Enjoyable fare from Monk today…some nice surface readings and clever clueing…
…and a Nina to boot, although I only spotted it once the grid was completed and I was preparing to blog it.
Favourite clue was probably 8A – and it was one of the last in…needing a few crossing letters to find PIRANHA, and determine the meaning of ‘bank transfers’! I also enjoyed ENIAC as Michael CAINE backwards, and 18D, with Kate Bush’s ‘Babooshka’ subliminally referenced by the solution BABUSHKA.
Across the top, middle and bottom rows we have ‘STATION TO STATION’ – an album by DAVID BOWIE, who is down the outer columns – presumably the puzzle was composed as Monk’s tribute after DB’s recent demise. I have to admit to not being particularly familiar with this album, so there may be other thematic material in the clues/solutions?…
Thanks, to Monk, for an enjoyable solve, a pleasure to blog.
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Solution | Clue | Definition (with occasional embellishments) / Logic/parsing |
|
| 8A | PIRANHA | Hazard associated with bank transfers overseas (7) | Whole clue! &lit-ish Cryptic Definition? / If one was ‘transferring’ oneself between the ‘banks’ of a river in some ‘overseas’ (from a UK perspective!) countries, then PIRANHAs might be a hazard. |
|
| 9A | SCARAB | Beetle, note, with small crustacean exterior (6) | Beetle / S (small) + C_RAB (crustacean) around (exterior to) A (musical note) |
|
| 10A | DILATE | Senior copper and others rejected spread (6) | spread (out) / DI (Detective Inspector, senior copper) + LATE (et al, Latin – and others, rejected) |
|
| 11A | CALLISTO | Satellite dish unveiled before going on demand (8) | Satellite (moon, of Jupiter) / CALL (demand) + IS (dISh, unveiiled) + TO (before) |
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| 12A | AGAR | Pioneering cosmonaut cutting out drink in scientific culture? (4) | scientific culture / (G)AGAR(IN) (Pioneering cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, cutting out G+IN – drink) |
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| 13A | SMELT | Fish special accompanied by cheese dish (5) | Fish / S (special) + MELT (cheese dish) |
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| 15A | GREW | Expanded, with a little work to go round (4) | Expanded / W (with) + ERG (unit of work), all going round = GREW |
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| 16A | TURN A BLIND EYE TO | Ignore trade union by getting let off (4,1,5,3,2) | Ignore / anag, i.e. getting off, of TRADE UNION BY + LET |
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| 20A | VAIN | Futile humour broadcast (4) | futile / homophone, i.e. broadcast – VAIN (futile) sounds like VEIN (humour, mood) |
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| 22A | BECKS | Flowers given by soccer star (5) | flowers (i.e. things that flow) / BECKS are streams, and BECKS is a nickname for David Beckham, an ex-footballer, m’lud. |
|
| 24A | MORI | Those who question public memorial to some extent (4) | those who question public (market research firm, MORI) / hidden word, i.e. to some extent, in ‘meMORIal’ |
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| 26A | IAMBUSES | Feet – public transport after midnight? (8) | feet (poetic) / I AM (after midnight, 1 a.m) + BUSES (public transport) |
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| 28A | UNMADE | Pseudo-sane lie ultimately subject to fabrication (6) | subject to fabrication / UN-MAD (pseudo-sane) + E (last, or ultimate, letter of liE) |
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| 29A | DEBUNK | Show up live, making comeback to stop dip (6) | Show up / D_UNK (dip) around (stopped by) EB (be, or live, making a comeback) |
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| 30A | LET IT BE | Tie belt awkwardly, getting number (3,2,2) | (musical) number / anag, i.e. awkwardly, of TIE BELT |
|
| Down | ||||
| Clue No | Solution | Clue | Definition (with occasional embellishments) / Logic/parsing |
|
| 1D | SPRING | Economical, eschewing a rise (6) | rise / SP(A)RING (economical, eschewing A) |
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| 2D | TRIAL RUN | The ultimate in counterfeit Eastern currency – conduct test (5,3) | test / T (ultimate letter in counterfeiT) + RIAL (Eastern currency) + RUN (conduct) |
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| 3D | ANGERS | Provokes backers when changing sides (6) | provokes / ANGE(L)S (theatrical financial backers, changing sides – R – right – for L – left) |
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| 4D | TALC | Queen about to consume line in powder? (4) | powder / TA_C (CAT, or queen, about) around (consuming) L (line) |
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| 5D | ISOLATED | Lonely one reprimanded about nothing (8) | lonely / I (one) + S_LATED (reprimanded) about O (nothing) |
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| 6D | OARING | Gliding, not initially using propellers? (6) | using propellers / (S)OARING (gliding, without initial letter) |
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| 7D | NASTIEST | The most disgusting Italian wine in den (8) | the most disgusting / N_EST (den) around ASTI (Italian wine) |
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| 14D | ENIAC | Michael picked up an old computer (5) | old computer (early American computer, ‘electronic numerical integrator and calculator’ / ENIAC = CAINE (Michael Caine, actor) ‘picked up’ |
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| 17D | UNAWARES | Girl’s pottery beginning to sell unexpectedly (8) | unexpectedly / UNA (girl) + WARE (pottery) + S (beginning to Sell) |
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| 18D | BABUSHKA | British alias assumed by Kate’s foreign granny (8) | foreign (Russian) granny / B (British) + A_KA (alias, also known as) around BUSH (Kate Bush, British musician, who also wrote a song called ‘Babooshka’, and is probably also a granny herself nowadays!) |
|
| 19D | YAMAMOTO | Notorious admiral’s mother stopping flirt over nothing (8) | Notorious (Japanese WWII) admiral / YAMAMOT (TO_Y, toy, or flirt, around MAMA, mother, all ‘over’, or rising) + O (nothing) |
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| 21D | NOBBUT | Only northern head retaining old books (6) | only (nothing but) northern / N_UT (head) around (retaining) O (old) + BB (books) |
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| 23D | SHUFTI | Look to boxing fan, originally second in ring (6) | look / SHU_T (to) around (boxing) F (Fan, originally), plus I (second letter of rIng) |
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| 25D | RED KEN | Old mayor from east Denmark stopping Mr Benn regularly (3,3) | old (London) mayor (‘Red’ Ken Livingstone) / R_EN (regular letters of mR bEnN) around (stopped by) E (East) + DK (Denmark) |
|
| 27D | SALT | Navy chap talks about weapons reduction (4) | double defn. / a SALT is a sailor, or Navy chap; and S.A.L.T. is the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, or talks about weapons reduction) |
|
“Enjoyable fare from Monk today” – agreed! I did spot the nina just before finishing – it enabled me to get SHUFTI. Otherwise, no help needed apart from checking in the dictionary that SMELT was a fish (it was pretty obvious from the clue).
But what is the plural of IAMBUS? Iambuses as in English or Iambi as in Latin? Chambers indicates it can be either. Going off on a tangent, I was put in mind of A D Godley’s poem “The Motor Bus”
Thanks, Monk and mc_rapper67.
Thanks for the blog. We couldn’t get “oaring” even when we had everything else. Don’t really like that clue, but then who likes the ones they can’t see. Is piranhas really that simple, we assumed there must be some second meaning we hadn’t seen?
Many thanks to mc_rapper67 for the blog.
This WAS a toughie-for me at least. Dont know how I made it- but you helped explain why.
I always look for ninas in Monk’s puzzles and they often help.
Phew!
Thanks Monk and mcr
I think the wordplay in 26ac needs to be read all together: public transport after midnight could be buses that start at 0100, hence 1 AM BUSES. Otherwise “after” would be doing double duty.
Some brilliant stuff, a struggle to finish, but rewarding to make it. Particularly admired DEBUNK, PIRANHA, IAMBUSES (though had the same query as @1allan_c), BABUSHKA, YAMAMOTO.
Saw STATION emerging at top and bottom, but somehow didn’t see the David and Bowie reference.
17D perhaps the parsing is Unaware (one-word whimsical description of girl’s pottery) + s.
Thanks to Monk and mc_rapper67.
Second solver-(very) friendly puzzle form Monk this week! Pleased to spot the nina early else might have struggled in the south-west. Thanks Monk & Mc-rapper.
Gwep@5 – I’ve never really associated Monk with whimsy.
@6jmac – I have no personal knowledge of Mr Monk. Was saying that Unaware (+ s) is a better parsing of “girl’s pottery”. Perhaps Monk could comment.
Sure thing gwep@7; no problem. My database solution note says Una + ware(=pottery) + s[ell] ; D = unexpectedly, so mc_rapper67 (to whom many thanks for beautifully formatted parsing and deconstruction in blog) got it bang on. And thanks to all other “crucies” too.
Thanks for the various comments and feedback – and to Monk for popping by to explain on UNAWARES, and for your kind words.
Pelham Barton at #4 – I take your point on 26A – the way I parsed it seems to have ‘after’ doing double duty…and I had the same thoughts as allan_c and gwep on the plural being ‘iambi’, but it does seem either is valid.
(Apologies for not responding any earlier to comments – I have been away on a drinking and golfing trip, so just back to catch up…and now I need to go and lie down!)
Sorry mc@9, just couldn’t resist it 😉
“Entering Hyde By-pass, where you’d go, roughly speaking, to find blogger (2_8)”
Thanks, Monk…my own clue, with special enumeration as well! I am honoured and touched…
All part of the public service, sah! (Are you going to York S&B at the end of Oct? Always great to meet bloggers.)