(Please click here for this same blog but with a picture quiz added. Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.) This is the first Puck I am blogging, and fortunately, it’s one of his easier, but no less interesting, ones; solving was helped by getting the mini-theme early on. Thanks to Puck for the enjoyment. The mini-theme is based on …
folklore, from which the setter’s pseudonym is derived. Many of the answers are aliases of Puck. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Ornament? Composer’s almost room for one (6)
BROOCH : “Bach”(Johann Sebastian, composer) with “room” minus its last letter(almost …) replacing(for) “a”(one).
5 Uncovered aunt desperately lying about age? Just a little awkward (8)
UNGAINLY : “aunt” minus its 2 outermost letters(Uncovered …) + anagram of(desperately) [LYING containing(about) 1st letter of(… Just a little) “age ” ] .
9 Something Arabs or Bedouin have imbibed (8)
ABSORBED : Hidden in(Something … have) “Arabs or Bedouin “.
10 Demons? Fashionable young reporter has one (6)
INCUBI : IN(fashionable;trendy) + CUB(a novice;young reporter) plus(has) I(Roman numeral for “one”).
Defn: … in folklore, preying on females who are asleep.
11 Made notes about animals (4)
GNUS : Reversal of(about) SUNG(made;voiced musical notes).
12 Upbeat current film has visual restraint (10)
OPTIMISTIC : [ I(symbol for an electric current in physics) + MIST(an obscuring film) ] contained in(has … restraint) OPTIC(visual;relating to sight).
13 Stiff examination involving mark set by female (6)
FORMAL : [ ORAL(an examination) containing(involving) M(abbrev. for “mark”) ] placed after(set by, in a down clue) F(abbrev. for “female”).
Defn: … in manner;starch.
14 Paint picture of second bed in flower (8)
DESCRIBE : [ S(abbrev. for “second” in time notation) + CRIB(a small bed, especially for babies) ] contained in(in) DEE(any of the flow-ers;rivers with the same name in Wales, Scotland and England).
16 Was in contact with John Peel? Sorry, no idea about that (8)
ADJOINED : DJ(abbrev. for “disc jockey”, which the late John Peel of BBC Radio 1 was) contained in(… about that) anagram of(Sorry) NO IDEA.
19 Heartless men wrongly take over Times, heartlessly (6)
ROBOTS : ROB(to wrongly;illegally take) + O(abbrev. for an over in cricket) + “Times ” minus all its inner letters(heartlessly).
21 Playing Puck not Bottom, learn he is a helpful creature (10)
LEPRECHAUN : Anagram of(Playing) [ “Puck” minus its last letter(not Bottom) + LEARN HE].
Defn: … in folklore who will take you to his crock of gold, but only if you catch him first.
23 Insane woman’s backing poet (4)
OWEN : Hidden in(…’s;contraction of “has”) and reversal of(backing) “Insane woman “.
Answer: Wilfred, English WW1 poet.
24 Father of actor undergoing split (3,3)
OLD MAN : OLDMAN(Gary, English actor) enumerated as 3,3(undergoing split).
Answer: A term for one’s father.
25 After I left, floor covering is in a state (8)
ILLINOIS : [I + abbrev. for “left”] placed before(After …, …, in an across clue) LINO(short for “linoleum”;a type of floor covering) + IS.
Defn: … in the USA.
26 Final appearance of Desmond, N in Sunset Boulevard (4,4)
SWAN SONG : SWANSON, G(G for Gloria, actress who portrayed Desmond, N – N for Norma – in the film Sunset Boulevard).
27 Female king? The Spanish are ready (6)
SHEKEL : SHE(pronoun for a female) + K(abbrev. for “king” in chess) + EL(Spanish for “the”).
Defn: Slang for ready money;cash.
Answer: Any coin.
Down
2 I am dressing 24, holding up party (5,10)
ROBIN GOODFELLOW : ROBING(dressing;putting on a robe) { [ O(abbrev. for “old”;1st part of the answer to 24 across) FELLOW(man;2nd part of the answer to 24 across) ] containing(holding) reversal of(up, in a down clue) DO(a party;a function) }.
Answer: An alias for the folklore character, Puck, the chosen pseudonym of the setter of this puzzle, the “I” of the definition.
3 Top boss? Mum mouths off: “Animal!” (7)
OPOSSUM : “Top boss? Mum ” minus(… off) the 1st letters, respectively(… mouths).
4 It’s a frightful thing, almost struggling to walk without glasses on, initially (9)
HOBGOBLIN : “hobbling”(struggling to walk;walking with a lame awkward movement) minus its last letter(almost ..) containing(without) the 1st letters, respectively, of(… initially) “glasses on “.
Defn: … in folklore.
5 Unruly youth, first out of bed, with hairstyle changed to latest version (7)
UPDATED : TED(short for “teddy boy”;unruly youth of the 50s and 60s in Britain) placed below(first …, in a down clue) [ UP(and about;out of bed) plus(with) D.A.(abbrev. for “duck’s arse, or ass”, a hairstyle with the hair swept to the back of the head, so as to resemble a duck’s tail, adopted by the teddy boys as identification) ].
6 Harsh-sounding brother (5)
GRIMM : Homophone of(-sounding) “grim”(harsh;severe).
Defn: Either one of the two Brothers Grimm, Wilhelm and Jacob, who wrote tales from folklore.
7 One that cuts new coins Ireland (7)
INCISOR : Anagram of(new) COINS contained in(in) IR(abbrev. for “Ireland”).
Defn: … in a set of teeth.
8 Someone like me to throw up a pork pie on the hearth? (3-3-2-3-4)
LOB-LIE-BY-THE-FIRE : LOB(to throw up high) + LIE(in rhyming slang, a “pork pie”) + [BY THE FIRE](on the hearth;on the floor of a fireplace that extends outward into the room).
Answer: A folklore figure similar to Robin Goodfellow aka Puck, the setter;”me”. Also known as a brownie.
15 Kills a little time at Angler’s Rest, ultimately getting drunk (9)
STRANGLES : S(abbrev. for a second;a little time period, in time notation) plus(at) anagram of(… getting drunk) [ANGLER’S + last letter of(… ultimately) “Rest“].
17 Eight in a row? (7)
OARSMEN : Cryptic defn: Refering to the crew in competitive rowing.
18 Criminal activity of daughter somewhere in London (7)
DEALING : D(abbrev. for “daughter”) + EALING(a district in W. London).
Defn: … buying and selling illegal substances.
20 Have to get in a cheesecake (7)
BROWNIE : OWN(to have;to possess title to) contained in(to get in) BRIE(a soft cheese).
Defn: … made with chocolate and nuts.
Answer: See 8 down.
22 Unable to love choral music (5)
CANTO : CAN’T(cannot;unable to) plus(to) O(letter indicating 0;love in tennis scores).
(Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)
Thanks scchua for the blog and Puck for the entertaining puzzle. Twigging the theme certainly helps – has he done this before? – but there are some nice surfaces here. LEPRECHAUN is probably my favourite, being self-referential.
8d was new to me. I’d got the L*B early, presumably LOB therefore, and eventually it became a matter of which two-letter preposition formed the middle.
A mischievous little number from Puck, which I liked a lot. The theme was cleverly interwoven into the clues and the answers. LOB LIE BY THE FIRE was new to me to, but like Trailman, it was a question of teasing it out and seeing what the preposition could be.
My only niggle is GNUS, which could equally well be SUNG, which I entered, and therefore banjaxed myself in that part of the grid till I realised it was the other way round. And no, I don’t think that I should have to wait to have some crossing letters before deciding which way it works …
Fine puzzle and blog; thank you to both.
As always Puck is great fun-especially when he deals with himself or something Irish. Loved it. Memories of school plays. Midsummer’s Night Dream for those who missed out on the Bard.
Thanks, scchua.
A real gem of a puzzle – Puck at his most Puckish and on top form.
Top favourites [from a longer list of favourites]: 16, 21, 26ac and 15dn.
[I didn’t think 11ac was ambiguous – if I was going to raise a minuscule niggle it would be re unable = CAN’T. But I’m not.]
Huge thanks to Puck – I loved it.
Playful one, thanks Puck and scchua.
Last one was BROOCH and I didn’t know LOB-LIE-BY-THE-FIRE (I wonder why not?) I liked the ROBOTS.
Thanks, scchua. What a difference a day makes! Really good fun and not a duff clue to be seen!
I had to check LLBTF in Chambers but it was very fairly clued, so no complaints.
I think the acronym D.A. = “Teddy boy hairstyle” has been used in crosswords far more often than it’s even been used in real life!
Lovely puzzle, fun theme. Not normally a fan of clues where a word is half-definition, half-wordplay, but 20d was probably the best of that class that I’ve seen.
Same experience as Robi. Very enjoyable puzzle.
Thanks, scchua. Lovely puzzle! Thanks for the blog and thanks to Puck!
By the way, I read the clue for OWEN as another “lift and separate” clue: in [space] sane rather than insane, although your apostrophe S probably works better. 🙂
I don’t usually go a bundle on these self-referential type of puzzles, but enjoyed this one on account of the lively and inventive clueing. Predictably enough, not being a puckomaniac(!), my last in was 8dn. I thought OPTIMISTIC and OLD MAN were especially fine.
Thanks, scchua.
Enjoyable puzzle, which I found trickier than most Puck offerings, for some reason. Nice theme.
I had never come across 8d, but got it quite quickly from the wordplay and a few crossers. I parsed 23a the same way as NeilW @10: I prefer this explanation as it avoids the ‘apostrophe s’ = ‘has’ device (my bête noire). However, it probably isn’t the way Puck intended it, because our parsing would work just as well with ‘Insane woman backing poet’ (which I would have preferred!)
Lots of good clues – I particularly liked 25a, 27a and 26a (well phrased, though the idea has been used several times before – see archive).
Last in for me was ROBOTS – I had misspelt STRANGLES as I entered it, which caused a lot of bother.
Good fun, as others have said, but the wordplay of 19a, 24a, and 27a was lost on me, so thank you scchua for the explanations.
(BTW I don’t understand “reversal of” in the parsing of 1a, but as no-one else has commented, I suppose that is again just me not being up to the local speed.)
I echo all the positive comments above – this was entertaining and inventive. Last in was LOB-LIE-BY-THE-FIRE mostly because I’d never heard of it and wanted all the crossers before guessing it from the wordplay, so I needed UNGAINLY to be sure. I wasn’t sure of the mythology of ROBIN GOODFELLOW either, but I was familiar with the name (for which I have the sleeve of Fairport’s Full House to thank, if that was the one with Ricard Thompson’s sports reports involving characters from folk songs).
Thanks to Puck and scchua
Thanks to scchua for the blog. There were quite a lot of cases where I had the answer without seeing (all) the parsing. I was just not on Puck’s wavelength.
I am another objecting to 11a: (part 1) about (part 2) could go in either way round – you need a crosser to finalise it.
I reckon seven thematic answers is (one?) more than mini.
Swanson G, as Gervase says, has been used before, but never as well.
Eileen is right about GNUS.
As for OWEN, some editors would disallow the insane device, preferring the ‘s for ‘has’ way, as here.
Self-referential clues commonly contribute to the wordplay. Both here supply the definition.
Superb stuff.
Lots to enjoy here! It took a while to sort some of them out but well worth the effort.
Thanks Puck and Schua.
David Mop@13, apologies. I use a macro for the indicators, and I put in the wrong code. It should have been “replacing” rather than “reversal”. Thanks for pointing out. Blog corrected.
I suppose 2d may have slowed people up more had the clue been some sort of reference to the Daily Mail.
Thanks all
Not quite as impressive as many of you found it but reasonable.
Last in was leprachaun, I had the correct fodder early on but I have always thought a ‘L’ was michievous or even wicked.
I also thought ‘mouth’ for initial letter (3d)was a big stretch!
Shroduck @7
if you had been a teenager in the 1950s you would not say that, in spite of your name!
K’sD same thought re 11 but been stung so often I now just use the possible letters as guides to other answers before committing myself.
Small things amusing small minds perhaps but was drinking Hobgoblin as I solved it.
Thanks Puck for the fun and scc for explaining 26.
Like K’s D @2 and chas @15, I don’t see how 11 ac can be seen any other way than ambiguous.
It’s either “(made notes about) animals” or “made notes (about animals)” and you don’t know which one to reverse until you have a crosser.
I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle. I saw the theme early on so ROBIN GOODFELLOW was a write-in without my bothering to parse it because I had the W checker from SWAN SONG. I didn’t know LOB-LIE-BY-THE-FIRE but the wordplay was clear enough. OWEN was my LOI after the cunning BROWNIE.
I’ll always disagree with K’s D@2, chas@15 and jeceris@23 about clues like 11ac. That’s what checkers are for, and I’m capable of keeping both alternatives in my mind in those instances where I’m trying to solve crossing answers when the ambiguous answer is still blank. As I’ve said before, the only time I dislike a clue constructed in this fashion is when the ambiguity can’t be resolved by checkers.
Thanks scchua for the blog – hadn’t seen how to parse 26a, even though I got it – and thanks Puck for a highly enjoyable puzzle!
A very enjoyable puzzle from Puck as ever. Not in my opinion one of his easier ones though. I would have said it was mid-range.
I’d never heard of LOB-LIE etc but with the L-B crossers and the word play I got this early on.
Couldn’t parse SWAN SONG although the answer was obvious. (I did surmise that SWANSON referred to Gloria but I actually couldn’t name a single film with Gloria Swanson in it. So knowledge of characters etc was beyond me!)
Still a pleasant hour and a decent challenge.
Thanks to Scchua and Puck
Have been much too busy to contribute for some time – and it’s generally too late to add anything.
However, Pick is alwys worth acknowledging for the enjoyable fare.
For what it’s worth, I don’t mind having to wait for crossers in order to determine ambiguous clues like 11a – which IMHO is without question ambiguous (even though I entered GNUS without really thinking further).
23a seems a perfectly straightforward hidden reversal – and the surface grammar would work with or without the apostrophe s.
Thanks to Schuua
apologies for fat fingers at @27 – please read Puck for Pick
Re 11a – my understanding of grammar is that SUNG ‘about’ correctly indicates GNUS; ‘about’ GNUS cannot mean SUNG. I agree with Eileen.
I still can’t see the ambiguity [or need for crossers] in ‘made notes about’ in 11ac but really only popped back [I’ve been out / occupied all day] to correct my own error @4, which I saw as soon as I had posted it but was dashing out: ‘If I *were* …’ [I can’t believe I’ve been allowed to get away with that all day: my stock example for my students of an ‘impossible / unfulfilled condition was, ‘If I were queen … but I’m not’!
I see that, taking so long typing, I’ve crossed with rhotician. I’m grateful for the support but not sure that we’re making the same point.
Thanks Puck and schhua
Enjoyed this a lot as did many of us.
With the GNUS / SUNG ambiguity … I side with the Eileen camp … but the other deciding factor was the choice of a five letter word (in a two word answer) ending with a U or a N was enough for me to confidently write in GNUS.
For how long are some people going to complain about types of clue before they realise they will recur so they are going to have to live with them? There’s no rule book, as far as I know; it’s a PUZZLE!!!
Re 11A.
I really don’t understand the complaints here. It is surely in the basic nature of a CROSSword that often several words will fit into a light but the CROSSers lead the solver to a unique solution. That’s why it’s called a CROSSword.
The solver should be capable of seeing that more than one answer will fit so shouldn’t enter a word until it’s certain! Even non-cryptic solvers are familiar with this.
More exasperating to me is that some Monday solvrers complain about this but accept multiple possible answers which don’t involve crossers without any complaint.
No-one familiar with Edward Thomas’ poem Lob? An extract:
“He is English as this gate, these flowers, this mire.
And when at eight years old Lob-lie-by-the-fire
Came in my books, this was the man I saw.
He has been in England as long as dove and daw”
I’m very familiar with Dylan and acquainted with “R.S.” but I’ve never met Edward
I’ve just read “As the Clouds that are so Light” which is intriguing so I shall read more.
P.S. When I was eight Lob-Lie-By-The-Fire never “came in my books.”. However I don’t remember Puck or Robin Goodfellow making an appearance in my childhood reading either.