Thanks to Nutmeg for an accessible end-of-the-week puzzle. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1 Sailor on ship outside Dover, say, with extremely elegant clothing (6,6)
SPORTS JACKET : JACK(a sailor) placed after(on) [ SS(abbrev. for “steamship”) containing(outside) PORT(an example of which;say, is Dover) ] plus(with) the 1st and last letters of(extremely) “elegant“.
8 Giant in old hat moans audibly (7)
OUTSIZE : OUT(old hat;out of fashion) + homophone of(… audibly) “sighs”(moans).
9 Decline to admit major sight problem (4,3)
PINK EYE : PINE(to decline;to deteriorate in strength or health, say) containing(to admit) KEY(major;very important).
Defn: An eye problem, viz. conjunctivitis, inflammation of the conjunctiva.
11 A bishop brought in to suppress endless feud (7)
QUARREL : [ A + RR(abbrev. for “Right Reverend”, a title given to a bishop) ] contained in(brought in) “quell”(to suppress;to end, say, a rebellion, typically with use of force) minus its last letter(endless).
12 Support unruly horse (mounted) (5,2)
SHORE UP : Anagram of(unruly) HORSE + UP(mounted on a horse, say).
13 Definitely settle at home with family (3,2)
INK IN : IN(at home) plus(with) KIN(family;relatives).
14 Presiding officer, a Marxist, driven round in car (9)
MODERATOR : Reversal of(…, driven round) [A + RED(a Marxist;a communist) ] contained in(in) MOTOR(short for a motorcar).
16 Primarily top dogs eat it in great quantities (9)
THOUSANDS : The 1st letter of(Primarily) “top” + HOUNDS(dogs) containing(eat) SA(abbrev. for “sex appeal”;it).
19 Flourish, due to return of low pound (5)
BLOOM : Reversal of(return of) [MOO(to low, as cows do) + LB(abbrev. for “pound”, an avoirdupois unit of weight) ].
21 Reactionary assembly, grim for its time (7)
DIEHARD : “Diet”(the legislative assembly in certain countries, eg. Japan) with HARD(grim;stern;not willing to compromise or be appeased) replacing(for its) “t”(abbrev. for “time”).
23 Concrete marker with singular omission put straight again (7)
REALIGN : REAL(concrete;tangible) + “sign”(something that marks, say, a presence or occurrence) minus(with … omission) “s”(abbrev. for “singular”, or single).
24 Italian scoring from cross in International (7)
ROSSINI : Hidden in(from) “cross in International“.
Defn: …, musically.
25 Devious setter’s after free backing (7)
EVASIVE : I’VE(contraction of “I have”;”setter has” contracted to “setter’s”, using the self-referential pronoun) placed after(after) reversal of(… backing) SAVE(to free from a difficult or dangerous situation).
26 Yarn about humorous duck leaving zoo in a run-down area (8,4)
TWILIGHT ZONE : TWINE(yarn;string) containing(about) [ LIGHT(humorous;opposite of “serious”) + “O”(representing 0;nil;duck in cricket scoring) deleted from(leaving) “zoo” ].
Defn: … in a town or city.
Down
1 Misfortune that TV repairman may bring? (7)
SETBACK : Cryptic defn: Reference to the repairman who may bring your TV set back after repair.
2 Going to pen very small letter (7)
OMICRON : ON(going;operating;switched on, as with, say an electric appliance) containing(to pen) MICRO(very small).
Defn: … in the Greek alphabet.
3 Father and mother briefly land abroad (3,3,3)
THE OLD MAN : Anagram of(… abroad) [ “mother” minus its last letter(briefly) + LAND ].
Defn: An informal term for one’s father.
4 Jay heard parrots and larks (5)
JAPES : J(the letter that sound likes;is heard as “Jay”) + APES(parrots;copies).
5 US gents, perhaps, determined to get honesty (7)
CANDOUR : CAN(slang in the US for the toilet, also called “the gents”, and, not forgetting “the ladies”) + DOUR(determined;obstinate).
6 Peak always topped others (7)
EVEREST : EVER(always) + “rest”(the others;those remaining) minus its 1st letter(topped). Comment @6
Defn: … in the Himalayas mountain range.
7 Doctor Aquinas busily seeing off a foreign adventurer (12)
CONQUISTADOR : Anagram of(… busily) [ DOCTOR + “Aquinas” minus(seeing off) “a” ].
Defn: … from Spain conquering Mexico and Peru in 16C.
10 Researcher‘s former name required, transiting border (12)
EXPERIMENTER : EX-(prefix signifying “former”;once) + [ N(abbrev. for “name”) contained in(transiting;passing through) PERIMETER(the border;the boundary).
15 Confuse Democrat with Tories in Barking (9)
DISORIENT : Anagram of(… Barking;mad) [ D(abbrev. for “Democrat”, a member of the Democratic Party) plus(with) TORIES IN ].
17 Controlled series of balls leading to a wicket (7)
OVERSAW : OVERS(series of balls bowled in cricket) plus(leading to) A + W(abbrev. for “wicket” in cricket scores).
18 Length of life that is left for King Charles, maybe (7)
SPANIEL : SPAN(length of life, as in “lifespan”) + IE(abbrev. for “id est”;that is) + L(abbrev. for “left”).
Defn: Breed of dog, a variety of which;maybe, is the King Charles.
19 Courageous show‘s well done, publicity included (7)
BRAVADO : BRAVO!(well done!;good show!) containing(… included) AD(abbrev. for “advertisement”;publicity material).
20 Opening agency, fellow leaves for Rhode Island (7)
ORIFICE : “office”(an agency, such as the Office of Health Services) with “f”(abbrev. for “fellow”) replaced by(leaves for) RI(abbrev. for Rhode Island, the US state).
22 Studying sound of spring? (5)
DOING : Double defn: 1st: As in “she is doing Law at Oxford”; and 2nd: Sound a spring makes when let go after being stretched, similar to “boing”.
I solved but was unable to parse 3d, and after reading the blog I wonder if there is a typo and it should be an anagram of MOTHE(r )LAND
Thanks Nutmeg and scchua.
Thanks michelle. I missed out the second part of the anagram fodder. Typo corrected.
This was a great way to finish the week – not too easy, not too hard, good surfaces and excellent clueing.
I was only familiar with TWILIGHT ZONE as a mysterious situation, as shown on the TV series of the same name – but upon looking it up, I see Nutmeg’s definition is there also.
Last in was OMICRON because it was an unfamiliar word for me. Also, I took a long time to see that ON=going. Favourites today were ROSSINI and SPANIEL – both for their lovely and misleading surfaces.
My only question is on DOING where I’ve never before seen it in that second onomatopoeic sense and can’t find an online dictionary reference.
Thanks to Nutmeg and Andrew.
No technical issues today. Whew! Life as we know it returns to normal, though it may have Donald Trump in it!
A comfortable solve, which pleased me a lot as I did not have to use a single reference book or online source (a goal for which I have been striving). So no obscure words – and it all fell into place for me.
Thank you to Nutmeg and scchua.
Just one quibble (there’s always a critic!). The wordplay in 6d EVEREST would suggest that it is spelt EVERREST but there is no indicator for removing one of the “r” s that I can see.
Interesting that IT = SEX APPEAL = SA would be used again as a device in 16a THOUSANDS, as occurred in another very recent puzzle, at which time the device attracted some discussion about whether “SA” is an abbreviation in common use…
I really liked 18d SPANIEL.
Sorry matrixmania@3 – we crossed or I would have responded that you and I shared our appreciation of SPANIEL at 18d.
I was a bit with you on 22d as I though it must be BOING, but of course that didn’t work with DIEHARD at 21a. They were my LOIs and fortunately I was home alone, as I said the word DOING (the supposed homophone) aloud several times and thought – well, it rhymes with BOING, but I am still not entirely convinced.
@Julie in Australia, I think EVEREST is EVER + (r)EST where “topped others” indicates removing the r from rest. And I’m glad I wasn’t alone in saying to myself “boing, doing, boing, doing” today!
Thanks matrixmania, for pointing out the correct parsing for 6 down. I was just too hasty and missed that additional “r”. Blog amended.
I think that was the first time I’ve completed a Friday Guardian cryptic without any help either. Also helped by it = SA coming up recently.
I particularly liked Ginant = OUTSIZE being a full answer instead of just indicating OS. LOI was DIEHARD which was the only one I couldn’t parse.
When the Q and the Z appeared early in the NW, I was on the alert for a pangram, and sure enough it is one.
On IT = Sex Appeal = SA, this has certainly been around for thirty years or so in crossword land. Maybe fell out of vogue for a while and is having a resurgence…?
Great puzzle, thanks to setter and blogger.
Thanks Nutmeg and scchua
Nutmeg is one of my favourite setters, but I found this one rather uninspired – nothing wrong with it, mainly, but not very interesting. Favourites were THOUSANDS and BLOOM.
Surely the idea of a homophone clue is that the answer is pronounced in the same way as the other word indicated? DOING isn’t pronounced to rhyme with “boing”.
Thanks, scchua, for the blog and Nutmeg for another elegant puzzle.
I particularly liked DIEHARD, ROSSINI, CONQUISTADOR and DISORIENT. OMICRON was nice, too: O-MICRON is ‘short [or little] o’, as opposed to ‘o-mega – long /big o’.
muffin 10 – 22dn isn’t a homophone clue: as scchua says in the blog, it’s a double definition, the second being ‘sound of spring’.
Eileen @11
I still don’t think that works. I’ve never heard the sound of a spring described as “doing” even when it is rhymed with boing (it’s not given in my Chambers, whereas “boing” is given as “the sound of a bouncing impact”). The “d” sound is usually associated with something being hit; “donk” for instance.
Nutmeg is always a pleasure to solve, though this one was probably at the easier end of her spectrum. PINK EYE was last in
Thanks to Nutmeg and scchua
I’m another who doesn’t go for DOING much as the sound of a spring. Apart from that it was a very enjoyable puzzle and made a change from the brain-stretchers we had earlier in the week. Loved CONQUISTADOR, BLOOM and TWILIGHT ZONE. Many thanks to Nutmeg and scchua.
Mark @9: I didn’t realise there was another Mark commenting on this site. Greetings. And the odd thing is, I was scrolling down through the 13 comments so far, surprised that no-one had mentioned the pangram. And then I came across your comment and, for a brief moment, wondered if I’d already made a comment and forgotten I’d done it!
Well thanks to Nutmeg for an enjoyable puzzle and sccua for his parsing.
Completed but EXPERIMENTER went in unparsed – I was trying to get EX with PETER (a name) around RIM and failing miserably. Also rather inexplicably spent a while trying to shoehorn in MASERATI for 14a based on nothing but crossers that fitted and a possible definition of ‘Car’. And that despite it being one letter short, rather hoping to find a variant spelling I suppose. Must be time to reboot the old grey matter with stiff G&Ts tonight and a good lie in tomorrow.
Very good, except for the ridiculous 22d. Is there anywhere in the English speaking world where DOING rhymes with BOING?
Another pleasing puzzle from Nutmeg and I very much appreciated sccua’s elaborate blog which addressed my failure to completely parse EXPERIMENTER, OUTSIZE and DIEHARD, albeit that I had solved them correctly. I’m another one who doesn’t really get DOING as the sound of a spring but for me it’s a fairly minor quibble.
muffin @12 Unless that’s a reference to Donk in Crocodile Dundee (who puts a pint on his head and gets punched/kissed) I think you’ve made the same mistake as Nutmeg: ‘bonk’ is the sound of impact.
The “Doing/Boing” contretemps is deserving of scholarly examination. Boing, of course, has is provenance in the comic strip – along with OOF, KAPOW and, until hijacked, BONK. But who’s to say that cartoonists have the last word? If it seems like “DOING” to Nutmeg’s shell-like, so be it
Thank you Nutmeg and scchua.
The first Friday puzzle where I have not needed any help, except for the pangram which enabled me to get OUTSIZE. Lovely smooth surfaces, I especially liked the clues for SETBACK, OMICRON, ROSSINI, BLOOM, DIEHARD, DISORIENT and I could go on…
Just been experimenting with a large old spring from a chair, but it refuses to make a sound – the clue does have a question mark.
poc @17: I’m actually in agreement with all those who have already queried DOING but there is an instance I can think of where it does rhyme with ‘boing’ and that’s when it is preceded by the (generally hyphenated) ‘BA’. I’ve certainly heard people use the onomatopoeic expression ‘ba-doing’ but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in print. So, having 5 minutes to spare, I did a quick Google Books search and here’s an instance of its appearance – connected with the sound of a spring!
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=vnzybXtlycwC&pg=PT4&lpg=PT4&dq=%22ba-doing%22+sound&source=bl&ots=hyGT9_yyOg&sig=rHxpZRn62Er3lRgEIY6e_23HFyw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiskI3NmeLRAhULC8AKHb0ABpwQ6AEIJDAD#v=onepage&q=%22ba-doing%22%20sound&f=false
Just the one appearance though and, frankly, not really enough to justify it as a solution.
Thanks to Nutmeg and scchua, the latter in particular for parsing EXPERIMENTER properly; I had parsed it along the same lines as Doofs@16 and bunged it in without further thought. Tsk, tsk. And I needed the blog for RR=”Right Reverend”=Bishop – must remember that one.
Favourites were DISORIENT (much tooth-sucking, too much)and CONQUISTADOR for the near-anagram. DOING, as Cookie points out, does have a question mark, indicating perhaps a see-sawing of splayed fingers which saves the clue. Just about.
Mark @22, well done. I have just found some sound effects labelled Spring (Doing), scroll down to find them.
Doing doing was perfectly common in my west country childhood. More so than bling I’d say
Or even boing!
Have spent several hours going (doing? boing?) round the house pinging (dinging? binging?) springs to settle this question once and for all. Feel “toing” could also be a contender.
James @19
I was in fact thinking of Donk in Crocodile Dundee!
All this learned discussion of boinging and (ba-)doinging reminds me of another onomatopoetic word, found in the mysterious injunction that always appears above the first of the Responses, ‘Pinging is currently not allowed’. Even a quick google search does not explain with full clarity what it is and why we have to be warned against it. Has the word in this sense ever been used in a Guardian Cryptic, and would protests be justified? Forgive me if this important issue has been discussed in the past, but I am a relative newcomer.
@Muffin
😀
Happy memories of first successful attempt to get into 15 certificate film when 12 – twice as enjoyable for being illicit
quenbarrow @ 29: I know that pinging when used in a computer speed test is to check how fast a message goes to a server and back again, i.e. to check the speed of the connection. When used on a site like this, I think it’s something to do with this: when you make a post, a ping would send a message from the site to alert someone or something that you have done so. But a computer whizz can probably give you a proper explanation. Solving crosswords is much less complicated!
[James @30 – we often quote Nugget’s line from CD2 -“I don’t need a gun, I’ve got a donk!”]
Laughed out loud at 1d. We got 22d from 21a and spent some time wondering about the pronunciation. But you guys have said it all. Thanks to everyone.
Thanks to Nutmeg and scchua. I had the same problems with DOING and took a while before getting SETBACK (much fun when I spotted it) but otherwise got through fairly quickly and much enjoyed the process.
Surely nothing wrong with DOING; it’s certainly a nonsense word that I used when I was an unpleasant small boy. Anyway, I had no hesitation in putting it in.
I was expecting this to be more difficult than it proved to be, and on my second read through, the puzzle opened up.
Liked SPANIEL.
Thanks Nutmeg.
On the DOING front – think of the reverberating sound after a gong is struck.
As Eileen said @11: another elegant puzzle from Nutmeg. It’s always nice to see trouble taken over clues to give them that quality while giving us plenty to think about. The pangram was a bonus.
The cryptic grammar in 16a THOUSANDS requires ‘eats’ instead of ‘eat’, but the surface dictated otherwise. Some setters don’t take such liberties, but I appreciate that some do.
I had no problem with 22d DOING. I remember in my first week as a new boy at secondary school [a very long time ago] my class was set an essay to write entitled ‘noises of spring’, and as soon as that was given to us a quick-witted boy sitting near me in the classroom said “boing”. He brought the house down.
Many thanks to Nutmeg and scchua.
Hammer @36: presumably when struck with a hammer! You’re going to regret commenting on this thread as your name will forever be associated with ba-doing! 🙂
@scchua – my apologies for calling you Andrew in my post at 3!
This just in from Professor Frühling at the Berlin Institute of Metallurgy …
Springs do, of course, make a number of different noises depending on the circumstances in which they find themselves. Characteristically they boing when compressed and released, such as when we one is bouncing around on one’s pogo stick, but they doing when pulled to the side and released. This becomes clearer if the effort is made to pull them past the horizontal, when they make the exagerrated doi-yoi-yoing sound.
Experiments continue to persuade our springs to express themselves in written form so that the full range of their language can be confirmed.
Enjoyed your post, Van Winkle@40, and other amusing sounds of spring stories.
Van Winkle @40
I too enjoyed your post.
Now for something not on the subject of boings and doings (sorry). I meant to comment earlier on 7d CONQUISTADOR, which I particularly enjoyed because Nutmeg successfully sent me the wrong way with ‘Doctor’: I took this to indicate an anagram, so I was trying to solve QUINASBUSILY instead of DOCTORQUINAS. Not for too long, though.
Misdirection is of course a major weapon in the setter’s arsenal – and is what keeps me attached to this hobby.