Thanks Scorpion for a good Tuesday workout.
We needed a search for our last one in – 23d and then kicked ourselves. Had we realised earlier that it was a pangram we could have saved ourselves the trouble.
Whilst Joyce was checking that every letter in the alphabet was included, Bert noticed that a number of card games were included within the grid. We found 11 in total – an amazing achievement, especially given that it was a pangram as well. We’re amazed that, given it was a Scorpion, we hadn’t noticed anything earlier.
| Across | ||
| 7 | Corsican relative welcomes another European round (8) | |
| NAPOLEON | NAN (relative) round or ‘welcoming’ POLE (another European) O (round) | |
| 8 | After game, males close to hostelry like an alcoholic drink (5) | |
| RUMMY | RU (Rugby Union – game) + MM (two males) + Y (last letter or ‘close’ to ‘hostelry’) | |
| 10 | Motor racing driver in constant pursuit, nicking second (6) | |
| PIQUET | PI (mathematical constant) + QUE |
|
| 11 | Peer at rhubarb mould (5,3) | |
| NOBLE ROT | NOBLE (peer) ROT (rhubarb) | |
| 12 | Jock’s neat piece of turf encloses end of garden (4) | |
| SNOD | SOD (piece of turf) round or ‘enclosing’ N (last letter or ‘end’ of ‘garden’) | |
| 13 | Adolescent returned carrying week old bread for horses here (9) | |
| NEWMARKET | TEEN (adolescent) reversed or ‘returned’ round or ‘carrying’ W (week) MARK (old ‘bread’ – money) | |
| 15 | Female swallow disrupts British baseball team (7) | |
| BEATRIX | EAT (swallow) inside or ‘disrupting’ BR (British) IX (the number in a baseball team) | |
| 17 | Lighter players primarily concerning Newcastle United FC (7) | |
| PONTOON | P (first letter of players or ‘primarily’) ON (concerning) TOON (Newcastle United FC) | |
| 20 | Rob, puffed, audibly needing shade (5-4) | |
| STEEL-BLUE | STEEL + BLUE sounding like or ‘audibly’ STEAL (rob) and BLEW (puffed) | |
| 21 | Crow and rook occupying land (4) | |
| BRAG | R (rook) inside or ‘occupying’ BAG (land) | |
| 22 | Doctor beginning to nurse joint somewhere in East Anglia (8) | |
| FAKENHAM | FAKE (doctor) N (first letter or ‘beginning’ of nurse) HAM (joint) | |
| 24 | Flapper getting cry of approval around carnival site (6) | |
| ORIOLE | OLE (cry of approval) around RIO (carnival site) | |
| 25 | One used to Stoke Fair cuts through (5) | |
| POKER | OK (fair) inside PER (through). Joyce was unsure about the parsing of this one although she solved the clue. It was another one of those times that Bert reminded her that PER was derived from the Latin (she studied German when she was at school!). | |
| 26 | Cook in army emptying the water (8) | |
| IRRIGATE | RIG (cook) in IRA (army) + T |
|
| Down | ||
| 1 | What’s exhibited by hospital residents, spread around nice ground (8) | |
| PATIENCE | PATE (spread) around an anagram of NICE (anagrind is ‘ground’). Scorpion has obviously never met Joyce’s 92 year old father. | |
| 2 | Mirthful business recalled during early summer date (6) | |
| JOCUND | CO (business) reversed or ‘recalled’ inside JUN (early Summer) + D (date) | |
| 3 | Money Annie distributed heading for Laura’s celebration? (10) | |
| CENTENNIAL | CENT (money) + an anagram of ANNIE (anagrind is ‘distributed) + L (first letter or ‘heading’ for Laura) | |
| 4 | Anonymous topless beefcake currently showing rear-end to hen (7) | |
| UNKNOWN | ||
| 5 | College bar’s storage bin (4) | |
| CRIB | C (college) RIB (bar) | |
| 6 | Setter’s paper requiring two sides on Othello? Surely not (2,4) | |
| MY FOOT | MY FT (setter’s paper) around OO (the two ends of Othello) | |
| 9 | Carnivore seeing me with nosh grabs middle of turkey (7) | |
| MEERKAT | ME + EAT (nosh) around RK (middle letters of turkey) | |
| 14 | Open – where novice darts players make an impression? (5-5) | |
| ABOVE-BOARD | A play on the fact that novice darts players aiming for 20 may end up here, although Joyce remembers throwing darts when she was younger which ended up on the floor. | |
| 16 | Collar Bernie at intervals during beat (3-4) | |
| TIE-NECK | bErNiE (odd letters only or ‘at intervals) inside or ‘during’ TICK (beat) | |
| 18 | Old fryer turned up behind schedule without making an effort (2,1,5) | |
| ON A PLATE | O (old) PAN (fryer) reversed or ‘turned up’ LATE (behind schedule) | |
| 19 | According to Spooner, cast help overly cautious person (3,4) | |
| OLD MAID | A Spoonerism of MOULD (cast) AID (help) | |
| 20 | Manuel’s OK outside mincing seafood (6) | |
| SCAMPI | SI (OK in Spanish – presumably relating to Manuel the waiter in Fawlty Towers) around or ‘outside’ CAMP (mincing) | |
| 21 | Diarist Jones neglecting time span (6) | |
| BRIDGE | BRIDGE |
|
| 23 | They’re seen in packs rambling on German mountains (4) | |
| HARZ | HARZ (German range of mountains which sounds like HEARTS (seen in packs of cards). ‘Rambling’ refers to the fact that it ‘sounds like’. This was our last one in. We have to admit that we needed a search in Wiki to find it. Thanks allan_c@3 for pointing out the typo. | |
Missed the pangram but I liked the card game theme and learnt the names of a few new ones to boot, for example 21a. Never come across 12 before – a wonderful word and deserves to be in wider usage IMHO. Thanks for explaining the parsing of 23 – I’d heard of the mountains, but didn’t really understand the word play.
Thank you to Scorpion and B&J.
Thanks Scorpion and B&J. Quite hard work, I thought, but the theme made it a little easier. I very much liked ABOVE-BOARD, but couldn’t get HARZ.
The online version is showing nothing but the “(2,4)” enumeration for 6d, and I really wanted the answer to be NO CLUE. I was equally unsuccessful a few days back when it showed only “(8)” and I tried out CLUELESS.
Having heard mention of NAPOLEON on the radio this morning I wondered if there was some sort of anniversary theme but a quick google disposed of that idea. Then RUMMY and BRAG put me on to the real theme, which helped with NEWMARKET and PONTOON among others. I got HARZ from the definition without understanding the wordplay; that gave me the idea it was a pangram and the only place for Q was in PIQUET, my LOI. Favouite today was ABOVE BOARD
Btw there’s a typo in the blog for 23dn – ‘rage’ for ‘range’.
And the puzzle’s not on Crossword Solver today again – had to use the Indy site which I don’t find as user-friendly.
But thanks, Scorpion and B&J
Thanks
Thanks for blog. Missed the pangram which would have helped nail 23.
I couldn’t get into this. Just half a dozen answers all day.
Excellent puzzle, pretty tough, needed three or four visits, finished except for HARZ, the explanation for which I still find impenetrable; or at the very least, strained.
Thanks to Scorpion and Bertandjoyce.