The usual very satisfactory crossword from Quixote, despite my misgivings about 22dn. Just as Phi does a crossword for the BBC Music Magazine and so his clues often have musical references, so Quixote is the crossword editor of The Church Times and he tends to use ecclesiastical ideas more often than the average. And it wouldn’t be a Quixote without at least one rare word, possibly two: here they are at 1dn and 20dn.
| Across | ||
| 1 | SICKLE | Tool not working maybe left by side of verge (6) |
| sick [= not working, maybe] l {verg}e | ||
| 4 | DECREPIT | Weak tripe dished out at end of month of feasting? (8) |
| Dec. (tripe)* — December, containing Christmas, is a possible month of feasting | ||
| 9 | ARYAN | A name for many an Irishman or Indo-European? (5) |
| a Ryan — many Irishmen are called Ryan | ||
| 10 | SYCOPHANT | Creep involved in phony acts (9) |
| (phony acts)* | ||
| 11 | LAND AHOY | In light vessel there’s a cry from sailor (4,4) |
| (land [= light] hoy) containing a | ||
| 12 | NAIVE | Simple upright piece in part of church (5) |
| na{I}ve — I, being an upright letter, is the upright piece | ||
| 14 | PUSH THE BOAT OUT | Celebrate extravagantly — after cracking a bottle of champagne? (4,3,4,3) |
| This refers to the practice of launching a ship by cracking open a bottle of champagne on its bows | ||
| 17 | REPRESENTATIVE | New enterprise — a vet gets agent (14) |
| (enterprise a vet)* | ||
| 19 | AORTA | A type cut at one side needing a blood carrier (5) |
| a {s}ort a | ||
| 21 | BESTIARY | Supreme personal account, but not the original old book (8) |
| best {d}iary | ||
| 23 | CLOTHIERS | They sell many a garment — rich stole, possibly (9) |
| (rich stole)* | ||
| 24 | BAIZE | Trees said to provide such material (5) |
| “bays” | ||
| 25 | ROTATING | Going around as sailor, carrying ancient literature (8) |
| r(OT)ating | ||
| 26 | VERNAL | Fresh meat tucked into by sailors (6) |
| ve(RN)al | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SHALLOPS | Craft everyone’s seen in stores? (8) |
| sh(all)ops — had to check this, but the wordplay and then the checkers made it pretty likely; a shallop is a type of boat | ||
| 2 | CRY ONES HEART OUT | You on a stretcher, injured, weep bitterly (3,4,5,3) |
| (You on a stretcher)* | ||
| 3 | LANCASTER | City has new actors in new production of Lear (9) |
| (n cast) in (Lear)* | ||
| 5 | EACH | End of binge — endless pain for a head (4) |
| {bing}e ach{e} | ||
| 6 | RIPON | River flooding home — river north of that English city (5) |
| i(Po)n with r above/in front of that — flooding an inclusion indicator | ||
| 7 | PLATITUDINARIAN | Quiet person who tolerates much in church — not one to say anything new (15) |
| p latitudinarian — I haven’t even looked up ‘latitudinarian’ since it’s obviously some ecclesiastical term that fits the definition here | ||
| 8 | TITTER | Laugh nervously time and time again in row (6) |
| ti{tt)er | ||
| 10 | SMOLENSK | Unusually solemn broadcaster cut short in Russian city (8) |
| (solemn)* Sk{y} | ||
| 13 | COUNTESS | Matters to entertain English society lady (8) |
| count(E s)s | ||
| 15 | TRACTABLE | Vehicle turning up with item of furniture easy to deal with (9) |
| (cart)rev. table | ||
| 16 | VERY WELL | Certainly not needing the doctor? If you say so (4,4) |
| If you’re very well you certainly don’t need the doctor | ||
| 18 | LANCER | Soldier in 3 sealing a street off (6) |
| 3 being LANCASTER, this is lanc{a st}er | ||
| 20 | ARHAT | Enlightened individual with a transformed heart, pride finally gone (5) |
| a (heart minus {prid}e)* — the term comes from Buddhism but can’t be all that well-known since it isn’t in Chambers or Collins | ||
| 22 | TERN | One of two birds you might spot in winter nest (4) |
| Hidden in winTER Nest — perhaps it’s just me and I shouldn’t be concerned about such things, but I always thought that an answer should be unequivocal and not rely on the checkers: here it could equally well be TERN or ERNE. I read this somewhere, but obviously not in the Chambers Crossword Manual. | ||
*anagram
I agree about TERN, tho’ either of the crossers – both write-ins – soon sorted out the tongue-in-cheekiness.
There were a few vaguely maritime clues but not enough to constitute a theme, I think. (Where would crosswords be without synonyms for sailors?).
Good puzzle otherwise. Thanks to John & Quixote.
I thought this was a lovely puzzle from Quixote; and although I take your point, John, about the ambiguity in 22d it is a great idea and- as four-letter embeds go- top drawer, I thought.
Thanks to both
A good start and then quite a slog through the SW corner after a false write in with DEAD SURE for 16d. I’d be more convinced to argue for that still as a cd if it had been ‘Certain’ not ‘Certainly’.
But sometimes getting misdirected from a deceptively paced lead in makes you very respectful of the setter – many thanks Quixote and John for the blog.
When I wrote the original clue to 22D I immediately spotted the ambiguity. Rather than write a new clue, I decided to have some naughty fun, knowing full well that the ambiguity would be quite easily resolved by crossing letters. Even Manual writers are allowed a little naughtiness! Thanks for the feedback.
Whoops SE not SW
Thanks Quixote and John, and to baerchen for the tipoff on the graun site.
Thoroughly enjoyed this, tried too hard to ovr-parse PLATITUDINARIAN, and struggled with ARHAT as, as has been pointed out, it’s not in e-BRB even though it undoubtedly exists (not a complaint, I hasten to add).
Ref 22, I confidently wrote in TERN with no crossers as the clue says “One of two birds”, so I went for the first. Sorry, Don, no misdirection for me 😉
Failed on 20dn. ARHAT was perhaps more likely but I decided the ‘individual’ was ‘one’ to be represented by the letter I and invented AIRHT which I thought might exist in some language or other.
Thought the one of two birds idea was brilliant; has to be my CoD.
Thanks, Quixote and John.