Crosophile is an Independent fixture on the last Wednesday of the month
I think there was a small theme running through today’s puzzle. The middle row of unchecked letters spells out BARLEY and there were a number of entries related to BARLEY. The ones that I spotted were – BEER, STOUT, BANNOCK, SCOTCH, GRANARY, STORES [perhaps] and MALTY. There also seemed to be a mini Scottish theme in the North West corner of the gird. We are now 4 days past Burns Night, but one could see a nod in his direction with some of the entries.
Perhaps it’s just me, but I felt some of the clues today lacked the precision that one expects from Crosophile. Once or twice I have put a question mark in the analysis below to indicate that I am not sure that the definition is spot on or there is a difference in grammar between the definition and the entry.
There were though a number of clues that I did like – e.g. ‘follower of foxtrot’ at 4 across to indicate GOLF, ‘in the water that’s the hardest part’ as a definition at 5 down and H as a definition at 17 down.
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Across |
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|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Wordplay |
Entry |
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1
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Overcooks cakes but a hint of runniness inside (5)
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R (first letter of [hint of] RUNNINESS) contained in (inside) BUNS (cakes) BU (R) NS |
BURNS (a possible consequence if someone overcooks [a cake])
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4
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Sports kit of follower of foxtrot dances (9)
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GOLF (international radio communication codeword for the letter G which follows FOXTROT, the codeword for F) + BALLS (dances)
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GOLFBALLS (sports kit)
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9
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Record investment in monies redistributed as coinage (9)
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LOG (record) contained in (investment in) an anagram of (redistributed) MONIES NEO (LOG) ISM* |
NEOLOGISM (a new word or phrase; coinage can be similarly defined as introducing a new word or phrase)
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10
|
Piece for turning as part of wooden joint (5)
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NONET (a composition for nine performers; piece) reversed (for turning) TENON< |
TENON (part of a MORTISE and TENON joint)
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11
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Concerning light‘s odd behaviour within translucent mineral (7)
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TIC (involuntary habitual response; odd behaviour [?]) contained in (within) OPAL (a translucent mineral) OP (TIC) AL |
OPTICAL (concerning sight or light)
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12
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Search for manatee say is on time (4,3)
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SEEK OU (sounds like [say] SEA COW [manatee]) + T (time)
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SEEK OUT (search for)
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13
|
Render a number unconscious? There’s no reason for it (4) |
KO (knockout; render unconscious) + A + N (number)
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KOAN (in Zen Buddhism’ a nonsensical, logically unanswerable question given to students as a subject for meditation; there’s no reason for it)
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15
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The end of Mantel’s period at Oxford? (6,4)
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HILARY (reference HILARY Mantel author, winner of two recent Booker Prizes with the first two books of her Thomas Cromwell trilogy) + TERM (end of)
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HILARY TERM (second Academic term of the Oxford University year)
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18
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Lots of fodder, tasty food say for hacks of this type? (4,6)
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GRUBS (lots of food) + TREET (sounds like [say] TREAT [pleasure feast; tasty food])
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GRUB STREET (a former name of Milton Street, Moorfields, London, once inhabited by booksellers’ hacks and shabby writers generally; the milieu of hack writers or activity of hack writing)
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19
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Worker’s right to be 28? (4)
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BEE (busy person; worker) + R (right)
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BEER (STOUT [28 across] is a strong dark beer flavoured with malt or barley)
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22
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Little orphan didn’t catch broadcast – he thinks it’s all live (7)
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ANI (sounds like [broadcast] ANNIE [reference Little Orphan Annie, an American comic strip]) + MIST (sounds like [broadcast] MISSED [didn’t catch])
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ANIMIST (one who attributes a soul to natural objects and phenomena; he think’s it’s all live)
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23
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Bailey’s companion shortly took charge with variable effect (7)
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MOTTE (reference MOTTE-AND-BAILEY castles or fortifications, dating back to Norman time) excluding the final letter (shortly) E + LED (took charge)
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MOTTLED (variegated; with variable effect)
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25
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The smell of a city in Italy (5)
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A (of) + ROMA (Rome, city in Italy)
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AROMA (smell)
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26
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Play centre a lot cut back unfortunately (9)
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Anagram of (unfortunately) CENTRE A LOT excluding the final letter (cut back) T
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TOLERANCE (the permissible range of variation in values when measuring; play)
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27
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Tue‘s agreed and Wed too some would say (9)
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YES (agreed) + TERDAY (sounds like [some would say] TODAY)
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YESTERDAY (Tuesday) This clue only works because the puzzle is published on a Wednesday. I doubt if the clue could be used in an anthology of puzzles without some reference to the day of publication.
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28
|
Portly porter (5)
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STOUT (portly)
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STOUT (strong dark beer flavoured with malt or barley; porter) double definition
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| Down | |||
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1
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3 cake battles with 1 across? (7)
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BANNOCK (taken together with BURNS at 1 across we can form BANNOCKBURNS [giving more than one battle battles] on Scottish or Scotch {3 down} soil. Chambers says that SCOTCH can be applied as a description of all things Scottish as well as being a definition for whisky)
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BANNOCK ( flat , originally homemade cake of oatmeal, barley or pease-meal, usually baked on a griddle) I think it has different forms today as one of the more famous Scottish BANNOCKs comes from Selkirk only a few miles from where I am writing this blog. The Selkirk BANNOCK is a form of fruitcake.
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2
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Jumper laid on stone as place to rest (5)
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ROO (kangaroo; jumper) + ST (stone)
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ROOST (place to rest)
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3
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Put the lid on liquor (6)
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SCOTCH (put an end to; put the lid on)
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SCOTCH (whisky; liquor) double definition
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4
|
Good singular 1Ac restaurant (5)
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G (good) + RILL (stream; BURN [singular of 1 across])
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GRILL (restaurant)
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5
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A tree to climb – in the water that’s the hard part (9)
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LIME (tree) + SCALE (climb)
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LIMESCALE (the substance that is deposited on kettles etc as a result of the hardness of water)
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6
|
Incidentally one way to get extra (2,3,)
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BY THE BYE (a BYE is one type of EXTRA [or SUNDRY in some countries] in cricket, others being WIDE, NO-BALL and LEG-BYE and PENALTY STROKES. BY THE BYE is therefore one way to get an EXTRA)
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BY THE BYE (incidentally) Collins gives the spelling used here. Chambers gives BY THE BY and BYE THE BYE
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7
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Iconic attraction with capital I you might say (6,3)
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LONDON (capital city) + EYE (sounds like [you might say] I)
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LONDON EYE (iconic attraction on the South Bank of the Thames near the old County Hall)
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8
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Given order, can and must retreat (7)
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Anagram of (given order) CAN and MUST
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SANCTUM (private room; retreat)
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14
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Applying cleaner water’s left for later in mallow plants (9)
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ABLUTIONS (acts of washing; applying cleaner water) with the L (left) moved further towards the end of the word (for later) ABUTILONS |
ABUTILONS (plants of the showy-flowered genus ABUTILON of the mallow family)
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16
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Ratty tried desperately to hold onto lovely girl (9)
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Anagram of (desperately) TRIED containing (hold onto) RITA (reference ‘Lovely RITA meter maid” from the Beatles Sgt Pepper album) IR (RITA) TED* |
IRRITATED (ratty)
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17
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H is for e.g. Hook? (8)
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AS (is for [instance]) + PIRATE (Captain Hook was a PIRATE)
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ASPIRATE (the sound of H)
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18
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Bumped into Lineker in the cereal 21 (7)
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RAN (with INTO [met] has a similar meaning to ‘bumped into’ [met]) contained in (in) GARY (reference GARY Lineker, football pundit and crisp salesman)
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GRANARY (a cereal STORE [21 down,in the singular] I expect a single GRANARY STORES many different types of cereal)
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20
|
Piece of muntjak deer done to a T? (3,4)
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Anagram of (done) (M [first letter of {piece of} MUNTJAK] and DEER) + A + T RED ME* A T |
RED MEAT (deer will be RED MEAT)
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21
|
Anecdotes I left in reserve (6)
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STORIES (anecdotes) excluding (left) I
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STORES (a reserve)
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23
|
Like some 19, maybe, the key’s all-round goodness (5)
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ALT (reference the ALT key on a computer keyboard) contained in (all-round) MY (gosh!; goodness!) M (ALT) Y |
MALTY (like some beer)
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24
|
The essentials of Klingon? (5)
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LINGO (every letter of except the outermost [essentials] of KLINGON)
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LINGO (language especially one poorly regarded or not understood, Klingon is a language that fits that description in many peoples eyes)
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All straightforward bar my last two. I had come across KOAN once before but had forgotten it and I needed aids to get it, and I also needed aids for ABUTILONS, which isn’t the most well-known of plants and the clue was a bit of train wreck, IMHO.
I didn’t notice the hidden BARLEY so missed the mini theme.
Sorry about that, Andy B. Was it the surface reading you disliked or the cryptic reading, or both? I can’t immediately see what’s wrong with either so help me out here.
Thanks, Duncan.
Not my favourite ever Crosophile. I failed to finish, giving up on KOAN, which is an obscure word for a daily cryptic; there was at least one other better known word which would have fitted. Like Duncan, I wasn’t mad keen on ‘odd behaviour’ for TIC; I didn’t like YESTERDAY; and in the surface for GRANARY isn’t ‘into’ doing double duty?
But I thought MALTY and GOLFBALLS were very good. I had a vague feeling that there was something brewing as a theme, but didn’t explore it further once I’d finished.
You can’t please all of the people … but thanks to the setter anyway.
Well. Abutilon was clued similarly by the Don but despite that i don’t think it’s a bad clue. I get K’sD’s reservation about granary but think the into is just the insertion indicator.
Crosophile’s puzzles often have more to it than the barley/beer/scotch links seem to suggest.
Thanks both.
Crosophile@2, thanks for dropping in, and apologies for the late response but I’ve been out all day.
Maybe I was just in a grumpy mood this morning, but I didn’t like the surface reading for the following reasons; 1. Would one ever “apply” water to plants? 2. The inclusion of “in” in the surface reading very much detracts from its smoothness, although I’m not sure what you could have used as an alternative. I also thought that “applying cleaner water” as a cryptic definition for ABLUTIONS was a bit too hard when the answer was an obscure (to me at least) plant.
The reason I wasn’t sure of KOAN was that “kono” also fitted the wordplay, and neither seemed familiar.
Thanks for the clarification, Andy B. I’ll think on.
Crosophile –
In the (probably vain) hope that you might return after this is posted (sorry late – I often save the week’s Indie crosswords for weekend)……
I’m a bit of a purist, yet still found your clueing exemplary. A lovely puzzle, in my view. Regarding your colloquy with Andy B, I am bound to say that, objectively, I am a firm taker of your part.
Love ‘n stuff…..