S & B York – puzzle by Margrave

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A new name on the setters’ front with a crossword that can be found here :  Margrave @ York 2016
Don’t read any further yet if one still wants to have a go at the puzzle.


Margrave uses a few references to York in clues and solutions.
In particular, there is special attention for a major issue in the city – see clue 4d (supported by 19d, 11d and 20d).

A completed grid, with the nicely positioned ‘nina’ in full colour, is added at the end of the blog.

Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.

Across
1 BEYOND ME I’ve no idea why diva swapped $100 for one Deutschmark (6,2)
BEYONCE (diva) with C ($100) changed into DM (Deutchmark)
For those not familiar with our ‘diva’, here’s some information about her:  Beyonce Knowles.
5 TREBOR Trustee here makes a mint (6)
TR (trustee, abbreviated) + EBOR (here, i.e. York)
‘Ebor’ is short for ‘Eboracum’, the Latin word for York.
Definition: 
trebor
9 CEREMONY Firm’s top banana welcomes rock band to state convention (8)
{CEO (firm’s top banana) around REM (rock band)} + NY (state, i.e. New York)
10 IMPORT Meaning the weak pound will make it dearer (6)
Double definition
12 MUSHY Sloppy upfront, Manchester United lacking confidence (5)
M[anchester] + U (united) + SHY (lacking confidence)
13 TREBUCHET Head of television tube: “Cher, Rolling Stones got fired from here” (9)
T[elevision] + (TUBE CHER)*    [* = rolling]
14 TIMBER Web designer uses almost half the wood (6)
TIM BERNERS-LEE (web designer, i.e. the ‘inventor’ of the World Wide Web), almost half of his name used
16 LATIMER After a while, Margrave’s introduced to the King’s chaplain (7)
If Margrave’s introduced only after a while, he might say: “I’m in later”:   IM inside LATER
Hugh Latimer (1485-1555), Protestant prelate who was one of Henry VIII’s chief advisers when he broke with the papacy.
18 ONEROUS Burdensome geographical location of York has England moving further west (7)
The geographical location of York is ‘on the River Ouse’ : ON R OUSE, then moving E (England) to the left
20 RIDERS It looks like they’re saddled with these extra clauses (6)
Double definition
22 BRAINSCAN Maghreb rains cannot bear deep analysis (5,4)
Hidden solution [bear]:  Maghre b rains cannot
23 PASTA It nourishes Dad’s Army (some of the time) (5)
PA’S (dad’s) + TA (army, i.e. Territorial Army who were volunteers (hence: ‘some of the time’))
24 RAISIN Forgetting PG Tips, giving the thumbs-up to the grape! (6)
PRAISING (giving the thumbs-up) minus the first and the last letter [tips] i.e. P,G
25 NEWSPEAK A glimpse of the headlines as broadcast in Blair’s warped language? (8)
Homophone [as broadcast] of:   NEWS PEEK (a glimpse of the headlines)
Not Tony but Eric Blair (1903-1950), better known as George Orwell.
26 YORKER It’s delivered here in the East Riding first thing (6)
YORK (here, i.e. the city where we are today) + E[ast] R[iding]
27 ESCORTED Guided European caught in Dorset fog (8)
E (European) inside (DORSET)*    [* = fog]
Down
1 BECOME To suit Umberto Eco, order tour cancellation (6)
(UMBERTO ECO)* minus T,O,U,R    [* = order]
2 YORKSHIRE CAVIAR God’s own country vicar, a daft 12 reportedly goes by another name! (9,6)
YORKSHIRE (God’s own country) + (VICAR + A)*    [* = daft]
The definition has its own constructional part: MUSHY (12, i.e. the clue at 12ac) + homophone [reportedly] of PEES (goes), leading to ‘mushy peas’ which is what the solution actually is.
3 NIMBY Recycle my bin out of town! (5)
(MY BIN)*    [* = recycle]
As one knows, NIMBY means “Not In My BackYard”.
Therefore, the wordplay should be seen as part of the definition – semi-&litish.
4 MINSTER Its Dean has dropped a clanger; several, actually (7)
Cryptic definition, actually a topical one
Connect MINSTER to the solutions of three Down clues (19d, 11d, 20d), in that order, and you will see what the Dean et al decided not so very long ago.
Here’s more about it:  Bellringers sacking  or here: York Minster Bell Ringers.
A week ago, on 23 Oct 2016, The Sunday Times had an excellent article on the current situation which, unfortunately, cannot be displayed here for copyright reasons.
6 REMOUNTED Once more put in the frame, like 20a after a fall? (9)
Double definition
7 BOOTHAM CRESCENT Beefy character eats donut and croissant in the ground (7,8)
{BOTHAM (‘Beefy’ is the nickname for Ian Botham) around O (donut, think of it’s shape)} + CRESCENT (croissant)
Apart from being a former England Test cricketer, Ian Botham was apparently also a talented footballer.
He played eleven games for Scunthorpe United, of which club he is now the vice president.
Bootham Crescent is the home of York City FC.
8 ROTATORY Going round, McIlroy takes on Murphy, losing skins (8)
RORY (McIlroy, Irish golfer) around {POTATO (‘Murphy’ can be one) minus the first and the last letter [skin] i.e. P,O}
11 BELL Call for diving apparatus (4)
Double definition
15 BROWN RICE Gordon and Condi get together for something to eat (5,4)
BROWN (Gordon, of Labour fame) + RICE (‘Condi’ aka Condoleezza Rice, of Democrat turned Republican fame)
17 LOMBARDY Where bankers started to get fat entertaining dodgy mob (8)
LARDY (fat) around (MOB)*    [* = dodgy]
For those who do not see the connection between ‘banking’ and ‘Lombardy’, look here:  Lombard banking.
19 SACK Fire Asian; coke used regularly (4)
Regular selection [used regularly] of:  Asian coke
20 RINGERS No odds on some dogs; they don’t run true to form (7)
SPRINGERS (a kind of dogs, spaniels) minus SP (odds, short for Starting Price)
21 NARKED Kelly replacing Noah, having his nose put out of joint (6)
Noah ran the Ark but now NED (Kelly, Australian outlaw) is ‘taking over’ the ARK:  NED around ARK
23 PESTO Italian river estuary deposited green gooey stuff (5)
EST (estuary) inside PO (Italian river)

grid-margrave

 

9 comments on “S & B York – puzzle by Margrave”

  1. Just been doing this one on the train. A little tricky in places but entertaining. Wasn’t familiar with the ringers story.

    Thanks to Margrave and All

  2. Just been doing this one on the train. A little tricky in places but entertaining. Wasn’t familiar with the ringers story.

    Thanks to Margrave and Sil.

  5. A nice one but again I wasn’t aware of the story. Hope to see more of Margrave’s puzzles in the future.

    Thanks, Margrave and Sil

  6. Super puzzle, which I had fun solving with others yesterday. [I had heard of the bellringers’ story, so appreciated the cleverness there.]

    Hi Allan @5 – I don’t think I’m giving away any secrets in telling you that Margrave sets puzzles for the Indy as Knut and the FT as Julius. [Great to meet you yesterday, Rob. 😉 ]

  7. Eileen – I think that cat is out of the bag – Rob has already mentioned the puzzle on the Guardian comments page.

    Incidentally my first commented @1 was edited by the phone without me noticing, and I reposted it because the phone showed an error message – I did type Sil but I’m not used to the phone’s autocorrect settings yet.

  9. Excellent puzzle, Margrave. Favourite clue was TREBUCHET, also liked BRAINSCAN, which took me ages to spot. New to me was 2d, but I wasn’t there long enough to sample the local gastronomy.
    S&B was wonderful, the regulars gave me such a warm welcome, and I’m deeply grateful to John and Jane H.
    Thanks also to Sil for the blog.

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