A fairly standard puzzle from Dac today with his usual elegant clue writing.
There were a significant number of entries with consecutive double letters. I counted ten in all, six across and four down but I can’t see anything that links the entries, and the doubled letters in clue order don’t spell out a word or form an anagram of a word. The clue I struggled most to parse until I had a flash of inspiration was the one for WHOOP at 6 across. For some reason an image of The Who singing Substitute came to mind when writing the blog.
I liked the clue for ROMAN NOSE at 25 across with it’s allusions and misdirection to gardening. I haven’t come across Floyd PATTERSON’s name for a while. His era was the time when there was only one World Boxing Champion at any weight rather than the different champions of the three or four different World Boxing camps we have today.
Dac continues to set puzzles that should appeal to beginners and less experienced solvers. He also appeals to the more experienced as his clues are often classics of the art of cluing. Having said that there were a couple today that struck me, at least, as not being that difficult. FLEECED (17 across) and ECONOMIST (16 down) seemed to me to be easier than many of Dac’s clues over the past year.
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Across |
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|---|---|---|---|
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No. |
Clue | Wordplay |
Entry |
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1
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One’s knocked back drink in Scottish island entertainment centre (5,4)
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(I’S [one’s] reversed [knocked back] + CHA [tea; drink]) contained in (in) MULL (Scottish island) MU (SI< CHA) LL |
MUSIC HALL (entertainment centre)
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6
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Substitute, perhaps, brings about shout of joy (5)
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SUBSTITUTE was a song released by The WHO in 1966. It could be described as a WHO OPUS or more briefly as a WHO OP
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WHOOP (shout of joy or triumph)
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9
|
Some enthusiasm on team for game (5)
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MONTE (hidden word in [some] ENTHUSIASM ON TEAM)
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MONTE (a Spanish-American gambling card game)
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10
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Criminal‘s name appearing in various articles (9)
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N (name) contained in (appearing in) an anagram of (various) ARTICLES LARCE (N) IST* |
LARCENIST (thief, criminal)
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11
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Set puzzle, with something wrong (3,7)
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TEASER (puzzle) + VICE (bad habit; something wrong) TEA SER VICE |
TEA SERVICE (a set of cups, plates and saucers etc)
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12
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Fish cook ultimately put in pastry dish (4)
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K (last letter of [ultimately] COOK) contained in (put in) PIE (pastry dish) PI (K) E |
PIKE (freshwater fish)
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14
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Children given mash, missing starter – soup (7)
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CH (children) + POWDER (pulverise; mash) excluding (missing) the first letter (starter) P
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CHOWDER (a stew or thick soup made of fish or clams with vegetables)
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15
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People advocating page should be set aside for newspaper articles (7)
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PLEADERS (people advocating) excluding (set aside) P (page)
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LEADERS (newspaper editorial articles)
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17
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Wearing warm coat that’s ripped off (7)
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FLEECED (wearing a warm coat)
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FLEECED (ripped off) double definition
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19
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Live with religious scholar, and have to prepare for rest (3,4)
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BE (live) + DD (Doctor of Divinity; religious scholar) + OWN (have)
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BED DOWN (settle down, especially in a makeshift bed, for sleep; prepare for rest)
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20
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Money paid by traveller in Thailand – over two pounds (4)
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T (International Vehicle Registration for Thailand) + O (over, in cricket scoring notation) + (L [pound sterling] + L [pound sterling], giving two pounds)
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TOLL (a tax for the privilege of using a bridge or road; money paid by a traveller)
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22
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Enjoying oneself producing anti-capital punishment slogan (7,3)
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HANGING OUT (a possible slogan for arguing against capital punishment)
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HANGING OUT (spending time relaxing or doing something enjoyable)
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25
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Distinguishing feature of country garden ultimately covered in bloom (5,4)
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(OMAN [country] + N [last letter of {ultimately} GARDEN]) contained in (covered in) ROSE (bloom) R (OMAN N) OSE |
ROMAN NOSE (distinguishing feature)
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26
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Hallucinogenic experience with drug? Nonsense (5)
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TRIP (hallucinogenic experience) + E (ecstasy; drug)
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TRIPE (nonsense)
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27
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Behave badly in a court before the judge (3,2)
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A + CT (court) + UP (into curt, before the judge)
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ACT UP (behave badly)
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28
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Blasted school in old-fashioned setting (9)
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ETON (school) contained in (in) DATED (old-fashioned setting) D (ETON) ATED |
DETONATED (blasted)
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| Down | |||
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1
|
Mother ran into US playwright (5)
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MA (mother) + MET (ran into)
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MAMET (reference David MAMET [1947 – date], American author)
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2
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Performer mentioned opening in Asian country (9)
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SINGA (sounds like [mentioned] SINGER [performer]) + PORE (opening of a sweat gland)
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SINGAPORE (Asian country)
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3
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Conservative party upset by Private Eye smarty-pants (6,4)
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C (Conservative) + (REVEL [party] reversed [upset]) + DICK (detective; private eye) C LEVER< DICK |
CLEVER DICK (smarty-pants)
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4
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Generally gutted Arsenal supporter (3,4)
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AL (first and last letters of after middle letters have been removed [gutted] ARSENAL) + LOVER (supporter)
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ALL OVER (generally) |
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5
|
Poetic lines sent up in Cilla hit (7)
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(RY ([railway; lines] reversed [sent up; down clue]) contained in (in) an anagram of (hit) CILLA L (YR)< ICAL* |
LYRICAL (poetic)
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6
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Architect put in corner window the wrong way (4)
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WREN (hidden word [put in] reversed [the wrong way] in CORNER WINDOW) WREN< |
WREN (reference Sir Christopher WREN [1632 – 1723], English architect)
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7
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Pen turned over by one wild beast (5)
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BIRO (pen) reversed (turned over) + I (one) ORIB< I |
ORIBI (small South African antelope; wild beast)
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8
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Former champion boxer won’t stop talking (9)
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PATTERS (talks rapidly) + ON (continuously) – won’t stop talking
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PATTERSON (reference Floyd PATTERSON [1935 – 2006], American heavyweight boxer and undisputed champion of the world)
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13
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Toy bear with stuffing, a great deal (10)
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PADDING (stuffing) + TON (a great amount)
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PADDINGTON (reference PADDINGTON bear, a character created by author Michael Bond. The bear is available as a toy)
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14
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Tea with a starter of fried rice cooked here? (9)
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Anagram of (cooked) TEA and A and F (first letter of [starter of] FRIED) and RICE
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CAFETERIA (somewhere you might take tea and a starter of fried rice)
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16
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Finance expert misinterpreted emoticons (9)
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Anagram of (misinterpreted) EMOTICONS
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ECONOMIST (finance expert)
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18
|
I’m being worn during dates? (7)
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(I AM [I’m] + ON [being worn]) contained in (during) (D [date] + D [date] giving dates) D (I AM ON) D |
DIAMOND (a stone in a engagement ring; are the trips out still called dates once you’re engaged?) I realise that dates can refer to any type of planned meeting but the clue is definitely alluding to courtship. |
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19
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Giant egg served up in no end of gravy (7)
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EGG reversed (served up; down clue) contained in (in) (BISTO [a brand of gravy] excluding the final letter [no end of] O) BI (GGE<) ST |
BIGGEST (giant, which can be defined as anything above the usual size of its kind)
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21
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Extreme Liberal, that’s me (5)
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L (Liberal) + (I’M IT [that’s me])
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LIMIT (extreme)
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23
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Fashion garment at bottom has tear (5)
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T (last letter of [at bottom] GARMENT) + REND (tear)
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TREND (fashion)
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24
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Bridge partners wanting a quiet game of cards (4)
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SN (South and North – partners at the card game Bridge) + A + P (piano; quiet)
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SNAP (card game)
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Agree entirely with your preamble, Duncan. Definitely one for novices to cut their teeth on and build confidence. Most clues use really straightforward cryptic ploys, and I think they are all here too. Well done, Dac.
Thx both
I agree that this was another fine Dac puzzle, although I confess that my LOI, WHOOP, went in from definition alone. Thanks for parsing it Duncan. I don’t think I’ve ever though of a pop song as an opus but I have no problem with it.
Solid puzzle on the easy end of Dac’s spectrum which I enjoyed. Have the feeling he was going easy on me today, naturally.
Thanks for explaining whoop – that one totally lost me. I’d never really thought of hanging out as enjoying oneself: I always thought of it more as being in a particular place and not doing very much.
Another thanks for explaining 6ac from me. Not something I was familiar with.
1ac had me for a while, saw IS reversed in MUCK not mull which really mucked me up
How do you pronounce Singapore? Surely with a hard G, yet singer has a G that is sort of unsounded, certainly not hard at any rate. Some people kick up a fuss about setters who are a bit relaxed about their homophone clues. But not me; anything vaguely close is good enough as far as I’m concerned. There are lots of different accents around and you can usually find one that fits.
It’s a long time since I’ve heard Singapore pronounced with a hard G, though it always was in my childhood, way back when. The stress seems to have shifted too, from the last syllable to the first and last being given equal weight.
Seriously? Maybe 10mins maximum (including all parsing, save 6ac, and listening to the radio). I’m not showing off; only mention time (and probably nearer 5 than 10 minutes in truth) to clarify my disappointment. I’ve never complained about a puzzle before. It’s not a Monday – I can only assume the editor is on holiday….
I looked forward to this with my bedtime hot drink – and hardly cooled enough to take a sip! A real anticlimax…
Sorry – I speak as I find. I don’t blame Dac; had this been a Monday I may have praised its precision or something….
:-C
Oops….in the depths of my wretched melancholy I neglected to acknowledge the work of Duncan. As always a fine blog that shows his decent, and generous, spirit (which I have recently experienced personally)
For what its worth I thought the homophone was spot on (“singer” is precisely how the first two syllables of Singapore are pronounced in English)
Yes – that’s how I would compliment Dac; a master class in precision (but only suited to a Monday – if that!)
Thanks again Duncan; the reasoning behind “whoop” passed me by though I thought it might have had something to do with the Who (no enthusiasm to google I’m afraid)