(Please click here for this same blog but with a picture quiz added. Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.) Found this easy enough to start with, but got held up at the end by a couple of clues. Thanks to Otterden. Definitions are underlined in the clues. And oh! it’s a pangram, too.
Across
8 Change amount, it is put about (8)
MUTATION : Anagram of(… is put about) AMOUNT, IT.
9 SF writer acts like one with film that is withdrawn (6)
ASIMOV : AS(acts like) I(Roman numeral for “one”) plus(with) “movie”(a film) minus(… withdrawn) “i.e.”(abbrev. for “id est”, Latin for that is).
Answer: Isaac, American author of science fiction as well as non-fictional science books.
10 Quick move made to get cured meat (4)
JERK : Double defn: 2nd: To cure meat, producing jerky.
11 Begging that rage in tent be modified (10)
ENTREATING : Anagram of(… modified) RAGE IN TENT.
12 Saps providing supporting directions to such as the Missouri (6)
WUSSES : W,E,S(abbrev. for for the directions, west, east and south respectively) containing(providing supporting … to) U.S.S.(abbrev. for for United States Ship, an example of which;such as, was the Missouri, battleship from WW2).
14 Celebrity fringes at congress after the end of December can be a net attraction (8)
CYBERSEX : The 1st and last letters of(… fringes) “Celebrity ” plus(at) [ SEX(sexual congress) placed after(after) the last 3 letters of(the end of) “December ” ].
Defn: …, on the Internet, that is.
15 Enthusiasts confined in the bronze age a great deal (7)
ZEALOTS : Hidden in(confined in the) “bronze age ” + LOTS(a great deal).
17 Composer, otherwise disrespectable, gets rid of tattered carpets (7)
DELIBES : Anagram of(otherwise) [“disrespectable ” minus(gets rid of) anagram of(tattered) “carpets “].
Answer: Leo, famous for his ballets and operas.
20 Unconfined uneasiness resolved after a fashion (2,1,5)
IN A SENSE : Anagram of(… resolved) “uneasiness ” minus its 1st and last letters(Unconfined …) .
22 Non-illuminated bend up front leads to the opposite (6)
SUNLIT : “unlit”(non-illuminated) placed after(… up front) S(a double bend).
Defn: … of “non-illuminated”.
23 Lengthen publicity by circular letter on short London opening (10)
PROLONGATE : PR(abbrev. for “public relations”;publicity) plus(by) O(the circular letter of the alphabet) plus(on) LON(short for London, in the IATA code for all its airports in general) + GATE(an opening, in a fence, say).
24 Architectural feature providing detailed protection from the elements (4)
COVE : “cover”(protection from the elements, those weather forces) minus
its last letter(detailed …).
25 Scaffolder reported stiffness (6)
RIGOUR : Homophone of(… reported) “rigger”(workman who puts up building construction scaffolding).
26 Impracticality of one changing lead is beginning to manifest (8)
IDEALISM : I(Roman numeral for “one”) + anagram of(changing) LEAD IS + the 1st letter of(beginning to) “manifest “.
Down
1 Who’s piece of music in France creates very little commotion (8)
QUIETUDE : QUI(French for “who”) + ETUDE(a piece of classical music for a solo instrument, displaying artistic technique).
2 Loudly advertise second-class anti-flood construction (4)
BARK : B(signifying second-class, as opposed to A, first-class) + ARK(Noah’s construction to beat the Flood).
Defn: As done by the person in front of a show, fair, carnival booth, to attract passers-by.
3 Tanker‘s workers get tax threshold removed (6)
OILERS : “toilers”(workers) minus(get … removed) the 1st letter of(… threshold) “tax “.
Defn: Shouldn’t it be plural to be consistent with the answer?
4 Get free international support (7)
UNSTICK : U.N.(abbrev. for the United Nations International organisation) + STICK(a support, as in “walking stick”).
I was held up by this right to the end as I had it as UNSTRAP, which fits the wordplay better, I think, and which fits 2 of the 3 crossing letters, and shares the same first 4 letters as the given answer.
5 Loathsome herbal tea served up — not right! (8)
HATEABLE : Anagram of(… served up) “herbal tea” minus “r”(abbrev. for “right”).
6 Order for stone coffin someone from the West Midlands once executed (10)
CISTERCIAN : CIST(a stone-lined burial chamber) + “Mercian”(someone from the old kingdom of Mercia, which included the West Midlands of England) minus its 1st letter(executed;head cut off).
Defn: … of Christian monks and nuns.
7 Room to go forward rapidly without second in command (6)
LOUNGE : LUNGE(to move forward rapidly) containing(without;outside of) the 2nd letter of(second in) “command “.
13 Real loss of work at showroom (5,5)
SALES FLOOR : Anagram of(… work) REAL LOSS OF.
16 Estate residents a number one gets to irritate (8)
TENANTRY : TEN(a number in arithmetic) + AN(article indicating one of) plus(gets) TRY(to irritate;to test one’s patience).
Defn: … , collectively.
18 Former visit a total mix-up — one needed to leave? (4,4)
EXIT VISA : EX-(prefix indicating former;once) + anagram of(… total mix-up) VISIT A.
19 Jelly eating out requires plate (7)
GELATIN : Anagram of(… out) EATING containing(requires) L(plate displayed by learner drivers).
21 Managed to get back six grand to Norwegian port (6)
NARVIK : Reversal of(… to get back) RAN(managed, an organisation, say) + VI(Roman numeral for “six”) K(like “grand”, slang for 1000 dollars).
22 Needed pole to be replaced in a selected position (6)
SEEDED : “Needed” with “N”(abbrev. for “north” pole) replaced by(… to be replaced) “S”(abbrev. for “south” pole).
Defn: …, as in a tennis tournament, say).
24 Man’s junior partner (so-called) involved in technical fraud (4)
CALF : Hidden in(involved in) “technical fraud “.
Answer: … of Man, a smaller island just off the Isle of Man, which former could be called the latter’s junior partner. “calf” derives from the Old Norse word for a smaller island lying near a larger one.
(Please do NOT post hereinbelow any comment relating to the picture quiz. Thank you.)
Not just a pangram. But the letters around the grid include the entire alphabet.
Thanks Otterden and scchua.
With respect, I agree about “tankers”. A simple matter of adjusting the apostrophe, as the grocer’s among the readership would know.
3D: I think people who work on tankers are called oilers, no?
I didn’t notice the pangram or the alphabet around the grid, but that may be because I was bristling at the looseness of some of the clues, which were lazily construced, at least in my opinion.
12ac – the indiscriminate use of “directions” is too vague.
14ac – “end of December” could be anything from MBER to R
15ac – “confined in Bronze Age” for ZEA – really?
25ac – could be read as “scaffolder reported” or “reported stiffness”, therefore weithout checking letters, could be either RIGGER or RIGOUR
1dn – I don’t like “who’s” – the apostrophe is superfluous.
3dn – agree with comments in blog and @2 above.
6dn – “executed” is not the same as “beheaded”
13dn – Don’t like the use of the noun “work” as an anagrind here.
Or perhaps the solution to 3a is OILER’S.
Realthong @3 But it can’t be that as we need workers for toilers
Thanks, sschua and Otterden.
Steve B. @1 Well spotted, missed that.
Entertaining diversion but was troubled by some of the looser defs. Not sure about how “Who’s piece of music in France” give QUI & ETUDE. It’s an obvious answer and one of the first in, but the construction seems a bit odd – perhaps I’m being too literal.
Loonapick @4 I read ‘work’ as a verb as in ‘work (mould) clay’. The apostrophe is an old chestnut in crossword lore and most accept its use as a misdirector. I agree with you about RIGOUR/RIGGER and the ZEA thing, though.
Also not sure how UN = International in the UNSTICK clue. Again, the answer comes readily enough and perhaps that’s all that matters.
Missed L = plate (again) and failed to parse CISTERCIAN through not knowing cist.
Nice weekend, all.
I too was surprised at the laxness of some of the clues (see @4), and I noted, as I went along, all loonapick’s points except 13D, where I at least recognised ‘work’ as an anagrind (I’ve come across it before in the Guardian).
I failed to solve 10A, 2D and 3D. I’ve never heard of JERK in that sense (only JERKY) or OILERS in that sense (and the clue didn’t help). I should have got BARK, though.
This could have been better, but, having said that, I salute the setter’s skill in making the pangram, not to mention the occurrence of all the letters round the edge as noted by Steve B @1.
Funnily enough, I spotted the potential pangram (I hardly ever spot pangrams or ninas), but I forgot all about it when I tried to solve 10A – it would have helped, because the ‘J’ had to go somewhere. It wasn’t quite my day today!
Thanks Otterden and scchua
Steve B. @1 Do the extra ‘R’ & ‘M’ around the perimeter signify anything?
Realthog sorry I hate spellcheckers!
Loonapick@4
If i didnt agree with you i might have said “you are…….. and I claim the £5.”
A little indulgent for my tastes – although the constrained grid-filling is an impressive achievement, I found it a little unsatisfactory as a solving experience – very wordy and too much contrivance. Last in was SEEDED, which was simpler than I expected…
Thanks to scchua and Otterden
Thanks Otterden & scchua.
I got a bit stuck towards the end but I thought this was better than some previous works from this setter. I didn’t much like ‘end of December’ giving ‘ber’ but this, or something similar, has been used previously by this setter. I think ‘the last three in December’ could have been used. The ‘in France’ in 1d seems to be in the wrong place. As far as I’m aware, étude in French means study; perhaps a French speaker can comment.
Impressive grid construction; I noted the pangram but not the circular one. I think that’s the first time I’ve seen this done.
P.S. ‘Who’s French piece of music…’ seems better to me.
William @9,
I don’t think the repeated use of R and M have any real significance. But since there’s 28 squares around the grid, and only 26 letters in the alphabet, the Pigeonhole Principle says that either two letters will appear twice, or one letter will appear three times. Anyone else with a mathematical bent can read about that here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigeonhole_principle
Steve B. @15 Hmm…interesting, enjoyed that, thanks.
A note to scchua and other bloggers who may be reading this:
Please try to avoid spoilers in the first part of your introductions. Today’s reference to a pangram shows up on the Guardian index page. I accidentally noticed it while I was using that page to get to the blogs from the previous couple of days to check on overnight comments, before I even started solving today’s puzzle. I don’t think it made much difference to me, other than perhaps making me look out for the less frequently appearing letters, but I would have preferred not to have seen it.
More than half the answers went in quickly but then I slowed right down and the last two took me quite a while. I’d considered OILERS (my LOI) earlier but was not convinced it could be an oil tanker. Eventually I gave in and looked for that definition online. For CISTERCIAN, I spent a long time pondering possible towns/cities in the West Midlands before thinking of Mercia and realising that it would work once beheaded.
There is rather a lot of general knowledge needed here for a cryptic, in my opinion. Asimov and Delibes are widely known, but I feel sorry for non-UK solvers who I would have thought are unlikely to have even heard of Mercia, let alone known where it was, and its wordplay companion “cist” is also fairly obscure. How well known is the Calf of Man outside the UK (except perhaps for those who have met it in previous Guardian crosswords)? Do many younger non-US solvers know of the USS Missouri, even with its claim to fame as being where the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed? I’m not sure I could have solved that clue from the definition alone if I hadn’t known about the ship. I didn’t know NARVIK but that was easier to get from just the wordplay.
Still, I did finish it and I did enjoy it, so thanks to Otterden and to scchua.
Robi @13
A French speaker will know the full story, but I know étude in French means study in more than one sense. When I studied (!) music I would learn to play a study (in C or whatever) or an étude – hence it is a piece of music.
I echo everything you say about the level of general knowledge needed for some words in the clues, let alone the grid.
But that’s what we have been served up today. It didn’t seem to prevent several of us from finishing the puzzle (and I was within an ace, or two, or three). If I had made a good pangram using some difficult words I would not have put as many unfamiliar names and references in the clues that Otterden chose to do (some or all of which you have pointed out).
There was a lot to enjoy in this puzzle until I got stuck at the very end, and I’m not averse to tackling this level of difficulty and taking on board a few new words and meanings.
jennyk
I meant to address my post @19 to you, concerning your post @17.
Surely the real problem with 1d is the use of “who’s” for the cryptic grammar than the required “whose” for the surface? I’m afraid this has irritated me so much that I’m unable to comment sensibly on the puzzle. 3d irritated me for similar reasons.
Thanks for the blog scchua and I am tempted to lend Otterden my copy of “Eats, Shoots and Leaves”.
Thanks Otterden and scchua.
Impressive, all the letters of the alphabet around the grid. I needed help to parse WUSSES and CISTERCIAN. I took JERK to be sun dried beef from South America, or mutton (my daughter-in-law from Casablanca makes this at Eid al-Adha).
Favourites were DELIBES and QUIETUDE.
I too found the puzzle fairly easy with several “loose” clues. 6d was LOI and I had to use the reveal button for it. Being a silly American I was not readily able to recall the Mercian kingdom nor am I familiar with the words cist or Cistercian.
Still, fun for the short time it took to complete. Thanks to Otterden and scchua.
Thanks, Alan @19/20.
ClareS @21
I think 3d is allowable as the ‘rule’ is to ignore punctuation when going between surface and cryptic levels. “Tanker’s workers” works on the surface (there are usually many workers on each individual tanker) and without the apostrophe “tankers” = “oilers”. I agree with you about 1d, though. The separation suggested by the apostrophe is needed for “qui”, as “Whos piece of music …” would be just so wrong and “Whose” wouldn’t lead to “qui”, but the surface needs mental contortions to make it work at all:
“Who’s piece of music in France creates very little commotion”
“Who is piece of music …”? Certainly not! “Who has piece of music …” almost seems to work if you ignore the lack of an “a”, but then the arrival of “creates” kills it. The nearest I can devise is “[Doctor] Who’s piece of music in France creates very little commotion”, but we all know that the only correct way to refer to him is as “The Doctor”, “Who?” being the hearer’s response. Does anyone have a better parsing?
Yes, the greengrocerism annoyed me. It was my Foi so left me a bit ‘hmmf’ for the rest, which could do with an ironing. However, it is good to have a change of style now and again to keep me learning after 40 or so years of the GXW. I missed the border.. for which, kudos.
Incidentally.. Why does the ‘submit comment ‘ button actually say ‘publish’? 😉
For certain setters, read “creative”. For Otterden, read “contrived”. Or has Otterden made claims to being a Ximenean to justify the prickliness?
For 14a and 15a we have enough experience of him now to know that taking bits of words is part of his stylistic palette. And personally I don’t see why we need to be told exactly by the clue which part of the words to take any more than we need to be told which order the letters of an anagram need to placed in.
Thanks to Otterden and scchua. I found this puzzle easier than previous ones from this setter but still needed help parsing several items (e.g., CISTERCIAN) and got GELATIN without seeing that L = plate. I did get NARVIK and WUSSES from the clues. Last in were some four letter words that gave me trouble: BARK, COVE, and CALF.
Still unable to enjoy an Otterden puzzle. Maybe that’s because I rarely finish them, WUSSES and CISTERCIAN being way over my head, and I had DIVERS for OILERS, no real reason except that maybe they need to check the underside of the boat? Though in retrospect that was an easily gettable clue.
Hi I’m new to this forum! Wondering where or what the pangram is. Thought a pangram was the like of ‘The Quick Brown Fox Jumps over the Lazy Dog.’etc. I’m here to be enlightened.Thanks to all ‘forumites’ your contributions and explanations are a great help to a relative novice.
jennyk @24, Who’s piece of music (7th Doctor Serials, “The Curse of Fenric”) Gabriel Fauré’s “Requiem Op 48”.
jennyk, point noted. I added the comment about the pangram after I’d published the blog, and just plain forgot about it being a spoiler.
Howie @29, you’ve got it, all the 26 letters appear – a difficult feat for the setter, and I’ve not seen the pangram restricted to the perimeter before.
Poor fare, in my opinion. I lost the will to live with just over half done.
Pretty much what Loonapick said at comment no 4. In addition, many of the surfaces are meaningless. As for the who’s/whose solecism, I’m not even going there because it will send me into a rage and I may self harm as a result.
‘Contrived’ is indeed the description. I don’t think Otterden will ever be one of my favourite setters, but thanks to him for the puzzle and to scchua for the blog.
Thank you Trailman @32 If I’ve got it correct a puzzle that includes every letter of the alphabet in the answers is a pangram! Just that it happens to be around the perimeter in this instance? Kudos to Otterden then!
Cookie @30
That’s certainly a much better attempt than mine, but still too … um … contrived, to use the word of the day.
Ah… ‘Submit comment’ on desktop; ‘Publish’ on mobile 🙁
Re 1down, it might work if it were:
“In France, who’s piece of music creating …”
with “… ‘s” as a contraction of “has”.
jennyk@17 – I remember receiving a similar admonition when my wife and I did our first blog on the fifteen squared site some months ago. Being new to the role we bit our tongue but neither of us could help wondering what the problem was, and why, if they want to avoid spoilers, people should visit the fifteen squared site before they had completed (or given up on completing) the crossword. The introductory sentence is invariably anodyne (unless it offends by containing a spoiler) and doesn’t tell the reader anything. So if you’re concerned about not reading spoilers, why not postpone your visit to the fifteen squared site until you are safe from reading anything that might be a spoiler?
David @38, I think some people go on to the fifteensquared site before commencing the daily crossword to check if any comments have been added overnight to the blog of the previous day – I often do, and it is hard to avoid noticing the announcement of the day’s blog.
I found this just the right level of difficulty. I have no problems with the clues. From the vitriol in some of the post, we should get hedgehoggy back – he wasn’t as nasty and was often correct.
David @38 – and many of us don’t do the crosswords daily in order. If I don’t start one on the day it is published, it goes to the bottom of a fairly large pile to be done another day/week/month. So I am often coming to the site for today’s blog and wishing to know as little as possible about what happened on an earlier day.
scchua @31
We all make mistakes sometimes. You and the other bloggers are usually very good about this (and thank you all for that). I just wanted to post a reminder.
David @38
I think you missed my point. I only went to the Guardian index page to get to previous Guardian threads. On this occasion, the “invariably anodyne” introductory paragraph as shown on the index page included “And oh! it’s a pangram, too”. It’s not a major spoiler, but still best avoided, as scchua has acknowledged @31.
I certainly wouldn’t click on the link to a particular blog thread until I had completed the puzzle (or given up on doing that). However, when there are ongoing conversations on earlier threads, I wouldn’t want to miss them just because I was late completing a particular puzzle. Similarly, I sometimes finish puzzles out of sequence (for instance, I still haven’t completed the Maskarade Christmas Prize puzzle) but still want to get to the blog of the one which I’ve just finished. In both cases, the index page is the easiest way to get those threads. There is not usually a problem in doing so, and even today it was bad luck that the phrase caught my eye.
And I see that Cookie @39 and Van Winkle @41 type more quickly than me …
JohnM@40. Did you just want to highlight some of the comments that you consider to be ‘vitriol’ and ‘nasty’? Most of us seem not to have liked it much, but I don’t see anything that would warrant either of those two descriptions.
I’m not normally an Otterden fan but I found this more agreeable than some previous ones. I thought this was a pangram but couldn’t be bothered to check.
Some good clues here. I liked UNSTICK, BARK,WUSSES and CYBERSEX. I can’t say I see any problem with OILERS,QUIETUDE or CALF-well, perhaps the last is a little obscure- nor with general knowledge being needed. This was hardly a quizword after all.
Anyway, I rather enjoyed it!
Thanks Otterden.
jennyk @24 and ClaireS @21
The surface for 1 reads well enough as a newspaper headline with Who referring to The Who (the band). Then both the cryptic and the surface grammar seem OK to me (using Who has for Who’s in the cryptic reading).
phitonelly @46
Ah, now that reading does work for me. I should have thought of The Who. Thanks!
Good try, phitonelly, but the band is The Who and not Who. You’d never say ‘I’ve got tickets to see Who tonight’, would you? The clue is duff. End of.
Thanks scchua and Otterden.
Agree with most of the comments of Loonapick @4 …some of those clues made it a lot harder to solve.
Sensed the pangram but had “replete” for 15a not seeing the “zea” and not accounting for enthusiasts. Well, a tough workout.
@44 ‘vitriol’ was a very bad choice of word for today’s post, and I apologise. I do not apologise for the sentiments of my post. This blog is very critical,and many of the posts rude to the setters. I don’t just mean today, and ‘vitriol’ does apply to some previous posts. For today, I didn’t like, for example ‘For certain setters, read “creative”. For Otterden, read “contrived”; r ‘has Otterden made claims to being a Ximenean to justify the prickliness?’; ‘I too was surprised at the laxness of some of the clues’.
I am with hedgehoggy. I shall use the blog to look at the answers when I am stuck but shall not post again.
Kathryn’s Dad @48
Newspaper headline writers often ignore such niceties if omitting “The” makes for a better fit in the space available, as phitonelly @46 suggested.
JohnM @50, you must keep posting, think how awful this site might get, especially for setters, if everyone like you went away. I was going to go away too, but after hoggy got so much support I thought it better to stay – not that my comments are constructive, I do not have the ability for that, but I can show appreciation.
Jennyk@42 I didn’t miss your point at all. I merely advised you that you are responsible for what you read. It’s your eye, not the blogger’s. Just look away.
David @53
If it was the convention here that bloggers can give away themes and answers in that small part of the introduction which appears on the index pages, then it would indeed be up to visitors to avoid spoilers, but it is just the opposite. It is reasonable for visitors to expect the bloggers not to break that convention, and the responsibility of the bloggers if they break it, deliberately or accidentally.
Cookie@52
Not constructive? Very much the opposite in my opinion. I suspect you have a fan base lurking out there.
JohnM@50
I don’t think I exhibited any vitriol. I was merely disappointed with several of the clues, and I clearly explained why. There is no point in a blog if it simply parses the clues, and then says “thanks” without identifying contentious or erroneous clues.
John M @50 – you were misled by my posting @26. The point I failed to get across was that when some setters do quirky things they are lauded on this site as creative geniuses, but when Otterden does very similar things he is accused of contrivance. I was trying to ask why Otterden gets stick for taking “liberties”, unless it was the case that he had somehow declared himself a Ximenean and to be measured against “the rules”.
The comment was intended to be the opposite of nasty. Apologies.
litmus @55
Seconded.
Cookie, you are definitely a constructive presence here, both suggesting alternative parsings at times and adding interesting background material.
Well I really enjoyed this, loose clues or not.. Mind you I didn’t get wusses or Cistercian. Many thanks to Otterden and Scchua
I enjoy Otterden puzzles. There are any number of setters that produce “watertight” clues. The papers are full of them. The reason I like Otterden is precisely because he doesn’t seem to give a **** about whether his clues pass any experts’ tests or not.
That is not to say I don’t puzzles from setters who would never write clues like these. I do, I like those too.
Although 3D was OK for me there were other clues which would have benefitted from the loving attention of an editor.
To be honest I didn’t enjoy this puzzle although I did persevere to the end.
Thanks to scchua and Otterden
Well, I agree with loonapick (who I thought was stern rather than impolite) and also Brendan (nto) at 61 – it has been a bad week for editorial laxness what with blemishes in both Chifonie and Pasqual clues this week.
Mrs Job and I managed to finish all but WUSSES, but many of our answers were marked to check the parsing as we couldn’t see it – so many thanks to scchua and other commenters. And congrats to Otterden on the clever pangram, even if that doesn’t excuse weak clueing.
Cookie
I fully endorse your post at @52 (except that I would also echo what litmus and jennyk have said in your support at 55 and 58).
Like you, I would like to see JohnM’s name here whenever he wants to contribute.
JohnM used one of my posts as an example of criticism that amounted to being rude to the setter (when I said “I too was surprised at the laxness of some of the clues” and then went into detail). Any critical comments I make are never meant to be personal.
I’m sorry if anything I said has caused any offence. The last thing I want is to contribute to the cause of anyone considering moving away from this site.
JohnM @50, Alan Browne @63 et al
If setters don’t get honest feedback from solvers, how can they tell whether they are pitching their clues appropriately for their audience? Most criticism of most setters here is a balance of praise and complaints, often mixed in the same comment. Most setters have fans who like their style and critics who don’t, and both groups are entitled to express that. Unfair criticisms are themselves usually criticised quite heavily in their turn.
Occasionally, a particular setter or puzzle gets mostly criticism with little support. I would suggest that in those rare cases they would benefit from thinking about why that has happened. They may decide the posters here are atypical of their target audience (which may well be correct), and go on setting in the same way, as is their right, or they may try to learn something from it and adapt a little. Of course, whether they read these blogs at all is also their choice.
I hope you do continue posting, JohnM. Alternative views enrich any blog, as long as they are expressed politely.
We found this took a bit longer than usual to complete, but that was fine. Some of the clues were challenging but fair, and the solutions were within our range of general knowledge. So it was an enjoyable workout. Completely missed the pangram, though!
I don’t understand the sniping comments – I thought it was a fair and clever puzzle. Stuck on “wusses” for a while and “quietude” was my LOI. As for “oilers”, surely anyone who’s seen a WW2 naval film would know it? Jack Hawkins or John Gregson on the bridge with the bottles (binoculars), Sam Kydd in the engine room, Sidney Tafler being a bit dodgy somewhere . . .
Yes! Bring back the urchin!
Ahem. I thought it was a clever clue. End of (ooh, never said that before)!
John McCartney @68
But what does that particular meaning of OILERS have to do with this clue? scchua’s parsing, which seems to me to be correct, has “tankers” as the definition (referring to the ships) and “toilers” as the workers with the first letter removed as instructed in the rest of the wordplay. None of that has anything to do with the engineers below decks on a different type of ship, so familiarity or otherwise with that meaning is irrelevant, and anyone entering OILERS solely on the basis of it has not fully parsed the clue. Obviously knowing a word from the ‘wrong’ context can still point us to a solution, but it doesn’t directly help with or replace getting the correct parsing.
Tankers is the definition. “Toilers” are workers. Take off the T. Seems perfectly obvious to me. The apostrophe is there to complicate it, I presume. I’ve learned quite recently to ignore punctuation when a clue is knotty. The Tanker and the workers are not linked, except in the clue. The toilers are simply people who work – anywhere, not necessarily on board a tanker (or an oiler).
Wouldn’t the surface require ‘whose’ for the correct sense though? That messes up the cryptic well and truly, of course. Otherwise it could legitimately have used ‘Who in France has piece of music’ (and then tidy up the link word), since etude is in use in English.
3 down just ‘tanker’, on the other catapostrophe.
Thanks scchua and Otterden.
I did enjoy this despite qualms about WUSSES and OILERS – which were my last two in.
I saw the Pangram and realised that 15 had to be ZEALOTS – but encoding A LOT in three bridging letters from bronze age – really?
But….
The answers were all what they were and couldn’t be anything else, so I’m inclined to side with PeeDee.
Anything goes so long as it’s entertaining.
Thanks Otterden and scchua
Have always enjoyed the quirkiness in the clues of this setter and wholeheartedly agree with the sentiments of PeeDee !!! Quirky they may be, but there is never a doubt as to what the true answer to the clue is !
There was only one that I needed help in parsing – and that was to do with the CALF of Man, which I did not know and didn’t twig to go down that line of thinking to look it up. Was able to find references to all of his definitions, including some of the ones which have been queried by others mainly in the online Oxford or Collins. A couple of them were new to me – RIGOUR (stiffness, rigidity), JERK (as the cured meat – but it was sitting there in Oxford – had only known of ‘jerky’), COVE (as an architectural feature), CALF (as I mentioned), OILERS (as tankers – but guessable anyway – not sure about all of the fuss with the apostrophe), CISTERCIAN (an unknown order of monks and nuns – but imminently gettable from the wordplay) and NARVIK (the Norse port town)
Just plugged away with it over the course of the day finishing in the NE corner with WUSSES (hadn’t heard of that for ages – was commonly used down here), BARK (looking grim for a while until the ARK bit dawned on me) and JERK (which in the end I followed as a hunch of a diminutive of jerky).
I think that this was the second last one of his puzzles that was published – I’ll miss them!! RIP Gavin !!