It’s well over a year since I blogged a Shed puzzle – but there have only been seven since then. Several of us often say we don’t see enough of him.
Anyway, a welcome return for one of my longest-standing favourite setters, with his customary tight cluing and entertaining story-telling surfaces – and a couple of old favourites thrown in.
Thanks to Shed for an enjoyable puzzle – come back soon!
Across
1 Value trial — I try out computer-generated oxymoron? (7,7)9
VIRTUAL REALITY
Anagram [out] of VALUE TRIAL I TRY
9 More resentful about journalist splitting screen (7)
REREDOS
A reversal [about] of SORER [more resentful] round [split by] ED [journalist]
10 Support for fight not starting on time (7)
TRESTLE
T [time] + [w]RESTLE [fight not starting]
11 One expressing grief half-heartedly, judge-like? (5)
SOBER
SOB[b]ER [one expressing grief minus one of its middle letters – half-heartedly] – reference to the saying ‘sober as a judge’
12 German island is transported by musical effects (9)
GLISSANDI
G [German] + an anagram [transported] of ISLAND IS
13 Run, absorbing dreadful rot into female body (9)
MATRONAGE
MANAGE [run] round an anagram [dreadful] of ROT – a word I hadn’t come across before but totally feasible and impeccably and straightforwardly clued
14 Gather for a service (5)
AMASS
A MASS [a service] – I wouldn’t like to have to guess how often I’ve seen this
15 Brass secured by Hercules’ return (5)
LUCRE
Hidden reversal [return] in hERCULes – brass being a slang word for money
17 Tack on, holding woman back from arrest (9)
APPREHEND
APPEND [tack on] round a reversal [back] of HER [woman]
20 Unique device for returning culture to nameless country (9)
TRADEMARK
A reversal [returning] of ART [culture] + DE[n]MARK [country minus n [name}]
22 Type of pop provided by band is corny (5)
DISCO
Hidden in banD IS COrny
23 Slowcoach, tedious and fat, overlapping (7)
DULLARD
DULL [tedious] + LARD [fat] with the Ls overlapping
24 Classy courtesan — Aretha? Joining Eurythmics, initially? Unlikely! (7)
HETAERA
Anagram of ARETHA [Franklin?] + E[urythmics]: a classy and Classical courtesan – a fascinating picture and perhaps my favourite clue
25 Checking out cultural phenomenon involving swindle (14)
RECONNAISSANCE
RENAISSANCE [cultural phenomenon] round CON [swindle]
Down
1 I largely restrict father, rolled up in crumpled duvet, to goal of 1 across (14)
VERISIMILITUDE
A reversal [rolled up] of I LIMI[t] [largely restrict] SIRE [father] in an anagram [crumpled] of DUVET
2 Snack by river, a river rising (7)
RAREBIT
A reversal [rising] of TIBER [river] + A R [a river]
3 Ruined libertine’s heart captivated by whisper (9)
UNDERTONE
[lib[ERT]ine] in UNDONE [ruined]
4 Turner including Indian spinach in Italian dish (7)
LASAGNA
LANA [Turner] round SAG [Indian spinach, also spelt ‘saag’] – I have the Italian dish cooking as I write
5 Bearing round double embrace (7)
ENTWINE
ENE [East North East – bearing] round TWIN [double]
6 City‘s daughter amid dregs (5)
LEEDS
D [daughter] in LEES [dregs]
7 Dream queen, or bird — articles about one (7)
TITANIA
TIT [bird] + AN A [articles] round I [one] – the fairy queen in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’
8 Change tack, accepting 500 vocals arranged by contrarian (6,8)
DEVIL’S ADVOCATE
DEVIATE [change tack] round D [500] + an anagram [arranged] of VOCALS
14 Be soppy during operatic episode that’s given rise to funny stories (9)
ANECDOTES
DOTE [be soppy] in a reversal [given rise] of SCENA [operatic episode]
16 C is for clot (7)
CHARLIE
Double definition: Charlie = C in the NATO phonetic alphabet
17 A combo performing in ditch (7)
ABANDON
A BAND [a combo] + ON [performing] – another old favourite
18 19 leaves okapi bounding around church (3,4)
PAK CHOI
Anagram [bounding] of OKAPI round CH [church] – I smiled to see OKAPI, one of Crosswordland’s favourite creatures, as part of the wordplay, rather than the answer – another nice picture
19 Spain’s behind Japan, say? (7)
EASTERN
E [Spain] + ASTERN [behind] – a sllghtly dodgy definition?
21 Initially, occupational therapists are bowled over by inspiring figure (5)
ERATO
A reversal [bowled over] of Occupational Therapists + ARE – Erato is the muse of lyric love poetry and she was in a puzzle I blogged just a couple of weeks ago: she does tend to appear more frequently than any of her eight sisters but then she has a more setter-friendly name
Thanks Eileen. Yes, it was enjoyable. However 1A and 1D jumping out at once made it rather too straightforward. The pace did slow in the bottom right with HETAERA requiring all the crossing letters.
This was perfect for me; I never got really stuck and, once found, all the answers made perfect sense, but I still managed to stretch it out to the middle of the week. Thanks Shed and Eileen
Thanks to Eileen for the explanation of 1d. I had the answer and I had ‘crumpled duvet’ but I could not see where the rest came from.
I also failed to parse 19d but again I had the right answer.
On 4d I was stuck with painter JMW Turner. It took an age for me to remember Lana Turner!
Thanks to Shed and Eileen. I found this one easier than usual for a prize. I struggled with MATRONAGE (my LOI), had trouble spelling HETAERA and PAK CHOI, and did not know SAG (or saag?) as Indian spinach. Very enjoyable.
Could the person who wrote this commentary please explain what “tight cluing” means?
English is not my native language but despite being able to solve the puzzle I am baffled by “tight” in this context, is it a phrase unique to this site? I can find no help elsewhere. Thank you.
Henry8: I doubt it’s a term of art. More likely it’s the opposite of looseness in clueing, where not every word or element is strictly necessary or where getting the answer requires some flight of fancy.
Re 4 down: As well as enjoying a lasagna, Italians and Italophiles will also indulge from time to time in a raviolo, a gnocco and, perhaps most often, a spaghetto.
Henry8 @5
English can be very challenging as many words have multiple meanings which often contain near opposites! “tight” is a good example.
Here is the best explanation regarding “tight cluing” in my opinion from the Oxford English Dictionary
tight
…
11
…
b. Of language: Terse, concise, condensed. Also in general, of literary, artistic, or intellectual work: kept within strict limits; pared to essentials; disciplined, taut, not loose or diffuse.
1870 A. C. Swinburne in Fortn. Rev. May 565 The highest form of ballad..must condense the large loose fluency of romantic tale-telling into tight and intense brevity.
1958 C. A. Larson Who: Sixty Years Amer. Eminence 75 Quaint little items and details were often inserted in these early biographical sketches which would scarcely survive the tight editing of a modern Marquis editor.
1962 [implied in: Listener 18 Oct. 633/2 A little tighter and tauter and the production would have looked for all the world like a pilot for a new series. (at pilot n. 11)].
1979 Sci. Amer. Aug. 24/1 The author..seeks the answer in this small book of tight argument.
…
A pleasant workout from Shed but as has been said rather easy with the long gettable clues along the top and down the left!
Thanks Eileen and Shed. An entertaining puzzle and not too difficult.
I was going to complain about 4dn LASAGNA, on the grounds that you are as likely to see it on an Italian menu as you are SPAGHETTO. My big Italian dictionary doesn’t even have the word,only its plural LASAGNE; but then I realised that LASAGNA is the English translation of LASAGNE. (Some people think that in Italy LASAGNA refers to the dish in which to cook lasagne, but I’m a bit dubious.)
Thanks Shed and Eileen
My daughter got married last Saturday, but this was easy enough for me to finish before it all kicked off!
Rufus gave us this clue last Monday
Hard taskmaster — he’s accepted money that must be turned over (8)
Isn’t this one of the things that the editor might have a view on?
Henry8 @5 – my apologies for perplexing you. I’m not really sure where that word came from or whether I’ve used it before. I think I’d more usually say ‘impeccable’ or ‘meticulous’ or ‘precise’ – which, as molonglo said while I was asleep, is, in this context, the opposite of ‘loose’, a word which a number of commenters here use from time to time. Thanks to molonglo for stepping in. 😉
My comment @11 obviously crossed with BNTO’s!
Regarding 4dn, I decided to make no comment at all, after last week’s lengthy discussion of Panini, latte et al.
I wrote in LASAGNE as that is the only form I have seen before… and I assumed that Lane Turner was a person I didn’t know… as I also don’t know Lana Turner. When I got to the end and only MATRONAGE would fit across I assumed that I had always spelled lasgne incorrectly.
Never heard of REREDOS.
Why is a TRADEMARK a unique device? “Apple” is a trademark; it’s just a word and it isn’t unique.
Otherwise I enjoyed the puzzle. Thanks.
cholecyst@9: I was being impishly pedantic about LASAGNA. All the names of Italian pasta dishes are plurals. A lasagna is one sheet-like noodle, a spaghetto is one noodle resembling a piece of thin string.(This window’s spelling checker keeps trying to convert the words into their plurals when I type the singular.) Spaghetti has become a singular noun in English – ‘This spaghetti is really good.’ – while retaining the plural ending. Regrettably, for some reason ‘lasagna’ has started to be used in Italy/by Italians as the name of the dish and m4y attempt to stop the rot will doubtless be in vain.
Apple is, as you say, just a word. But the image: the silhouette of an apple with a bite out of it is the Trademark and is indeed unique.
Ah. I completely forgot about the image. Thanks Amateur.
Makes me feel a bit of a Charlie 😉
Yes, this was fine despite some old chestnuts being trotted out- AMASS, REREDOS etc.I was struck by the contrast between this rather easy puzzle and some of the harder ones in the week. I usually assume that the prize will be more challenging as we’ve got more time to complete it. I wonder what the editor’s view is?
Anyway, thanks to Shed.
Thanks Shed and Eileen.
“Tight cluing” is pretty much what I thought.
Apologies if everyone already knows this, but Aretha Franklin did join Eurhythmics on the single “Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves” in 1985. Terrific clue.
Thank you Shed and Eileen.
A very enjoyable Prize crossword. ERATO certainly does tend to appear more frequently than her other sisters, but for a while I thought MELPOMENE might go in at 13a, I had LASAGNE , not LASAGNA, at 4d which encouraged this suppostion, but the muse would not parse…
Thanks to Shed and to Eileen with whose comments I agree. I too hadn’t come across MATRONAGE but it was perfectly fair once I had changed the E after LASAGN to A. I couldn’t parse LASAGNE but it wouldn’t be the first time I put in something I couldn’t parse. Lana Turner was born in 1921 and died in 1995 and was a household name during the 1940s and 50s. To solve the clue you need to be either old or a film buff which, come to think of it, seems to cover most of us. (I am only in the former category).
Thanks to Shed for an enjoyable puzzle and Eileen for a tight (as always) blog. Like others have said it was made easier by the long ones going in. Surely there can’t have been many occasions when 1d has appeared in a crossword?
The lack of familiarity with words like MATRONAGE shows how we have a male bias throughout our culture – PATRONAGE wouldn’t have got any comments (nor fitted the grid!). I hadn’t come across it before either. Is Shed allying with Arachne?
Very enjoyable and not too hard. I did most of it in the paper on Sunday while away from reference books and the internet, so although I seemed to recognise HETAERA and REREDOS, both of which I derived from the wordplay, I had to wait till I got home to check them. Not sure I’ve ever seen MATRONAGE before, but I felt no doubt about it.
I knew sag was “Indian” for spinach, but, annoyingly, couldn’t think of an Italian dish with -SAG- in the middle till I got the L. I’d heard of Lana Turner, so didn’t have to worry about the LASAGNA/LASAGNE problem. Isn’t the dish known in Italian as lasagne al forno (pasta sheets cooked in the oven)? How was yours, @Eileen, btw? It’s one of my favourites, too.
Excellent, thank you, Tony – but then I would say that, wouldn’t I?
Customary tight clueing sums it up pretty well. Did this on the train heading up to Scotland and it didn’t take that long but i found it very enjoyable.
Thanks to Shed and Eileen
WhiteKing@22
Whatever its derivation I think that patronage is gender neutral. It isn’t the masculine equivalent of matronage. I’d be hard pressed to say what is.
Epeolater @14 “Spaghetti” has become a mass noun, one that is neither singular nor plural, like “porridge” or “champagne” or “justice.” But since verbs must agree with their subjects in number, and since there are no non-numbered verbs, only singular and plural ones, mass nouns get singular verbs.
Pino @26 I’d say that “patronage” is gender neutral the way that “mankind” used to be — we rolled over and accepted the idea that words for authority and inheritance were about fathers, because culturally they once were.
Well, I am not hard pressed to say what MATRONAGE is, it seems to be used quite frequently, especially by museums, art galleries, and international organisations, for instance the International Human Rights Forum, and, remember, some societies are matriarchal.
@Cookie
That link (to the IHRF Matronage/Patronage list) isn’t really that helpful. To me, it’s not clear what that list of people is, from the heading. Is it the “body of women” making up the IHRF with “/Patronage” added because some males joined the body, or (more likely?) a list of patrons (those supporting the cause), with Matronage added to “avoid sexism” (cf “Herstory” etc), and Matronage added before Patronage because… well, just because. Or is it, perhaps, an attempt to translate the (original?) German, “Matronat/Patronat” — assuming one doesn’t have the same difficulty in that language. Google Translate gives the English for “Matronat” as “matronate”, a word which gets no hits at all on internet search.
One thing that is certain is that you will never hear anyone exclaim “Ooh, Patron!”.
Tony @29, some of the members/supporters of the International Human Rights Forum are male, Desmondo Tutu, Former Archbishop & Nobel Prize Laureate for example, and some are female, Louise Arbour, Former UN-High Commissioner for Human Rights…
The word MATRONAGE is used quite frequently in the USA, for instance this book Cultural Leadership in America: Matronage and Patronage resulting from a Gardner Museum symposium on American cultural leadership.
Here is a UK publication by Northumbria University, Andrea Knox, 2009, “The convent as cultural conduit: Irish matronage in early modern Spain”, Quidditas, 30. pp. 128-139.
Cookie@28
Sorry for not making myself clear. I meant that I would be hard pressed to say what the masculine equivalent of MATRONAGE is, given that patronage is not male specific.
Oh well, the main point is that Shed’s clue is fine, and MATRONAGE is not only relevant in terms of ‘patronage’, it can also be “the matrons of a region or country” according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, but that seems to be an American usage.
Cookie@32
Yes, Chambers has “body of matrons” and whatever else matrons may be, they are definitely female, so Paul’s definition is unassailable.
Of course everyone is long gone from here but I would like to note that I have just met an Italian acquaintaince, Giorgio, who handed me a menu from the restaurant L’Artista* in Letchworth, which is owned and entirely staffed by Italians. As well as listing spaghetti, tagliatelle, pappardelle etc etc, this has lasagna (sic) al forno. I asked Giorgio if this shouldn’t be lasagne, but he said it was correct as written and that lasagne would refer to a number of instances of the dish.
*www.lartistaletchworth.com