The puzzlemay be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26924.
This proceeded as a good crossword should, with a slow start, a quickening middle, as the clues that seemed impenetrable at first become obvious, and a slow ending on the ones that are really difficult or which land squarely in my blind spot (although in this case I found a slightly sour note in 11A). There is a theme of things beyond Gretna Green in general (SCOTTISH, GATHERING of the CLANS and maybe ‘dirk’ in 18D) and in particular the battle of CULLODEN, JACOBITE, Charles Edward Stuart aka Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Young PRETENDER (and maybe 17A FINAL CURTAIN, and ONE-SIDED, referring to a backsword).
| Across | ||
| 1 | SICKLY | Feeble, like an old reaper, might you say? (6) |
| A whimsical formation (‘might you say?’ suggesting the whimsy rather than a homophone), like a SICKLE (‘old reaper’) | ||
| 4 | SCISSORS | Means of severing wrestler’s hold (8) |
| Double definition. | ||
| 9 | OXLIP | Wild flower round by border (5) |
| A charade of O (’round’) plus X (‘by’) plus LIP (‘border’). | ||
| 10 | PRETENDER | Bid to be taken on before play-actor (9) |
| Not quite a double definition, since PRE-TENDER does not seem to have made it to any dictionarly that I could locate, although Google gives some examples of its use. | ||
| 11 | TWO-SEATER | At least four edible fruit unfit for family (3-6) |
| A charade of TWOS (if you have more than one two, then you have ‘at least four’) plus EATER (‘edible fruit’). The allusive definition refers to a car, say. In my opinion, not the happiest of clues, as all the parts seem a little dodgy. | ||
| 12 | CLANS | Slang term for ladies bearing large families (5) |
| An envelope (‘bearing’) of L (‘large’) in CANS (‘ladies’ – or for that matter gents – loo). | ||
| 13 | STENOGRAPHIC | Shorthander’s notes unusually explicit (12) |
| A charade of STENO, an anagram (‘unusually’) of ‘notes’ plus GRAPHIC (‘explicit’). Note that the apostrophe s is part of the definition. | ||
| 17 | FINAL CURTAIN | Symbolic end as lunatic in RAF crashes (5,7) |
| An anagram (‘crashes’) of ‘lunatic in RAF’. | ||
| 20 | ALARM | Warning: city cutting supply (5) |
| An envelope (‘cutting’) of LA (‘city’ of Los Angeles, one of crosswordland’s favourites) in ARM (‘supply’). | ||
| 21 | IRISH MOSS | Healthy food from Hibernian counterpart of Stirling? (5,4) |
| A whimsical reference to the racing driver Stirling Moss. Irish moss is a seaweed, Chondrus crispus, which is a source of caragheen, often added to ice cream. The ‘healthy’ part might refer to its use as a vegan substitute for gelatin, or its reputed medicinal properties in some parts. | ||
| 23 | GATHERING | Rally concluding (9) |
| Double definition. | ||
| 24 | TRIAD | Criminal gang run from the East, crossing island (5) |
| An envelope (‘crossing’) of I (‘island’) in DART (‘run’), all refversed (‘from the East’), with a hint of an extended definition. | ||
| 25 | REASSESS | Break, when case leader goes for idiot judge again (8) |
| RECESS (‘break’) with the C (‘Case leader’) replaced by (‘goes for’) ASS (‘idiot’, on either side of the pond, but for differnt reasons). | ||
| 26 | SHIELD | Screen cast getting to grips with Latin (6) |
| An envelope (‘getting to grips with’?) of L (‘Latin’) in SHIED (‘cast’ in the sense of threw). | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SCOTTISH | Habitually tight, pinching clubs from St Andrews? (8) |
| No, not (quite) a reference to the proverbial Scotsman’s pecuniary habits, but an envelope (‘pinching’) of C (‘clubs’) in SOTTISH (‘habitually tight’ – drunk). The question mark is intended to justify the definition by example. | ||
| 2 | CULLODEN | Select the best poem before knight’s engagement (8) |
| A charade of CULL (‘select the best’; I would have defined culling as the selection of the worst for killing, but that means selection of the best for survival) plus ODE (‘poem’) plus N (chess notation, ‘knight’), for the battle in 1746 which effectively ended the Jacobite rebellion (and the attempted restoration of the House of Stuart under Bonnie Prince Charllie) in favour of the House of Hanover. | ||
| 3 | LAPSE | Sound of ripples in sink (5) |
| A homophone (‘sound of’) of LAPS (‘ripples’). | ||
| 5 | CHERRY-PICKING | Selecting the best red, before 23 (6-7) |
| A charade of CHERRY (‘red’) plus PICKING (GATHERING, the answer to ’23’ across). | ||
| 6 | SKETCHIER | Less elaborated sportsman’s clothing cut (9) |
| An envelope (‘clothing’) of ETCH (‘cut’) in SKIER (‘sportsman’). | ||
| 7 | ORDEAL | Traffic added to servicemen’s anguish (6) |
| A charade of OR (‘servicemen’) plus DEAL (‘traffic’ – in drugs, for example) | ||
| 8 | SOREST | Most aggrieved sailor put up with others (6) |
| A charade of SO, a reversal (‘put up’ in a down light) of OS (Ordinary Seaman, ‘sailor’) plus REST (‘others’). | ||
| 10 | PATERFAMILIAS | Safe, impartial, composed old man (13) |
| An anagram (‘composed’) of ‘safe impartial’. | ||
| 14 | OPIUM DENS | Haunts of the addicted, heartless men Oedipus ruined (5,4) |
| An anagram (‘ruined’) of ‘m[e]n’ minus its middle letter (‘heartless’) plus ‘Oedipus’. | ||
| 15 | JACOBITE | Patriarch dispatching last champ, 10 across’s man at 2 (8) |
| A charade of JACO[b] (‘patriarch’) minus its final letter (‘dispatching last’) plus BITE (‘champ’, restoring the dropped B). | ||
| 16 | ONE-SIDED | Partial United team finally completed (3-5) |
| A charade of ONE (‘united’) plus SIDE (‘team’) plus D (‘finally completeD‘). | ||
| 18 | DAGGER | Dirk‘s looking worn out after exchange of ends (6) |
| RAGGED (‘looking worn out’) with the R and D swapped (‘after exchange of ends’). | ||
| 19 | MANTRA | Staff rejected cunning slogan, oft repeated (6) |
| A charade of MAN (‘staff’, again as a verb) plus TRA, a reversal (‘rejected’) of ART (‘cunning’). | ||
| 22 | HUTCH | TV cop: “The buck stops here” (5) |
| Double definition, the ‘buck’ being a rabbit. | ||
Many thanks Nutmeg and PeterO. I hope the Scottish theme wasn’t meant to foretell the break-up of the UK.
I had 10ac as TENDER (‘bid’)appended to (‘to be taken on’)PRE (‘before’).
I must admit I quite liked the two-seater.
I quite liked two-seater too, although it was my last one in, and my reading of 10ac was the same as Roger’s. Thank you for the blog, PeterO.
All in all a good puzzle, with nice surfaces & plenty to keep me occupied; enjoyed the theme very much. Thank you Nutmeg.
Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO
Enjoyable as usual from Nutmeg, and not too difficult, though I missed the trick with the Bs in JACOBITE and couldn’t see where the “ite” came from. HUTCH raised a smile.
Thanks, PeterO – great blog.
I had ticks for 12 and 17ac and 10, 18 and 22dn but top favourite was the superb 1dn, which made me laugh out loud, since I immediately took the definition as being at the beginning until I read it properly. My late Scottish husband would have loved it – especially with the golf reference.
Many thanks to Nutmeg for a lovely puzzle – the best thing that has happened in a grim week.
Grim week indeed but hey-ho, life goes on…
Many thanks, PeterO, fine blog to an excellent puzzle.
Failed on IRISH MOSS. Never heard of it as a food and was seduced by the generally Scottish theme. Good clue therefore.
So many splendid misdirects here such as ONE-SIDED, TWO-SEATER SKETCHIER and (COD) SCOTTISH.
Lovely, solidly produced crossword, many thanks, Nutmeg.
Nice week, all.
Flawless.
Thanks both.
Do we need a name for clues which cause you to think, ‘Oh, dear I hope the answer to this isn’t politically incorrect’ either before or after you get the answer, but before you parse them? I rather enjoy them and would put 12a and 1d in this category. ‘Prig-teasers’, perhaps.
When the penny dropped, 11a seemed really clever.
A very good crossword. I checked to see if today was a Culloden anniversary, but that took place on April 16, 1746. However I did work out the theme, which eventually helped with the likes of JACOBITE – Jacob as ‘patriarch’ would have passed me by.
ONE-SIDED may well be a type of sword but it’s also arguably a descriptor of the battle itself: perhaps 2,000 dead on the Jacobite side, maybe under 100 on the government, and all over within an hour, despite roughly equal forces at the start (all gleaned from Wikipaedia, so I bow to the knowledge of any actual historians out there).
Thank you Nutmeg and PeterO.
A very enjoyable puzzle, but it took me an age to get started, last in was TWO-SEATER. I did not have a problem with CULL since “Select the best” was followed by “poem” in the clue, the first example given by my COED is knowledge culled from books and that from Merriam-Webster online is culled the best passages from the poet’s work.
Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO. Very enjoyable. I made good progress here but was slowed down by OXLIP (the x for “by” was new to me), TWO-SEATER (“at least four” puzzled me), IRISH MOSS (until I finally got the Stirling reference), and SKETCHIER, my last in (I took a long time before seeing the “etch” inside “skier”).
Great fun apart from 11 which is a contender for the Ted Rogers & Dusty Bin clue if the year. Had I got it I’m sure I’d be applauding its cleverness
Made heavy weather of this, but got there in the end and found it very satisfying, with SKETCHIER last in.
Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO
Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO. A little happier today as I almost got there, though I don’t know my Scots history and so missed 2d CULLODEN and 15d JACOBITE (had all the crossers for the latter but couldn’t spot it; also missed 9a OXLIP so did not see CULL for “choose the best”).
In fact I missed the Scottish theme altogether which is a bit embarrassing when I got 1d SCOTTISH and could even parse it! I thought the theme was families as they appeared a lot – and you know how you get a fixed idea and can’t let it go?
Anyway significantly better than I have done all week with only three unsolved today…there is hope for us all.
Enjoyable puzzle and always good to come here for the explanations and comments.
Julie @ 13
I live in Scotland and didn’t spot the theme!
Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO.
Surely the omission of an apostrophe on “ladies” in 12 is a bit of a cheat on the part of Nutmeg? I know, that might have made it too easy, but still…Overall, a lovely puzzle, though.
Rompiballe @15
Interesting point. However I don’t think I’ve seen a public loo labelled Ladies’. I certainly have never seen a Gentlemen’s (or even Gentlemens’)!
Yes, excellent puzzle from Nutmeg, not too difficult – favourites CULLODEN, SCOTTISH, SICKLY, PATERFAMILIAS.
Many thanks, Nutmeg and PeterO.
This is a good puzzle but one I found difficult. I really liked HUTCH when the penny finally dropped and I could kick myself for not seeing CLANS(LOI) despite having the crossers. SHIELD was good too.
Again I’ve been distracted by the political dramas of the day-not too mention my glee at seeing the career of the absurd Boris Johnson plummeting into oblivion!
Thanks Nutmeg.
An entertaining puzzle. I couldn’t fully parse OXLIP (missed “by” = X) or JACOBITE (looking for something to give -ITE). I liked the way SCOTTISH played with the (unfair) stereotype. SICKLY and HUTCH both raised smiles, for different reasons.
Thanks, Nutmeg and PeterO.
Er, not too–to!
I must live on a different planet than the inhabitants of this place.
This was another awful puzzle from Nutmeg but at least it comes in a wonderful week.
We have the faintest signs of the re-emergence of the “Left” as we also have the same thing with the “Right”. From the inevitable chaos we may even find some kind of balance restored. (I suppose this may be a little disturbing if it may affect your “lunches out” or God forbid your pension! 😉 )
The fact that someone actually believes that they are seeing the career of the absurd Boris Johnson plummeting into oblivion! amused me immensely.
Don’t any of you read History?
“Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose”
Your political insight/ analysis is exciting as it is immense and profound, BNTO. A real tour de France also, what with ‘plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose’ lobbed in. Into a cocked hat do you knock the opinions of those other charlatans who dared to enter the hot fray of debate here today at 15/2. Mere children are they to your grand old father Cleisthenes, I’ll wager, boule only to your finer assembly.
Crossword-ly however, you incorrectly term the puzzle ‘awful’ where only two clues (probably Hugh’s corrections 😀 ) parse less well than the others, many among which are excellent. 22D for example is absolutely ace, I have to say, and I wish I’d written it! Perhaps it can accidentally be added to my database.
Thanks Nutmeg, for an extremely entertaining work-out.
‘Boule’ – new to me in that sense. Perhaps we’ll see it in a crossword.
The fact that the Boule set the agenda for the Assembly does suggest they were superior though.
No more politics please.
Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO
Found this a tough but enjoyable tussle which I only got to start late Friday night and was able to finish in an hour long session this morning. The theme was so obvious that even I was able to spot it quite early on.
Lots of variety in the clue styles and a hard new term for me in PATERFAMILIAS to finish it all off. Took a while to see that it was a S-C-OTTISH trick going on in 1d – very clever use of the surface to misdirect.
Was another that thought TWO-SEATER as very nifty.
Thanks PeterO and Nutmeg.
I’m in the iffy rather than the nifty camp for 11ac. Liked the definition but not the construction.
Otherwise, 10dn was well-clued for a term with which I was not previously “familia”.
Fun – as a puzzle should be.