An entertaining puzzle with an excellent theme from Imogen; this didn’t cause us too many problems…
The rubric for this crossword read:
Fifteen solutions are of a kind, not further defined.
These turned out to be birds, and mostly quite familiar ones – quite an achievement to get these all into the grid. Perhaps this difficulty is why a couple were plurals (KESTRELS and SHEARWATERS). We got the theme quite quickly, from KESTRELS, which helped quite a bit. Thanks to Imogen for a fun crossword.
Across
4. Appropriate to be astride a horse (6)
* TAKAHE
TAKE = “Appropriate” around A + H = “horse”. This is 100% sound, of course, but this took us ages to get, even with the crossing letters – the “steal” sense of appropriate is one of those things that I find really hard to see, and the answer wasn’t familiar to either of us.
Definition: (thematic clue)
6. Whisk round a couple of eggs for starters (3-5)
* BEE-EATER
BEATER = “Whisk” around E[ggs] E[ggs] = “a couple of eggs for starters”
Definition: (thematic clue)
9. A European sun-lover may, do you say? (6)
BASQUE
Homophone: a “sun-lover” may bask, which sounds like BASQUE
Definition: “A European”
10. Righted a wrong in later life (5,3)
THIRD AGE
(RIGHTED A)*
Definition: “later life”
11. Why Imogen constructed this grid is not important (3,3,5)
FOR THE BIRDS
Double definition: “Why Imogen constructed this grid” and “not important”
15. One lawyer looking embarrassed, being rude (3-4)
ILL-BRED
I = “One” + LLB = “lawywer” + RED = “embarrassed”
Definition: “rude”
17. Book one form of transport with equipment for gardener (7)
IVANHOE
I = “one” + VAN = “form of transport” + HOE = “equipment for gardener”
Definition: “Book”
18. Be conscious of the sea, perhaps, aboard ship (11)
* SHEARWATERS
HEAR WATER = “Be conscious of the sea, perhaps” in SS = “aboard ship”
Definition: (thematic clue)
22. American island is a struggling former colony (8)
RHODESIA
RHODE = “American island” (either referring to the state Rhode Island, which is mostly mainland, or the island it got its name from) + (IS A)*
Definition: “former colony”
23. Encouragement to opera singer who took nude role (6)
GODIVA
GO DIVA! = “Encouragement to opera singer”
Definition: “who took nude role” (I bet that the majority will disagree, but this is too lax a definition for me in terms of grammar)
24. A gun, when packed in clothing (8)
* WHEATEAR
“A gun” = HEAT (as in “packing heat”) in WEAR = “clothing” (as in “outerwear”)
Definition: (thematic clue)
25. Red Sea and river in France (6)
MERLOT
MER = “Sea […] in France” + LOT = “river in France”
Definition: RED (as in “a bottle of red”)
Down
1. Symptom of cold keeps husband in (6)
* CHOUGH
COUGH = “Symptom of cold” around H = “husband”
Definition: (thematic clue)
2. Female runner (3,7)
* HEN HARRIER
HEN = “Female” + HARRIER = “runner” as in Hash House Harriers, I think
Definition: (thematic clue)
3. 1 of 50 garments in a range for uplifting (8)
NEBRASKA
BRAS = “garments” in A + KEN = “range” (as in “range of vision”, e.g. in the phrase “beyond our ken”) reversed (“for uplifting”)
Definition: “1 of 50”, referring to the 50 states of the USA
4. What “blonde” means, putting the counter-argument (2,2,4)
TO BE FAIR
Double definition: “What blonde means” and “putting the counter-argument”
5. Rest, relaxing by lake, in thematic film (8)
* KESTRELS
(REST)* + L = “lake” in KES = “thematic film”
Definition: (thematic clue) – arguably it’s slightly weak that the name of the thematic film, “Kes”, is named after a kestrel anyway
7. Drink over a litre (4)
* TEAL
TEA = “Drink” + L = “litre”
Definition: (thematic clue)
8. Dunderhead is not all there (4)
* RHEA
Hidden in “[dunde]RHEA[d]”
Definition: (thematic clue)
12. Overcoming resistance, move reluctantly to capital (10)
* BUDGERIGAR
BUDGE = “move reluctantly” + RIGA = “capital” all over R = “resistance”
Definition: (thematic clue)
13. Who would send such an invoice — it’s cobblers! (8)
* SHOEBILL
Cryptic definition, and a very nice one 🙂
14. Get back to work when day breaks (8)
* REDSTART
RESTART = “Get back to work” around D = “day”
Definition: (thematic clue)
16. Owning collection, I sort out artist (8)
ROSSETTI
SET = “collection” in (I SORT)*
Definition: “artist” – for some reason, whenever Rossetti’s mentioned I think of his rather affecting drawing of himself crying over the death of his pet wombat
19. Commonly own a complete range — I say! (6)
* AVOCET
In a “common” accent “have a set” might be pronounced like AVOCET. Never quite sure what to think about this device, since the use of “common” in this sense is awful snobbery…
Definition: (thematic clue)
20. First in consecutive series (4)
* CROW
C = “First in consecutive” + ROW = “series”
Definition: (thematic clue)
21. Port is not quite finished (4)
* DOVE
DOVE[r] = “Port is not quite finished”
Definition: (thematic clue)
Thanks mhl. Got the birds early on but still it was like pulling the teeth to get all 15, for me. 14d ‘get back to work’ as defn for ‘restart’, I felt was weak, as one can restart many things not just work. Liked ill-bred and avocet. Thanks Imogen.
re 19d I parsed it as Our Set. That worked for me.
as a homophone. Sorry for split postings
Thanks mhl. It took me a while to get into this one and to get the theme. Having deciphered IVANHOE early on I wondered about the Waverley Novels but that didn’t take me far. HEN HARRIER showed me the way in, closely followed by TEAL and the rest then fell into place readily enough. I had no trouble with TAKAHE!
Thanks mhl. Pleasantly taxing, mainly with the last two: in 3D I thought of 1,000 options for range=? before the penny dropped, and like you didn’t enjoy the sound in 19D.
As someone who is far from an expert on ornithology, I found this surprisingly straightforward. FOR THE BIRDS was first in and I’d heard of all but one of the birds, the exception being TAKAHE, which was clued so clearly it had to be right.
Thanks to Imogen and mhl
Thanks Imogen and mhl
Sorry, I found this unsatisfactory, particularly as a prize. Yes, for about 40 minutes I had only two or three solutions in, but then I got TEAL, and the rest followed rather too rapidly.
Thanks all
A quick solve of kestrels gave away the theme which is why I do not like themes.
Last in merlot although I could not parse it.
Even though 20 & 21D soon gave the game away regarding the 15 not further defined clues of a kind this puzzle still wasn’t quite a walkover.
One slight niggle was that the 15 weren’t actually strictly “of a kind” as although all were bird names some were singular while others were plural.
Too many nice clues to mention.
Thanks to mhl and Imogen.
Some nice clues – special mention to the simple but elegant one for THIRD AGE (I wanted to like ‘Go, diva!’ too, but like mhl, found the def a bit woolly.) I got the theme quickly, but I don’t see that as a problem, prize or no. It doesn’t make the puzzle a write-in.
Shame about the grid though – all those rivers of black and only three letters in the top and bottom row (and a corresponding shortage of words to clue). I don’t think one needs to sacrifice that much to get fifteen birds in a grid. The plurals were a bit disappointing too.
I enjoyed this puzzle, and the only bird I don’t remember coming across before was the TAKAHE, but it was clued clearly enough so no complaints.
Thanks Imogen and mhl.
This took me back to my childhood in Wellington. I could not place the Takahe, so googled, then it all came back. Dad loved birds and one day in 1948 when I was 6 he came home from work all excited with the news that the supposedly extinct Notornis had been rediscovered in the South Island. I left NZ when I was 12 and do not remember ever hearing the Maori name for the bird.
I found this much easier than Imogen’s puzzles usually are. WHEATEAR followed by SHOEBILL-lovely clue-gave me the theme and most of the rest of the puzzle went in quite easily. I liked TAKAHE too although this was one I had to look up.
Nice, gentle fun.
Thanks Imogen.
I spotted the theme when I got 11a (I already had BUDGERIGAR at that point). TAKAHE was new to me. I don’t have an issue with the GODIVA definition, and I do like the word play. Favourites were SHEARWATERS, RHODESIA, CHOUGH, TO BE FAIR and SHOEBILL.
Thanks to Imogen and mhl.
I had OVER for 21d, which is a sound solution, but of course left the SW corner incomplete.
Thanks to Imogen & mhl
Thanks to Imogen and mhl. I had trouble with TAKAHE (my last in) and did not know the movie Kes (though KESTRELS, even with the plural, was not a challenge) but overall got though this puzzle quickly. Years ago someone pointed out that the huge index of a major work on ornithology (I can’t dredge up the author) had an entry: “Birds, strictly for the” that cited all the pages in the volume.
Thanks everyone.
I got FOR THE BIRDS relatively quickly, and it then became clear what I had to do.
I’m not the bird-watching kind, and I’m a North American anyway, so (unlike for the blogger and most of the commenters, apparently) half of these birds were utterly unfamiliar to me. I hadn’t heard of TAKAHE, BEE-EATER, WHEATEAR, SHOEBILL, REDSTART, or SHEARWATERS, and HEN HARRIER was lodged somewhere deep in my catalogue of obscure knowledge. I got them all eventually, Google-checking to make sure what I came up with were actual birds.
Not knowing the birds made this a not-so-satisfying experience. With apologies to Imogen, who surely produced a good puzzle that British amateur-ornithologist types probably appreciated quite a bit.
Not all were British, mrpenney – TAKAHE NZ, RHEA South America; SHOEBILL Africa; BUDGERIGAR Australia; BEE EATER very rare visitor to England.
Muffin, the RHEA is endemic not only to South America, but also to North American crosswords—seeing as short words with odd vowel-consonant patterns are so useful in U.S.-style grids—so that one was familiar to me. The TEAL also quacks its way across the N.Y. Times grid with regularity.
Four-letter birds in U.S. crosswords might also be nenes or ernes. All are far more common cruiciverbial feathered friends here than the ordinary crow or dove.
The ne-nes were bred so successfully at wildfowl centre at Slimbridge, Gloucesteshire, that you had to keep reminding yourself that they were endangered as they pinched your sandwiches.
I think BEE EATER has been used in a previous crossword, as it is unlikely it would have cropped up anywhere else I’d pay attention to. Yes, this wasn’t Imogen’s most difficult prize, but the difficult ones (remember Stanley) generate a lot of criticism and it’s quite clear that the prize policy is not to make them too intimidating…
Thanks Imogen and mhl
Good fun solve as per usual with this setter and as some have said maybe a tad on the easier side for him. My first one in was TEAL and when I confirmed that a CHOUGH was also a bird, the theme was out and steady progress was made until a slight hold up with the last couple in – GODIVA and SHOEBILL.
Had no problem with the homophone at 19d which quickly confirmed that it was AVOCET. Messed up the parsing of KESTRELS lazily not checking that ‘rest lake’ was not quite the right fodder.
Liked MERLOT and discovered a new French river (LOT) that I previously didn’t know.
By coincidence Merlot derives its name from the French word for blackbird.