Donk’s puzzle are always a challenge and frequently attract praise from solvers
There is clearly flair in the cluing of today’s puzzle with a significant need for lateral thinking [e.g. 1 across and 15 down]. That is a good thing.
Many, but perhaps not all solvers will enjoy the sauciness of parts of the offering.
There is one clue I can’t parse properly, that being the one at 5 down, for OBERON. I have put some thoughts below, but I am sure someone will point out the blindingly obvious. I have also had some difficulty pinning down the exact definition of JOHNNY FOREIGNER in the clue for 25 across.
I enjoyed the clues for ASTHMA [16 across] using the first and last letters of consecutive words, USERNAME [19 across] for hiding a long reversed entry and the homophone EMPLOYER [23 across]
We are a Q and a V short of a pangram.
Gaufrid will be standing in for me for a few weeks from now. I’ll be back blogging in December.
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No. |
Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
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7
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Fired top employee (5,10)
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A HUMAN CANNONBALL is fired out of a CANNON
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HUMAN CANNONBALL (A HUMAN CANNONBALL is usually employed by a Circus. A Circus is usually housed in a big TOP, so we have a top employee)
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9
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Maybe flash pants without grace (8)
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BUM (worthless; rubbish; pants) + BLING (jewellery, esp of a large and conspicuous style; conspicuous wealth; flash) Does the ‘maybe’ mean that you can change the order of ‘flash’ and ‘pants’ or is BUM BLING understood as flash pants? |
BUMBLING (in a clumsy muddled or inefficient way; without grace?)
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10
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Flight has no couple in First on its route (6)
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STAIRWAY (flight [of stairs]) excluding the first two (pair) of letters (no couple in first) ST
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AIRWAY (an organised route for air travel)
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11
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Housing debt is monstrous (6)
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Anagram of (monstrous) DEBT IS BEDSIT* |
BEDSIT (a combined bedroom and sitting room, e.g. in lodgings; housing)
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13
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Expert‘s fast to cut date loose (8)
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LENT (period of fasting) contained in (to cut) an anagram of (loose) DATE TE (LENT) ED* |
TALENTED (expert)
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14
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Miss Portugal’s behind times (4,2)
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P (International Vehicle Registration for Portugal) + ASS (vulgar slang for buttocks; behind) + BY (times, in multiplication terminology)
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PASS BY (overlook; miss)
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16
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Employing bankers, avoids thorough media complaint (6)
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AS + TH + MA (first and last letters of [bankers] each of AVOIDS, THOROUGH and MEDIA)
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ASTHMA (chronic disorder of the organs of respiration; complaint)
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19
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PC ID of retired policeman resupplied (8)
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USERNAME (hidden word in (of) reversed (retired) POLICEMAN RESUPPLIED) USERNAME< |
USERNAME (Personal Computer [PC] identification [ID])
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21
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What setter might do when going to shrink, offering seafood (6) |
COCK LEG (what a setter [dog] might do when going [to urinate]) excluding the final letter [shrink] G
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COCKLE (seafood)
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22
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Smart guy’s closer, unlikely to get round in? (6)
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STING (smart) + Y (final letter of [closer] GUY)
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STINGY (ungenerous; unlikely to buy a round [of drinks])
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23
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As a user, e’ll sort my weed conviction, it’s said (8)
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‘EMP (hemp; cannabis; weed) + LOYER (sounds like [it’s said] LAWYER) Taken together the phrase ‘EMP LOYER sounds like HEMP LAWYER (one who might be of help when dealing with a weed conviction)
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EMPLOYER (user)
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| 25 | Overseas delivery secured by rubber band (6,9) |
JOHNNY (condom; rubber) + FOREIGNER (British-American rock band originally formed in 1976) |
JOHNNY FOREIGNER (an informal and pejorative term for a person from a country other than those which make up the United Kingdom) I can see the ‘overseas’ bit, but I’m not sure where ‘delivery’ comes into the definition. I note that there is also a band called JOHNNY FOREIGNER from Birmingham. It is possible that the definition in this clue is simply ‘band’, but here too I am stumped by the role played by the word ‘delivery’. |
| Down | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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1
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At Paris Fashion Week, you duplicated dress on stage (4)
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TU (one of the French words for ‘you’) repeated (duplicated ) to give TU TU
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TUTU (a ballerina’s short, stiff, spreading skirt; dress [fashion] on stage)
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2
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Business student holds on to host’s bollocks (8)
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LASTS (holds out; holds on) contains (hosts) MBA (Master of Business Administration; a qualification studied for by business students) LA (MBA) STS |
LAMBASTS (reprimands severely; bollocks)
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3
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Book fantastic trip to support sceptic on vacation (6) |
SC (letters remaining in SCEPTIC after the middle letters CEPTI have been removed [after vacation]) + an anagram of (fantastic) TRIP SC RIPT* |
SCRIPT ( the actors’ director’s, etc written copy of the text of a play, film, etc; a text for broadcasting; book)
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4
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Why sit-down meal’s cancelled for A-listers (8)
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NO TABLES (there are NO TABLES available so we cannot sit down for a meal)
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NOTABLES (well known people; A-listers)
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5
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Honour vote to reject king in folklore (6)
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OBE (Order of the British Empire; honour) + ? I can’t relate RON or NOR [reject, reverse of RON] to vote. Maybe reject is NO and R is king, and the definition is simply ‘in folklore’, but even so, I still don’t see how it all works.? I look forward to people telling me how foolish I am to have missed something obvious! |
OBERON (king of the fairies; king in folklore)
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6
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Criminal labels Hollande’s roadmap as investment pig (10)
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(LE [French {Hollande; reference the current President of France}] + AZ [reference Geographers A-Z map company, best known for its Street Map of London) contained in (as investment) an anagram of (criminal) LABELS S (LE AZ) EBALL* |
SLEAZEBALL ( a corrupt, squalid person, especially an unprincipled man who tries to take advantage of women; pig)
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8
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Disprove scandal implicating Geordies? (6)
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NE (North East; Geordies is a term for people who are natives of Tyneside in the North East of England) + GATE (a suffix that is frequently applied when giving a name to a scandal. The terminology originated from the WaterGATE affair in the United States which led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in 1974)
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NEGATE (disprove)
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12
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Show source avoiding missionary? (10)
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EX (without; avoiding) + POSITION (the missionary POSITION can be used in sexual intercourse) I think ‘source’ is being used as saying the entry is derived (sourced) from synonyms or examples of ‘avoiding’ and ‘missionary’
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EXPOSITION (public exposition; show)
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15
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Dictator’s odds of 11 getting attention (5,3)
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BEADY EYE (sounds like the letters BDI said as separate letters. B, D and I are letters 1, 3 and 5 in the entry at 11 across BEDSIT)
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BEADY EYE (used to suggest distrustful attentiveness to another’s behaviour)
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17
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Check this for Pope? Business that’s nasty (8)
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HIC (this in Latin, the language of Popes) + CO (company) + UGH (that’s nasty!)
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HICCOUGH (difficulty or setback; check)
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| 18 | No friend of Dorothy’s in other end of home ground (6) |
Anagram of (ground) (OTHER and E [last letter of [end of] HOME) HETERO* |
HETERO (The Urban dictionary defines FRIEND OF DOROTHY as a homosexual male, often very flamboyant. Derived from the friends of Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. If this is the allusion then a HETERO would not be a FRIEND OF DOROTHY) Alternatively, and less likely, this could relate to a quote by DOROTHY Parker, American poet [1893 – 1967] where she said "HETEROsexuality is not normal, it’s just common") |
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20
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Rows of new Mars bars? (3-3)
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RUINS (mars) containing (bars) N (new) RU (N) INS |
RUN-INS (disagreements; rows)
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21
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Nicker, and then some! (6)
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COPPER (a significant amount of [and then some] copper coinage is required to make a nicker [Ā£1 sterling])
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COPPER (a policeman who will arrest [nick] people; nicker) double definition
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24
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Poker‘s No 1 online! (4)
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E [electronic [on-line]) + PEE (urination; number one)
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EPEE (a sharp-pointed, narrow-bladed sword without a cutting edge, used for duelling and, with a button on the point, for fencing; poker)
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Thank you to the two Ds. I parsed 5d as you did.
Vote to reject king = NO R
Laudanum @ 2
Thanks, but I have mentioned that possibility in the detailed bit of the blog. What’s missing, for me, though is why is NOR reversed to give RON?
EEK! Could 25a be ‘Johnny for in her”???
I thought this was another difficult but inventive and enjoyable Donk puzzle. I got there without resort to aids but I can’t say I understood everything. In 5dn the problem with NO R if it means “no king” is there is no reversal indicator in the clue and the “king” does double duty. I also couldn’t see the definition for 25ac, and Heather@4, you’re a very naughty girl ….(to paraphrase Terry Jones in Life of Brian). I finished in the SE with COPPER after EMPLOYER and EPEE.
Thanks Duncan
Sorry, but I too cannot help with 5dn. However, in 25ac ‘overseas delivery’ is indicating someone born abroad (ie delivery = an act of giving birth).
OBERON appears to be an error.
Afternoon everyone,
Many thanks to Duncan for the superb blog! Thought I’d comment early-ish just to clear up a couple of things…
5d) ‘vote to reject’ = RON (re-open nominations)
12d) ‘source avoiding missionary?’ = remove first letter of SEX POSITION
Cheers,
Donk
Gaufrid @ 7
Thanks – OK – I accept that ‘overseas delivery’ can be a cryptic definition of someone born overseas’
Donk @ 8
Thanks for the correct explanation of EXPOSITION – with the source letter S omitted (avoiding)from SEX POSITION.
Having delved into Wikipedia using ‘re-open nominations’ as the search phrase, I can see that RON is referenced as such on a number of sites looking at elections. However, I can’t find RON as an abbreviation in any of my paper or electronic versions of Chambers, Collins, Shorter Oxford, Oxford Dictionary of English or the Penguin Dictionary of Abbreviations. I will admit now that it can be found as option 5 in the possibilities for RON under the Wikipedia tab in Word-Web Pro, but to me, that counts as really obscure! If you just type RON into Wikipedia, the re-open nominations meaning doesn’t come up early on.
‘no couple in First’ seems to indicate RST which is a bit odd.
Thanks Duncan and thanks Donk for the great workout. I really enjoyed this.
ta Duncan and Donk, not the best you’ve done Donk, was fun but somehow I expected a bit more from you, it’s unquantifiable but I hoped for more, just felt a little bit let down.
Sorry after Enigmatist yesterday, most everything is a breeze. š
Not fun for me, I’m afraid. Second time this week I’ve had to give up with only a handful filled in. Either there have been some difficult puzzles this week, or I’m losing my touch.
We put the puzzle aside last night with the SE corner empty. We had Johnny Foreigner pencilled in but couldn’t parse the ‘delivery’. Bert who was definitely more on Donk’s wavelength this time round, had thought of EMPLOYER and Joyce had suggested COCKLE but again we were stumped on the parsing.
Joyce sneaked a look at the blog – thanks Duncan – and saw that 25ac was correct. This gave us the confidence to spend longer on the parsings which brought smiles all round when they clicked. We’d already laughed out loud at 9ac, 12d, 15d and 6d.
Thanks a million Donk – we enjoyed being beaten this time round. PS We are not masochists!
Had a quick go at this last night but got stuck after about half an hour with most of the NW done and most of the SE empty – enjoyed what I did and would have liked to give it more time. I am annoyed with myself for not getting JOHNNY FOREIGNER even after thinking Johnny must be part of it.
Thanks to Donk and Duncan
I’m late to this, but wanted to add that Foreigner in 25a is a very successful British-American band.
Only just finished this after starting it late yesterday but thoroughly enjoyed both the precision of the clues (OBERON aside) and the smooth surfaces. Especially liked 7 and 20. Plenty of amusement included too so for me a fine example of the setter’s art.
Unlike Duncan I thought the Dorothy Parker quote a more likely source in 18 down but it matters little.
Thanks DONK and Dunc!
flashling@12 – I finally, and firmly, disagree with you! (can only recall endorsing your views hitherto). For me, this was a tough puzzle and quite brilliant in places.
Tough:- but eminently fair (though the “RON” part of Oberon’s parsing too abstruse for me)
Brilliant:- I need only cite HUMAN CANNONBALL, BUMBLING, USERNAME, COCKLE, EMPLOYER, SLEAZEBALL, EXPOSITION, BEADY EYE, HETERO, and ĆPĆE….
Definitely deserving of tmesis – FANBLOODYTASTIC!
Many, many thanks Donk!
(and to Duncan – may fate favour your break…)
I agree with Flashling#12: not the best you’ve done, Donk. Some of your crosswords have been brilliant. I don’t think this was. Too much rudery that wasn’t even very clever. I’m utterly unconvinced by your plea that in 5dn RON is ‘re-open nominations’, which in any case only rather tenuously means ‘vote to reject’; it seems far more likely to me that it’s simply a slip and that ‘king’ is doing double duty.
And as I’ve said at least twice on other occasions, the word is arse (14ac); ass is an Americanism (Duncan in his excellent blog says that it is vulgar slang for buttocks; is it?) and should be signalled as such.