- () = abbreviation e.g. a(mpere)
- hom = homophone
- [] = letters removed
Vigo seems to be a new compiler and this was a good candidate for a gentle Monday puzzle. There was nothing too challenging but a few nice touches such as the misleading use of Special Forces in 9, which made you think SAS would appear as part of the answer. I also quite liked 3 down in that it’s a fairly unusual word for crosswords and was quite elegantly clued. 1D was also well worked out.
| Across | |||
| 1. | You and I returning blossom to beast (8) | ||
| Werewolf | We + flower< | ||
| 5. | Mount a small colt to finish (6) | ||
| Ascend | A + s(mall) c(olt) + end | ||
| 10. | Entertaining US soldier is source of athlete’s foot (5) | ||
| Fungi | Fun + GI. Here’s my pedant’s version of the old “fun guy” joke. Why does Augustus the mushroom get invited to lots of parties? Because he’s a fun Gus… | ||
| 11. | Company facing conflict to take great risks but show lack of courage (9) | ||
| Cowardice | Co + war + dice (as in dice with death) | ||
| 12. | Long prison sentence given to spies and politicians (4,5) | ||
| Life peers | Life + peers (=spies as a verb). My only reservation here is that life peers aren’t always politicians. | ||
| 13. | Wants to be noticed spinning around front of dance floor (5) | ||
| Needs | Seen< around d[ance floor] – might have been slightly better with the initial letter of a single word. | ||
| 14. | Angler expending energy unravelling small knots (6) | ||
| Gnarls | Angl[e]r* (expending energy = removing E) + s(mall) | ||
| 15. | Head of Security’s husband began faltering affair (7) | ||
| Shebang | S[ecurity] + h(usband) + began*. People often talk about the whole shebang, meaning the whole affair. | ||
| 18. | Wiped out and intoxicated having inhaled glue regularly (7) | ||
| Cleaned | Caned around even letters of glue. Caned seems to be a British slang term for intoxicated. | ||
| 20. | Regret concealing origins of energy supply consumer got free (6) | ||
| Rescue | Rue around e[nergy] s[upply] c[onsumer] | ||
| 22. | Plant first couple of nuclei in plan to grow a pair (3,2) | ||
| Man up | Put first two letters of nu[clei] in map. | ||
| 24. | Maltreat second worker in unit (9) | ||
| Mishandle | S(econd) hand in mile (unit of measurement) | ||
| 25. | Tyrant romps regularly with iron men (9) | ||
| Oppressor | Even letters of romps (op) + press + OR. | ||
| 26. | Suffer first signs of illness near central Ugandan region (5) | ||
| Incur | Initial letters of i[llness] n[ear] c[entral] U[gandan] r[egion] | ||
| 27. | Sign up clients struggling without leader (6) | ||
| Enlist | [C]lients* | ||
| 28. | Accomplished leaders deviously taking one in (8) | ||
| Realised | I in leaders* | ||
Down |
|||
| 1. | Swap iffy flex missing all outer casings and padding (6) | ||
| Waffle | Middle letters of [S]wa[p] [i]ff[y] [f]le[x] | ||
| 2. | Call purveyor of stolen goods to secure funds (4-5) | ||
| Ring Fence | Ring + fence | ||
| 3. | Impudent lads with more stylish photographers (15) | ||
| Whippersnappers | W(ith) + hipper + snappers | ||
| 4. | Supply cheesecake containing fruit (7) | ||
| Lychees | Hidden in suppLY CHEESecake | ||
| 6. | Dog mangling Grannie’s slipper (8,7) | ||
| Springer Spaniel | (Grannie’s slipper)* | ||
| 7. | One banished from Israel found in river (5) | ||
| Exile | Il in Exe. Il is the 2 character ISO country code for Israel. | ||
| 8. | Costume with silver epaulettes originally for equestrian activity (8) | ||
| Dressage | Dress + Ag + e[pauletters] | ||
| 9. | Idiots provide cover for Special Forces (6) | ||
| Twists | Twits around s(pecial) | ||
| 16. | A strange quest involving short plunge into water features (9) | ||
| Aqueducts | A + quest* around duc[k] | ||
| 17. | Charm square child beginning to mix slime (8) | ||
| Schmooze | S(quare) + ch(ild) + m[ix] + ooze | ||
| 19. | Commercial backing to screen material (6) | ||
| Damask | Ad< + mask | ||
| 20. | Set aside modesty (7) | ||
| Reserve | DD | ||
| 21. | Mocked and horribly rejected having lost court case (6) | ||
| Jeered | (Reje[ct]ed)* – the case is a little hard to justify | ||
| 23. | Note writer returning to country (5) | ||
| Nepal | (La + pen)< | ||
Because floor is a separate word in 13ac I spent some time wondering if I was being misled and whether the apparent write-in of needs was wrong, and floor was the definition.
I would put it more strongly than Neil’s ‘slightly better with the initial letter of a single word’. A single word is absolutely necessary. As it stands the presence of ‘floor’ as a separate word makes the clue duff IMHO.
There’s nothing wrong with the word case in 21d. I know it’s not strictly necessary as court is CT but the case of court is C(our)T and it makes the surface work.
14ac – I think the definition is just ‘knots’, with s for small on the end of the anagram.
Quick for all but one clue, but I was flummoxed by 17D Schmooze. Nothing wrong with it, after I eventually worked it out. I too wondered at “dance floor” in 13A but it did not seem too unreasonable to me.
But “court case” does not mean “case of court’. It should be court’s case or some other construction. Also I wasn’t happy with the link word “provide” in 9dn since in the cryptic reading “idiots” is to be regarded as third person singular. The problem can easily be got round by using “Idiots providing cover” or “Idiots will provide cover”. I do not think the link word “got” really works in 20ac either.
We got 17D schmooze by spotting the z needed to complete the pangram.
Nice debut for Vigo, and a pangram to boot!.
I think “court case” to indicate “c_t” is fine in crosswordspeak, but I’d agree with unferth about 9dn and 20ac. In the latter, “gets” might be better than “got” without altering the surface. And 18ac held me up for a bit, I’d not come across “caned” to mean “intoxicated”, although “canned” is fairly familiar.
Having said that, Vigo, if you’re reading this, don’t take the criticisms too much to heart. I’m sure they’re meant to be constructive.
Two favourites today: WAFFLE and DRESSAGE.
Thanks, Vigo and NealH
Agree with you, unferth, even if ‘court case’ didn’t hold me up.
You see them so very often, these nounal indicators behind the fodder.
The link words you mention should perhaps have been corrected.
Usually, I don’t mind ‘to’ as a link word but for some reason I didn’t like it in 1ac.
I’m another one who put a question mark to the ‘dance floor’ (‘discotheque’?).
Using ‘regularly’ for taking the even letters twice (18ac,25ac) should have been avoided, in my opinion.
Just like using ‘small’ for S twice (5ac,14ac)
There were a lot of single letter devices anyway today.
That said, on the whole I enjoyed solving this crossword.
A warm welcome to Vigo (whose name I have seen before at this place: http://customcrypticcrosswords.com/setters/).
Many thanks Neal (I share your favourites).
Apologies for cocking up 13A. Word flagged dancefloor as a spelling mistake after I’d checked the puzzle, and after checking the dictionaries decided it needed to be two words and added the space – without realising that it stopped the clue working.
Court case with a big ? sign you could get away with I suppose, acknowledging the grammatical liberty, but as ‘court’ itself stands for CT it is a bit dodgy anyway. I found this puzzle bitty and annoying, but more fun than Rufus by a longish way.
Welcome to Vigo, whose puzzles I have had the pleasure of blogging on Big Dave’s site as a Not The Saturday Puzzle setter. I am delighted to have another graduate from the series here. My only regret is that someone else will now have to blog her NTSPP crosswords!
Welcome, Vigo, and thanks for what I found a relatively easy puzzle with the SW corner the trickiest part. My favourite clue was the cleverly hidden LYCHEES which I did not see for ages. Thanks also, NealH, for the excellent blog.
Thanks for blogging, Neal.
I could handle some more of this setter. Brava, Vigo, on a fine debut with a puzzle that was just right for the Monday Indy slot. Because it was so good, I’ll forgive the editor’s muppetry …
But at least he comes on the blog to acknowledge a little slip-up. Unlike in Another Place.
A most enjoyable puzzle, thank you Vigo, I am looking forward to the next one, and thank you NealH for a helpful blog.
I was another who took quite a while to spot LYCHEES, a favourite clue along with WHIPPERSNAPPERS and WEREWOLF.
[I wonder if Vigo has a soft spot for SPRINGER SPANIELs? The farm dog was one when I was a girl, he spent most of his time with me and loved helping out, particularly at blackberrying time when he would bite the berries off and spit them into my basket!]
Smooth start to the week, only held up by SCHMOOZE. I didn’t mind “court case” and can’t for the life of me see the objection to the wordplay in TWISTS.
Thanks and welcome to Vigo and thanks to NealH for the blog.
I found the puzzle an amazing mix of clues that jumped straight into my mind and others that I couldn’t see for ages and then kicked myself when my aids spat them out!! I wish I know if that ‘meant’ anything – – . Thanks to both.
Congratulations to Vigo on making her debut in a national newspaper.
Kairos @11 – that ‘someone else’ will be me then?!
I enjoyed this. Well done Vigo. I don’t like “provide” in 9d and I think “– court dismissed” would have been neater in 21. Some lovely clues; I especially liked 4d and the anagram in 6d is super. Good blog as well.
And a big whoop of congratulations from me too. Well done Vigo. Agreeing with Tramp that the anagram in 6d is great. Thanks to NealH for the blog.
Thank you to NealH for the blog and to everyone for their feedback. I have to say I agree with everyone who suggested improvements to clues where they found the cryptic read somewhat lacking. I also wish I’d used discotheque instead of dancefloor in retrospect!
Have already taken on board all comments related to ‘case’ and rewritten a future clue where I was hoping to use ‘by the case’ to mean ‘next to te’ – clearly not! I hope I’ll be back in the not too distant future to benefit further from the useful and constructive critiques.
V
Forgot to say to Cookie – yes I am particularly fond of Springer Spaniels – particularly the Welsh variety – though I have never met one with a talent for picking soft fruit (or any other fruit).
V
Nice debut and welcome Vigo (who or what is Vigo, apart from a place in Spain?). I didn’t notice the blemishes as I solved the puzzle but see them now and yes, discotheque would have been better. On the matter of court case/court’s case, Azed from time to time makes the point that the former is no good when the latter is meant, but I sometimes wonder if this is not a little zoilist.
Will Ransome @22 – I was thinking Vigo the Carpathian from Ghostbusters 2 (though, coincidentally the first two letters of my given name are VI and the first two letters of my surname are GO). Had to look up zoilist. Lovely word.
V
Zoilists under four foot six anyone?
It’s cruel isn’t it, the cryptic world. In this’s case, in that’s case, OMG. But in Theresa’s case etc, yippee!
Congrats on yr debut, luv Tees.
… in case of fire …
I meant zoillist.
My ‘I meant’ comment overlapped….! I blame the pesky sum at the bottom of the page – have forgotten it every time.
Did you?
Well done Vigo.
It seems like ages, but it was only 2½ years ago that you asked me if I knew anyone that could help you set up a grid for a family puzzle. You’ve come a long way since then!
And also had it right first time. It’s been a long day – if only the spell check worked as well here as it does elsewhere…
Anyway I wouldn’t accuse anyone of zoilism ( spell check picked up on that one!)
Paul B @28 – Did I what?
Paul B @ 28 – sorry, I now understand – no I didn’t! Did say it was a new word for me!
Zoilist is a lovely word, though a bugger to anagram. I thought this was a very promising debut, editorial cocking-up notwithstanding. And without trying to sound like a patronising FA tweeter, it hasn’t been explicitly stated other than at #17, but Vigo is a she and shes are very under-represented in crosswordland. I’m looking forward to her second appearance too.
Plus, it’s nice to have more comments on an Indy puzzle than those in another place.
As a morning after solver, a belated welcome to Vigo (I echo eimi’s comment about female representation – missing Arachne greatly). I thought this puzzle was very nicely constructed; Granny’s slipper was a lovely discovery – and how often might one say that?!
(as an occasional Zoilist, it’s Zoilist, not zoilist. Tut, tut!)
Thanks again, Vigo – and NealH
NealH – unsure why it’s necessary to mention that ‘caned’ is a British word; after all, it’s a British crossword! (For those who aren’t British, it’s not a particularly unusual word – though, oddly, ignored by my Chambers)
My first ever response, and possibly naive, but why does 22ac “to grow a pair” define “man up”? All the definitions I have found focus on courage.
HWMessenger @37
“To grow a pair” is urban slang for telling someone that they need the balls / courage to do something or to man up.