It is Thursday today, and it falls to me to blog the latest offering by Hob, a compiler whose work I have hitherto had few opportunities even to solve, let alone blog.
I found this one a challenge, but a fair one, and I am sure that I would have persevered with it to the very end even if it had not been my turn to blog. I say that on the strength of the high-quality clues that I had managed to solve on first perusal, which convinced me that the remaining ones would also be fair and accessible if only I could solve them. This is borne out by the fact that, even though the term at 1/9 was unfamiliar to me, I could be pretty sure that I had hit upon the right answer thanks to the wordplay.
Despite being a tricky puzzle overall, with a theme that might not be that familiar to all, Hob gave us some easyish gateway clues (at 19 and 15), which at least pointed us in the right direction – I then started looking for where FTSE/Footsie might fit in and duly found it!
I look forward to other contributors’ take on 24, as I may have got the wrong end of the stick here. Other than that, I loved the cheeky non-financial definition in 16, and the misleading upper-case B in 28. The wordplay at 21 almost outfoxed (!) me until I remembered that “best” can also be a verb. My clue-of-the-day overall, however, is 5, for its & lit. element and for its topical reference to the world of online romances in which we live.
I very much look forward to pitting my wits against Hob’s next puzzle, if only as a solver.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in double-definition clues
| Across | |
| 01 – HEDGES | Buys or sells protective security // guards
Double definition |
| 04 – ACCURSED | Goddamn crusade involved retaining Christianity primarily
C<hristianity> (“primarily” means first letter only) in *(CRUSADE); “involved” is anagram indicator |
| 10 – NONAGON | Figure horse has been eaten by 12NAG (=horse) in NOON (=12, i.e. 12 o’clock) |
| 12 – SUET | Fat female with extremely fat behind
SUE (=female) + <fa>T (“extremely” means last letter only) |
| 13 – RETRIEVERS | Those who rescue // dogs
Double definition |
| 15 – NASDAQ | Nothing against question about second 23 19
S (=second) in [NADA (=nothing) + Q (=question)]; the definition here is STOCK EXCHANGE (=entries at 23 19) |
| 16 – FOOTSIE | 7 9 // 19 under the table
Double definition; one definition is SHARE INDEX (=entries at 7 9), the other is “exchange (=entry at 19) under the table” |
| 20 – ATISHOO | Sound made on expiration is in dispute, we hear
Homophone (“we hear”) of “at issue” (=is in dispute); the “expiration” in the definition is a sneeze! |
| 21 – OUTFOX | Through use of cunning, best public broadcaster
OUT (=public) + FOX (=broadcaster, i.e. US network founded by Rupert Murdoch); the “best” of the definition is a verb meaning to outwit, outdo |
| 24 – GRANDE JETÉ | Dance move spelling out “Danger, black ice’s back!”
*(DANGER) + JET (=black) + <ic>E (“back” means last letter only); “out” is anagram indicator; a grand(e?) jeté is a ballet step, although I am unsure about the spelling here, since no –e on grand would seem the more grammatically accurate spelling |
| 26 – CASH | Wimbledon champion this century – US champion, not English
C (=century) + ASH<e> (=US – Wimbledon – champion; “not English (=E)” means letter “e” is dropped); the reference is to Pat Cash, Wimbledon champion in 1987 |
| 28 – TINTERN | Abbey in Bury, in outskirts of town
INTER (=bury, i.e. with lower-case “b”) in T<ow>N (“outskirts of” means first and last letters only) |
| 29 – CAMPION | Lorry going round power plant
P (=power) in CAMION (=lorry) |
| 30 – SPYGLASS | Viewing aid in front of gun carried by Bond girl?
G<un> (“front of” means first letter only) in [SPY (=Bond, i.e. 007 James Bond) + LASS (=girl)] |
| 31 – STANCE | Quote that’s not in policy
<in>STANCE (=quote, i.e. as a verb); “that’s not in” means letters “in” are dropped |
| Down | |
| 01/09 – HANG SENG INDEX | Suspends car driver about 500 times for indicator used in 23 19
HANGS (=suspends) + [D (=500, i.e. in Roman numerals) in ENGINE (=car driver)] + X (=times, i.e. in maths); the definition is “indicator used in stock exchange (=entries at 23 19)” |
| 02 – DINNER SET | Hotel invested in new (not seconds) dessert plates and dishes
INN (=hotel) in *(DE<s>SERT) (“not seconds (=S)” means (here, one) letter “s” is dropped); “new” is anagram indicator |
| 03 – EDGE | Bite // lip
Double definition |
| 05 – CHAT ROOM | Where online member starts carrying a torch, perhaps
*(A TORCH) + O<nline> M<ember> (“starts” means first letters only); “perhaps” is anagram indicator; & lit. |
| 06 – UNEVENTFUL | Odd – most flute playing is dull
UNEVEN (=odd) + *(FLUT<e>); “most” means last letter is dropped; “playing” is anagram indicator |
| 07 – SHARE | Allotment in posh area
Hidden (“in”) in “poSH AREa” |
| 08 – DRESSY | Smartly clothed character covered in Brut
ESS (=character, i.e. the letter “s) in DRY (=brut, of champagne – not the aftershave!!) |
| 14 – RAISED HELL | Made a lot of trouble for Sid?
DIS (=hell); when raised, i.e. vertically reversed, it gives SID |
| 17 – INFLATION | Building costs of fashionable residence on a deserted island
IN (=fashionable) + FLAT (=residence) + ION<a> (=island; “a deserted” means the letter “a” is dropped) |
| 18/11 – DOW-JONES AVERAGE | Swindle no Jews construed to possibly mean 23 19 7 9
DO (=swindle) + *(NO JEWS) + AVERAGE (=possible mean, in statistics); the definition is STOCK EXCHANGE SHARE INDEX (=entries at 23 19 7 9) |
| 19 – EXCHANGE | Trade in old coppers
EX (=old, i.e. former) + CHANGE (=coppers, i.e. coins) |
| 22 – AGATES | A billionaire in the Stones
A + GATES (=billionaire, i.e. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates); here the stones referred to are gemstones, not rock and rollers! |
| 23 – STOCK | Flower // shop’s saleable items
Double definition |
| 25 – ANNOY | Female cyclist going topless spells trouble
ANN (=female, i.e. a woman’s name) + <h>OY (=cyclist, i.e. British track cyclist Chris Hoy; “topless” means first letter dropped) |
| 27 – SMUT | Small dog with tail covered in blue material
S (=small) + MUT<t> (=dog; “with tail covered” means last letter dropped) |
I have struggled with Hob puzzles up to now but, whether it was the theme or a wavelength thing, I got on much better with this one, my only slight problem being the surface reading of 12a – can’t imagine why 🙂
Thanks to Hob and RR
The theme took a bit of cracking, but once that emerged I got on better. GRANDE JETÉ was new to me, but en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_ballet confirmed what I got from the wordplay. According to Wikipedia a Grand Jeté is a long horizontal jump, starting from one leg and landing on the other; Wikipedia also offers the information that because ballet became formalized in France, a significant part of ballet terminology is in the French language.
Thanks, Hob and RatkojaRiku
I don’t see any authority in Wikipedia or anything else for “grande jeté” with a feminine adjective. The editor should have caught the error.
You are quite right, of course, Ian. Which raises an interesting point: did the editor not spot the error or did he spot it and decide to let it through for the sake of an otherwise good crossword? Given that DOW JONES was an essential and there were only four 5-letter lights in the whole grid to accommodate STOCK, SHARE and INDEX, also part of the theme, the only way to avoid the error would have been a major recasting of the SW corner, if not the whole grid.
No doubt others will have their opinions.
Thanks, RR, for a a helpful blog. I enjoyed this, but found some of it tough going (it’s Thursday, after all). Somewhat of a random theme, but why not? I got DOW JONES INDEX and then solved the gateway clues through that. Like those who work in the financial world, perhaps a bit humourless (apart from FOOTSIE and ATISHOO, which raised a smile) but my pleasure today came from finishing what was – imho – a tough one. I couldn’t have done that two or three years ago.
Grand[e] jeté does seem to be a bit of a slip.
Thanks to Hob; look forward to his or her next one.
Yes, it seems to have been an error, but surely a minor one, which I, though very familiar with French, was not aware of till I came here. I did not know the term but the wordplay led unambiguously to it. I saw a little more humour than K’s D though, for example 12A and 21A. Hard, yes, but totally fair and IMHO there was some very inventive and original clueing.
FWIW Chambers Crosswords Lists has ‘Grande jeté’, which if correct means Hob is right. Perhaps someone can explain the apparent problem.
I agree that this was a difficult puzzle. I finished it, but only after resorting to aids for RAISING HELL (I just didn’t see “Sid” reversed) and at that point I couldn’t see ATISHOO either, my excuse being that I only had two checkers out of a seven-letter word. I would have been happier with the clue for FOOTSIE if it had read “played under the table?” rather than just “under the table”. As far as GRANDE JETE is concerned, I wrote it in from the wordplay and didn’t realise that it is more than likely misspelt.
Well, my French dictionary gives jeté in its dance definition as masculine, so grande jeté doesn’t make grammatical sense. We need a French mother tongue danseuse to help us out here, je pense.
Thought it was going to be another of those days. Got a couple of clues early on, and then started at it for ages. Curiously, 1/9 was my gateway, getting that it probably started “hangs”, which gave me 23 19. Then I got 15ac. The other stock exchanges took longer to surface in my mind, with 16ac coming last. Just couldn’t see 31ac and did a word search and even then it took me ages to work out why it was.
For what it’s worth, neither grand nor grande jete is in Chambers. I got the answer from the wordplay but my French is non-existant so I had no idea whether it was grammatical.
I am glad that listening to the BBC World Service Radio Business Reports has assisted me in solving this puzzle! My favourite clues were 22d, 24a, 6d, 16a, 10a, 1/9.
I failed to correctly parse 25d, 17d, 16a & 14d.
Thanks for the blog, RatkojaRiku. Re 24a I agree with your parsing and also, as you and KsDad and others say, the spelling should be grand jeté. I am an ex-ballet dancer but I never had to spell the word , I only had to dance it!
We started this rather late last night and found it tough going, so finished it off this morning. In retrospect, we realised that Bert had made it much tougher by entering a completely wring answer for 22d!
A good challenge though and we liked 20ac.
Thanks RR for the blog, we almost needed you to parse 31ac. Thanks Hob, there was some excellent clueing here!
@Andy B – I think that the two definitions at 16 are “share index” and “exchange under the table”, the break in the clue coming after 7 9 and before 19