Arachne never disappoints. Hard to single out favourites, but my biggest smiles were from 29ac, 31ac and 8dn…
…and I liked the definitions at 5ac and 15ac, and the misleading ‘indicators’ of “hold” “back” “change” at 19ac. Had to look up 17dn.
| Across | ||
| 1 | CADENCE | European Commission about to restrict non-standard dance rhythm (7) |
| =”rhythm”. E[uropean] C[ommission] reversed [“about”] and around [“to restrict”] (dance)* | ||
| 5 | CUE BALL | White copper put black boy in cell without clothes (3,4) |
| =”White” in snooker. Cu=”copper”, plus B[lack] plus AL=”boy” in [c]EL[l], where “cell” is without its “clothes” or outer letters | ||
| 10 | IRITIS | Big British clearing banks seeing problem (6) |
| =”seeing problem”. [B]I[g] [B]RITIS[h], without their “banks” or outer letters | ||
| 11 | ADEQUATE | Cockney was required to make uniform of acceptable quality (8) |
| =”of acceptable quality”. [h]’AD to=”Cockney was required to”, plus EQUATE=”make uniform” | ||
| 12 | ICY | Oddly withdrawn, bitchy and hostile (3) |
| =”Hostile”. [b]I[t]C[h]Y with the odd letters withdrawn | ||
| 13 | DEARIE | Duck died, sounding strange (6) |
| =”Duck”. D[ied], plus EARIE which sounds like ‘eerie’=”strange” | ||
| 14 | MAGNETIC | Alluring, like a Pole? (8) |
| cryptic def, referring to the poles of a magnet | ||
| 15 | USING | Not clean or suitable for all to see, lust could be good (5) |
| =”Not clean” as in USING drugs. U=”suitable for all to see”, plus SIN=”lust could be”, plus G[ood] | ||
| 16 | UNDERDONE | Pink, turning red, on dune (9) |
| =”Pink” meat. (red on dune)* | ||
| 19 | MENOPAUSE | People love to hold back change (9) |
| =”change”. MEN=”People” plus O=”love” plus PAUSE=”hold back” | ||
| 21 | EARLY | With time to spare, like an aristocrat? (5) |
| =”With time to spare”. EARL-Y=”like an aristocrat?” | ||
| 24 | HABANERA | Ban hare coursing, a Cuban speciality (8) |
| =”Cuban speciality”. (Ban hare)* plus A | ||
| 26 | IN HOCK | Traumatised son left owing money (2,4) |
| =”owing money”. IN [s]HOCK=”Traumatised”, minus a s[on] | ||
| 27 | NIL | 0-1 in Holland (3) |
| =”0″. I=”1″, inside NL=Netherlands=”Holland” | ||
| 28 | WITHHOLD | Women’s groups, ordered to accept married men, refuse (8) |
| =”refuse”. W[omen’s] I[nstitutes], plus TOLD=”ordered” around H[usband] H[usband]=”married men” | ||
| 29 | LARYNX | Box of vibrators? (6) |
| cryptic def – the vibrators being vocal cords | ||
| 30 | PERSIST | Bad priests continue to exist (7) |
| =”continue to exist”. (priests)* | ||
| 31 | HOLY SEE | Vatican report “entirely groundless” (4,3) |
| =”Vatican”. sounds like ‘wholly sea’ or “entirely groundless” | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | AIRLESS | Smooth head shaved close (7) |
| =”close” or stuffy. [h]AIRLESS=”Smooth head, [with the first letter] shaved” | ||
| 3 | ENTER INTO | Have sympathetic understanding for fluid retention (5,4) |
| =”Have sympathetic understanding”. (retention)* | ||
| 4 | COSIES | They keep eggs warm, because that’s the point of incubators (6) |
| =”They keep eggs warm”. COS=”because” plus IE=that is=”that’s” plus the point of [incubator]S | ||
| 6 | UBERGEEK | Anorak supremely unsuited on floating ice, I’m afraid (8) |
| =”Anorak”. U[nsuited] plus BERG=”floating ice” plus EEK=”I’m afraid” | ||
| 7 | BRUTE | Bestial Caesar’s last word? (5) |
| =”Bestial”; =”Caesar’s last word?” as in ‘Et tu, Brute?” | ||
| 8 | LATVIAN | Soviet grandmaster returned by way of northern Baltic (7) |
| =”Baltic”. Mikhail TAL was a Soviet (and Latvian) grandmaster and world chess champion. TAL is reversed [“returned”], plus VIA=”by way of” plus N[orthern] | ||
| 9 | CAYMAN ISLANDS | Tax haven is scandal many put to bad use (6,7) |
| =”Tax haven”. (is scandal many)* | ||
| 17 | DIATHERMY | Are unsure about blood group ahead of extremely messy treatment (9) |
| =”treatment” – a heating of internal parts of the body by electric currents. DITHER=”Are unsure”, about A=”blood group” plus M[ess]Y=”extremely messy” | ||
| 18 | HAVE-NOTS | Retreat initially over cutting 75% of benefits for the poor (4-4) |
| =”the poor”. HAVEN=”Retreat”, plus O[ver], plus [benefi]TS with its first 75% cut | ||
| 20 | EVASIVE | Starts to express vexation when setter’s vague (7) |
| =”vague”. E[xpress] V[exation], plus AS=”when” plus I’VE=”setter’s” | ||
| 22 | LICENCE | Sanction excess freedom for poet? (7) |
| =”Sanction”, =”excess freedom” when it is poetic LICENCE | ||
| 23 | BILLY-O | In the bathtub I’ll yodel anything (5-1) |
| ‘like BILLY-O’ = like “anything”. Hidden in [bathtu]B I’LL Y[odel] | ||
| 25 | ATHOS | Hard-hearted “fit-for-work” company, one of a combative trio (5) |
| =”one of a combative trio” of the Three Musketeers. ATOS=”fit-for-work” company, with H[ard] at its heart | ||
Groaner today was 13ac. Took a while to see the relevance of ‘duck’ ! Also not heard the words Ubergeek or diathermy before. But all in all a better brain work out than yesterday.
Thanks, manehi, for the blog.
As often, I agree with your choice of favourites but must add 10ac and 9dn for their excellent surfaces.
Great stuff all round, though. Huge thanks, as ever, Arachne.
Thanks, manehi. Vintage Arachne apart from no feminist digs – if anything, a bit the other way with words like DEARIE.
Interesting to see an unusual word like HAVEN making a double appearance in both a clue and a solution
The plural in 28a threw me a bit – I’d always assumed “WI” just stood for “Women’s Institute” singular. Excellent surfaces everywhere, by 15a was probably my favourite.
If I absolutely had to complain, it seems stretching a little to have “Baltic” indicate “LATVIAN”, but then again, no-one would blink an eye at “Asian” for “KOREAN” or whatever. Maybe it’s because “Baltic” can’t be used as a noun that it seems wrong to me – my gut feeling is that I’d accept “DANE” clued as “European”, but not “DANISH”.
Thanks Arachne and manehi
I didn’t enjoy this as much as usual, mainly because of the number that I solved but didn’t understand at the time (I failed on IRITIS, but it is a lovely clue that I appreciated when I saw the answer). Further reflection did lead me to parse most, but I still didn’t see the definition for USING.
I took the S in COSIES to be the point South, so I didn’t see why the “of incubators” was needed.
Latvian was difficult to solve “forwards” – there are a lot of Soviet grandmasters to choose from, though TAL became obvious after I guessed the solution.
It was a good job that it wasn’t a Prize, as the unchecked C/S in LICENCE/LICENSE might have caused controversy. I read “sanction” as a verb; Chambers allows the C but prefers the S (as in PRACTISE/PRACTICE), so either might have been correct – the Poet’s LICENCE should be a C in English, of course, but Chambers recognises the S as a US spelling.
Another thoroughly enjoyable and challenging puzzle from Arachne, though I have to confess to giving up on ‘ubergeek’, a word I have never encountered, and failed to deduce from the wordplay. (I didn’t manage to see the ‘eek’ element).
Lovely stuff thank you Arachne – challenging and great fun at the same time – too many ‘favourites’ to list.
Thanks to Manehi too.
I started this at midnight, and the first third of the clues went in quite easily. Returning to it at six this morning, I struggled to finish and was left with the feeling it was a substandard Arachne, particularly as I couldn’t explain a handful. However, rereading the clues just now, I see it was much better than my first impressions. Certainly much better than yesterday’s sub 15 minutes one.
Unlike maheni, I wasn’t happy with “White” as definition of CUE BALL, a little too vague, I thought.
Arachne is not given to the use of superfluous word so I wondered if the “for” in 3d was part of the definition?
Thanks, maheni and Arachne.
Thanks, manehi.
Another great puzzle from the Spider Woman, with some excellent surfaces and cleverly misleading definitions. The NW was last for me also: I have never thought of CADENCE as ‘rhythm’, though the dictionaries do sanction this; ‘close’ as ‘stuffy’ took me ages to see in 2d; the double definition in 4d confused me, as did the disguised definitions in 15a and 19a.
On the other hand, IRITIS was one of my first entries – a favourite, along with 5a, 3d (what a great anagram), 6d, 9d, 18d.
(I don’t understand Schroduck’s quibble about @4: why can’t a class adjective be used as the definition for an adjective describing a member of the class? ‘Baltic’ and LATVIAN are perfectly respectable adjectives. What have nouns got to do with it?)
A brilliant puzzle. I have to confess I had to resort to aids at 6d, where Onelook has a word whose definition in the Urban Dictionary makes a box of vibrators seem tame indeed.
Gervase @ 9
Cadence is equivalent to rhythm in the sphere of running rather than music.
I gave up before finishing it, but as usual Arachne was extremely good value. UBERGEEK and DEARIE were tremendous clues. Many thanks to her and manehi.
Thanks to manehi for the blog.
I have one complaint about the puzzle. In 27 she equates Holland and Netherlands. This is like saying England is the same as the UK.
Thanks manehi and Arachne
I think this is the best puzzle for some time – the clues are consistently good and the wit and lightness of touch most enjoyable. The surfaces were of very high quality.
My own favourites were 5a, 15a, 2a, 31a, 17d, 18d and 25a.
Like some others I found the NW particularly hard to see my way into, though I’m not wholly sure why – possibly due to the many different ways of reading the surfaces.
This was excellent.
I did not know the word “diathermy.” I also had to look up “anorak,” since the British slang version hasn’t made it here.
Also–while I”m pointing out Britishisms, films that you rate U, we rate G–though I figured something like that was going on, so it wasn’t too mystifying. We don’t have WI here, but we did get to see the movie Calendar Girls, so I’d heard of them. Lastly, I had entered “license” (our spelling), so technically got that one wrong when I hit “check all” at the end.
This was too tough for me to finish in my lunch break, hence the later than usual comment. As always Arachne has provided plenty of entertainment – the NW corner was last to crack (like Gervase @9 I associate CADENCE more with harmony than rhythm, though the rhythmic sense is also familiar) and last in was IRITIS, a new word to me but once I finally saw it it became one of my favourites of the day – also liked ATHOS, CAYMAN ISLANDS and the deceptively simple EARLY.
Thanks to manehi and Arachne
I found this a little trickier than some of Arachne’s puzzles but got there in the end. Very enjoyable, as ever.
I didn’t know DIATHERMY but the wordplay was clear enough. It was only once I had got CUE BALL (I have no problem with “white” as the definition) that I finally saw the wordplay for UBERGEEK. IRITIS was my LOI.
Re 22d
Isn’t it odd that “to sanction” (to allow) has nearly the opposite meaning of “a sanction” (an attempt to prevent something happening?). Any explanations?
muffin@18 I am reminded of “cleave” which also has two meanings which are opposites. Sorry I cannot explain either case.
Indeed, chas – in fact, that’s a better one, as both versions are verbs.
Another great puzzle from Arachne.
Like many others I came to a grinding halt in the NW corner with only CADENCE entered. I finally saw COSIES and then made slow progress to the finishing line.
Lots of great clues and misdirection.
Chas @13 I can’t agree with your quibble about Holland. Almost all reference works accept Holland as referring to the whole of the Netherlands. In fact I would say that in many parts of the UK “The Netherlands” is by far the rarer usage. Even Collins give Holland as “another name for the Netherlands”
Thanks to manehi and Arachne
Brendan(n t o) I wrote my entry first then checked the details later. The Netherlands consists of 12 provinces. Two of them are North Holland and South Holland. Wiki says that many people use Holland and Netherlands interchangeably but the distinction is still there.
Brilliant crossword – stuck in NW for ages and had to cheat to find eye disease **itis at 10a then all fell into place…
Refreshing to see clues like 29A and 19A after feeling that Paul is starting to overdo the toilet humour…
A minor query about ubergeek – I think of an anorak being a geek – an ubergeek is “anorak supremely” (perhaps) but then “unsuited” has to indicate “U” – or is supremely being used twice…
Anyway many thanks to Arachne for an outstanding puzzle and manehi for the blog…
P.S. Muffin @11
Cadence refers to rhythm in music. It may also be used in running for this purpose but it is definitely a musical beat and especially used in reference to sound.
Having got the U and EEK for 6d, I would have deduced UBERGEEK had I not put “mesmeric” for 14a.
As luck would have it, Mesmer’s theory of personality was based on the concept of “poles”, akin to magnetism.
To be honest, I thought Arachne overdid it a touch here and there with this one.
Thanks one and all.
Brendan@24
I disagree. I think musically it refers to the intervals between notes as in “perfect cadence” and “plagal cadence” – nothing to do with rhythm
Re music I’m with you Jovis. I think cadence meaning rhythm relates to speech, say in oratory?
Chas @22
The distinction is definitely there! But can you explain why the Netherlands tourism site is called http://www.holland.com and uses the word Holland interchangeably to refer to the Netherlands?
Possibly it’s because most of the English speaking world refers to the Netherlands as Holland.
chas @22, don’t make too much of the Holland thing.
For Dutch people (like me) Holland is more or less synonymous to The Netherlands (certainly more than England = UK).
In sports events like, for example, the forthcoming World Cup in Brazil, supporters will always use ‘Holland’.
Strictly speaking, it’s right to make a difference (2 provinces named like that out of 13 (!)) but actually we don’t.
So, fine by me.
I thought this was a great puzzle.
With the two colourful definitions (5ac, 16ac) as particular highlights.
As was 18d – I agree, tupu & Gervase (but with the latter not about ENTER INTO being a “great” anagram of ‘retention’).
No problems with UBERGEEK and DIATHERMY.
Both so clear from the construction. Both very likely to be words too. In fact, so clear that I didn’t find it necessary to check them.
Many thanks to manehi and Arachne
Brendan NTO:
We have lots of overlapping expressions for countries: France/Gaul; Iran/Persia; Britain/Albion; Scotland/Caledonia; and so on.
I read that “Holland” is related to “hollow” and “hole”, meaning a depression, so similar in essence to “Netherlands”.
Parts of Lincolnshire and coastal Lancashire go by the former name too, as you probably know.
A cadence in music is essentially a harmonic progression. Like all musical sequences, it has rhythmic qualities, but it is the harmonic pattern which defines it. At the risk of sounding like an agony aunt, we use a cadence when we need closure.
The word is also applied to speech patterns, where closure is indicated by both pitch and rhythm.
So, while iritis is a seeing problem, an ubergeek is an anorak, the habanera is a Cuban speciality and diathermy is a treatment, a cadence is not a rhythm.
Thanks Arachne and manehi
Another very good puzzle from this setter that took an early morning sleep intermission to finish the last half dozen clues !
Although the NW was near the end, my last few were in SW – HAVE-NOTS, WITHHOLD and ATHOS. With ATHOS, I’d recognised early on that it should be it, but was ‘spider-licked’ into thinking that hard-hearted meant AR rather than an H in the middle of the answer.
Didn’t parse NIL properly – not seeing the country code and thinking that it must’ve been a Dutch boy’s name.
Many lovely clues and a satisfying solve.
buddy says:
“a cadence is not a rhythm”
==
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/cadence
I had been hoping that Sil van den Hoek would visit here today and give us the benefit of his knowledge. I now agree that Arachne was (very nearly) correct in her clue. I just wish she could have found a better way to put it.
Martin P @ 33
Your link confirms that a cadence is not a rhythm in music.
My comment on cadence @16 was not intended as a criticism of the clue. The musical meaning is specific and describes the harmonic progression of the last two chords in a phrase. The rhythmic meaning is commonly used when describing poetry or movement, and whatever the original rights and wrongs of that it is now accepted as part of the language (and by the dreaded red books), so we can’t really object to its use in crosswords, in fact it makes the misguidance more effective.
There are two musical meanings of cadence. One relates to the endng of a passage, which usually includes a change in rhythm but the other one is specifically about rhythm.
Try
3. Generally, the beat of any rhythmic activity. In marching, a cadence is used to keep a marching unit synchronized and stepping on the same foot. The cadence can be performed through verbal commands with non-musical military units and typically include a call and response form of song or, with musical units, through a drum cadence. Some marching bands and other marching units such as a Drum and Bugle Corps typically employ very complex drum cadences with choreographed movements.
Also SOED has
cadence noun & verb. lME.
A noun.
1 (A) rhythm; (a) metrical or musical beat; (a) measured movement, esp. of sounds. lME.
Naturally these must be wrong 😉
Cleave and cleave are etymologically different words; indeed, they still have different past tense morphology (adhered = cleaved; split = clove). Sanction and sanction, which can both be nouns, have less excuse. Basically it seems it originally means ‘something ratified’, and one can ratify either penalties or authority.
Arachne is usually a favourite of mine, and this was a fair puzzle though I wasn’t so starry-eyed about it as others. Too many just-about-ok-on-their-own devices mixed together in over-complicated clues. I particularly disliked the indirect indication ‘married men’ for HH, especially when there was no need for it. The clue would have worked better and been funnier if the women’s groups had simply been refusing an order to accept ‘husbands’.
What a joy! Lampooned by lax lexicography.
Unrepentently, buddy still says a cadence is not a rhythm, nor even a type of rhythm. Nor is cadence synonymous with rhythm.
Musically, we seem to have agreed on this. In relation to speech, we seem at least to have agreed that cadence is an auditory phenomenon. The sticking point appears to be whether cadence necessarily alludes to pitch (and possibly other properties – timbre? emphasis?) as well as rhythm. Its etymology certainly suggests so. Rhythm doesn’t fall: pitch does. And it’s hard to think of a sentence where “rhythm” and “cadence” could legitimately be used interchangeably.
Perversely, it’s in the musical sense (with its specific property of complete or partial finality) that a rhythm can produce a cadence. The nationalistic payoff to “dum, dum, da da dum, da da da dum, England” is undoubtedly a rhythmic cadence.
The dictionary record of the use of “cadence” when what is meant is “rhythm” legitimises its place in a crossword clue. It’s just a pity that, having eventually overcome iritis to the extent of solving 1 across, the first reaction was not admiration at the artfully disguised anagram of “dance”, but the absolute certainty that a cadence is not a rhythm.
There – I said it was a joy.
Thanks, Arachne and manehi.
No one has yet pointed out that “Brute” is not, in fact, Caesar’s last word. The full quote is, “Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar!”, which is always very moving, less so if truncated.