Lovely stuff from Tramp. The 50th birthday belongs to…
Eric Cantona, mentioned in 21ac, 5dn and used for the excellent anagram in 14dn/3dn. He played for Manchester United (8ac and 24ac), was nicknamed ‘King Eric’ (15ac), played with Paul Scholes (18ac), and there are other mentions of [being skilled at] football in 11ac, 25ac, the answer to 4dn, 17dn, 22dn and loosely in 22ac. After football, he had a career in CINEMA (12ac clue and solution).
6ac, 2dn/23dn, 6dn/1dn, 13dn, 20dn and maybe also 26ac/27ac and 7dn, relate to his ban from football for assaulting a Crystal Palace fan and the following quote: “When the seagulls follow the trawler, it’s because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea”. See [wiki]
| Across | ||
| 1 | WISCONSIN | Is in toilet dealing with son in a state (9) |
| IS, inside WC=”toilet”, plus (son in)* | ||
| 6 | MUGS | Jumps on fools (4) |
| double definition | ||
| 8 | STOUTEST | Most strong tackles ultimately at United match (8) |
| ultimate letter of [tackle]S, plus TO=”at”, plus U[nited], plus TEST=”match” in rugby or cricket | ||
| 9 | MENTAL | Intellectual pieces detailed story (6) |
| MEN=”pieces” in chess, plus TAL[e]=”story” without its tail or “de-tailed” | ||
| 10 | ORDAIN | Will ring road join road north? (6) |
| O=”ring”, plus RD=”road”, plus AI=A1=”road”, plus N[orth] | ||
| 11 | EARDROPS | They help pick up each run with dribbles (8) |
| “pick up” as in to be able to hear. EA[ch], plus R[un], plus DROPS=”dribbles” | ||
| 12 | CINEMA | Retiring from game, nice to make movies (6) |
| Hidden reversed, or “Retiring from”: [g]AME NIC[e] | ||
| 15 | SICK LIST | Roll for bad heel, so king starts (4,4) |
| LIST=”heel”=to lean to one side, with SIC=”so” plus K[ing] starting ahead of it | ||
| 16 | BLACK TEA | Drunk back late gets drink (5,3) |
| (back late)* | ||
| 19 | LOWEST | Extremely poor setters no longer possessed pens (6) |
| WE=”setters”, penned=confined inside LOST=”no longer possessed” | ||
| 21 | INSPIRIT | Cheer home Eric, essentially, during double (8) |
| IN=”home”, plus the essentials/centre of [E]RI[c] inside SPIT[ting image of]=”double” | ||
| 22 | SARTRE | Special skill concerning French thinker (6) |
| S[pecial], plus ART=”skill”, plus RE=”concerning” | ||
| 24 | RED HOT | Very busy Man United player approaching half-time without oxygen (3,3) |
| RED=”Man United player” – the team are known as the ‘Red Devils’, plus H[alf] T[ime] outside O[xygen] | ||
| 25 | EYEBALLS | Looks calm here and passes (8) |
| EYE=”calm here” – as in ‘calm in the eye of a storm’, plus BALLS=”passes” e.g. of a football | ||
| 26 | ASAP | Quickly ace goes to moron … (4) |
| A[ce] plus SAP=”moron” | ||
| 27 | CASTRATES | … knackers pitch and charges (9) |
| CAST=”pitch”=throw, plus RATES=”charges” | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | See 6 | |
| 2, 23 | SAUSAGE ROLLS | Or as seagulls fly for food? (7,5) |
| (Or as seagulls)* | ||
| 3 | See 14 | |
| 4 | SITTERS | Easy shots of models (7) |
| double definition | ||
| 5 | NUMERICAL | Figurative French article written up — they dig Cantona up top (9) |
| LA=”French article”, reversed/”written up”; with N[ational] U[nion of] M[ineworkers]=”they dig” plus ERIC above/”up top” | ||
| 6, 1 | MINERAL WATER | ie trawlerman’s fishy spring produce? (7,5) |
| (ie trawlerman)* | ||
| 7 | GRAMPUSES | Turning page, spread goes through sea creatures (9) |
| Reversal/”Turning” of P[age] plus MARG[arine], plus USES=”goes through” | ||
| 13 | ISLANDERS | Isolated ones left sardines at sea (9) |
| (L[eft] sardines)* | ||
| 14, 3 | ANTARCTIC OCEAN | Main Eric Cantona act after performance (9,5) |
| (Eric Cantona act)* | ||
| 17 | COP SHOP | Nick‘s short match on grass (3,4) |
| =a police station. COP[e]=”short match”, as ‘cope with’=”match”; plus SHOP=”grass”=betray or inform on | ||
| 18 | ACTRESS | Player with loads of space taking time — back to Scholes (7) |
| ACRES=”loads of space”, around T[ime], plus the back letter of [Schole]S | ||
| 20 | WARRANT | Justify clash and tirade (7) |
| WAR=”clash” plus RANT=”tirade” | ||
| 22 | SHEAR | Clip of footballer showing no hesitation (5) |
| Alan SHEAR[er]=”footballer”, with no ‘er’ or “hesitation” | ||
| 23 | See 2 | |
This was not particularly enjoyable for me as I have never watched a soccer match! The theme was not something that I could understand or appreciate – I had no idea that there were all those connections that manehi has mentioned.
I needed a lot of help from google as I have never heard of Eric Cantona, Scholes or any footballer named Shearer (there seem to be a few of them – Duncan, Dave and Alan) plus I know nothing about Man United. I am amazed that I even managed to finish this puzzle.
I needed help to fully parse 5d (NUM), 15a, 10a (AI), 19a, 25a.
Thank you setter and blogger.
Too much of a challenge for me today! Gave up after puzzling fruitlessly for ages over many of the clues, so was really pleased to see your early blog, manehi – much appreciated. Among the few I managed without help I liked 1& 22ac especially. Thank you Tramp.
[Football isn’t my thing, but I did know about Cantona as he was the teenage crush of my daughter and her friends when he played for Leeds (they had no interest in the game, I hasten to add!). Also, the streets used to ring to the sound of children chanting “Ooh Ah Cantona”!]
Great puzzle and great blog. For 17d I read short match as COP(Y).
I so wanted 7d to be goalposts which fits with the crossers.Thanks
Thanks for a great blog, manehi – you obviously enjoyed this!
I didn’t know much about Cantona, apart from the bizarre quotation, which I was delighted to see exploited so brilliantly – I really did laugh out loud when SAUSAGE ROLLS appeared!
GOALPOSTS would have fitted at 7dn [one of my last in] and I tried to justify it for a minute or two, thinking it was appropriate to the theme – but the GRAMPUSES are perhaps even more so.
A delightful romp, Tramp – huge thanks for the fun. 😉 [And Happy Birthday, Eric!]
Sorry, copmus – I spent too long typing and should have refreshed before submitting.
I too relied on this blog for many explanations, so thanks to manehi.
I couldn’t parse 17d but now I suspect short match is COP[Y].
I liked 6d&1d. Even more so now manehi has informed me of the epic quote.
I found “isolated ones” in 13d a bit obvious for ISLANDERS; on the other hand “roll of bad” seemed pretty loose for SICK LIST at 15a.
Sorry, another thought: do EARDROPS really help you hear? The only time I’ve used them hearing wasn’t a problem, it was merely infection and pain.
Still, thanks to Tramp.
Sorry but I’m with Muffin and JuneG on being totally ignorant about UK football, though thanks to Tramp and manehi I do know a little more now.
Nevertheless, the Eric Cantona ones did not really require football knowledge, and in the end that was really only needed for 24a RED HOT (which I missed) and 22d SHEAR which I guessed (BIFD). The lack of understanding though led to less appreciation of the theme.
No excuse though for several blanks on giving up: 21a INSPIRIT, 25a EYEBALLS, and 7d GRAMPUSES.
All the same, I enjoyed the anagrams 6d1d MINERAL WATER, 2d23d SAUSAGE ROLLS and 13d ISLANDERS.
Favourite was 27a CASTRATES.
A clever puzzle, Tramp, and thanks for the answers, manehi.
[Thanks for msg and info in yesterday’s blog re The Times/Australian crossword, Alan Browne. You are a scholar and a gentleman. Send me an email re your July visit. Maybe we could meet for a cuppa and a cryptic crossword chat? julieallen53@hotmail.com]
Can you believe the sacking of the Man United manager just made the Australian news?
I’m no fan of football, but I’ve heard enough to deduce who the puzzle was about, though didn’t know much of the relevant biography. I never could see why the ‘seagull’ quote was regarded as obscure, perhaps the obvious likening of the press pack to a flock of greedy birds struck too close to home!
Thanks for several explanations of clues – I wonder whether Tramp had GRAMPUSES at 7dn after failing to construct a thematic clue for GOALPOSTS ?
I wrote this puzzle in June 2015. There are quite a few of my puzzles ahead of it in the queue but I asked for it to be used today when I realised it was Eric Cantona’s 50th birthday. I got the idea for this when I saw a clip on TV of his seagulls speech. I originally started to write a barred-grid puzzle around this but gave up. In the end, this is what I came up with. I think Eric Cantona was a terrific footballer and an interesting character. For the record, I’m an Evertonian and I only support Man United when they play Liverpool; I support all teams when they play Liverpool.
For 7d, I would have noticed that I had a choice of GOALPOSTS or GRAMPUSES when I filled the grid. I don’t recall why I chose to stick with the sea theme over the football one: maybe I’d recently clued GOALPOSTS or something.
My original clue for LOWEST was something like:
Extremely poor setters puzzled for entertainment (6)
but Hugh and I couldn’t decide whether PUZZLED for LOST was ok, so we changed it. I’d be interested to see what others think.
Thanks for the comments.
Neil
Thanks to manehi for the super blog and kind words.
Hi Tramp
I wouldn’t have quibbled at puzzled = LOST – and I like the ‘entertainment’ device – but I like the clue as it is. [This *solver* often finds herself lost for a pen. 😉 ]
Jumpers not up to these in Big Game?(9)
Thank you, both, elegant crossword.
As Julie in Oz comments, esoteric footie knowledge wasn’t really necessary in the end.
I thought CINEMA was brilliantly clued, and ORDAIN & LOWEST deserve a mention.
Not sure I quite see how ‘to’ = ‘at’ in STOUTEST but I suppose it’s OK. Perhaps someone will offer an example.
Got in a muddle with NUMERICAL as I was convinced the French article ‘written up’ was ‘nu, and failed to parse GRAMPUSES.
Enjoyable way to waste time isn’t it?
Nice week, all.
Excellent puzzle – best trampster for ages.
I can’t understand quibbles about the need for football knowledge – there wasn’t any – and the event was just plain news – good news I thought – except when they suspended him for doing a public service.
7d was my LOI and, like Eileen and PM above, I wanted it to be GOALPOSTS – so wasted a good while furiously trying to cook up a wordplay justification for that. Go away and come back (the loo often works) – new eyes – and it’s too obvious for words.
Many thanks both.
Thank you Tramp and manehi.
I needed help with some of the parsing, especially with NUMERICAL where I started with UN for the “French article written up”, then was stuck with MAL after the insertion of ERIC, and wondered if the abbreviation for “more able learners” might be applicable since they would tend to be “up top”.
“I’m puzzled, what are you saying?” = “I’m lost, what are you saying?”, Roget’s Thesaurus gives” puzzled” and “lost” as synonyms.
William @15, glad to see I was not the only one who got in a muddle with NUMERICAL!
There’s far too much footie in the Indy. Oh, sorry, we are in the Grauniad.
I enjoyed it (apart from INSPIRIT, which I thought was a bit of a remote synonym) and particularly liked all the Cantona references. A bit of fun for me, but perhaps those who aren’t in love with the beautiful game might have been a bit less enthusiastic.
Only downside is that Cantona’s best ever and outrageous goal came against Sunderland, and it keeps being replayed endlessly on the telly. I will forgive Tramp for that, since he included SHEAR[ER] in the solutions today (the only one where you needed a bit of footie knowledge). Which allows me to thank him for his side’s pathetic capitulation against The Lads at the SoL, which enabled Sunderland to stay in the Premiership and relegated Shearer’s team to the delights of away matches at Burton Albion and Rotherham next season.
That’s enough footie. Thanks to S&B.
Thanks Tramp & manehi.
Good tribute; as others have said one didn’t need much football knowledge apart from RED (I thought that was Liverpool) and SHEAR(er.)
I would have thought that CASTRATES is de-knackers. 😉 I liked the SAUSAGE ROLLS and Eric Cantona’s main.
I agree with Mother’s son @6 as regards SICK LIST and took it to be a double definition, LIST “roll” for SICK “bad”.
At risk of sounding slow, what is the relevance of sausage rolls? The only quote I see referred to is about seagulls and sardines.
Grampuses and Inspirit are new words to me. And what exactly is a Sick List?
After some dismay on spotting the theme, I was relieved that very little football knowledge was required. I struggled with the SW corner, but got there in the end (though only with help from a word-finder for INSPIRIT). I couldn’t parse NUMERICAL as, like William @15, I thought that the NU- was the reversed French article, leaving -M(ERIC)AL and no way to tie that to “they dig”.
Favourites include EARDROPS, SAUSAGE ROLLS and ISLANDERS. Mother’s son @7, eardrops can help to clear wax and so improve hearing.
Thanks, Tramp and manehi.
This was pretty tough in places, and an entertaining challenge. Had to resort to a bit of guess and check to resolve the NE corner, with GRAMPUSES last in – I wonder whether Tramp was subconsciously thinking of the Japanese team Nagoya Grampus Eight. Liked CINEMA and ANTARCTIC OCEAN.
Thanks to Tramp and amnehi
blobloblaw @22, a SICK LIST has the names of those who are ill or injured, so are not fit to play games, partake in sports – I still think it is a double definition.
Football for me involves pads and helmets of course, and I pay more than passing attention to soccer only one month every four years (for the World Cup). But as others said, for this puzzle’s purposes, Eric Cantona could have been a tiddlywinks player and it’d still be solvable. Always, in my opinion, the best way to handle a theme.
As with others, I had difficulty parsing many of these, including GRAMPUSES, NUMERICAL, and (in my case) EYEBALLS. Part of the problem with the first two is that I’m not British. (Not having lived through the miners’ strikes, NUM isn’t imprinted in my cultural memory, and no one here calls margarine “marg.” As for the last, “balls” for “passes” works in American football too, but I just wasn’t thinking about it.)
Thanks to Tramp and manehi. Like mrpenney and others, I did not find a hurdle in my uneven knowledge of UK football (though I did know Shearer and MU = red), and I proceeded fairly quickly, though I did need some help parsing INSPIRIT, NUMERICAL, EYEBALLS, and GRAMPUSES. Very enjoyable.
All was proceeding smoothly until, like jennyk @23, the SW corner happened. INSPIRIT is, perhaps surprisingly, a new word to me. It needed a bit of a cheat to resolve, and hence COP SHOP (no excuses here) and ASAP (one of those which if shown as 1,1,1,1 would be too easy).
GRAMPUSES went in quite early. It just goes to show. If you’re still with us michelle @1, the Shearer referred to is almost certainly Alan, not only one of the best and most prolific forwards of his generation, but now a prominent football analyst so very much still in the public eye.
Trailman @28 – INSPIRIT has appeared once before (which is probably why I remembered it):
Gordius 25935: Cheer with fashionable tipple (8)
There was also a related one a year earlier:
Brendan 25749: Is intrepid, wildly encouraged (10)
Today’s first time solutions were GRAMPUSES, MINERAL WATER, MUGS, RED HOT, SAUSAGE ROLLS, SICK LIST and SITTERS.
Way too many dodgy surfaces. Cop(e) for match, shop for grass (one is transitive, the other intrnsitive), balls for passes, spit for double. And roll for bad was just disgraceful.
Needless to say I didn’t care for this-yet more football- but I did finish it reasonably quickly. I have heard of Cantona but all the references passed me by- and I’m pleased to say that I’ve forgotten them already. I suppose CINEMA was quite a good clue but I got it without realizing the reference to Cantona -wasn’t he rather naff as an actor? I can’t remember seeing him in anything but something to do with Elizabeth 1 and I can’t be bothered to look it up. Not enjoyable but could we have something sport free for a couple of days? Just a thought!
Thanks Tramp.
Whoops-should have read -not unenjoyable. Sorry
rompiballe @30. I think it should be COP(y) for “match”, as has been pointed out by several posters, they are synonyms, and SICK LIST is probably LIST “roll” for SICK “bad”, i.e. “list for sick” – “sick list”.
Thanks Tramp and manehi
I enjoyed this despite having no interest in football, but I really don’t think ASAP should have been given as (4) – it’s even pronounced as four words (ay ess ay pee)!
Thanks Tramp and manehi
rompiballe @ 30
He shopped him / He grassed him [up] work fine for me.
She’s the spit / she’s the double work fine too.
(S)he sent a high ball / a high pass seem fine too
As I just commented on the FT Hamilton, to each their own viewpoint.
I found this a chore and only finished it out of cussedness. Too many sloppy and inaccurate definitions such as “roll for bad” and “to” used as a synonym for “at”. Knacker for castrate is at best archaic (please put me right if I am wrong here).
Ok I will: Chambers does not indicate it as archaic. Chambers gives, explicitly, “At” under “To”. “Roll for bad” is a tongue-in-cheek definition of sick list. I thought it was justified as a one off and I think it’s a good clue.
Thanks all for the comments, and Tramp for stopping by (and again for the puzzle.)
On cop[?], I agree that cop[y] is more likely what was intended – Tramp? I do remember seeing cope=”match” somewhere, though possibly not in the Guardian (or even in a crossword.)
Thought this was an excellent puzzle with a very well-exploited theme.
Really liked the clue for LOWEST. Nothing wrong with the original either.
manehi: I was using copy = match. I was told by an esteemed colleague that cope = match in Shakespeare but that is way beyond my ken.
Incidentally, I have about six football-themed puzzles awaiting publication (if deemed good enough) but no (or virtuallly no) football knowledge is required to solve them. If people can’t bear that then don’t do
the puzzles. Admittedly, for this puzzle you needed to know, or be able to deduce, that Shearer was a footballer; that Man United play in red and that pass is a synonym for ball (as it is in football, RL, RU, hockey, ….). I think all of those are pretty well-known facts and no more arcane than knowing that Wisconsin is a state; Sartre is a French philosopher and a grampus is a sea creature. I could understand the general knowledge gripe had I clued the name of the reserve left-back from Wigan Arhletic or the name of the drummer from Then Jericho, but Alan Shearer?
Thanks
Neil
Loved it even though not a football follower. Struggled to parse grampuses but all seemed fair for a weekday. I rather liked 18 for instance.
Westdale @41, me too, and ACTRESS is a lovely word, I would hate to be known as an actor if I were a player, it is almost an insult to imply the term is inferior to “actor”; sorry, this is a carry on from the “sexism” comments on Nutmeg’s puzzle last week, happily, no-one has griped today.
I couldn’t remain silent after finishing this. A truly awful crossword with an astonishing blog and even more astonishing comments.
Lots of poor definitions with lots of appalling wordplay to match (or should that be cope?)
The apparent fact that the editor actually discussed this puzzle and it was then published in this form speaks volumes.
Apparently this has a “well exploited” theme. If that’s a well exploited theme I’ll show my a**e in Chipping Co-op window. There, I’ve matched the eloquence of the “theme”.
P.S. I didn’t like it 😉
P.S. we did like it.
Despite the fact that we couldn’t justify EYEBALLS.
“Apparently this has a “well-exploited” theme”.
Yes, it has!
BNTO, have fun showing your a**e in Chipping Co-op window.
Once more, we seem to be all different, am I right?
All I’ll say about Cantona is that he was never quite good enough to play for Southampton.
Or England for that matter.
Thanks Tramp and manehi
Have a passing interest in the round ball code – both here and with the EPL, but not enough to know about Mr Cantona and his exploits on the field or on the big screen. So the theme was well and truly lost on me – not that that got in the road of being able to solve the grid – just the wow factor wasn’t appreciated.
Count me as another stuck on the UN article rather than the LA one – also couldn’t get ‘figurative’ to equal NUMERICAL either although I could sort of see where it was going. Couldn’t find ‘knackers’ to mean CASTRATES – agree that it should be more de-knackers ! Had GRAMPUSES from definition (think that it turned up in a recent puzzle either here or in the FT) but had no idea what was going on from a parsing perspective.
Finished with COP SHOP and RED HOT as the last couple. I finished it and enjoyed it but can understand how some people didn’t!
Another one peeved at ASAP here.
I needed to check a couple to finish, which revealed first guess EARDRUMS was wrong for 11ac.
Is RED HOT for ‘very busy’ in Chambers by any chance? Can’t find it at OneLook. I don’t equate ‘successful’ with ‘busy’.
Thanks both all the same.
Gonzo: yes it is in Chambers. From memory, I think the example it cites is: “the phone line was red hot/very busy”.
Too many one letter clues as in 10 and 11.
Thanks manehi for a truly excellent blog. I’m full of admiration for you filling in the blanks in my understanding. And thanks too to Tramp for what, with the benefit of the blog, is a brilliant puzzle.
Like many, I couldn’t properly parse NUMERICAL, GRAMPUSES, the COP in 17dn or SICK LIST. But that is my failing.
OK, so the theme isn’t really mine – I support St Johnstone after all – but this didn’t need a huge knowledge of the subject. And even I have heard of Alan Shearer (or “God” as he was known to Geordies).
So well done I say.