It is Tuesday today, the slot being occupied by Monk this week.
It is a long time since it has fallen to me to blog a puzzle by Monk. I made steady, rather than rapid, progress through this one, before coming to a standstill in the NE quadrant and with 26 in the opposite corner of the grid. I eventually completed the NE corner and came up with CLANGERS or BLUNDERS, both meaning “slips”, errors, but I couldn’t make the wordplay fit either; it was only when seeing that the answer was the former that I saw that “ultimately” referred to both of the first two words of the clue. How much more perceptive one becomes when one has had a solution confirmed!
My clue of the day, for its silky smooth surface is the very same 26 – how I wish I could have solved it completely unaided!
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in double-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 07 | TIERCE | Third section of loftier ceremony
Hidden (“section of”) in “lofTIER CEremony” |
| 08 | NEBRASKA | State bill linking an artist with a style of music
NEB (=bill, of e.g. bird) + RA (=artist) + SKA (=style of music, i.e. reggae-like music from Jamaica) |
| 09 | CAVALIER | Knight’s sparkling wine one laid down
CAVA (=sparkling wine) + LIER (=one laid down, i.e. placed in a lying position) |
| 10 | EATERY | Festival kicking out small unknown café
EA<s>TER (=festival; “kicking out small (=S)” means letter “s” is dropped) + Y (=unknown, from algebra) |
| 11 | CLOSE SHAVE | Tight bar clasping end of latch makes squeak
CLOSE (=tight) + [<latc>H (“end of” means last letter only) in SAVE (=bar, except)] |
| 13 | ANNE | Girl criticised for going naked?
<p>ANNE<d> (=criticised; “going naked” means first and last letters are “stripped” off) |
| 14 | WINDOW | Chance to see former wife retaining name
N (=name) in WIDOW (=former wife, i.e. of deceased person) |
| 16 | EMPIRE | Organisation of London’s force inside a republic
MP (=London’s force, i.e. Metropolitan Police) in EIRE (=republic); a business empire is a large industrial organisation embracing many firms (Chambers) |
| 19 | MISS | Avoid half-finished operations
MISS<ions> (=operations); “half-finished” means 4 of 8 letters in word are dropped |
| 21 | PUT AN END TO | Stop at ten pounds, when short, needing to settle?
*(AT TEN POUND<s>); “when short” means last letter dropped from anagram, indicated by “needing to settle” |
| 23 | SPRINT | Second newspaper run
S (=second) + PRINT (=newspaper) |
| 24 | LONG-JUMP | Desire bound to get as far as possible
LONG (=desire) + JUMP (=bound); “bound” seems to do double duty in both the wordplay and the definition |
| 26 | CLANGERS | Erratic ball ultimately irritates slips
<errati>C <bal>L (“ultimately” means last letter only) + ANGERS (=irriatates) |
| 27 | TAKE TO | Form a liking for repeated scene in which wife appears
TAKE T<w>O (=repeated scene, when filming); add w (=wife) to “take to” to give “Take Two” |
| Down | ||
| 01 | DISALLOW | Drunk laid low around start of smoking ban
S<moking> (“start of” means first letter only) in *(LAID LOW); “drunk” is anagram indicator |
| 02 | BROADS | Via which you might access part of East Anglia
The Norfolk Broads might be accessed via B roads! |
| 03 | YETI | Korky the Cat, ultimately one fictional creature
<kork>Y <th>E <ca>T (“ultimately” means last letter only) + I (=one) |
| 04 | ABLE SEAMAN | One with service that’s above ordinary yet not leading
Cryptic definition: an able seaman is part of the navy – “service” – ranked between an ordinary seaman and a leading seaman |
| 05 | PASTRAMI | By butter, one kind of food
PAST (=by) + RAM (=butter, i.e. animal that butts) + I (=one) |
| 06 | SKI RUN | Star drinking wine and syrup in part of resort
KIR (=wine and (blackcurrant) syrup) in SUN (=star) |
| 08 | NORMAN | Well-known golfer // from France
Double definition; the reference is to Australian golfer Greg Norman (1955-) |
| 12 | SHOT-PUTTER | Sportsman ruined sports equipment
SHOT (=ruined) + PUTTER (=sports equipment, for golf) |
| 15 | NESCIENT | Ignorant Conservative with unusually intense exterior
C (=Conservative) in *(INTENSE); “unusually” is anagram indicator |
| 17 | ESTIMATE | Judge raised note in case of assets
IM (MI=note, in music; “raised” indicates vertical reversal) in ESTATE (=assets) |
| 18 | STYLUS | Needle American, oppressed by endless fashion
STYL<e> (=fashion; “endless” means last letter dropped) + US (=American) |
| 20 | IMPALE | Run through one-mile enclosure
I (=one) + M (=mile) + PALE (=enclosure) |
| 22 | NO JOKE | Jack put in corner beginning to envisage a serious issue
[J (=Jack, in cards) in NOOK (=corner)] + E<nvisage> (“beginning to” means first letter only) |
| 23 | NUTS | Blow up bananas
STUN (=blow, shock); “up” indicates vertical reversal |
Thanks RatkojaRiku
It wouldn’t be a Monk without something extra in the grid so, for the benefit of those who may have missed it, we have NormaN (8dn), WindoW (14ac), StyluS (18dn) and EmpirE positioned appropriately.
Very good brain workout today. Only two on first read through and then had to tease out the rest. Held up by getting hooked on ‘goat’ for butter in 5d and ‘Asti’ in 9ac. NW corner was the last to succumb. Some very good but tricky word plays. Too many to enumerate.
Enjoyed. Thx both
A good puzzle IMHO. At first I thought I was going to be in for a relatively fast Monk solve, which would have been a rarity indeed. However, I ground to a halt with a few left and, like RR, I was held up in the NE and by 26ac. I finally got NORMAN/NEBRASKA/PASTRAMI/EMPIRE but then stared at 26ac for ages before entering CLANGERS. However, I admit it was unparsed, or rather incorrectly parsed. I guessed that a “clanger” was some sort of erratic ball in a sport, followed by the last letter of “irritates”. I was suitably embarrassed when I came here and saw the correct parsing, and I have no idea how I missed it. I also missed the nina so thanks for that Gaufrid.
The toughest of all today’s cryptics but then it does have Monk’s name at the top so what did I expect?
Thanks to Monk for the enjoyable struggle, RR for the blog, and Gaufrid for pointing out that I failed (yet again) to spot a Nina.
I couldn’t see CLANGERS and guessed BLUNDERS, but couldn’t see why. Now I know, thanks. 🙂
In the end I had to do a couple of searches for 9ac and 11ac.
Does anyone else remember The Clangers? As soon as Bert entered the answer for 26ac, he was into character! Why did we enjoy the programme so much – we were students when they were first broadcast? Ah! Perhaps that answers the question!
Thanks Monk for an enjoyable solve, thanks to Gaufrid for pointing out the nina and to RR for the blog.
I was with other people who didn’t parse clangers – the clue doesn’t obviously suggest that the final letter of both words should be taken. The top right corner was by far the most difficult for me. Nebraska went through my mind for 8 across but I was completely unable to parse it (I’d never heard of neb and had forgotten ska), so thought it couldn’t possibly be right.
I’m afraid I found this one of the easier Monks.
For once I did an Indy puzzle together with my PinC and we more or less breezed through it (or should I say, Monk had quite a few easy clues today?). Or, perhaps, 1 + 1 was 3 today.
We (um, she!) spotted the N,E,W,S in the centre but only after finishing solving.
Like others we entered CLANGERS at 26ac without exactly knowing why – however, now we know, thanks RR!
We particularly liked CLOSE SHAVE, BROADS, PASTRAMI and SKI RUN.
On the other hand, we weren’t very much taken by clues like 4d and 12d.
All in all, another good Monk with a nice twist in the tail.
Many thanks to RR for dissection, and to all bloggers for their positive feedback. Only one techie comment: at 24ac there is no double duty of “bound”, since the deliberately included hyphen indicates the intransitive verbal form (in SOED) LONG-JUMP, whose definition in the clue was therefore to get as far as possible.
And, to B&J, of course I remember The Clangers and, indeed, I still possess (a small) one that whistles appropriately when his stomach is prodded: at the next S&B, I fully expect to see Bert slipping into character, although I’ll leave it to Joyce to prod his stomach 🙂 The Clangers was a superb programme at many levels: I was still in junior school whan it started, and I adored it. Nostalgia alert …