[If you’re attending York S&B please see comments 32&33] - here
I’ve enjoyed Imogen’s puzzles since they’ve appeared monthly since February and so I was pleased to get this one to blog.
I have been keeping a weather eye on Michael Curl’s [Orlando’s] ‘Best for puzzles’ site for information about this ‘new’ setter. It still reveals only that there was one Imogen puzzle in the Guardian in October 2003 – before the days of 15². [It’s only while writing this that I’ve realised [doh!] that Imogen is almost an anagram of enigma. Perhaps we will never know.}
Back to the puzzle: I found it initially a bit difficult to get into but then suddenly seemed to get onto the wavelength and the answers began coming at a satisfying rate.
I thought there were some excellent clues, notably 11 and 21ac and 8dn, with a surprisingly rather weak one at 24ac, unless I’m missing something obvious.
Thanks to Imogen for an enjoyable solve.
Across
1 Not quite hang on, faced with hard chance (6)
HAPPEN
APPEN[d] [not quite hang on] after [faced with] H [hard]
4 Waste food? Rudely, the police are going to (8)
PIGSWILL
PIGS [rudely, the police] WILL [are going to]
9 I regret in the morning having knocked back something spicy (6)
MASALA
Reversal [knocked back] of ALAS [I regret] AM [in the morning]
10 Satisfied with top mark for speaking? Don’t take that literally (8)
METAPHOR
MET [satisfied] + A [top mark] + PHOR [sounds like – for speaking – ‘for’]
11 For holiday, books trip for one, strangely wearing suit (7,7)
AIRPORT FICTION
Anagram [strangely] of TRIP FOR I [one] in [wearing] ACTION [suit]: I really liked the construction of this one, especially the flouting of the punctuation for the definition – one of my favourite clues
13 Begging to fix prison in Arctic (10)
MENDICANCY
MEND [fix] + CAN [prison] in ICY [Arctic]
14 Anxious to put forward name for bender (4)
KNEE
KEEN [anxious] with the N [name] put forward
16 Writers wrong to hold book back (4)
NIBS
Reversal of SIN [wrong] round B [book]
18 Ev-en, sort of flat? (5-5)
SPLIT-LEVEL
A dingbat-style clue: even [level] has been split: ‘split level flat’ sounds to me oxymoronic – I thought a ‘split-level flat’ was a maisonette but I’m proved wrong by Google
21 False emotion from which actors recoiled in play (9,5)
CROCODILE TEARS
A really classy anagram [in play] of ACTORS RECOILED – a contender for my favourite clue
23 In park with German, order to renew vows (8)
RECOMMIT
OM [Order of Merit] in REC [park] MIT [‘with’ German]
24 Strange phenomenon of second sight? (4,2)
DÉJÀ VU
I’m sorry, I can’t see anything cryptic about this clue.
25 Waste small space for writing, wrongly filled (8)
SPILLAGE
S [small] + ILL [wrongly] in PAGE [space for writing]
26 Mass, part of it for saint (6)
MAGNUS
M [mass] + AGNUS [Dei] [part of {part of} the Mass] to give St Magnus – a clever use of two meanings of ‘mass’
A fairly flimsy excuse [as you know, I take every advantage] for including this from the Fauré Requiem, in which I took part at a ‘Come and Sing’ just a couple of weeks ago.
Down
1 Prime minister‘s residence (4)
HOME
Double definition: although the answer is obvious, I’m not really happy with this – if you google ‘Home, Prime Minister’ you immediately get this but I can’t remember ever hearing Sir Alec Douglas-Home referred to simply as ‘Home’ – and his surname is hyphenated. However, if you scroll down the Wiki article, he is later referred to as ‘Home’ – and he was Baron Home … [I still don’t like it.] I was also really surprised to be reminded that he was Prime Minister for only one year.
2 Powerful emotion as one goes in to die (7)
PASSION
I [one] in PASS ON [die]
3 Some units upset almost falling over … (8)
ELLIPSIS
Reversal [falling over] of SI [‘some units’] SPILLE[d] [upset almost] – and the definition is at the very end!
5 … useless, 15, consumed with vice (11)
INEFFECTIVE
Anagram [consumed] of FIFTEEN with VICE – but I don’t think the ellipsis works here
6 Material examples of second team on board (6)
SWATCH
S [second] + WATCH [team on board ship] – I thought this should be plural but Collins [not Chambers] has ‘1. a sample of cloth or other material; 2. a number of such samples, usually fastened together in book form’.
7 Check long note coming from one I serve (3,4)
ICH DIEN
I [one] + CH [check [ in chess] + DIE [long – as in, ‘I’m dying for a drink’] + N [note] for the motto of the Prince of Wales
8 Troublingly, an allergy affecting part of the throat (9)
LARYNGEAL
An anagram [troublingly] of AN ALLERGY
12 Charging along a stretch of tarmac? (4,7)
ROAD PRICING
Cryptic [?] definition
13 Chap is admitting “restorative” means “hand jobs” (9)
MANICURES
MAN [chap] + IS round CURE [restorative]
15 A reduction of weight, drinking always juice (4,4)
ALOE VERA
A LOA{d] [reduction of weight] round [drinking] EVER [always]
17 Rich? No travelling by British Airways (7)
BRONCHI
Anagram [travelling] of RICH NO B [British] – another favourite
19 Extremely arrogant, uprooting unknown plant (7)
VERVAIN
VER[y] VAIN [extremely arrogant, minus – uprooting – y {unknown}] for the plant [which I knew as verbena] that has been introduced to my garden this year and is threatening to take over
20 Official room to feed horse (6)
FORMAL
RM [abbreviation for room] in FOAL [horse]
22 Makes fun of people‘s appearance on radio (4)
GUYS
Clever homophone: sounds like [on radio] ‘guise’ – appearance, with ‘people[s]’ straddling the two parts of the clue
OOPS – I have made a mess and posted three hours ahead of scheduled posting time. [I don’t think that will have thrown the Guardian Prize distribution team into disarray but my apologies, anyway – I pressed the wrong button!]
Eileen – this won’t look good on your record – just kidding. AIRPORT FICTION and VERVAIN were
new to me. My COD was 18ac. Thanks to setter and blogger.
Cheers…
Thanks, grandpuzzler – after Wednesday, my record was not looking too good!
[I’m going to bed now and keeping my head down.]
This was another entertaining challenge – I don’t remember any major hold-ups other than VERVAIN which was new to me and had to be checked – I remember the SE corner in general taking a while. As you say Eileen, Imogen remains one of the more mysterious setters, but is one of the best too. I liked SPLIT LEVEL too, though I’m sure Imogen has used similar clues before so I was on the right wavelength for that…
Thanks to Eileen and Imogen
Thanks Eileen
Chambers gives (correctly, I think) “swatch book” for “a collection of swatches bound together into book form”.
Otherwise enjoyable, but not particularly challenging.
Seem to remember 3d was my LOI. Favourites were the 26/22 crossers.
Thx both
I also thought the clue for DEJA VU fell under the heading of “cryptic clue that isn’t really cryptic”. Having said that, I recall that I enjoyed the puzzle and VERVAIN may have been my LOI, although to be honest I can’t really remember.
That’s the trouble with Prize puzzles. isn’t it? There’s been a lot of water [and puzzles] under the bridge by the time the blog comes out. [And so much more for the Genius, of course, which must account for the lower number of comments on these puzzles.]
Hi muffin @5
Yes, I did see that – but it doesn’t make ‘swatch’ plural, as the Collins entry does. [I only mentioned it out of interest. 😉 ]
I was agreeing with you, Eileen – I thought the clue would have been better with “example” rather than “examples”, and there seems no reason to use the more controversial plural.
Lots I didn’t like about this.
I have never found swatch as a plural and I have asked for hundreds of them!
“Ich Dien” has no indication of foreign language which was annoying.
Etc
Overall it had the feel of a puzzle which the setter had attempted to make more difficult but in a lot of cases had only achieved this by making the cluing poor!
Thanks to Eileen and Imogen
Sorry, muffin – I misunderstood. 😉
1a. tried NOIO for Primeminister’s resisdence at first, later 9a. put MANANA anyone else?
Being rather moronic, I loved 18a across, have friends who literally live in a SPLIT-LEVEL flat.
6d… the Swiss watch SWATCH ?
I liked this a lot. Nice that the online version used … (Unicode 2026) rather than … in 3d. Very cunning.
Yes, my COED gives SWATCH, 1 a sample esp. of cloth or fabric. 2 a collection of samples. Don’t think the Swiss watch is a second possible answer, even worse problem with the singular.
Thanks Imogen and Eileen, a lovely puzzle and super blog
Not much to add to the debate. Perhaps I’m getting on to Imogen’s wavelength and the solving went steadily until the SE corner. I’d never heard of VERVAIN – although this was fairly clued – and I was reluctant to put DEJA VU in as it seemed too obvious and it wasn’t cryptic.
I did enjoy the puzzle though,and I liked MENDICANCY.
Thanks Imogen
Brendan (not that one) @10…how do you ask for several swatch books without using the term book…don’t you say, “I want several swatches”, (say of silks from different manufacturers)?
Thanks, Eileen – great blog (The crossword was pretty good, too)
MAGNUS defeated me. I thought it was the probable answer but couldn’t work out why.
I reached ELLIPSIS by a different route. ELL + PSI (pounds per square inch) + SI ( Système Internationale units based on metres-kilograms-seconds. They caused a lot of controversy when they were introduced into my work many years ago with an attempt to replace calories with joules and to have blood pressure recorded in pascals). Probably rubbish but at least I got there!
Hi Jovis
Most ingenious – I like it! 🙂 [At least we agree on the Système Internationale units – which I only learnt of through crosswords.]
Thanks, Eileen.
Pleasant puzzle, straightforward for a Prize.
My favourites were more or less the same as Eileen’s – some nicely judged anagram fodder in some of the clues.
I think 24a can be classified as a cryptic definition, because ‘second sight’ in the surface refers to psychic ability, rather than the feeling that something has happened before, but I fully agree that the encryption is weak.
6d Could the plural be because the SWATCH is made up of material examples while the second team is made up of “sailors”
Cookie @20
The problem is that (pace Collins) a swatch is just one sample of material.
Us again, nearly tea time. I thought we had mostly agreed that a SWATCH was also a collection of samples (often stapled together). Your Chambers gives a plural, but not the Oxford dictionaries. The Oxford dictionaries are the accepted authority on the evolution of the English language. The focus of Chambers is the language people use today, i.e. anything goes. I think Brendan (not that one) @10 is the expert.
I think that the general opinion is that a swatch is a single sample – the collection is a swatch book.
The swatch book makes sense, since I don’t understand how Brendan asks for more than one. BUT it is NOT given in the Oxford dictionaries, see 14@. And Collins agrees.
So why is the word “swatches” needed, then? It certainly exists!
Yes, it must be used by many, but it is not correct. @20 I was only trying to point out a reason why Imogen might have used the plural, “material examples.”
As I said earlier, Imogen could have avoided all this discussion by saying “example” rather than “examples” – I can’t see that the plural improves the clue.
I have enjoyed this puzzle a lot, especially AERPORT FICTION and CROCODILE TEARS. How did you get on with 1d, muffin, as I said above I tried NOIO, then NUMX (which led me to put MANANA at 9a). Then 1a, HAPPEN, showed my Downing Street guesses could not be right. Groaned and laughed when I saw it must be HOME, like a joke out of a Christmas Cracker.
I saw HOME fairly quickly (though the PM, of course, was pronounced “HUME”)
Re comments 20-27
This is one of those [not infrequent] occasions when I regret making an off-hand comment on the blog. It could simply have been a typo – they’re not infrequent – for ‘example’.
Hi muffin @29
Of course, but this is Crosswordland. [But, as I said before, he was always Douglas-Home, as far as I remember.]
[I hardly dare say this but would you believe that the first word that flashed into my head – before sense took over – was EDEN? 🙁 ]
Hi Eileen
Sorry for hijacking your blog.
As I recall, he was “Lord Home”, then renounced his peerage to sit in the Commons as “Sir Alec Douglas-Home” in order to become PM.
The last PM to sit in the Lords seems to have been Lord Salisbury.
Hi muffin
[This is turning into another of those occasions!]
“… then renounced his peerage to sit in the Commons as “Sir Alec Douglas-Home” in order to become PM.”
So he was never ‘Prime Minister Home’ – but I’m really not so bothered about this as it may seem. 😉
Eileen @ preamble
I recall reading that after Imogen’s prize in 2003 he went on to be crossword editor for the Times, hence couldn’t set for the graun until he was no longer in post. I believe he left late last year, but am open to correction or preferably augmentation.
hth
Many thanks for that, Simon. I’d somehow heard rumours to that effect and hoped that my comment might prompt confirmation. But I really don’t see the need for the secrecy!
I have a letter here from a large silk supplier in London that accompanied several samples stapled together
…herewith the swatch you asked for…
Just because you haven’t encountered the usage doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
SWATCH originally meant the price tag. The examples included in the swatch were of different colours, but the material was of the same price, hence the singular (O.K. different pigments cost different prices with oil paints). Nowadays it is usually still the same, but sometimes the swatch will include a plain fabric, a striped fabric and a floral fabric with the same coloured background, and the prices might differ according to whether the fabric is plain, coloured or floral.
@36 last line should have been plain, striped or floral. Sidey @35 might have asked for examples of green silk fabrics, the prices might have been different, but by tradition it was still a SWATCH he was sent.
Simon S @33 – that is very interesting, and would explain why a couple of people implied that Imogen was male in the blog of his/her last one. I would be interested to know where you read it, since Google drew a blank last time I tried. Imogen’s identity has been discussed/speculated on a few times before here but that’s as close to a proper answer as I have seen so far…
Eileen / beery hiker
Someone on the graun blog established “who he is – can’t remember the name but it’s the former editor of The Times crossword and definitely a bloke.”
Sorry if that’s vague, but I’ve had a brief trawl through the graun comments and that’s the best I’ve found
hth
Last word on “swatch”.
Due to my enforced involvement in many refurbishment projects I have been the visitor to probably hundreds of establishments who sell fabric by the metre. So I do know my twill from my ticking and toile!
Normally a visit would involve the aid of an employee as the wares are usually arranged in impenetrable “mountains”.
I would ask for a taupe twill for instance and off we would go. If the fabric was a candidate I’d ask for a swatch which he/she would cut for me.
At the end of the tour if I asked for my “swatch” I’m sure the response would be “Which one and what should I do with the others?”.
The plural is definitely “swatches”.
I’m no expert but any if an establishment has a Swatch Book two things are certain.
a) It’s not called a “Swatch”
b) Their fabric is too expensive so go somewhere else. 😉
Brendan (not that one) @40…but @10 you say “I have never found swatch as a plural and I have asked for hundreds of them.” The swatch book is a swatch, but probably when there are several books you say swatches, or several unrelated single samples of fabric.
Perhaps it was the other Brendan?
Simon @39 – thanks for that – if you are right, we must be talking about Richard Browne, but his entry in the who’s who does not mention Imogen (though it does mention pre-2002 aliases in other papers – Antares and Victor). Googling “Imogen Richard Browne” doesn’t find anything that would definitively confirm the theory…
Cookie @41
It was me @10
I only meant that I had never heard the word “swatch” itself used as a plural. The plural is of course “swatches”.
Have you personal experience of a swatch book being referred to as a “swatch”? Or are you referring to the bizarre dictionary entries which claim this?
Perhaps this is a North/South thing but in 30 years dealing with these things on a casual basis I have never heard the word swatch to refer to anything but a single piece of material.
Brendan @44
Yes, many times in the past, over 50 years ago and later, also for those long strips with samples stapled down them (my Mother had a lot to do with London suppliers of silks etc.). I think these days only traditional suppliers, sidey @35, would use the term. Of course in the past the swatch would only provide general information, and not crudely state the price per yard, though it might be written on the back.
I only championed the subject because I find Imogen’s clueing correct. If he/she had used the plural, that would have been OK by me, as this is Crosswordland, and Chambers gives it.
Think you had the clue when you stated @40 “Their fabric is too expensive so go somewhere else”.
sidey was dealing with silk, you with twill, ticking and toile.
Thanks Imogen and Eileen
Time certainly doesn’t get in the way of a good puzzle. Unlike many here, I actually found this tough from start to finish. It took much longer than normal to get a start – eventually saw HOME and then took more time to find him addressed without the hyphenated bit.
Was able to work steadily until the NE and SE corners brought it to a stop again. Eventually twigged to DEJA VU which led to the answer of 22d and the unknown saint. Then up to the NE where METAPHOR came then the German phrase, PIGSWILL and the last one in SWATCH to finally bring it to a close.
Needed lots of electronic help, but found the clues totally fair when looking back over them – even with the new words. Congrats to those who saw this as a straightforward solve !