It hadn’t fallen to me to blog a Scorpion puzzle for quite some time, so I attacked this one with gusto.
A quick glance through the clues reveals that there is a theme here around “old country”. Would this mean words for the UK, GB, England OR former names of countries? Solving a few of these clues confirmed that it was the latter. Incidentally, I solved this puzzle and wrote this blog gazing out over the Acropolis here in Athens, and it was quite sobering and humbling to think that, while all these countries have been undergoing multiple name changes, while they have been coming into and going out of existence, that temple has been there throughout, and predates most of them by centuries, if not millennia.
I enjoyed this puzzle enormously, not least because a review of these former names was helpful from a general knowledge point of view. In the end, I got them all unaided apart from 8, which I didn’t know at all, although I should have been able to work it out from the wordplay – I couldn’t see beyond the geographical definition of “plain”, alas.
My favourite clue today is 25, for its silky smooth surface, ironically a clue for a present-day country, closely followed by 16 and 27, again for surface. 14 was a clever spot by Scorpion, given the theme of the puzzle.
I wondered about “tracking” as a reversal indicator in 21, and whether I was missing something at 10. I also wondered if Uri Geller is enough of a household name to be referred to by his forename alone, with no reference to his surname at all. Any thoughts on these quibbles?
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in double-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | GOLD COAST | Ageing business in fuel beginning to trouble old country
[OLD (=ageing) + CO (=business, i.e. company)] in [GAS (=fuel) + T<rouble> (“beginning to” means first letter only)]; Gold Coast is present-day Ghana |
| 06 | DEMOB | Break up from second grade at end of March?
DEMO (=March; N.B. The capital letter here is misleading) + B (=second grade, i.e. second highest grade after A) |
| 09 | LENDL | “Aim between the lines” suggests tennis expert
END (=aim) in LL (=lines); the reference is to Czech-born tennis player and coach Ivan Lendl |
| 10 | PIE CHARTS | Statistical data of catering sales at football ground?
Cryptically, pie charts would contain data on the many pies that are sold at football grounds |
| 11 | ASPIRATE | Furious with anonymous sick phoner primarily making breathy sound
A<nonymous> S<ick> P<honer> (“primarily” means first letters only) + IRATE (=furious) |
| 12 | MOULT | Flash extremist destroying artist’s shed
MO (=flash, as in to do something in a flash) + ULT<ra> (=extremist; “destroying artist (RA)” means letters “ra” are dropped”; to shed feathers or fur is to moult |
| 14 | PERSIA | Old country discovered through another one mostly
PER (=through) + SIA<m> (=old country, i.e. present-day Thailand; “mostly” means last letter is dropped) |
| 16 | PLAYBILL | Theatre poster shows amateur in lead unfavourably
[LAY (=amateur, as in lay preacher) in Pb (=lead, i.e. chemical formula)] + ILL (=unfavourably) |
| 18 | EAST FIFE | Scottish team favourite disheartened by new Fiesta
F<avourit>E (“disheartened” means all but first and last letters are dropped) + *(FIESTA); “new” is anagram indicator |
| 20 | CEYLON | Old country cottage empty only when renovated
C<ottag>E (“empty” means all but first and last letters are dropped) + *(ONLY); “when renovated” is anagram indicator |
| 23 | VALOR | Soldiers tracking can back GI’s bravery
VAL (LAV=can, i.e. toilet; “back” indicates reversal) + OR (=soldiers, i.e. other ranks); valor is bravery, spelt the American way, hence “GI’s bravery” |
| 24 | ECCE HOMO | Religious portrayal in green around chrome building Rector ignored
*(CH<r>OME) in ECO (=green); “Rector (=R) ignored” means letter “r” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “building”; in art, an ecce homo is a portrayal of Christ crowned with thorns |
| 27 | LANGOUSTE | Angle at sea holding sack for shellfish
OUST (=sack, as a verb) in *(ANGLE); “at sea” is anagram indicator |
| 28 | DALEK | Legless automaton having beer in middle of vodkas
ALE (=beer) in <vo>DK<as> (“middle of” means middle two letters only); the reference is to the Dalek race in Doctor Who |
| 29 | AT SEA | Lost cat’s ear marginally scratched
<c>AT’S EA<r>; “marginally scratched” means the first and last letters are dropped |
| 30 | NYASALAND | Old country’s funny as Alan Davies partly shows
Hidden (“as … partly shows”) in “funNY AS ALAN Davies”; Nyasaland is present-day Malawi |
| Down | ||
| 01/02 | GOLF LINKS | Sell up partnership before start of Spanish course
GOLF (FLOG=sell; “up” indicates vertical reversal) + LINK (=partnership) + S<panish> (“start of” means first letter only) |
| 03 | CELLINI | Section of jug popular with one sculptor
CELL (=section of jug, i.e. of prison) + IN (=popular) + I (=one); the reference is to Italian sculptor Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571) |
| 04 | APPEAL | A ringing, repeated at start, that might be heard at court
A + P-PEAL (=ringing; “repeated at start” means that the first letter is doubled) |
| 05 | THE WEALD | English tract fell inside widespread delta
HEW (=fell, i.e. cut down) in *(DELTA); “widespread” is anagram indicator; The Weald is an area in SE England between the North and South Downs |
| 06 | DAHOMEY | Sat, perhaps grabbing seat in old country
HOME (=seat, as in country seat) in DAY (=Sat, perhaps, i.e. Saturday); Dahomey was a kingdom in present-day Benin |
| 07 | MERCURIAL | Capricious church psychic with fancy lamé clothing
[RC (=church, i.e. Roman Catholic Church) + URI (=psychic, i.e. spoon-bending Uri Geller)] in *(LAM?); “fancy” is anagram indicator |
| 08 | BASUTOLAND | Old country plain attracts head of sciences in car
[S<ciences> (“head of” means first letter only) in AUTO] (=car) in BLAND (=plain); Basutoland is present-day Lesotho |
| 13 | UPPER VOLTA | Excited oddball startled a lot in old country
UP (=excited) + PERV (=oddball) + *(A LOT); “startled” is anagram indicator; Upper Volta is present-day Burkina Faso |
| 15 | RUSTLINGS | Reddish-brown fish appearing, son whispers
RUST (=reddish-brown) + LING (=fish) + S (=son) |
| 17 | AFTERSUN | Dessert comes with a French-style cream
AFTERS (=dessert) + UN (a French-style, i.e. the French word for a) |
| 19 | FORMOSA | Old country doctors fill message boards
MOs (=doctors, i.e. Medical Officers) in FORA (=message boards, i.e. on the internet); Formosa is present-day Taiwan |
| 21 | ECHIDNA | One burrows hard into rocks, tracking and retreating
[H (=hard) in ECI (ICE=rocks; “tracking” indicates reversal)] + DNA (AND; “retreating” indicates reversal) |
| 22 | ECZEMA | A continental starter with cold filling brought about complaint
C (=cold) in [A + MEZE (=continental starter)]; “brought about” indicates (here full) reversal |
| 25 | MALTA | Country singer mostly seen in American comeback tour
ALT<o> (=singer; “mostly” means last letter dropped) in MA (AM=American; “comeback” indicates reversal, with “tour” indicating that these letters encircle the others) |
| 26 | SKID | Type of mark that’s seen on boxers? Second rib
S (=second) + KID (=rib, i.e. tease) |
Thanks RR and Scorpion,
Re 21 dn: I don’t think “tracking” is a reversal indicator. I think it is used (as with the clue for VALOR) to indicate that IHCE comes after AND, with all seven letters then reversed (“retreating”).
Thanks for blogging, RR. I thought this was an interesting topic, but was defeated by the last two of the themed clues: couldn’t for the life of me see DAHOMEY or BASUTOLAND (and neither could my wordchecker of choice). The others were all reasonably familiar, though. Of the unthemed clues, I liked AFTERSUN and SKID.
Just in case you were being coy about the latter, I’ll point out that we’re talking underwear boxers and not pugilist boxers …
Bravo, Scorpion.
I managed to finish this without recourse to aids because I’d heard of all the old countries and the cluing for them was fair. An enjoyable puzzle IMHO, and some of the definitions weren’t easy to spot which always makes for an interesting challenge. THE WEALD was my LOI when I finally realised I wasn’t looking for the name of a river delta somewhere. GOLF LINKS took me a lot longer than it should have done because I’d convinced myself I was looking for a type of food, and it was only after I got it that I saw GOLD COAST.
Tough going but I got there in the end unaided. I own that I saw ‘tracking’ as a reversal indicator, as did RR.
Good fun. I knew all of the old countries, being a grammar school boy. Struggled with ecce homo, being thick. RR on7 down I think you will see ME …. AL (lamé fancy) clothing RC and the spoon bender. You have a ?.
My clue of the day is 26d, closely followed by by 23a. This probably tells you all you need to know about me.
Thanks to Scorpion and our Athens correspondent.
Got it all, though there were one or two I couldn’t parse; for instance I’d forgotten about ‘meze’ being a starter.
GeordyGordy @5. I think the ? in the blog for 7dn is because the uppercase É of LAMÉ hasn’t been recognised by software somewhere along the line. Odd that the lowercase one has, though.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
I’m being thick, no doubt, but can someone explain 12ac to me? The paper clue is “Flash extremist destroying artist’s shed”. Which from RR’s parsing means that “flash extremist” is “moult” with the letters “ra” (for artist, which I get) inserted at some point. Where and why?
Temporary thickness has passed. I am an “extremist” runner in the sense that I run ultra marathons and it still took me a good hour to get this one!
spb@7 – I thought RR’s parsing was quite clear. “Shed” is the definition and the wordplay is MO (flash, as in “I’ll be with you in a mo”) plus ULT (an extremist, ULTRA, with the artist, RA, destroyed/deleted).
Needed a search to get 5dn, but got through the rest eventually.
Surely 10ac is playing on the famous football chant “Who ate all the pies?” (which is alleged to be the oldest football chant going).
As soon as I got 28ac, I had to hide behind the sofa.
Andy B @9: RR’s parsing was very clear and my stupidity extended to somehow missing the first part of his explanation, up to the word “extremist”! Apologies for wasting people’s time and for suggesting RR’s blog was anything other than excellent, as usual.
Too hard for me, another complete waste of time, next time I see a scorpion, I will skip it, and leave it to the specialists.