Yes, it’s me again. PeeDee has been having internet access problems so I am standing in for him, not that I mind because Monk is one of my favourite setters.
Monk invariably has something else going on in his puzzles and today it is that all the perimeter entries contain three Cs. Unfortunately this has resulted in my being unable to parse one of them (5ac) so I’m looking forward to being enlightened.
Across
1 Old woman has to turn up by early morning (4-4)
COCK-CROW – COCK (turn up) CROW (old woman)
5 So-so hotshots are coming round again? (6)
CYCLIC – I can see the definition but am unable to explain the ‘so-so hotshots’ – Help please!
10 Paramour bit this secretly (2,3,4)
ON THE SIDE – a ‘paramour’ can be a ‘bit on the side’
11 Dish used in sacrament (5)
RAMEN – hidden in ‘sacRAMENt’
12 Perfect croupier’s commentary? (5)
IDEAL – I DEAL (croupier’s commentary?)
13 Air foul footwear, not before time (3,3,3)
TEA FOR TWO – T (time) anagram (foul) of FOOTWEAR
14 Leonard regularly pins medals on coats (7)
ENROBES – [l]E[o]N[a]R[d] OBES (pins medals on {with OBE being used as a verb})
16 Puddle remains in place, wet but not wide (7)
PLASHET – ASH (remains) in PL (place) [w]ET (wet but not wide)
18 Band having drink is quiet (5,2)
BELTS UP – BELT (band) SUP (drink)
20 One who refuses to buy things (7)
SCEPTIC – cryptic def.
22 Car manufacturer wants 25% part-exchange after minor damage by old banger (9)
CHIPOLATA – CHIP (minor damage) O (old) LATA (car manufacturer {Lada} wants 25% part-exchange)
24 Unusually so, it’s about not complaining (5)
STOIC – anagram (unusually) of SO IT + C (about)
25 Currency for made-out cheque? (5)
HALER – a monetary unit of the Czech {homophone (made-out) of ‘cheque’} Republic
26 Star fruit next to round container (3,6)
TOP BANANA – POT (container) reversed (round) BANANA (fruit)
27 Beginning to cause this hollow cavity, is it bad for teeth? (6)
CHOCCY – C[ause] HOC (this) C[avit]Y
28 Soft drink company first infiltrating 24 down then replacing its head (4,4)
COCA COLA – CO (company) in sCALA (24 down) with CO (company) replacing the ‘s’ (its head)
Down
1 Dessert selection must include the smallest bit of cheese (4-3)
CHOC-ICE – CHOICE (selection) around (must include) C[heese]
2 One would be in the city had cartel worked (9)
CATHEDRAL – anagram (worked) of HAD CARTEL
3 What might be caught on fishing tackle? (5)
CREEL – C (caught) REEL (fishing tackle) – I assume. A ‘creel’ is a fish basket used by anglers but I cannot make this work as an &lit. Am I missing something?
4 Makes dull sepia photos, centrally developed (7)
OPIATES anagram (developed) of SEPIA [ph]OT[os]
6 Tall glass of fluid already being passed round (4,2,3)
YARD OF ALE – anagram (fluid) of ALREADY around (being passed round) OF
7 Drunk crossing motorway verge (5)
LIMIT – LIT (drunk) around (crossing) M1 (motorway)
8 Against getting ready to fire reported cook (7)
CONCOCT – CON (against) COCT a homophone (reported) of ‘cocked’ (ready to fire)
9 Improved version of extremely reliable siren (6)
REVAMP – R[eliabl]E VAMP (siren)
15 See AC/DC split over wealth that’s half-spent? (9)
BISHOPRIC – BI (AC/DC) SHOP (split) RIC[hes] (wealth that’s half-spent)
17 Stolen drug leading to a criminal’s sticky wicket (3,6)
HOT POTATO – HOT (stolen) POT (drug) anagram (criminal) of TO A
18 Jovial again, mostly smart (7)
BACCHIC – BAC[k] (again, mostly) CHIC (smart)
19 Settles climbers? (6)
PLANTS – double def.
20 Lock degreaser (7)
SHAMPOO – cryptic def.
21 Rum dance with only one husband in the middle (7)
CACHACA – C[h]A CHA C[h]A
23 Essentially, designer can supply a basic dwelling (5)
IGLOO – [des]IG[ner] LOO (can)
24 Ladder starts in stocking caught around lady’s anklet (5)
SCALA – S[tocking] C[aught] A[round] L[ady’s] A[nklet]
Thanks Gaufrid and Monk,
Both “So-So” and “Hotshots” are cyclic, having recurrent sequences of 2 and 4 letters respectively.
I enjoyed this a lot.
Thanks Muffyword
I’m not at my best this morning and failed to see what should have been obvious.
I wouldn’t say obvious – I only realised the parsing of that one about half an hour after finishing the puzzle!
Thanks Gaufrid – I think you do fantastic work on this site – and also to Monk for an entertaining puzzle that I found surprisingly accessible in the limited time available to me for such things.
Gaufrid,
I have just noticed your query about CREEL. I suppose a fish hook could catch/snag on the basket.
Thanks Monk and Gaufrid (and Muffyword). Good job all round. I’m not sure about 3d, either. How about a dd – a CREEL holds “what might be caught on fishing” and is also part of the “tackle”? Not sure I’ve even convinced myself!
A reel is part of fishing tackle. so creel make sense to me.
Monk usually has something else going on, but (as usual) I can’t see it. Anyone?
Monk loves Cs recently.
His 99th in the Independent indicated by IC-IC-IC (which he wasn’t happy with later on), soon followed by no 100.
Three Cs all around the perimeter here: is this Monk’s 300th puzzle overall perhaps?
The puzzle was not Monk at his most fiendish.
That said, had this been a ‘normal’ crossword I would have got stuck in the SW.
Now the 3C-thing helped me to complete it.
I particularly liked ‘not before time’ meaning ‘after t(ime)’ in 13ac.
A lot of Food & Drink in this puzzle – coincidence?
Thanks Gaufrid for your blog and your invaluable work otherwise!
Another fine crossword from Monk.
CREEL
I agree with Muffyword @5. At my standard of fishing, I might well catch a nearby creel instead of the intended target – so it’s an ‘& lit’ for me!
CYCLIC
I think ‘so-so’ and ‘hotshots’ have been chosen deliberately; the word SOSO can be seen
to be ‘coming round again’ within the word hOtShOtS.
Thanks for the blog, Gaufrid.
I got 20d as I scanned the clues, then 24d followed by 28a .And that was it. With hindsight I should have got 18a , 2d but didn;t know ramen,cachaca or bachic in addition to the two I mention below. That makes it hard.
It seemed the sort of crossword that someone who knew all the tricks could finish quite quickly but someone who didn’t wouldn’t have an earthly of finishing.
For example
16a Now I haven’t heard of plashet but the good solver would immediately think aha remains =ash, stick it in pl and stick on et having knocked of the w of wet. I look at it and haven’t got any idea what is going on.
25a I hadn’t heard of haler and again had no idea what I was looking for.
23d It just didn’t occur to me that essentially designer meant take the middle bit and can means wc rather that is able to.
In a few years maybe …
Sorry I’ve not responded earlier but I’ve been very busy with Other Things. Thanks for the comments regarding CREEL. I’m still not convinced that the clue works but that’s probably just me.
Bamberger – Monk is at the harder end of the FT spectrum so don’t be disheartened. As you say, ‘in a few years …’. Cryptic crosswords need a lot of practice in order to learn all the setters’ tricks of the trade and even when you think you know them all somebody will come up with a new one. That’s part of the fun.
Thank you for stepping in and covering for me again Gaufrid.
Another good puzzle from Monk. I thought the difficulty level in this was more varied than usual. Many clues were quite easy (for Monk) but then others were very hard, even having guessed the answer the parsing remained intractable.
I was happy with CREEL, it seemed to be clear enough for a cryptic &lit definition. I am curious about Sils 300 theory @8. I hope Monk drops in and enlightens us, sometimes there is a deeper personal message hidden in his crosswords, sometimes there is just all random coincidence.
Many thanks to all for accurate blog and positive comments. CREEL was indeed intended to be an &Lit, justified in my mind by my hooking just about everything in sight (but not fish) in any attempts at fishing. Also, Sil was spot-on: this was, to be accurate, my 300th puzzle in which the tax man has had a justifiable interest. But I didn’t get Sil’s “happy” comment re my 99th Indy: the IC-IC-IC was indeed across the central row, but it was jokily explained by the thematic entries ROMAN NUMERALS and MISCONCEPTION! A fellow FT/Indy setter (clue: A/K) privately revealed that “halers” aren’t really used any more, but that they do appear in price tags; I should have Czech-ed that out beforehand.
Sorry, Monk. I didn’t read your comment on IC-IC-IC well enough, I fear, despite the fact that you tried so clearly to enlighten me. Mea culpa. Got it now, better late than never, very amusing.