Lorraine: Nothing to taxing this week, I got Milwaukee (15d) but needed Nick to work it out for me, also loved 25a it made me chuckle. Thanks Everyman for another enjoyable puzzle.
Legend to solution comments:
* = anagram.
< = word reversed.
| Across | |||
| 1. | Managed currencies? Right shambles (5-4,6) | ||
| THREE-RING CIRCUS | (CURRENCIES RIGHT)* | ||
| 9. |
Bird nesting in one, a glen (5) | ||
| |
EAGLE | hidden: onE A GLEn | |
| 10. |
Part flour, a little at a time (9) | ||
| PIECEMEAL | PIECE+MEAL | ||
| 11. |
Sort of suite, extremely expensive? The price is staggering! (5-5) | ||
| THREE-PIECE | (EE+THE PRICE)* | ||
| 12. |
Run out from square leg (4) | ||
| SPIN | S+PIN def. a short trip in a car e.g.=spin |
||
| 14. |
Moving home, a Poet Laureate (2,6) | ||
| IN MOTION | IN+(andrew)MOTION | ||
| 16. |
Appear clearly round rear of minster, a place of worship (6) | ||
| SHRINE | SHINE around (ministe)R | ||
| 18. |
Appeal of seduction after a bit of lust (6) | ||
| ALLURE | LURE after A L(ust) | ||
| 19. |
Appropriate to lock blockhouse (8) | ||
| FORTRESS | FOR+TRESS | ||
| 21. |
A street apart (4) | ||
| AWAY | A WAY | ||
| 22. |
French writer, first to embrace Oscar (6,4) | ||
| VICTOR HUGO | VICTOR(first)+HUG+O | ||
| 25. |
Exclamation of surprise from Miss Sharp failing to open box (4,5) | ||
| ECKY THUMP | (b)ECKY+THUMP(i.e. punch, box) Becky Sharp is found in ‘vanity fair |
||
| 26. |
Stopped over (5) | ||
| ENDED | dd | ||
| 27. |
Bearers of gifts, seen with her, meet abroad (3,5,4,3) | ||
| THE THREE WISE MEN | (SEEN WITH HER MEET)* | ||
| Down | |||
| 1. |
One finding an actor a job in camp, a man (10,5) | ||
| THEATRICAL AGENT | THEATRICAL(camp)+A GENT | ||
| 2. |
Message received from a boy (5) | ||
| ROGER | dd | ||
| 3. |
Simple first principle a railway follows (10) | ||
| ELEMENTARY | ELEMENT+A RY | ||
| 4. |
One politician is on about Republican being put away (8) | ||
| IMPRISON | (I MP+IS ON) around R | ||
| 5. |
Country shown in film, reportedly (6) | ||
| GREECE | homophone of GREASE The film with Travolta and Newton-John |
||
| 6. |
Clue may be perfect, though short (4) | ||
| IDEA | IDEA(l) | ||
| 7. |
London street in inexpensive quarter (9) | ||
| CHEAPSIDE | dd | ||
| 8. |
Bridge partners fencing inside college? Possibly it’s best to say nothing (7,2,6) | ||
| SILENCE IS GOLDEN | S+N(bridge partners) around (INSIDE COLLEGE*) | ||
| 13. |
Fundamental teaching hospital in her street, demolished (3,5,2) | ||
| THE THREE R’S | (H(ospital)+HER STREET)* | ||
| 15. |
The Italian with a musical intrument seen in Maine, or Wisconsin city (9) | ||
| MILWAUKEE | (IL(italian for ‘the’)+W(ith)+A UKE(ukulele) in ME(maine) a bit of convoluted wordplay |
||
| 17. |
Left-hander shot up excitedly, getting a wicket (8) | ||
| SOUTHPAW | (SHOT UP*)+A W left hander in boxing |
||
| 20. |
Guess amount (6) | ||
| FIGURE | dd | ||
| 23. |
Part of ground amazingly free from obstruction (5) | ||
| UNDAM | hidden: groUND AMazingly | ||
| 24. |
Such an irritation for Cockney to get married (4) | ||
| ITCH | ‘ITCH pun on cockney pronouncation of ‘hitch’ |
||
I enjoyed this one.’the three theme’ helped
Me get 1across.
I liked 25 and ‘in motion’
Thanks Lorraine,
A very enjoyable puzzle from Everyman with lots of great clues. I particularly liked PIECEMEAL, ECKY THUMP,
THE THREE RS and UNDAM.
However, I was not convinced by 16a ie “Appear clearly” = shine. I think that “Stand out round rear of minster” would have fitted the answer better.
Unfortunately, I haven’t read Vanity Fair, and am totally unfamiliar with the phrase ‘ecky thump’, which I couldn’t find in Chambers online or Crossword solver, which both came up blank, so for the first time in months I failed to finish an Everyman, grr!
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the puzzle, as usual, and there were some aha moments – not least that of realising how many ‘threes’ were turning up.
Very enjoyable indeed. ECKY THUMP was a lovely addition to the answer set and I spent some time racking my brains to think where it came from; there were vague recollections of a character invented by Bill Oddie in his Goodies days. As it turns out it wasn’t a character but a form of martial art invented in Lancashire, using black pudding sausages as weapons, in a recurring Goodies sketch. Wiki filled in that bit of info for me and also confirmed ECKY THUMP as a northern English expression of surprise.
Thanks for that info, Anax. I love the black sausage fight image – the ones produced locally where I live are famous throughout Spain, but I’ve never seen them used that way, despite the Spaniards’ love of throwing food or wine over each other on feast days – ‘la tomatina’ in Buñol (Valencia), for example http://www.latomatina.org/
Yes, good as always from Everyman. I just knew ECKY THUMP, goodness knows from where; good job though, because Vanity Fair is outside my knowledge base (what this says about my knowledge base is another question of course …)
I’ll go to the foot of our stairs … thank you Lorraine and Everyman.
Has Everyman done a themed puzzle before? The four 3’s of 3333 were very naturally included. Excellent.
Thanks Lorraine and Everyman
A good puzzle, though I didn’t notice the threes and managed well enough without them just going clue to clue.
Ecky thump did not ring an immediate bell. I knew ‘What the thump?’ though and Becky so that helped to guess it right.
12 had to be ‘spin’ but I was puzzled why. I’m sure you are right. I assumed it was something to do with ‘spinning’ a yarn.
I liked 1a, 10, and 8 and several others pleased.
To my own surprise I can’t find any reference to ‘What the thump?!’ on Google. It was a saying common in my father’s time and I heard it from him. He had known it from at least his teens i.e. 1920s.
Does K’s dad or anyone else know this expression or what ‘the thump’ is a euphemism of? It seems to have been used instead of ‘what the Hell?’.
Evening tupu
I seem to remember you saying that you were brought up in the North West, so you’re probably best placed to answer your own question – I’m from the North-East, where this expression doesn’t exist.
‘Ecky I can understand as a euphemism for ‘Ell – ‘What the heck?’ and ‘What the hell?’, but the ‘thump’ bit … no idea.
Perhaps Everyman is from that part of the world and can enlighten us – otherwise a chance for a lurker to come out of the closet and tell us.
HI Kathryn’s Dad
Many thanks.
I suspect ‘What the thump’ has been more widespread in its time than simply the NW. My father used to know a diminutive old time Polish immigrant whose English wasn’t very good and who used to travel around taking orders for coloured pictures (aerograph work)to be made from odd images people had (a so-called ‘picture faker’). I remember a story that he was in Wales doing this and when he knocked at one door, a burly miner opened it,
looked down at him and said ‘What the thump!?’. He had reported to my Dad that he simply returned his gaze and said ‘What the thump to you to!’. Of course it might well have been north Wales.
Sorry – the last ‘to’ should be ‘too’.
K’s Dad
It suddenly strikes me it must be a euphemism for f..k. I remember one also used to hear ‘a thumping great…’ (lorry, or whatever).
tupu
Maybe. I’ve heard it used that way too, but usually as an intensifier for ‘big’. You’d say ‘a thumping big lorry’, but probably not ‘a thumping little lorry’. One of the many mysteries of the English language to keep us occupied and entertained.