I haven’t blogged a Brendan puzzle for a while, so it was a pleasant surprise to get this one. I spotted the theme (see below) early on, which was very familiar to me and helped me to get through it quite quickly, though the SE corner gave me some trouble at the end, for no obvious reason, looking back at it.
The theme was less obviously signalled than is usually the case with Brendan – in fact you could probably solve the puzzle without being aware of it – but in the seventh row we have NORWEGIAN BLUE, which is the DEAD PARROT in the famous Monty Python SKETCH, first broadcast in December 1969 (I would say it’s probably their most famous sketch). We have several of the sketch’s euphemisms for death and dying: EXPIRE, RESTING, NO MORE (maybe also “UNDER the daisies”, though I’m not sure if that appears in it), as well as the performers Michael PALIN and John CLEESE (“hidden” in the tenth row), who (perhaps rather obscurely) plays Mr PRALINE. Several of the clues have a surface reference to the sketch – I noticed 16a, 22a, 5d and 7d. I can’t find any other references, but I may well have missed something. Thanks to Brendan for the entertainment and the reminder of this classic bit of TV from my youth.
| Across | ||||||||
| 1. | EXPIRE | Pressure after vote in nearby country’s become invalid (6) X (voting mark) + P in EIRE |
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| 4. | UNSTOP | Puts on in revised version that’s clear (6) (PUTS ON)* – “clear” as in clearing/unstopping a blocked pipe, perhaps |
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| 9. | ABEL | Name the first to be knocked off (4) [L]ABEL &lit – Abel, killed by his brother Cain, was the first victim of murder in Genesis |
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| 10. | STEAM ORGAN | Powerful instrument included in contents of chest buried in South by pirate (5,5) TEA (found in a chest) in S MORGAN |
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| 11. | BRUNEI | Land in East, namely, taken back after British period (6) B RUN + reverse of I.E. |
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| 12. | ADRIATIC | Roman emperor’s endless automatic action in waters off Italy (8) [h]ADRIA[n] + TIC. The name Hadrian (or Adrian) probably comes from “Adriatic”, or at least from the same source, but probably long enough ago not to weaken the clue too much. |
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| 13. | NORWEGIAN | New organ I ordered from country in Europe (9) (NEW ORGAN I)* |
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| 15. | BLUE | Sportsman needing to be cheered (4) Double definition – sportsman (or woman) at Oxford or Cambridge (and elsewhere), and sad or depressed |
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| 16. | AILS | Has a complaint and is lambasting shopkeeper up front (4) Initial letters of And Is Lambasting Shopkeeper |
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| 17. | SLEEKNESS | Look for bill with extra length — characteristic of a healthy bird? (9) I think this is L[ength] in SEEK NESS, with NESS and “bill” both meaning a projection or headland (Chambers gives beak=”a pointed projection”). Any other suggestions? I’ve just thought of Portland Bill, which probably justifies this equivalence.) |
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| 21. | SQUADRON | Second question changed around for operational unit (8) S + Q + AROUND* |
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| 22. | TOUCAN | Dreadful cut on a bird with beautiful plumage (6) (CUT ON A)* |
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| 24. | BIPARTISAN | Major cut to obsolete weapon, with political co-operation (10) BI[g] + PARTISAN , as carried by the yeomen of the Guard. Chambers calls it “a halberd-like weapon with twin axe-blades or spikes”, and says the name is “of doubtful origin”, so presumably not related to the more meaning of “partisan” |
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| 25. | DEAD | Having lately joined a certain choir? Absolutely (4) Double definition – reference to the phrase “joined the choir eternal”, as used in the sketch. I presume the expression didn’t originate there, but googling only seems to find Dead Parrot references. As Eileen points out, it’s actually “choir invisible” – see comments for a link to the source of this. |
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| 26. | SKETCH | Outline of small boat (6) S + KETCH |
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| 27. | PARROT | Character holding rook and duck — or another bird (6) R + O in PART |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 1. | EMBARGO | Prohibit European doctor going on legendary vessel (7) E + MB +_ARGO |
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| 2. | PALIN | Right-winger in US, type that’s irritating about left (5) L in PAIN. Just in case you’d forgotten about Sarah Palin |
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| 3. | RESTING | Not acting on trap set up by police (7) RE (about, on) + STING. “Resting” is the actor’s famous euphemism for being unemployed |
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| 5. | NO MORE | Drama with extinct bird, mostly about having ceased to be (2,4) NO (Japanese drama) + MO[a] + RE (about) |
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| 6. | TARPAULIN | Para unit deployed around line to provide protection for sailor (9) L in (PARA UNIT)* |
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| 7. | PRALINE | Pair with a bit of script that’s nutty stuff (7) PR (pair) + A LINE |
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| 8. | SEPARABLENESS | Property of sheep and goats in story, in different senses (13) PARABLE in SENSES* – reference to the passage in Matthew 25 |
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| 14. | WELL AWARE | Certainly knowing setter and solver exist without barrier being put up (4,5) Reverse of WALL in WE (setter + solver) ARE (exist) |
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| 16. | ACQUITS | Doesn’t put in prison, even under a Conservative (7) A C + QUITS (as in “we’re quits”) |
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| 18. | ESTONIA | Oddly, it’s a volcano — even so, I land in northern Europe (7) An unusual style of clue – the odd letters of ESTONIA spell ETNA and the evens SO I |
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| 19. | SEA SALT | Revised atlases showing result of oceanic evaporation (3,4) ATLASES* |
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| 20. | EROTIC | Intended to arouse emotion — result, initially, of hearing organ (6) E[motion] + R[esult] + OTIC (related to the ear) |
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| 23. | UNDER | Concluding you can find the answer below (5) Last letters of yoU caN finD thE answeR |
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Thanks Brendan and Andrew
Although I appreciated the overall cleverness of this crossword, I didn’t particularly enjoy it on an individual level – I thought that several clues didn’t work all that well in isolation (DEAD, for example).
The top went in quickly, but the bottom – especially the SW – took me a lot longer.
The choir is more usually referred to as celestial.
Thanks, Andrew. I found this a bit harder than most Brendans although, like you, I’m not sure why. I saw the NORWEGIAN BLUE early on but it was only at the end that I spotted all the references.
If anyone (?) is unfamiliar with the sketch, although I realise you’ve given a link to the Wiki page, the script itself plus some odd alternative endings can be found here: http://montypython.50webs.com/scripts/Series_1/53.htm
Thanks to Brendan for a puzzle which maintains the right degree of difficulty, and to Andrew for the blog.
With my nose too close to the grindstone, I did indeed manage to solve the puzzle without spotting the real theme, despite having seen mini-themes of “forms of DEAD” and “BIRDS”, I failed to add them together!
Re 17a, I agree entirely with Andrew’s parsing.
Re 24, For completeness the parsing should say BI(g) = Major cut
Many thanks, Andrew – you lucky chap! – for the blog and Brendan for a wonderful romp.
I started smiling as soon as I spotted 13, 15 ac, early on, and wasn’t disappointed.
I immediately looked up the sketch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vuW6tQ0218
[any excuse!] and had a lovely time listening out for the numerous [clever Brendan!] allusions.
It’s actually ‘the choir invisible’ in the sketch.
Apart from the theme, I thought the &littish 8dn was excellent.
Huge thanks again to Brendan, for putting me in such a good mood for the rest of the day – I hope!
Re. 25a: I thought the “joined a certain choir” referred to the phrase “joined the choir in the sky” – that phrase is why the answer jumped out at me from the first part of the clue itself.
Thanks to Brendan for a good time, and to Andrew for the blog.
Thanks Eileen for “choir invisible”, which I see comes from a poem by George Eliot.
Not being a Python fan, I didn’t get the theme but finished it anyway with no probs except had to check 8d was a word. No real groaners today as all seemed quite straightforward once I’d corrected the first two letters of 4ac! And got rid of ‘we live’ in 14d. Really liked the clue for 18d.
Although I got NO MORE from the crosses and the defintion, I couldn’t parse the first four letters – now that Andrew has done it, it seems so simple and clear!
And while 2d is simplicity itself, the clue and the crossing P in 1a triggered the vague memory of an American sportsman named PELTY [“irritated” TYPE* around L) – I felt sure the “right-winger” referred to a field position in his sport. Googling showed he played baseball, which doesn’t have such a position. But this had thrown me so far off the track that I had to wait till the other two crosses were in place to kick myself for missing the obvious!
And thanks, Andrew, for the link – I didn’t know that poem.
Intended as an early tribute to the Monty Python reunion:
http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/apr/24/monty-python-reunion-big-screens-20-july
Smug git that I am, the first answer I saw was “Norwegian” (I don’t start at 1ac, I just jump in the middle somewhere until I solve a clue). Having noted it was Brendan at the helm, I thought – Brendan->theme->Norwegian…Norwegian Blue? Dead parrot? Guessing a theme after one clue is, as one might imagine, a personal best, and unlikely to be repeated anytime soon…
I thought this was brilliant! I loved the clues for Estonia and Abel, and took a while to see the theme – thank you Brendan! And also to Andrew for explaining “no more” and “bipartisan”, which I couldn’t explain.
I really enjoyed this, with a good variety of clues to hold the interest. But I have to admit that I didn’t spot the theme at all, although I know the sketch well, and even occasionally use “pining for the fjords” as a euphemism for something which has expired.
Wonderful stuff from Brendan, and the ideal puzzle for the herpetologically inclined ornithologist. Scandinavian Blue to make a change from Scandinavian Noir. The sketch made me laugh out loud all those years ago, and the puzzle made me chuckle when I completed it in the early hours this morning.
Superb handling of the theme, but my clue of the day has to go to the one for ‘Estonia’ which I think was brilliantly realised.
Thanks Andrew and Brendan
I have enjoyed the sketch many times but sadly missed the theme here. Partly because of this I found the puzzle rather tough, but solved it and understood the individual clues none the less. I had to check that partisan was a weapon, though the answer was clear enough.
I particularly liked 17a, 5d, and 18d
Thanks Brendan for a good workout.
Thanks Andrew for the parsing of SLEEKNESS, which I missed.
Needless to say, I missed the theme until the end, although I love the sketch.
Like GC@15, my favourite clue was for ESTONIA.
Oh thank goodness. As soon as I read the blog I thought “everyone will have spotted this except me” but thankfully that’s not the case at all. Love the sketch, probably watched it live during first transmission, never made the link. Must try harder to look for themes in future Brendans.
Despite that failure, didn’t find this too tricky. I join others in appreciating the clever clue that leads to ESTONIA.
Thanks to Andrew for the blog. You explained a couple where I had the answer but not the parsing.
When I see ‘oddly’ or ‘evenly’ in a clue I am used to applying those operations to words in the clue. It came as a total surprise to see that these operations apply to the solution.
I had totally forgotten that the expired parrot was a NORWEGIAN BLUE and I never spotted the theme at all. 🙁
This was enjoyable and fairly straightforward, helped by spotting the theme fairly early from the adjacent SKETCH and PARROT. Last in were BIPARTISAN and WELL AWARE. Thanks to Brendan and Andrew.
Thanks, Andrew
Usual wood-and-trees problem meant that I was another who failed to spot the theme until I had completed the puzzle and stared at it to find a common thread. But it wouldn’t have helped because the words I found trickiest (BIPARTISAN, SEPARABLENESS, SLEEKNESS) are unrelated, whereas the theme words all went in without much trouble.
I found many of the clues more transparent than usual for a Brendan puzzle, though well-constructed as ever. BIPARTISAN was my LOI and I couldn’t parse it. (BTW Wiktionary – a useful additional source for this sort of thing – states that partisan the weapon is from Italian ‘partigiano’, via French and is etymologically linked to the more common meaning, perhaps because partisans were typically carried by partisans).
Favourites were 1a and 17a for their great construction and surface, and 18d for its novelty.
Great theme, fun puzzle, good memories. Many thanks Brendan and well done Andrew. Shame about the old boys reunion!
Thanks Brendan and Andrew
Very enjoyable workout here with a number of memorable clues – especially the innovative construction of 18d.
I did spot the Monty Python theme about half way through with the DEAD PARROT SKETCH but didn’t twig till the end that it was focused on just that – didn’t even know that it was a NORWEGIAN BLUE :(.
Last couple in were the -NESS words at 8d and 17a. Took a while to properly parse both BRUNEI and BIPARTISAN and had to track down the BILL = ness definition.
Well done Brendan for conceiving such a theme and executing it so superbly. I spotted the theme about halfway through but missed the “Cleese” nina. I got BIPARTISAN from the definition, and it’s a good job it was so clear because I had never heard of “partisan” as a weapon. My LOI was SLEEKNESS after I finally cracked SEPARABLENESS. I had no idea where the word came from, but after reading that it is biblical in origin the use of “parable” in the wordplay is clever indeed.
Finally, count me as another who thought that the clue for ESTONIA was an absolute belter.
Big fan of Brendan(t.o.), and this was clever.
It must be hard for setters who want to come up with new cluetypes to innovate without leaving solvers bewildered, but ESTONIA was a perfect way of moving the Letter Series cluetype on a notch.
ABEL was delicious, and I thought SEA SALT for the surface was a clever spot.
Very enjoyable as ever from Brendan.
Naturally I didn’t spot the theme although I still completed this in fairly quick time. This was fortunate as I had to complete 90% of Nutmeg’s stinker first! (No time yesterday) Only hold up was 5D but once I saw that “different senses” gave s e ness all was clear.
18D was particularly elegant. I was lucky in that when the usual odd/even malarkey produced nothing relating to a Northern European land the first volcano I thought of was ETNA. So the candidates of Denmark, Norway, Finland and Estonia were immediately whittled down to one and the parsing was reverse engineered.
Thanks to Andrew and Brendan
The theme went right by me which is surprising since I have always been a bit of a python myself. overall I found this a rather easy solve, the SE being the only tricky part. Once I got toucan the rest fell in. Thanks to Andrew and Brendan.
Muffin@1, “dead” means “absolutely in “dead right,” no?