I didn’t enjoy this one very much, but I think it’s well-known that I have never been on Daedalus’ wavelength. Many will have appreciated it, no doubt, so looking forward to some comments to see what others thought.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Book here!
TOME
A cd cum dd: a TOME is a ‘book’ and if you were playing football, for example, and you wanted the ball, you might shout TO ME!
3 Get shock when gold mark’s given for third part of essay
TRAUMATISE
Bit convoluted for my liking, but it’s perfectly fair: the setter is asking you to substitute AU for ‘gold’ plus M for ‘mark’ for the third letter of TREATISE for ‘essay’. So it’s an insertion of AUM in TR[E]ATISE. And for once the definition is not the first or last word(s) of the clue.
10 She knows the ropes hold rocks, moreover
OLD HAND
(HOLD)* plus AND.
11 The fat crackles oddly in a bun
TEACAKE
The odd letters of ThE fAt CrAcKlEs.
12 Warm praise for dog beset by hunger, carrying note for king
STANDING OVATION
This is DINGO for ‘dog’ in STARVATION for ‘hunger’ with the R for ‘Rex’ in STARVATION replaced by N for ‘note’.
13 Frantic call about a very upset mother
RAVING MAD
An insertion of A and V in RING, followed by a reversal of DAM for ‘mother’. Can you have ‘upset’ as a reversal indicator in an across clue? Possibly, or maybe ‘upset’ is an anagrind. Does RAVING MAD mean ‘frantic’? No. Not in our house, anyway.
15 Best big label, according to report
EXCEL
A homophone of XL for extra large, or ‘big label’. The homophone indicator is ‘according to report’. EXCEL for ‘best’? I know that BEST is used in the sense of ‘get the better of’, but I’m not sure that it’s a synonym of EXCEL.
17 Shout about following a passage
ALLEY
A charade of A and a reversal of YELL.
18 Clung tight with feet to show respect
GENUFLECT
The anagrind is ‘tight’ in the sense of drunk, so it’s (CLUNG FEET)* for the mainly Catholic tradition of going down on one knee to show respect to a higher being.
20 A prurient layman’s naughty but a minister shouldn’t be
UNPARLIAMENTARY
(A PRURIENT LAYMAN)*
23 Apprentice‘s mouth never closes in content-free episode
TRAINEE
A charade of TRA[P], IN and EE for the outside letters of ‘episode’.
24 Wealthiest losing millions – one refuses to face facts
OSTRICH
I did like this one. It’s [M]OST RICH.
25 Comic actor forgets washerwoman’s tips, such as ‘I hold laundry!’
CLOTHES PEG
If I may, I’ll use the word ‘convoluted’ again: this is a charade of CLO[WN] THESP for ‘comic actor’ losing the ‘tips’ or outside letters of ‘washerwoman’ followed by EG for ‘such as’.
26 I’ve got the same picture
SNAP
A dd, the first part referring to the children’s card game.
Down
1 Pinch awake in Turkey
TROUSER
An insertion of ROUSE in TR for the abbreviation for ‘Turkey’.
2 E.g. newspapers with immoral article instead of one that’s primitive
MEDIAEVAL
A charade of MEDIA for ‘eg newspapers’ and EVIL with the I for ‘one’ replaced by A for ‘article’. I wasn’t keen on this, since I don’t equate MEDIAEVAL with ‘primitive’. Mediaeval art and music weren’t ‘primitive’. But I see that thesauruses give it, so fair play.
4 Foul and/or noxious gas
RADON
(AND OR)*
5 In EastEnders, search for staff’s private room where no one has been
UNTRODDEN
A charade of UNT for how EastEnders or Cockneys would pronounce HUNT, ROD and DEN.
6 Rapidly bombard enemy sailor at navy’s second uprising
AT A RATE OF KNOTS
A reversal (‘uprising’) of STONK for ‘bombard’, FOE for ‘enemy’, TAR for ‘sailor’, AT and A for the second letter of ‘navy’.
7 Mesopotamian fragments of interred remains are quite interesting
IRAQI
The setter is asking you to understand ‘fragments’ as the first letters of Interred Remains Are Quite Interesting. Are ‘Mesopotamian’ and IRAQI the same thing? Discuss.
8 Duck with no head protects bird with no end
ETERNAL
An insertion of TERN for ‘bird’ in [T]EAL for ‘duck’ with its first letter removed.
9 Sorry – how rude of me, mistaking dancer for nymph
PARDON MY FRENCH
(DANCER FOR NYMPH)*
14 Silly me, soaking up European sun and humidity
MUGGINESS
An insertion of E and S for ‘European Sun’ in MUGGINS.
16 Burning money in production
CREMATION
An insertion of M in CREATION.
17 Like a duck it rises, cutting a duck’s cry short
AQUATIC
An insertion of IT reversed in A QUAC[K]
19 Flirt with posh, flighty models? You might find some here
TOYSHOP
A charade of TOY for ‘flirt’ with (POSH)* The anagrind is ‘flighty’.
21 Philosopher shown up by total pillock
PLATO
Hidden reversed in tOTAL Pillock
22 E.g. Alaskan animal‘s low bearing
MOOSE
A charade of MOO for ‘low’ and SE for ‘bearing’.
Many thanks to Daedalus for this morning’s puzzle.
Wowzers – this one was a challenge for me which I rose to valiantly, but was ultimately beaten by (did about half before retiring bloodied and brusied to stick my face in the beer bucket last night) …
… but what an interesting puzzle! The solve was very stop start, which I’m generally less keen on, but it kept me coming back for more way past the point where I’d usually throw in the towel with puzzles I find tough. I defo agree with the esteemed Pierre that it was a different wavelength, but it’s certainly a wavelength I’m hoping to get on in the future.
Some lovely stuff in here like 1a, 26a, 8d, 14d & 21d so thanks to Daedalus; and many thanks to Pierre for the blog wot I needed quite a lot.
Thanks Pierre. Some sympathy with your thoughts. Together with the solving partner answers came quite readily but parsing felt like a slog.
Personally I would not equate Iraqi with Mesopotamian.
I quite enjoyed this. A mixture of fairly easy clues and some that needed more serious thought, but it all came out in the end. I guessed STANDING OVATION for 12ac from the definition but didn’t enter it till I got a few checking letters – and as I entered it the parsing became obvious. Couldn’t parse 6dn, though. Liked the slight misdirection in 20ac, the ‘layman’ suggesting ‘minister’ meant the religious rather than the government kind.
My CoD was AQUATIC, though I did also like OSTRICH (wot no bird reference, Pierre?)
Thanks to Daedalus and Pierre.
I would’ve preferred this as a Saturday puzzle. It needed more time than I could give it today, shame, lots of good stuff.
I agree that some of the parsing was tricky, but it didn’t hold me up much. I enjoyed it, as I needed a challenge after Rufus and Pan in the Guardian.
My thanks to Daedalus.
Collins says Iraq is coextensive with ancient Mesopotamia so I’d say that is OK.
Enjoyed this a lot. Admittedly there were answers where I just filled in from the crossers and then worked backwards, but all clues were sound. Whatever the wavelength, I’m a fan!
Not too difficult for me. Filled in clues steadily and didn’t need help. There were a few I couldn’t parse, though.
Enjoyed this. Some very good clues.
I have met Daedalus on a couple of occasions (true, all related to crosswords).
He came across as joyful, open, original, quick & lively.
Now, I am not a psychiatrist but his crosswords do reflect much of that.
That said, I’m not sure whether I am always on his wavelength.
Nor were you, Pierre.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t finish this one.
1ac is indeed a marvellous clue and typical to his way of thinking.
3ac and 25ac, however, are examples of overdoing things – hard to get them.
Not sure whether ‘fragments of’ is a good indicator for taking first letters and I also do not want to think too deeply about ‘mouth never closes’ for TRA.
But hey, OSTRICH is a gem (even if it has presumably been done many times before).
Many thanks Pierre and my fellow citizen.
Enjoyed this. Thought there were some really good clues.