their chips! (6,5)
FRENCH FRIES
FR = “Father” + WENCHES = “young girls” without W = “wife”
Definition: “chips!”
7. Literary character may slam prom broadcast (3,8)
MRS MALAPROP
(SLAM PROM)*
Definition: “Literary character”
13. Figurine display includes a bit of tole (9)
STATUETTE
STATE = “display” (Any ideas about this?) around T[ole] = “bit of tole”
Definition: “Figurine”
14. Make-up obtained from shell — not hard (7)
CONCOCT
CONC[h] = “shell” without H = “hard”
Definition: “Make-up”
15. Claudia from Corrie spoken of as leader (5)
RULER
Claudia Colby from Coronation Street was played by Rula Lenska, apparently, and “Rula” sounds like RULER
Definition: “leader”
16. Rebus’s consternation (6)
DISMAY
John Rebus is a fictional DI (Detective Inspector), so if you ignore the unindicated definition-by-example, that gives you DI’S = “Rebus’s”. (There should at least be a question mark at the end of this clue, surely? This is one of those cases where the DBE not being indicated did make this clue harder for me to solve.)
Definition: “consternation”
17. Held out, having guffawed (7)
LAUGHED
(HELD)*
Definition: “guffawed”
18. Tonic drunk in Crewe, say (8)
JUNCTION
(TONIC)*
Definition: “Crewe, say” – Crewe railway station is a junction on the West Coast Main Line
21. The very best place, on reflection (4)
TOPS
SPOT = “place” reversed
Definition: “The very best”
23. I object to what the kitten did (5)
MEWED
ME = “I object” – i.e. the first person pronoun as the object of a verb
Definition: “what the kitten did”
24. Thatcher’s assertion is somewhat hesitant in action (4)
TINA
Hidden in “[hesitan]T IN A[ction]”
Definition: “Thatcher’s assertion” – the phrase “There Is No Alternative” was familiar to me, but I didn’t know it had a well known acronym…
25. Bag from outside part of chapel (7)
SATCHEL
CH[ap]EL = “outside part of chapel”
Definition: “Bag”
28. Immediately 39 the poet dismissed son and one other (2,4,2)
AS SOON AS
SASSOON = “[SIEGFRIED] the poet” without S = “son” but with A S = “one other [son]”
Definition: “Immediately”
29. African girl embracing dogs (8)
SUDANESE
SUE = “girl” around DANES = “dogs”
Definition: “African”
30. Midnight Cowboy? (4)
THUG
G = “mid” “[ni]G[ht]” (the middle of “night”)
Definition: “Cowboy?”
34. Suspended a governor and worker (7)
ABEYANT
A + BEY = “governor” + ANT = “worker”
Definition: “Suspended”
35. Fair during the ’70s (4)
EVEN
Hidden in [s]EVEN[ties]
Definition: “Fair”
36. Distributed pollutants left out for one submitting a request (9)
POSTULANT
(POLUTANTS)* – the anagram fodder is “pollutants” without one of the Ls (“left out”)
Definition: “one submitting a request”
39. Dragon-slayer blockaded (9)
SIEGFRIED
SIEGED = “blockaded”
Definition: “Dragon-slayer” referring to the hero of Wagner’s opera, or Norse myth
41. Glut of eggs, for starters (4)
SATE
E[ggs] = “eggs, for starters”
Definition:
42. Cupids, coming back, popular with one European capital (7)
AMORINI
IN = “popular” + I = “one” + ROMA = “European capital” all reversed
Definition: “Cupids”
45. ‘Faire’ translated means trouble (2-2)
TO-DO
“Faire” is the French verb “to do”
Definition: “trouble”
46. Score sent back — was not a piece (8)
NOCTURNE
RUN = “Score” reversed + NE = “was not” – an obselete word for “not” according to Chambers
Definition: “a piece”
47. Rescue vessel out a lot around isle (8)
LIFEBOAT
(A LOT)* around I = “isle”
Definition:
50. Tiresome once more when youth leader departs (7)
WEARING
WEARYING = “[Tiresome]” from “once more” without Y[outh] = “your leader departs”
Definition: “Tiresome”
52. Turning in the water, bear’s heading off (4)
EDDY
[t]EDDY = “bear’s heading off”
Definition: “Turning in the water”
53. Lectern’s Roman standard (5)
EAGLE
Double definition: “Lectern” and “Roman standard”
54. Half of the Lagavulin, say, finally available on isle (4)
SKYE
[whi]SKY = “Half of the Lagavulin, say” + [availabl]E = “finally available”
Definition: “isle”
57. Suitable area — quiet river location (8)
APPOSITE
A = “area” + P = “quiet” + PO = “river” + SITE = “location”
Definition: “Suitable”
58. It’s for sure drinks are returned (4,3)
SAFE BET
TEAS = “drinks” reversed
Definition: “It’s for sure”
59. Director left instrumentalists capital (6)
BANJUL
BAN[d] = “instrumentalists” without D = “director”
Definition: “capital” (Banjul is the capital of The Gambia)
64. Manager backed president at Pier Head (5)
KLOPP
POLK = “president” reversed (“backed”) + P[ier] = “Pier Head”
Definition: “Manager”, referring to Jürgen Klopp, manager of Liverpool FC
65. Cartoonist reveals 1920s’ style (3,4)
ART DECO
Hidden in [c]ARTO[onist]
Definition: “1920s’ style”
66. Metal rasp returned to hospital treatment area (5,4)
BURNS UNIT
TIN = “Metal” + RUB = “rasp” all reversed
Definition: “hospital treatment area”
67. Don dismissing Henry — extremely heartless ritual (3,8)
TEA CEREMONY
TEAC[h]ER = “Don” without H = “Henry” + E[xtremel]Y = “extremely heartless”
Definition: “ritual”
68. Bobs once, maybe, having no details on change (3,8)
OLD ETONIANS
(NO DETAILS ON)*
Definition: “Bobs once, maybe” – I think this is from the Eton expression “dry bobs” to refer to cricketers.
Down
1. Joined, having worried too much single-heartedly (5)
FUSED
FUS[s]ED = “having worred too much” but “single-heartedly” (i.e. with only one of the two Ss at the heart of the word)
Definition: “Joined”
2. Opponents embracing foremost Welshman (5)
EVANS
ES = “Opponents” (East and South in bridge) around VAN = “foremost”
Definition: “Welshman”
3. Cat with half of two fish (6)
COUGAR
COU[ple] = “half of two” + GAR = “fish”
Definition: “Cat”
4. Tory leader involved in payment for honour (4)
FETE
T[ory] = “Tory leader” in FEE = “payment”
Definition: “honour” (as a verb)
5. Repeated it time and time again to top journalist (8)
ITERATED
IT + ERA = “time” + T = “time again” + ED = “top journalist”
Definition: “Repeated”
6. Payment made by feudal tenant in due course leads to prison (6)
SOCAGE
SO = “in due course” + CAGE = “prison”
Definition: “Payment made by feudal tenant”
7. 1 33 up in town in south-east France (10)
MONTELIMAR
I = “1” + LET = “[ALLOWED]” all reversed. This is the clue referred to in the rubric where two themed abbreviations are in a single answer.
Definition: “town in south-east France”
8. Way to upset a bullock (4)
STOT
ST = “Way” + TO reversed (“to upset”)
Definition: “a bullock”
9. Arrived with jaunty Tessa on Edinburgh’s extinct volcano (7,4)
ARTHUR’S SEAT
ARR = “Arrived” + (TESSA)*
Definition: “Edinburgh’s extinct volcano”
10. Fruit from one bed, small (8)
APRICOTS
I = “one” + COT = “bed” + S = “small”
Definition: “Fruit”
11. Elizabethan favourite at demo, we’re told, for some but not others (7)
RALEIGH
Sounds like “rally” (“demo”), at least in some accents – acknowledged nicely with “for some but not others in the clue”
Definition: “Elizabethan favourite”
12. Study of prisons around Croatia is a pseudoscience (10)
PHRENOLOGY
PENOLOGY = “Study of prisons” around HR = “Croatia”
Definition: “a pseudoscience”
19. Exclusive group sitting upright (6)
SEJANT
SET = “Exclusive group”
Definition: “sitting upright” – this is a term from heraldry. I do like learning these heraldic terms 🙂
20. Adopted poor caretaker without wheels (5,4)
TAKEN OVER
(ETAKER)* – the anagram fodder is “caretaker” without “car” (“wheels”)
Definition: “Adopted”
21. His column is about painting (6)
TRAJAN
ART = “painting” reversed
Definition: the subject of “his column”, referring to Trajan’s Column
22. From the heart, expats assist Swedes dance (9)
PASSEPIED
Middle letters of [ex]PA[ts] [as]SI[st] [sw]ED[es]
Definition: “dance”
26. Who get rid of borders used with model railways? (2,5)
HO GAUGE
[w]HO GE[t] = “Who get” “rid of borders”. The surface reading in this clue is quite awkward, I think.
Definition: “used with model railways?”
27. Minty drink on record (5)
JULEP
EP = “record”
Definition: “Minty drink”
31. How a drink affected skilful creation (9)
HANDIWORK
(HOW A DRINK)* – lovely clue
Definition: “skilful creation”
32. Recognised standards in life bewildered nieces (9)
DECENCIES
(NIECES)*
Definition: “Recognised standards in life”
33. Half the sitcom is permissible (7)
ALLOWED
ALLO’ [allo’] = “Half the sitcom”
Definition: “permissible”
37. One who wrote about a year in Marrakesh and Tyneside (5)
MAYNE
NE = “Tyneside”
Definition: “One who wrote about a year in Marrakesh” referring to his book “A Year in Marrakesh” (originally published as “The Alleys of Marrakesh”
38. Good characteristic of Caesar’s man (6)
VIRTUE
VIR = “Caesar’s man” (i.e. the Latin for “man”)
Definition: “Good characteristic”
40. Discuss terms again, involving teenage trio (11)
RENEGOTIATE
(TEENAGE TRIO)*
Definition: “Discuss terms again”
42. 64’s ground, anonymously, is far away (6)
AFIELD
“[KLOPP]’s ground” is ANFIELD – “anonymously” means “without a name” or without N = “name”
Definition: “far away”
43. Pack sailing boat, avoiding customs house, somewhere in Suffolk (10)
STOWMARKET
STOW = “Pack” + KETCH = “boat” without CH = “customs house”
Definition: “somewhere in suffolk”
44. Distributed Sunday beer to the deputy clergyman’s place (10)
SUBDEANERY
(SUNDAY BEER)*
Definition: “the deputy clergyman’s place”
48. Garibaldi regularly espousing rising characters (8)
GIUSEPPE
Alternate letters of E[s]P[o]U[s]I[n]G reversed
Definition: “Garibaldi” – Gisuppe Garibaldi. I’d prefer this as “Garibaldi, perhaps,” or “Garibaldi, for one,”
49. Wife gets berated, wiggling here? (5,3)
WATER BED
W = “Wife” + (BERATED)*
Definition: “wiggling here?” or the whole clue if you see it as an &lit (which is probably a better parsing, since otherwise “wiggling” would be doing double duty)
51. When overturned, smell sauce inside jar (7)
AMPHORA
AROMA = “smell” with HP = “sauce” inside, all reversed
Definition: “jar”
55. Oxford’s reference work brought up from the very start (2,4)
DE NOVO
OED = “Oxford’s reference work” reversed
Definition: “from the very start”
56. Car backing up a little (6)
DATSUN
TAD = “a little” reversed
Definition: “Car”
60. Group that seized power tracing army leaders (5)
JUNTA
T[racing] A[rmy] = “tracing army leaders”
Definition: “Group that seized power”
61. Position inducing indolence (5)
LOTUS
Cryptic definition referring to the Lotus position in Yoga and the myth of the the Lotus-eaters (where eating the Lotus tree induced indolence)
62. Emperor ran away from Italian city (4)
OTTO
OTRANTO = “Italian city” without RAN
Definition: “Emperor”
63. Worry about appearing in newspaper (4)
FRET
RE = “about” in FT = “newspaper”
Definition: “Worry”
I loved this. If it were up to me we’d have a Maskarade every couple of weeks during these trying times, but it’s not up to me and I’m sure not everyone would agree, including Maskarade! But thanks for this one, anyway.
The only thing that really held me up was NE for “was not” in 46a – the online Chambers does not seem to give it. What it does give is the meaning of born (male) from the French, corresponding to the more common née for female. I had been trying to make this fit, under the theory that if someone was born John Smith then that someone “was” John Smith, but that left the “not” unaccounted for. So NE went in, but reluctantly.
I did find the instructions confusing (again). “Two separate themed groups of 19 each occurring twice in the grid” seems to make 76 items, until you realize that there are two groups which when combined add to 19. The solving was able to proceed anyway without complete understanding of the instructions, and all became clear after a short while.
Well, this was a proper challenge, requiring some bookkeeping and more time than anyone but a retiree could justify (okay, maybe some of the millions who are temporarily unemployed). Almost despaired before starting, but I’m glad I didn’t. LOI was EVANS because I spent too long thinking it was a “special” clue with “foremost Welshman” as the definition. Emars? Ejans? Only after I had accounted for all the special clues was I able to see it in the right way. Also outsmarted myself for a while by entering BIRTH UNIT for the hospital department, correcting it only after realizing that I had three THUs and only one SUN (and anyway rib = rasp was a stretch). Maskarade was kind enough to sprinkle in a generous assortment of easier clues, making the whole thing at least a bit less daunting than it first appeared. Nevertheless, thanks to him for making me sweat a bit, and thanks to mhl for the marathon blogging effort.
I thought I was going to epically (is that a word?) fail on this with only 8 clues solved on the first pass. I began to get some purchase and saw the months/days of the week device reasonably early in the piece so that helped things along. But it did take several sittings and lots of googling and use of reference sources to get through it. Some UK knowledge required and words that were unfamiliar to me, so I learned a lot. Pity about putting in MARSEILLES at 7d which mucked things up for a time. I did like MRS MALAPROP at 7a.
An interesting puzzle but I varied between enjoying the treasure hunt and feeling a bit frustrated and impatient to get to the end.
Thank you to Maskarade for a lot of clever work in setting this one, to mhl for all the unpacking, and to The Guardian for keeping us both occupied and informed in these troubling times.
BTW, I agree with Dr. W that the instructions were a bit confusing at the outset.
Thanks mhl and Maskarade.
Didn’t know NE = not
Didn’t get EAGLE.
After I finished, I felt the words “of 19” in the rubric are superfluous and confusing (was wondering what is the other group of 19, one group being days and months adding to 19).
Slightly vague instructions I agree, but a cracker of a puzzle.
‘State’ for ‘display’ as in ‘lying in state’ in 13 perhaps? Chambers has ‘pomp, display, ceremonial dignity’.
I parsed ‘bob’ in 68 as referring to the Eton Crop hairstyle.
Slight niggle with the extraneous ‘may’ in 7.
Thanks Maskarade and mhl.
Thanks mhl and Maskarade. A tour de force and great fun – requiring a chunk of Saturday afternoon and an hour on Sunday. The theme came soon with Garibaldi and the Suffolk town helped out by LAUGHED and STATUETTE though the rest of that clue after ‘Figurine’ defeated me. A bit of googling needed after the event to verify the references to Corrie, Thatcher and Rebus. For no good reason DECENCIES was last in
Maybe on 13A, mhl, state as in ‘lie in state’.
While I didn’t solve this, I was quite chuffed because this is the closest I’ve ever got to solving a Maskarade puzzle. The theme dawned on me pretty early, which helped. I eventually got it all in except 34a, which I stared at for days and could not see, even though I had all the crossers. I don’t think I would have come up with “abeyant”, even though I have seen the bey=governor device before, and so probably should have.
Thanks mhi and Maskarade
68 Bob’s your uncle perhaps?
As used by Michael Gove when referring to Cameron’s 2014 cabinet. Gove suggested that the phrase originated with PM Robert Gascoyne Cecil’s (Lord Salsbury’s) cabinet of “Old Etonians”.
I’m with Dave @2, this took some careful counting and tabulation, but got there in the end. Took all day to finish but got there in the end.
Thanks to mhl and Maskarade
I don’t totally agree with our blogger. Like many of Maskarade’s efforts, this was more of a slog than an enjoyable experience. And the ‘theme’ (if that is the right word) – just finding the days and months twice – was just uninspiring.
My FOIs were 1ac and 21dn so the instructions immediately made sense and it was just a question of looking for the missing letters.
My LOIs were 46ac and 37dn.
A few queries:
14ac: I didn’t like the hyphen in make-up. Chambers gives ‘to make up a story’ (verb) but also talks about a ‘made-up story’ (adjective). Hmm.
16ac: yes, agree that we need ‘maybe’ or ‘perhaps’ after Rebus?
30ac: I have never heard the word cowboy used to mean thug. My Chambers doesn’t list thug under cowboy, but it does talk about a ‘rough man’ (!) so I suppose it’s just OK.
I couldn’t parse 46ac (didn’t know ‘ne’) and I’m still not convinced that 50ac works.
Again, unlike our blogger, I just felt that many of the clues were rather weak. But, on the positive side, I did like MEWED, to me the only decent clue in the whole puzzle.
Nonetheless, thanks to Maskarade and to mhl.
A perfect way to while away a few hours in the current climate. Thank you Maskerade and mhl.
ARTHUR’S SEAT and APRICOTS were the clear way into the puzzle for me, having guessed MRS MALAPROP was probably the answer but wondering why.
I, too, would like to see more of Maskerade’s special puzzles, esecially during the lockdown. My perfect world would be one where he and Paul alternated, with the occasional Puck thrown in.
Thanks Maskarade and mhl.
Lovely puzzle. Just one thing – could someone please explain how “Director left instrumentalists” = “ban” in 59? It must be obvious because mhl hasn’t parsed it but I don’t get it!
To crosser @14
BAND minus D
Thank you, Anna. Yes, it was obvious!
Many thanks to Maskarade for what I considered to be an excellent puzzle, really well constructed. For me the theme made it very accessible if definitely not a walk in the park.
IMHO once you spot the theme, the instructions are more than clear and for me that happened quite quickly as my FOI was JUNction so what else could it be with 12 months and 19 (from the instructions) take away 12 giving 7… I thought this was set up wonderfully as a way of passing some time on a long lockdown weekend with family around to bounce elements of the clues on.
Funnily enough I had the same issue with multiple THUrsdays (with BIRTH UNIT rather than BURNS UNIT which made me doubt THUG) as @DaveInCarolina but double entry book keeping system kept me right!
Thanks Mhl for the excellent blog and the teasing out of a couple of parsings.
Stay safe all.
The instructions were badly worded, there couldn’t be two different groups of 19 each, but it didn’t take long to see what the real groups were likely to be and the whole thing was easier than most holiday specials. Using a checklist helped with the last few. Another impressive gridfill and quite an enjoyable solve.
Thanks to Maskarade and mhl
That needed a few sittings but I enjoyed it. Reassuring to find that the two clues on which I was uncertain of my parsing, STATUETTE and NOCTURNE, also caused some head scratching elsewhere. I frequently find that “solving” the rubric is the trickiest part of the process. Although the general theme became apparent pretty quickly, I was 50% done before I divined the true meaning. That said, it did come in handy towards the end since I had fortunately, and unusually for me, kept track of the days and months. Needed Google for the Corrie, Thatcher and Bobs (wet and dry) references. Thanks both..
I agree with Gonzo@6 that ‘bobs’ refers to Eton bobs, which were ’once’ popular hair styles. AKA Eton crop – you can see images on Google at ‘Eton bob haircut’.
RALEIGH (as it happens, my LOI, helped in the end by my lady) is alternatively pronounced to rhyme with ‘sorely’ or ‘barley’ (without a rolled r) according to taste. There is debate about how he would have pronounced it.
I agree with Anna@12 that ‘make-up’ is not a verb, but have no problem with 50a – WEARING and ‘wearying’ both mean ‘tiresome’ in subtly different ways, so we feel the clue works very well.
As widely said, the rubric was incorrect. It was one themed group, appearing twice, consisting of two parts. But once ARTHURS SEAT went in quickly, THU was apparent, which indicated the days, and implied the months were needed to make the number 19.
Thanks to mhl for explaining the parsing of several I did not follow, even though I completed it all. And to Maskarade for a puzzle at just the right level for a long weekend.
Thanks both. Recent Maskarade holiday puzzles have suffered from basic (usually enumeration) errors, but this was a welcome exception. Initially the instructions left me floundering (as usual) but soon the theme showed itself.
I enjoyed that a lot, great fun. The Bobs in OLD ETONIANS had me puzzled for a little while. Like Roger@10, I wondered about Gove’s little dig (that probably hasn’t dated well for him). I was unaware of the Etonian slang for sporty types (dry=cricket, wet=rowing, slack=neither). Ah, such wit. We are not worthy. I had no idea that Rula Lenska was in Coronation Street having not watched it since I was a kid. Needed the crossers there.
Wth such a large grid I didn’t work my way through from top as usual. I just skimmed through the clues and picked some out at random. My first one (pencilled) in was actually 65a (ART DECO), which looked like it just had to be ART DECO. That suggested at least part of the theme to me, soon confirmed by CONCOCT, JUNCTION, and finally ARTHURS SEAT, which completed the theme. That theme then helped and hindered for most of the grid. It was a very big help when it came to the final section of the grid, which for me was the centre West. PASSEPIED and HO GAUGE were unfamiliar to me, I had completely dropped TRAJAN’s Column from my memory, and I couldn’t recall SEJANT. I also didn’t have SIEGFRIED or AS SOON AS at that point, though once I concentrated on that area I quickly got the former which led immediately to the latter. I then had all of the crossers plus a spare SEP, AUG, and two JANs. I needed them!
Many thanks to Maskarade for the extended fun, and to mhl for the longer than usual parsing session.
I enjoyed this. Maskerade’s puzzles are always amazing feats of compiling, but I must admit that I sometimes can’t be bothered to persevere with them. I thought this however was a really good Easter challenge. I needed a little word-finder help towards the end, for example with 19d SEJANT, which I must remember to use about our cats when they’re sitting up. Speaking of which, I really liked 23a MEWED.
Not quite sure why “cowboy” is THUG in 30a? Ok, in a broadish definition a cowboy is a rough and tough character in the Wild West, and doesn’t have to herd cattle, but THUG? (The meaning of “cowboy” as a slapdash workman doesn’t seem to fit either.)
Roger @10: I’ve heard the theory that “Bob’s your uncle” originated with Lord Salisbury, but in connection with the fact that he was succeeded as PM by his nephew Arthur Balfour. A rare case of literal nepotism!
Many thanks Maskerade and mhl.
Enjoyable big old crossword ! The theme instructions are daunting but the actuality much less so. Some of the original ones I picked up seemed to alternate A and D and initially I thought this was the “rule” but in the that just seems to have been chance. Some easy ways in were provided (there cannot be many answers to Edinburgh’s extinct volcano fitting 7,4 surely ! ) which was appreciated.
Actually enjoyed some of the non-themed clues more than the themed ones, like KLOPP/AFIELD and PHRENOLOGY. But there were some gems among the themes too, I especially liked SIEGFRIED (v nearly LOI) and the companion AS SOON AS — impenetrable until it isn’t. LOI was SEJANT, nice use of the theme.
Sadly no prize for me as I blobbed in OO GAUGE for the model railway even though HO GAUGE was clearly identified on the wikipedia entry on model railway size schemes !
Thanks Maskarade – brilliant effort and great fun, and mhl for a massive job of enumeration and explication and to all other learned contributors on this lovely blog.
I thought this was a bit of a slog, like Anna@12, but warmed to it a bit towards the end and the theme was helpful once I could be bothered to note what had been used and work out what was missing towards the end. I was another who had BIRTH UNIT at 66a until I realised that I had 3 THUs and 1 SUN.
I didn’t know that NE was “no” in the past so put in NOCTURNO, which Wiki says is a weapon (piece) in Fortnite, though the grammar NO = “was not” is dodgy. I couldn’t make NO RUN work though it is a call that a batsman might make when sending his partner back. How tortuous can we get?
Thanks to Maskarade and mhl
Admiration as usual for Maskarade’s compilation effort. As commented several times already, the instructions were ambiguous, but meaning clear once a few clues were solved. My first was ART DECO, and after that it slowly unfolded, and became a good work-out. Not sure I could have got KLOPP at 64a without the cross-reference to ANFIELD at 42d.
Thanks to M & M, and best wishes to all
Add me to the long list of people who
a) Really enjoyed this
b) Read the instructions and thought what the *&%$?
c) Went ahead and solved a bunch of clues and quickly realised how it worked
As for bookkeeping – I love words with three double letters in them. And I simply wrote the 3 letter things down the left side of the paper I’d printed the puzzle on and wrote the clue numbers next to them. Hardly needed a spreadsheet to keep score like some puzzles!
sjshart @20 Much the same debate over the pronunciation of “Halley” (of comet fame, not The Comets fame) apparently – another who could rhyme with “sorely” rather than Sally.
I agree about the rubric being confusing, though it matters less once you understand what’s going on. All the same, the editor should be more careful about this sort of thing. It’s certainly not the first time it has happened.
DNF because I didn’t know STOT and had never heard of MAYNE.
The discussion about how to pronounce RALEIGH is amusingly ironic. At least Maskerade acknowledges there is some debate about this, unlike the frequent appearance of “homophones” which to some of us sound nothing alike.
Thanks Maskerade and mhl.
We enjoyed the puzzle, although we somteime struggle with Maskerade.
Needed to come here for the parsing of NOCTURNE and explanation of the extra information about RALEIGH. Still a bit unsure about Bob.
A good workout for the week.
I approached this in an extremely disorganized fashion so I’m surprised I fared as well as I did. I did need some assistance on some of these -SEJANT springs to mind- and I had OO GUAGE for 26dn. No. doubt in remembrance of the Hornby 00 electric train set I had when I were a lad.
I’m not sure I’d say I enjoyed this but it occupied me for- oh,quite a long time! And in these trying times that’s a plus!
Thanks Maskarade.
I started that midway through the week, and thought I might not have time to finish it, but I got there in the end and felt remarkably satisfied when I did, although it did take a while. I learned a number of new words, and managed to get them all from the wordplay. Somehow all the answers where I wasn’t completely sure of the parsing, like the way NOCTURNE ended, were words I was confident must be right – it’s a piece with OCT in it, after all. In fact, the theme made a lot of answers much easier; with my LOI, SEJANT, although I’d never heard of it, I still had one JAN left in my carefully kept table scribbled at the top of the printout, so there weren’t many options, and I now know one more word. I still can’t really see THUG as ‘cowboy’, but overall, I’m just blown away by how Maskerade puts these together! Well done, Maskerade, thanks, mhl.
We enjoyed this a lot but made one error: We had OTHO (Roman Emperor January 15 – April 16, AD 69) for 62dn as we couldn’t find any Italian city that fitted. We didn’t spot Otranto 🙁
Great fun though – thanks Maskarade and mhl
Not my cup of tea I’m afraid. I’ve never been a fan of Maskarade’s shtick which always feels like something that’s escaped from the puzzle pages of the Daily Mail. It’s clear lots of people enjoy it and you’d think the Guardian could have the Maskarade and a “normal” cryptic on bank holidays. Thankfully we have the archives to explore
POC’s comment @28 reminded me of that clue which in such a big grid I moved on from rather quickly:
RALEIGH, RALLY, REALLY?
tbf, for an Irish person he is more or less pronounced as ‘rally’ so unusually this made homophonic sense in my interior monologue.
Great setting and an enjoyable tussle.
I failed on 8D where I put an unparsed (not surprisingly!) ‘show’ as I didn’t know STOT. I was another lulled into OO GAUGE, although that didn’t really matter. It took most of my Saturday but satisfying to (almost) finish.
Thanks Maskarade and mhl.
Like many others, I did find the rubric confusing at first, but it must be hard to word in such a way so as not to give too much away; part of the fun is working out what exactly is going on. My first was 7a and my heart sank thinking the APR must be ‘Annual Percentage Rate‘ and I envisaged a whole stream of financial abbreviations. It came, therefore, as a relief to see the actual theme. I enjoyed this challenge thoroughly – perfect for the current situation. Thank you both Maskarade and mhl.
I think that the numerous commenters who have complained about the rubric being obscure are missing the point. The theme was obvious after solving two or three clues (MRS MALAPROP, APRICOTS & ARTHURS SEAT in my case), and if the rubric had been any less obscure it would have been a shoo-in.
Like many others I couldn’t parse NOCTURNE, though the answer was obvious; “cowboy” is a poor attempt to define THUG (even with a “?”) but it couldn’t have been anything else; I have no problem DISMAY, even with Rebus being used to suggest DI without indicating definition by example – it’s not a definition but an allusion; couldn’t parse RULER but it couldn’t be anything else; LOE for me was SEJANT, which I looked up not because I wanted to check it was the right answer, but because I was interested in the derivation of the word.
I liked HO GAUGE and WEARING/WEARYING, and I was interested to find out about President Polk from Wikipedia – again, not checking that it was right but because I remembered the name but knew nothing about him. I thought Maskarade’s cluing was better than some previous festive crosswords of his: it was loose when the answer was getable and precise when the answer was obscure (with one or two exceptions as noted).
I’ve been doing the crossword daily almost since lockdown started (compared with just once or twice a week beforehand), and I find I’m getting better – finished every day bar two, only three or four words that I couldn’t get in three weeks! I used to curse under my breath when I came to this message board to check the six or eight clues I couldn’t solve, as half a dozen smug posters would say what an easy puzzle it had been. Now I find myself complaining about too many easy ones, but it’s just that practice makes for improvement.
Thanks to MHL and to Msskarade. Yes, the wording of the rubric was not at an Araucaria-like level of clarity but it quickly became obvious what was going on. Plenty of nice ones, I especially liked HO GAUGE and ABEYANT. I usually love Maskarades back holiday picks but I lost heart and gave up on this about two thirds of the way through – too many abstruse words in order to fit the theme IMHO.
Back holiday picks = Bank Holiday puzzles !!
Thanks to all for comments. Re 30a, there is a rapper who calls himself Thug, or Young Thug, (with lyrics to match). You’d have to dig hard to find him, as I suspect our challenging setter did.
But as for STOT all I can find is the bouncing gait of a deer, not bullock. But consider it worth the effort of the whole thing to know this word
Oops, should have added that Thug’s schtick is to dress as a cowboy.
A standard Maskarade. I’m always amazed at the gridfill and the incorporation of the theme, but I approach these bank holiday specials with a gloomy sense of anticipation of a long slog (and an expectation that the rubric will be wrong!). This one was lighter than usual and for once, the theme helped with some of the lights. e.g. SEJANT and MAYNE. I forgot to record one of the WEDs in my running table of theme words, so I was expecting a WED to appear in ABEYANT, which rather slowed down the last few entries.
For WATER BED, I think the definition would be simply “here”. Could have been written “Wife gets berated, wiggling – here?” to emphasise this. THUG for cowboy is too much of a stretch, but the surface is more or less irresistible. “Cat with half of two fish” sounds very odd of course. I wonder if “Cat with one fish?” would have been met with howls of anguish or rounds of applause. The former, I’m guessing, because the connection ONE to COU(PLE) is a two step leap to my mind. But this is a prize special, so it’s the sort of lateral thinking that is not inappropriate. The use of “anonymously” in the AFIELD clue is a not wholly dissimilar example. My learnings for the week were: SOCAGE, TINA as an acronym, SEJANT, AMORINI, PASSEPIED and HR for Croatia. Let’s hope they stick 🙂 .
Addictive as usual. Thanks, Maskarade and mhl for explaining the obscurer parsings.
37D we spent a long time trying to get Peter MayLe to fit as he was the author who wrote about his life in Provence as we had never heard of MayNe.
We really enjoyed this puzzle, and much prefer these type of puzzles to Maskarade’s original alphabet ones which we used to give up on.
72 clues is a new highest in the Guardian archive. Araucaria’s biggest special had 68.
Well I did it, but more because I am an obsessive completist than for the fun of the thing. I admire Maskarade’s skill, but wonder how many people simply do something else when they see the setter ‘s name? Even here, the home of the hot-shots, opinion is split. Something for the editor to consider?
Colin Verbra @40 and 41: Interesting idea! But I’m not really convinced that that’s what Maskarade had in mind. The Wikipedia entry for Young Thug has a section on his image and fashion, which includes the statement “His wardrobe has been described as eccentric and consists predominantly of women’s clothing”, but makes no mention of him dressing as a cowboy. Similarly in a Google image search for him, out of hundreds of images, I could see perhaps one photo session where his outfit could loosely be described as resembling that of a cowboy.
Mrs. Malaprop is not a literary character, she’s a character in a play, which is not even nearly the same thing.
Thanks to Maskarade and mhl.
I had the same experience as the estimable ilippu@5 – all completed and mostly parsed except for EAGLE. But I forgive myself.
This was just right for me in these times, re-visiting regularly and pouncing (aha!) on a fresh crop of juicy offerings. I think EAGLE escaped because I was just too full of porridge.
An interesting point, Sandman@47. I understand the point that plays are to be performed and watched but I do believe they can also be read and studied – making them literature. The following article explains this more convincingly https://literaryconsultancy.co.uk/2017/06/are-plays-literature/
Calling Otranto a city was a bit of a stretch. My sister looked it up and the population is about 6000. But that means that it does not appear on Wikipedia lists of Italian cities and may discourage a resort to Google.
At Eton, ‘wet bobs’ rowed and ‘dry bobs’ played cricket. I find it hard to think that this clue had anything to do with haircuts and the Eton crop. Those comments remind me of people who say ‘I had a better answer for this clue’.
My mother died last year. She was a passionate crossword solver and we used to do these special crosswords together; so I was proud that I managed to complete this by the end of the Easter weekend on my own.
( And I had a weep)
What. A good quiz. I bet you are proud of it. Managed half at one sitting and thereafter nibbled. Just finished after 2 weeks. Pleasing that not too much obscurity was present.
Like May, wed and sat are also 3 letter words.
There seem to be about 38 or more 3 letter words within the solutions, excluding tea old and ones that are part of the solution.
Even in lockdown, life\’s too short for this.