It’s Bank Holiday Monday, it’s not beach weather, and if you’re not quarantined and do venture out you’ll have to understand/obey/lose patience with the Covid rules and regulations. An indoor diversion, therefore, in the form of a puzzle from one of the Indy’s newer setters. Challenging in places but engaging is my executive summary of a puzzle from a setter I haven’t blogged before.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Wet person missing an identity
HUMID
HUM[AN] plus ID.
4 Dad leaves hitchhiker, say, on Middle East express
MESSENGER
Bluth is inviting you to remove the PA from PASSENGER and replace it with ME. I wondered over the definition, but a quick furtle in Chambers reveals, as definition 4:
express n a messenger or vehicle sent on a special errand
9 Shiner‘s mild swelling
LIGHT BULB
Concise and clever surface reading. A charade of LIGHT and BULB. The correspondence between the latter pair of words is given in Chambers.
10 The man left Girl Guides
HELMS
A classic case of solver’s obstinacy: ‘it must be HELPS, how does that work?’ Go dig another hole: it’s incontrovertibly signposted as charade of HE, L and MS to give you HELMS.
11 It has flashing lights, potentially splicing corneas
PELICAN CROSSING
(SPLICING CORNEAS)* A UK invention, introduced in 1969, and originally called a Pelicon Crossing, for pedestrian light controlled crossing. For reasons that are not hard to imagine, it soon became a PELICAN CROSSING. No birds were harmed during this changeover, or during its subsequent use (nor can you have a bird link, because the answer has to be the bird, the whole bird and nothing but the bird).
12 More turbulent, revolutionary architecture is Ionic internally
NOISIER
Hidden reversed (‘revolutionary’) in architectuRE IS IONic.
14 Fast bowler drops energy for game
PACMAN PAC-MAN
Another good surface. It’s PAC[E]MAN. The setter is giving me flashbacks this morning: the video arcade game was released in 1980. It was originally called Puck-Man (the character’s shaped like a hockey puck, innit?) but when released internationally it was changed to Pac-Man ‘as a preventative measure to avoid defacement’. I imagine an unwanted change of the initial letter was what they had in mind. There may be video game obsessives out there who will want to tell the setter that it’s really spelled PAC-MAN.
Edit: Objection overruled. The clue is in fact enumerated as (3-3), so PAC-MAN it is.
17 Go during school lecture
SPEECH
An insertion of PEE in SCH.
19 Copper and informant – or superintendent
CURATOR
A charade of CU, RAT and OR.
21 Obviously guilty – after a drop of cider, anything embarrassed script editor
CAUGHT RED-HANDED
A charade of C, AUGHT for ‘anything’, RED, HAND for ‘script’ and the ubiquitous ED.
24 Perfect if diet all evens out
IDEAL
The odd letters of If DiEt AlL.
25 It’s exciting, kinky Latin smut
STIMULANT
None of the Latin I studied back in the Dark Ages was remotely smutty (it was mainly about fighting, if I remember well). (LATIN SMUT)*
26 Record over last bit of Don’t Look Back In Anger – it can reduce the buzzing sound
PETROLAGE
This is clued fairly, but in a sufficiently complicated way that you were, I fancy, unlikely to get it cryptically from the get-go. Add in the fact that it’s a very obscure word and that the definition is in itself rather cryptic, and you are looking at a clue that is out of kilter with the rest of the puzzle. It’s EP for ‘record’ reversed (‘over’) , T, then LO for ‘look’ reversed (‘back’) in RAGE, with ‘in’ as the insertion indicator. My Chambers has:
petrolage n treatment with petrol to stamp out mosquitos
Such an obscure answer might point to the setter’s dilemma of ‘bollocks, I’ve painted myself into a corner and nothing else fits’, but PATRONAGE does. Just saying. Although getting Don’t Look Back in Anger into the surface must have been tempting.
27 It’s beastly language that Björk uses, renouncing two independent clubs
ELAND
Even I am sufficiently down with the kids to know that Björk is from Iceland. [IC]ELAND[IC]
Down
1 Measure pi
HALF-PINT
More solver obstinacy, in this house at least. PI in crossies always means ‘saintly’ or ‘good’. Always. Except here it doesn’t. It’s [PI]NT, and a very clever clue.
2 Instant introduction to good university with backing from oil baron
MOGUL
A charade of MO, G, U and L for the last letter of ‘oil’.
3 Policeman found in cheap bar outside either city, oddly
DETECTIVE
An insertion of ETECT for the odd letters of EiThEr CiTy in DIVE.
4 Half-hearted runner’s head dropping – Farah starts keener
MOURNER
Another convoluted construction. ‘Half-hearted’ is inviting you to turn RUNNER into RUNER; ‘head dropping’ (since it’s a down clue) is inviting you to turn that into URNER; ‘Farah starts’ is inviting you to put MO at the front of that. ‘Keen’ I am familiar with as a (mainly Scottish?) word for ‘weep’ or ‘wail’, particularly in a lament; dipping into Chambers for the third time this morning I find that a ‘keener’ is a ‘professional mourner’. Nice work if you can get it.
5 Involved in impure boss’s return to regain control
SOBER UP
Hidden reversed in imPURE BOSs.
6 Attitude from French and American prostitutes
ETHOS
A charade of ET for the French word for ‘and’ and HOS for the plural of HO, which is American derogatory slang for a ‘prostitute’.
7 Travel from German holiday home, going North with six-footer
GALLIVANT
A charade of G, VILLA reversed (since it’s a down clue, ‘going North’) and ANT, which being an insect has six feet.
8 Rule restricting soldier’s first leave
RESIGN
An insertion of S for the first letter of ‘soldier’ in REIGN.
13 Indiscreet book comes out after Trump/Biden chaos
IMPRUDENT
(TRUMP[B]IDEN)*
15 Bend rule over V&A replacing lecturer in the arts
CURVATURE
The setter is asking you to replace the L in CULTURE with R plus VA.
16 Went hunting earlier
PREDATED
A dd. The first part is from the verb ‘predate’ (as in its related noun, ‘predator’).
18 Share kiss, both naked, with sex appeal – it’s hot stuff
HARISSA
Steady on. A charade of HAR and IS for the middle letters (‘naked’) of the first two words of the clue, and SA. The Tunisian hot chilli pepper paste.
19 Opiate supplied by Morse, perhaps by means of pill
CODEINE
A charade of CODE, IN and E. ‘By means of’ for ‘in’? Hmm. The surface makes more sense if you think of the TV detective, Inspector Morse.
20 Shorten second wave
SCRIMP
A charade of S and CRIMP for the hairdresser’s ‘wave’.
22 Greeting seen when Rachel and Louise meet
HELLO
When the two girls meet, you’ll have rachellouise, and you’ll find your answer in the middle of that.
23 Shot afternoon play
DRAMA
A charade of DRAM and A. A for ‘afternoon’ I can’t find in my dictionaries, but it will be somewhere, because Bluth has already shown that he is a meticulous setter.
Many thanks to Bluth for the bank holiday entertainment.
More challenging than I’d expected when I saw Bluth on a Monday. I too had problems with 26a – definitely a paint yourself into a corner word, although as Pierre says there’s nowt wrong with patronage.
Thanks to Bluth for the crossword and Pierre for the blog
I think Pierre has said pretty much everything I was going to say in his excellent review. I found this challenging in parts and good fun overall, although I do agree with Pierre about 26a (in spite of its clever surface) & 19d. A = afternoon recently seems to have been appearing occasionally from different setters, but, even if it is considered acceptable, I can’t make much sense out of the surface for 23d.
My podium choice today comprises 14a, 1d, & 13d.
Many thanks to Bluth and to Pierre.
Hah! Your comment @9, yesterday was a sneaky way of clearing the path for your a for “afternoon” today.
Strange, but my experience of 26a was completely different. I looked at the clue, thought “Record over” is probably PE, “last bit of Don’t” gives T, “look back” is probably OL, put that in RAGE. So looked up PETROLAGE and there it was.
Like you, Pierre, had to check that meaning of “express” in 4a. Liked the anagram for 11a.
My copy of the puzzle has 14a clued as (3-3), so PAC-MAN, not PACMAN. Didn’t know the cricket term, of course, but an easy guess.
Whatever you think of Trump, he has been a godsend for setters. 13d was another nice one. The clue for PREDATED has appeared (in the present tense) twice recently so that was a write-in.
1d reminds me of a classic clue. Something like “Root of pi (6)”. Answer TURNIP. Has the feel of an Eccles clue but could be wrong.
HARISSA was new to me and I ended up cheating to get HELMS. Thanks to Bluth and Pierre (nicely I informative blog).
Don’t know how that “I” snuck into my last line@3.
Just checked. The clue I referred to was by Eccles but it was “How to find pi’s root (6)”.
Thanks, Hovis, for the PAC-MAN correction. I’ve updated the blog.
Hovis @3 Ha ha… I genuinely had no idea I’d used Afternoon like that in today’s puzzle when I wrote that comment. I knew I’d used it somewhere in a puzzle but not that it was this one. But I did comment recently in reply to you about a special character not being allowed because it couldn’t be counted on to appear correctly across all devices and that was pi.
Thanks to Pierre for the blog. It’s interesting to see people’s thoughts on 26a which is amongst my personal favourites because – for me – the familiarity of the phrase Don’t Look Back In Anger adds so much disguise.
Rabbit Dave @2 if you’re an actor/director/cameraman an afternoon play is something you might well shoot.
Pierre, in writing ‘hmm’ in your comments regarding 19a you display doubt as to whether ‘in’ can really mean ‘by means of’?
Pierre, by means of writing ‘hmm’ in your comment regarding 19a you…
Quite enjoyed this once I’d got past the seemingly obligatory lavatorial reference and the prostitutes. Hadn’t encountered ‘petrolage’ previously – seems like a rather extreme method of ridding an area of water of mosquitoes!
Top two for me were HALF PINT and IMPRUDENT.
Thanks to Bluth and also to Pierre for the excellent review.
What a great puzzle – I really enjoyed it.
My favourites were 27ac ELAND, one of the most ingenious clues I’ve seen for an old favourite, 1dn HALF PINT, 13dn IMPRUDENT and 26ac, because I did actually manage, eventually, to get it from the wordplay. [From time to time, in my blogs, I call such a clue a JORUM – ’an unlikely-sounding answer obtained by building the word from its component parts, with the help of crossers, with a sigh of surprised satisfaction on finding that the word does exist’.]
Many thanks to setter and blogger.
Jane @9 “Quite enjoyed this once I’d got past the seemingly obligatory lavatorial reference and the prostitute”
You really are an enigma, Jane. In my brief time as a setter so far, you have voiced your displeasure at me using ‘spot’ to clue the ‘zit’ in zither, me using ‘bog paper’ in a clue even though the paper was the quire in quagmire and me using ‘dropping back’ for ‘oop’ in droops… and now, I’ve only gone and made you ‘get past’ go/pee and hos! All of which I’d understand, except that yesterday, when (the brilliant) Hoskins had (excellent) clues in which a pervert had a part of his body up a goose, a bishop was up for sex and crack cocaine and there was a double definition with one half being ‘having sex’, you had only kind words to say and ‘no complaints’!
You’ll forgive me if I’m left a little unsure as to where your bounds of acceptable taste lie!
Hovis @5, Boatman, back in November 2011, had the clue: pi ?! for the answer Turnip !
Thanks for the info Bluth. Not sure I had started doing the Guardian that far back. Prefer Eccles’ clue with the clever use of “root” though. While I’m writing (yet again), I should have said that 26a was my favourite clue today, despite the obscurity. Not only because of the “Don’t look back in anger” but also the use of “Record” as a verb in the surface but a noun in the cryptic reading. The definition was cleverly worked into the surface reading though lost me at first reading due to the unknown term as solution.
Thanks Hovis, and Eileen too.
Hi Bluth @11 – I think it’s all down to ‘the way that he tells ’em’. A bit of innuendo and auto-suggestion goes a long way. Harry would be the first to tell you that I’ve hauled him over the coals before now, once for a religious clue that made my blood boil despite my lack of belief and the other for an unnecessary swipe at George Michael after his death. I guess I remain contrarily contrary!
Clear, concise, clever and challenging (just enough), as I’m learning to expect from Bluth.
Personally, I loved 26a, though I toyed around trying to make PETIOLARE work (what’s the extra A, and what has buzzing got to with it?). Also liked 15 and 7 (LOI, for some reason).
Keep up the good work!
Understood Jane. More sexual abuse of farm animals and drug taking, randy clergy and less of the truly shocking stuff like zit and bog paper! I’ll see what I can rustle up for you next time!
Thanks Ian!
I enjoyed this and thought it was the least difficult of Bluth’s six Indy crossies so far. I liked PETROLAGE; although I didn’t know the word the clue was extremely fair and I rather like the image of half a dozen Coppola helicopters flying in slo-mo with a Wagnerian soundtrack to spray a few hundred gallons of unleaded on some pesky mosquitoes.
Thanks to Bluth and to Pierre for a most entertaining bit of bloggage
I do not wish to wade into the smut and filth debate other than to repeat a gentle reminder that we’re not all adults here. For some of us, crosswords can be a family activity, and occasionally one sees clues or solutions that would make me or my daughter squirm in each other’s company. This is a general comment for all setters who may be reading, not a comment on today’s offering. It is difficult if not impossible to define boundaries (at the moment, references to zits are a no-no for my daughter, but bog roll is hilarious; randy vicars are probably over her head), but I do wish setters would try to imagine the position of parents solving with children and teens and resist the urge to be naughty, no matter how clever. We have Private Eye for that, and the dailies seldom if ever do it better.
Ian SW3 @20 I agree with you 100% and don’t worry, I didn’t take it as a comment on today’s puzzle. Indeed, you made a similar point in July when there was a similar debate and were perfectly nice and reasonable about that crossword also.
Pierre, you are wrong. It’s lovely and sunny here in the Peak District. All we are lacking is a beach, although we had several a few million years ago.
Bluth, fine crossword, and please ignore comments from those who expect personalised puzzles. They do not speak for the majority who gratefully accept what they are given. I find that the best thing is to simply not engage.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
Geordy Gordy, I thought the whole point of the blog IS to engage and I think the more setters get involved the better.
Worked my way through this steadily. I was able to work out PETROLAGE from the word play and then checked it in Chambers
Coincidentally, Björk was included in a programme about Nordic music on Radio 3 last night, after a piece by Jon Leifs, Iceland’s most famous composer. I once sat next to Björk in Huddersfield watching a film about Stockhausen.
Please don’t take the smut out of stimulant.
This is probably too late to be seen, Pierre, but based on a tweet I’ve received, I think there’s some confusion over your description of 4A and the idea of _replacing_ PA with ME. The instruction is to remove PA and then to put what remains on ME – which obviously has the effect of replacing it, but that isn’t the actual instruction.
Thanks to Pierre and Bluth
27a Does “two i c” mean “two (ic)s”?
16d I can’t think of an example where “earlier” means “predated”
Thank you, Bluth, I enjoyed this, and to Pierre for explaining the ones I didn’t understand.
I loved the cleverness of getting the song title into 26a; for me that entirely justified a word I hadn’t heard of.
The 1d measure and 14a fast bowler both made me laugh.
Dansar @27
If you’re okay with the idea that the phrase “renouncing independent clubs” means “renouncing IC” means “remove IC” – which I don’t think is a big reach in crossword land, well then a clunky version of the clue might end “renouncing independent clubs… and then renouncing independent clubs again” except that would have an awful surface. But in that version, how many IC have been renounced?
As for predated, I’m sure you can find it in some form of legalese.
“This revision supersedes all predated versions of this agreement”
Thank you Bluth
I’m ok with “renouncing independent clubs” meaning “removing IC”, and always was. The problem is that while “clubs” is plural in the surface reading it is singular in the cryptic, hence my query – you wouldn’t say that you were wearing “two shoe”.
Your “clunky version” suggests the solution:
… twice renouncing independent clubs
or perhaps
… renouncing independent clubs from both sides
Your example of “predated” = “earlier” is closer than anything I had previously considered but I’m not sure it stands up to scrutiny.
It seems to rely on reading “predated” in its “opposite of postdated” form, but that meaning doesn’t equate with “earlier”
The essential problem is that “earlier” can only be an adverb or adjective, while “predate” in its “come earlier than” sense is a verb.
p.s.
Isn’t it a shame that the Gallaghers weren’t Moss Siders
I guess it depends on what the plural of ‘clubs’ is,
I don’t think the example I cited for predated is the ‘opposite’ of post dated. I don’t think in that context it means backdated. It just means, we’re changing the terms of the contract and if you bring us a copy of the agreement from before this amendment, it won’t count for anything.
If it doesn’t mean that, it isn’t really worth saying at all.
I think we’ll have to agree to disagree.
To me, a “predated version” is later, because something has “predated” it.