I had quite a struggle with the spider-woman this morning, with the result that I didn’t have much time for writing up the blog, so apologies if anything isn’t clear. Some nice clues here, but also a couple of rather unsatisfactory ones (13ac, 24ac for example).
Key:
* = anagram
dd = double definition
< = reverse
| Across |
| 5. HARASS SARAH< + S |
| 6. DURESS ASSURED* less A (the “tip”) |
| 9. LOOFAH LOO + FlAsH |
| 10. OUTGOING dd |
| 11. HI-FI Nick Hornby wrote the novel “High Fidelity” |
| 12. INTIMIDATE I D in INTIMATE. “China” = mate in Cockney rhyming slang, and it somehow seems a weakness that MATE occurs in INTIMATE |
| 13. MOUNTAINTOP Seems to be a rather weak dd – am I missing something? And surely it should be two words, or hyphenated? |
| 18. POSTMASTER (STAMP STORE)* &lit – very nice! |
| 21. LINO hidden (“housed by”) walL IN Our |
| 22. TURNKEYS TURN (=try) + KEYS (of which “escape” and “shift” are examples) |
| 23. SHODDY ODD in SHY |
| 24. DRIVER A driver is a golf club, and a woman driver in “in charge of automobile”? Again this seems rather weak. |
| 25. FLEECE FLEE + CE. “Do”= “swindle” |
| Down |
| 1. GRAFFITO (FO(r) FAT GIT)* – not GRAFFITI as I carelessly wrote in, causing trouble with 13ac.. |
| 2. ISTHMI THIS* + M1 |
| 3. HUNTSMAN NTS (National Trust forScotland) in HUMAN |
| 4. BEHOLD BEHOLDEN less EN (letter) |
| 5. HOODIE H + OO (“pair” in cricket) + DIE |
| 7. SANITY NIT in SAY |
| 8. PORTRAITIST TRAIT IS in PORT |
| 14. NEATENED (A TEEN DEN)* |
| 15. ONLOOKER ON (=about = “touching”)+ LOOKER |
| 16. ROTUND T in ROUND |
| 17. ON EDGE Hidden in stONED GEtting |
| 19. TENNIS (S + IN NET)< A bad serve in tennis could be in the net – another nice one. |
| 20. RESULT RULES* + T(errible) |
Many thanks, Andrew
I struggled with this partly because I entered GRAFFITI for 1d. Also, I didn’t get 8d.
I got 5a wrong, having opted for HERESY. I never even thought of Sarah.
I did get 24a DRIVER but I still can’t see why it’s a woman!
Evidently, a woman’s mind works differently.
Thanks Andrew,
13ac. I thought was OK except that the “T” should have been capitalised.
(I know this wouldn’t have helped the surface reading, but…).
And, oh dear; 19d.
I didn’t like “first serve” for “S”. (Anyone surprised?).
If she’d written “first of serves”, instead of “of first serve” it would have worked perfectly and, I think, been an excellent clue…
18ac. very nice, though.
Minnie Driver(the actress) I think is being used in 24a
Thanks, Andrew. 18ac was my favourite too. I also liked 8dn and 17dn.
I still think 24ac is a bit weak even if the reference to Minnie Driver was intended.
5ac caused me the most trouble.
I don’t see how 24ac can refer to Minnie Driver – “Woman” is surely a hopelessly vague indication. “Actress” perhaps..
I solved only half of this, thought it was hard, compounded by a grid I do not like.
18a was good, but not much else here for me today.
21a was verbose, with no real indicator lino was hidden.
I didn’t really like yesterday’s either so I am looking forward to an uplifting Araucaria tomorrow
24ac. A male setter might well have clued this as ‘Man in charge of automobile club.’ This was a female setter so clue is perfectly acceptable if not particularly subtle, just a dd.
Yes, George, but a Politically Correct Setter would have clued 24a as ‘Person in charge of automobile club’.
And, Orange, there is also Betty Driver, yet another actress, but I do not believe that either Betty or Minnie was alluded to.
Dave – I assume house is the hidden indicator in 21 across. I thought this was one of the better clues.
I completed all but five clues before giving in and coming here. Like some of the others I was counfounded by graffito.
Struggled with this because I inserted GRAFFITI too for 1dn.
The rest was moderately difficult due to some vety clever clueing.
Highlights were 18ac and 25ac which made me smile.
I don’t often do the Guardian puzzle and have never done an Arachne, but I was impressed by the elegance of just about every clue in this one. The surfaces read well, with subtle deceptions and, as Ian says, that essential ingedient humour here and there. So why all the grumpiness? Even the grid gets a kicking!
Really annoying puzzle.
two clues that made me smile thanks. 18A and 19D. But way too many that just don’t play fair.
24A for the reasons given. Dreadful.
21A – if ‘house’ is supposd to be the indicator then surely it should be houses.
5A You can’t turn the name backwards but not the ‘s. That’s ridiculous!
13A Just very 23A
I won’t bother with this setter again
Re “SARAH< + 'S". This is perfectly consonant with what is acceptable in Guardian crosswords. Had it been in an Araucaria, Mark, would you have vowed never to solve his puzzles again?
Re "Woman". A driver can be either male or female, therefore a woman in charge of a car is a driver. Had it been "man" or "person" the clue would have been blatantly obvious, but the use of "woman" provoked a little extra thought, revealing once again the tendency of people to associate particular genders with particular jobs. I was happy to be reminded that such assumptions are unreliable.
Ten Brownie Points to Dave Ellison.
It is an Araucaria puzzle today (Thursday).
But I’ve not yet ascertained whether or not it’s uplifting.
Yuck. I got most of this one out (missed 5ac and 5dn), but I thought “pair” as an indicator for “oo” was pretty b****y obscure for a non-cricketer (yes, we do crosswords too), 2dn had an unnecessarily convoluted definition (I take it “unusually formed” means to indicate “isthmuses” is more usual, must congratulations, it just made it more irritatingly obscure), and “house” was a ridiculous indicator for a disclosed clue. As Mark pointed out, just making it “houses” would have been far better.
5D I took OO to be a pair of breasts or eyes!
My goodness! How a few short years can change the attitudes of solvers…..
This is the most recent of my second batch of historic Arachnes that I’ve printed out this year for my indulgence – since her puzzles so delightful as I was reminded just the other day.
My only complaint was that I found it less convoluted than I like (and have learnt to expect) so that it was all over in too few minutes.
But the comments above – wow! Seems like another age. When I came across 24ac – DRIVER (of which, incidentally, I felt I’d heard something before) I couldn’t help smiling. Ah, I thought, that’s Arachne alright and good for her for making a, now trademark, witty point. For me, best clue of the crossword justifying my visit. And then I read the rubbish rubbishing above – funny old world! (And where was Eileen when she was needed – she’d’ve put them right!)
Had to spleen vent – even though this is essentially diarising as no-one else will read this….
(and I felt A deserves a balancing view here for the 225 archive)
William, the original blogger gets an email of every comment, so your words are not totally unheard. I’m rather embarrassed on behalf of my earlier self at my criticism of 24a – a perfectly sound clue, and, as you say, characteristic of Arachne.