Enjoyable, but tough to get into…
…I thought something might be up after getting a few of the ‘thematic’ answers early, and managed to finger 1d as the primary candidate to reveal the theme. I liked the fact that this was a theme that didn’t give away a bunch of subsequent solutions cheaply. Favourites were 1ac and 5dn.
Across
1 Where chap, say, gets introduction to equitation (6)
MANÈGE
&lit def, =a riding school, where equitation would be taught. MAN=”chap”, plus E.G.=”say”, plus E[quitation]
4 About a hundred in here, misbehaving? (6)
CRÈCHE
&lit def. C[irca]=”About”, plus C=”a hundred” in Roman numerals in (here)*
9 Someone employing trick’s first to finish (4)
USER
=”Someone employing”. RUSE=”trick”, with the first letter becoming the finishing letter.
10 Hope guy makes prig head off in torrential rain (10)
RURITANIAN
=”Hope guy” – a character from Anthony Hope’s Ruritania. [p]URITAN=”prig head off”, in (rain)*
11 Pompey supporter hit man in business (6)
CICERO
Supported Pompey against Julius Caesar. ICER=”hit man”, inside CO[mpany]=”business”
12 Model curtsied for starters (8)
CRUDITÉS
=”starters”. (curtsied)*
13 Silly gag about Wossy’s comeback — he started it! (9)
AGGRESSOR
=”he started it!”. (GAG)*, plus RE=”about”, plus rev(ROSS)=”Wossy’s comeback”
15 Cut short segment on board (4)
BRIE
a segment on a cheese board. BRIE[f]=”short”, with the last letter “Cut”
16 Destroy wine container in pit fire (4)
SACK
=”Destroy” a settlement; =a dry white “wine”; =”container”, =”pit”=slang for bed; =”fire” an employee
17 Overthrow pact due to manoeuvres (4,5)
COUP D’ÉTAT
=”Overthrow”. (pact due to)*
21 Lots of Glühwein here, diverting 18 over weekend (5-3)
APRÈS-SKI
=”Lots of Glühwein here”. (PRAISES)*, around [wee]K
22 Comment by primate (Catholic) at youth centre (6)
APERÇU
=”Comment”, a brief outline/summary. APE=”primate” plus R[oman] C[atholic] plus [yo]U[th]
24 Note time a settee’s upholstered (and sofas) (4-1-5)
TÊTE-À-TÊTES
=S-shaped “sofas” that bring sitters face to face. TE=”note” in sol-fa notation, plus T[ime], plus (a settee)*
25 Where to find rabbits, say, and cats (4)
LYNX
=”cats”. Sounds like ‘links’, where rabbits may be found?
26 He attempts summit of Eiger first, using this? (6)
ÉTRIER
=a small rope ladder that a mountaineer might use. TRIER=”He attempts”, with E[iger] coming first
27 The way things stand, a strike’s not new (2,2,2)
AS IT IS
=”The way things stand”. A SIT I[n]’S=”a strike’s”, without the n[ew]
Down
1,19 Girl can’t sing properly round church, as several lights are here (7,7)
MISSING ACCENTS
=”as several lights are here”: several letters in the solutions – highlighted in the blog – should have accent markings that aren’t indicated by the wordplay in the clues (lights). MISS=”girl”, plus (can’t sing)* round C[hurch of] E[ngland]
2 She tends to dash around the Home Counties (5)
NURSE
=”She tends” to patients. rev(RUN)=”dash around”, plus S[outh]E[ast]=”the Home Counties”
3 People in Bordeaux right to replace small boys there? (7)
GARÇONS
=”boys” in French. GA[s]CONS=”People in Bordeaux” in Gascony, with R[ight] replacing s[mall]
5 Gustatory disorder, say, getting drunk with this? (6)
ROTGUT
&lit def. (say ROTGUT)* makes “Gustatory”
6 Defraud French company about to recruit good caretaker (9)
CONCIERGE
=”caretaker”. CON=”Defraud”, plus C[ompagn]IE=”French company”, plus RE=”about” recruiting G[ood]
7 Return entrance money before shelving display (7)
ÉTAGÈRE
=”shelving display”. Reversal of GATE=”Return entrance money”, plus ERE=”before”
8 They analysed stool and got scrip (13)
PROCTOLOGISTS
&lit def – scrip is slang for money, proctologists get paid for analysing stools. (stool got scrip)*
14 Criminal career kept failing after ceding power (9)
RACKETEER
=”Criminal”. (Career ke[p]t)*, ceding p[ower]
16 First drink’s on setter (7)
SUPREME
=”First”. SUP=”drink”, plus RE=”on”, plus ME=”setter”
18 Prince lifts honours (7)
PRAISES
=”honours”. P[rince] plus RAISES=”lifts”
19 See 1
20 Fly places during half-term (6)
TSETSE
=”Fly”. SETS=”places” something onto something else, inside half of TE[rm]
23 Lustre reflected in oriental ceramics (5)
ÉCLAT
=”Lustre”. Hidden reversed (reflected in) “orienTAL CEramics”
Thanks for the blog manehi and to Crucible for a puzzle I really enjoyed.
Bizarrely, the number of accented clues passed me by so it was a lovely penny-drop when I finally solved 1/19. I particularly liked “Hope guy”, the quintuple (though I missed the pit meaning), and 5d. Three new words/forgotten words too – manège, proctologist and étrier, all easily gettable from the word play.
Curious that Crucible didn’t go for suprême for 16d.
I think 25a is a golf reference. Links being a type of golf course and rabbit a poor or inexperienced golfer.
Is ‘properly’ the anagram indicator at 1dn? ‘Not properly’ might be expected, I’d have thought.
Chapeau, manehi – great blog.
And what a lovely puzzle! – which , as you say, didn’t reveal its secrets too quickly, as usual with this setter.
Very clever cluing, with several actual or near &lits, a quintuple [I didn’t know ‘pit’, either] definition – with a surface that made sense – and many ingenious constructions, with plenty of the customary wit thrown in. [And how lovely to see what looked like a football reference in 11ac that turned out not to be – a sort of reverse cryptic definition!]
I parsed 25ac as Claire did.
Re 16dn: merci bien, Crucible – mine’s a G and T. 😉 And many thanks, as ever, for a most enjoyable puzzle.
A pity that Paul used the same lynx/links connection in yesterday’s Cryptic, so it was already in mind for today. I didn’t get the golfing “rabbit” but there are usually plenty of the other sort anyway.
Thanks Crucible and manehi
First in was CICERO, though I didn’t see the “icer” bit; after that the bottom mostly went in quickly, while the top was like pulling teeth. MISSING ACCENTS was my last, and I only saw the explanation some time after I had written it in.
I hadn’t heard of the “pit” in 16a either – is it really a slang term for bed? Also manege was new to me.
Favourites were USER, PROCTOLOGIST and TSETSE (nice to see a new construction for the latter).
ulaca @2
I took “properly” to mean that “cant sing” was “improper – that is, not in the right order.
I thought this was a very good puzzle. Too many good clues to single any out. Struggled a bit at first but got the ‘theme’ from 5d and then it was plain sailing after that. Had to look up the Hope connection for 10ac after solving the anagram.
NE corner was my last section.
Thanks all!
I mentioned “manege” to a friend who trains horses (my local butcher, in fact) and he insisted the word was “menage” and wouldn’t have it otherwise.
Wikipedia has “Ménage, a frequent error for manège, a rectangular arena for horse training and dressage”.
Does “frequent error” mean that this usage is correct too? (Banging on about an old topic – sorry!)
muffin @ 5/6 The one-time rector of St Aldate’s Church in Oxford, Michael Green, used to encourage students to rise from their ‘pits’ in time to make the morning service.
Your interpretation of ‘properly’ is ingenious, but it does rather open the door to the use of reverse anagram indicators, somewhat analagous to the slang use of ‘wicked’ for good, etc. What next, I wonder – ‘can’t sing well’ to indicate that the words are not in good order and must be rearranged?!
A tough workout, and I regret to say that I opted hastily for ‘menage’, although I now remember that I have encountered ‘manege’ in a crossword before. An ingenious theme, but many more of the sort would, perhaps, have me voting for UKIP.
Many thanks, manehi, good blog.
Like others, I was queezy about the “properly” anagrind, but that’s a minor quibble of an excellent crossword.
Nice weekend, all.
It’s more satisfying to announce one’s intention to retire for the night to the pit, rather than the sack or the hay, which may also be hit.
Thanks Crucible and manehi
I had a slightly different take on 5: GUTROT as gustatory disorder, getting drunk gives ROTGUT. Taken with manehi’s anagram I think that increases the cleverness of the clue’s construction.
Clever setting and cluing. Not very clever solving, except by my computer.
Thanks manehi; not much ‘hope’ in 10 when I was looking for Bob 🙁
Eileen @3: [And how lovely to see what looked like a football reference in 11ac that turned out not to be – a sort of reverse cryptic definition!] I would have preferred football. 😉
ICER for hit man seemed a bit of a stretch, but caused a smile anyway.
Robi @14
Chacun à son goût. 😉
I lazily put RAGOUT in for 5d, without being able to parse it, because that would allow me RIG (head off PRIG) in 10a – and then I was utterly stuck!!
Other than my own stupidity, a highly enjoyable puzzle. Thanks Crucible, and thanks manehi for the blog.
I’m pretty sure this is the first time that Mr Ross has appeared in a crossword without indicating an “R”>”W” substitution.
Very nice puzzle, although not the sort I’d want to do regularly. Despite all the obscure words, I found this surprisingly not frustrating at all – Crucible did a good job of giving the easy definitions tricky wordplay, and the obscurer ones more straightforward charades.
Many thanks, I needed help with this one. Could someone please explain why, in 8d, the past tense is used (analysed)?
Hi crosser
I pondered that for a minute or two, too: I think it’s because, if it were present tense, some might query it as an anagram indicator.
Hi Irene
Thanks for your explanation. I see what you mean, but I still think it should be in the present tense! A small quibble, though, after such a good puzzle.
Hi crosser @18
If it were ‘analyse’ in 8dn then, for the clue to read properly, it would have to be ‘get scrip’ and so the anagram fodder would be lost.
A better explanation, Gaufrid!
Thanks,
‘Irene’ 😉
Thanks, Gaufrid, I had realised that was the case while I was working it out, but I think it’s rather a poor reason!
My schoolboy French, together with having come across many of these French loan words in crosswords over the years and the clear cluing, meant that I never felt stuck. However, I only saw the theme after I had solved about two thirds of the puzzle. I initially did the same as Cosafina@16 and had an unparsed “ragout” at 5dn (note to self: look at anagram fodder properly), which in turn also convinced me that I was looking for (p)RIG inside 10ac. It was only after I decided that 10ac was unsolvable that way that I looked again at 5dn, saw what was really going on, and entered the correct ROTGUT, followed very quickly by RURITANIAN which was my LOI. An enjoyable puzzle and a good mental workout.
I found this quite a challenge, but it is definitely very clever stuff…and it’s one of those where you look back and can’t see why you found it hard.
The PROCTOLOGISTS clue is actually even neater than you have it, because to doctors the word ‘scrip’ is short for prescription. So, “They analysed stool and got scrip”.
Thanks both.
(Captchas are upping their game – “nine X 7”!)
Thanks Crucible and manehi
Probably my pick as best of a good lot this week. A very clever and subtle theme in which I counted at least 14 French words that have been adopted into the English language – the theme revealed itself after getting 1,19 just before half way.
Many interesting clues and a good mix of ‘work out the word from the clue’ and ‘get the definition and work out the device’.
Spent a lot of time reading about the life of CICERO to confirm the connection back to Pompey!!
Last one in was BRIE.
Delightful, brilliant
Many thanks Crucible & Manehi
Enjoyed this a lot but found it quite difficult in places and missed a couple of parsings – it was too hard to finish over lunch but it was fun teasing out the NE corner with a few friends in the pub – last in was RURITANIAN, partly because we weren’t sure of the definition and partly because of a nagging suspicion that GARCONS/GASCONS could be read either way round. Suspect this would have been very hard for anyone who doesn’t know any French – fortunately I’m starting to see the likes of APERCU and ETAGERE as common currency in crosswords. Liked CICERO but it seems unfair to single one out.
Thanks to manehi and Crucible
PS on MANEGE, that was familiar from an old quiz trivia book because I remembered that the original French title of the Magic Roundabout was Le Manege enchante (and I know that’s MISSING two ACCENTs too because I’m too lazy to look up how to type them this late in the evening.
I was going to complain about ‘properly’ but persuaded myself that it’s like ‘correctly’, as good an indicator as some. (And there are so many.)
Likewise I decided that ‘hit man’ could be read as ‘hitman’, by analogy with ‘hit squad’.
I still don’t like the idea of golf courses as rabbit habitat and the definition of CRECHE is far too tenuous to be a true &lit.
Thanks all
My motto for cryptics is to take the rough with the smooth so I rarely complain about individual clues.
However, today my first in was gutrot which I admired as a neat clue.
I them quite swiftly completed the SE, SW and NW corners but the NE remained incomplete. Please why is rotgut indicated rather than gutrot and the dictionay definitions are slightly different and therefore it is arguable which is best justified.
I’m probably the only person who will read this, but I’ll indulge myself anyway. After a very tough Times on Saturday and a not very satisfying Independent on the same day, this was a real delight. Loved the “Hope guy” at 10 and ROTGUT at 5 particularly but lots of other excellent clues.
Thanks to manehi and especially to Crucible for restoring my somewhat jaded crossword palate.
WordPlodder @32 – thought I’d add this just to show that somebody reads the later comments…
Thanks for taking the trouble to read and reply to my not particularly memorable contribution, beery hiker. At least my little indulgence didn’t disappear completely unseen into the ether then.
…although, Beery Hiker, I feel pretty certain this will not be read! Great puzzle with several excellent clues – I thought “manege” was wonderful. But I had a couple of quibbles on which nobody touched. I don’t believe a proctologist analyses stools (one might equally well suggest that a geologist works in Hatton Garden!) and why, in 25ac, is “lynx” clued by “cats” rather than “cat”? The plural of “lynx” is “lynxes” or is this an inapt use of ‘safari-speak’ (as in “we saw/shot elephant and lion…)?! And while I’m at it, why the “segment” and no question mark in 15ac; would not “cut short on board?” have sufficed? Am I missing something/being stupid with my concerns…?!
Many thanks to Crucible (clearly a superb linguist) for a fantastic puzzle and to manehi.
Hard puzzle. Didn’t finish. Several words unknown to me.
This web site and it’s bloggers are a wonderful enhancement to the cryptic puzzle world.
However, the commentary of bloggers and writers alike is way too smug.
Bragging that one finished the puzzle with the aid of a computer while sniping at the clues is petty.
As an American, I struggle in your Anglocentric puzzle universe, but self-congratulatory drivel comes through loud and clear.
Billinaustin –
Gosh, hope none of that meant for me. Am mainly rushing to defend as my one contribution was also the last (by far) apart from yourself.
Personally, I solve all my puzzles either in the paper itself or on photocopies from the library. I don’t use a computer. Call me old-fashioned but I believe using anagram ‘machines’ or peeking at answers is kind of cheating and can detract from the pleasure.
As for sniping, I don’t think I’ve ever “quibbled”(?) before. My concerns above are genuine or I wouldn’t have commented so late. Do proctologists analyse stools? Why is a lynx “cats” rather than “cat”?
I’ve not seen your name before but I’m not a religious follower of the site. If you are new, a very warm welcome to you.
I do agree that if someone wishes to show off then I’d prefer them to do so openly – but then, I guess, that wouldn’t be very British! Personally, I discovered Fifteen Squared only six months ago and my main impression has been of kind and lovely people – a refreshingly warm site…
Ooops, sorry – should have typed BillinAustin – am assuming you’re from the Lone Star State…..!
The ones I am amused by obviously would consider it to be too crass to state how many minutes it took. Instead they tell us that it was finished while the train went from staion A to station B in the London area. A totally meaningless fact to those who live in the “provinces” but just goes to reinforce our already very negative view of Londoners.
William F P @ 35
Sorry to disappoint you – I am sure there will be others like me returning to their computers after a few days off-line for various reasons and having tried the puzzles, looking at the blogs.
Since you ask, I think you are being a bit picky about PROCTOLOGISTS; I entirely agree with you about LYNX.
As for BRIE, I think “segment” was meant to provide a bit more of a clue by indicating the shape in which the cheese in question is normally served; however, if I’m not mistaken, that shape is correctly termed a ‘sector’, so you may be right.
Mac Ruaraidh Ghais –
Thanks for post – nice to find I wasn’t completely wrong with my thoughts! And good to know there are others who are tucking into this lovely puzzle long after others have digested it! And you’re probably right about the brie (mathematically a sector and, in general language, a segment – portion – too) You make a fair point about how it’s served; I can’t recall a whole brie in one sitting! Incidentally, I’ve made a mental note – you are clearly one of life’s gentlemen…..
R C Whiting –
I enjoyed your comment – you make a good point wittily. Though I’m glad to note you haven’t let a negative view spoil your amusement! Now I’m scared to admit to being an (ex-) Londoner!
This took a really long time. I couldn’t complain about the clues which were clever including the one that defeated me- BRIE. I could kick myself.