This is only the second puzzle by Imogen I’ve ended up blogging, which is a shame, because his puzzles are brilliant – this is another cracker, I think.
The theme here was DEAD WHITE EUROPEAN MALEs (see 9, 6, 16), in particular:
- CAMUS
- BYRON
- JONSON
- DICKENS
- AUDEN
- CICERO
- BUCHAN
- SAKI
- (indirectly) Shakespeare
- CHEKHOV
- GOETHE
- CONRAD
- LANDOR
Across
7. In unpleasant way, skin horribly lousy (9)
HIDEOUSLY
HIDE = “skin” + (LOUSY)*
Definition: “In unpleasant way”
8. 9 6 16, eccentric American (5)
CAMUS
CAM = “eccentric” + US = “American”. The CAM part might take some explanation – one of the nounal senses of “eccentric” according to Chambers is “A device for taking an alternating rectilinear motion from an revolving shaft”. That might be easier to understand from the animation on the Wikipedia page showing the motion of one type of an eccentric. A “cam” on the other hand, is defined by Chambers as “an irregular projection on a revolving shaft or rotating cylinder, shaped so as to transmit regular movement to another part, e.g. to open the cylinder valves of a car engine”. Similarly, Wikipedia has a nice animation showing such motion. It seems pretty clear to me from the definition in Chambers that a cam could be considered a type of eccentric, so I think that’s all fair and correct, although mechanics is far from my speciality!
Definition: “9 6 16” / DEAD WHITE EUROPEAN MALE – referring to Albert Camus
9, 6, 16. We dominate, are pale-hued; ripe for revision, me? (4,5,8,4)
DEAD WHITE EUROPEAN MALE
A brilliant anagram: (WE DOMINATE ARE PALE HUED)*
Definition: “me?” – all the people in answers based on this theme are literally dead, but Imogen (Richard Browne) isn’t, so I suppose that in this clue this might be “dead” in the colloquial sense of “very”. (The question mark indicates definition-by-example.) This expression is usually used to highlight that the most influential historical figures in Western culture aren’t a very diverse group!
10. 9 6 16 attributed to Reagan? (5)
BYRON
BY RON = “attributed to [Ronald] Reagan?”
Definition: “9 6 16” / DEAD WHITE EUROPEAN MALE – referring to Lord Byron
12. 9 6 16 Jack, leading scorer in two legs (6)
JONSON
J = “Jack” followed by S[corer] = “leading scorer” in ON + ON = “two legs” (the leg side is the on side in cricket)
Definition: “9 6 16” / DEAD WHITE EUROPEAN MALE – referring to Ben Jonson
13. Seabird never rejected skin of shark (8)
SHAGREEN
SHAG = “Seabird” + NE’ER reversed = “never rejected”
Definition: “skin of shark” – a new word for me; the second definition in Chambers is, “The skin of shark, ray, etc, covered with small nodules (formerly chagrin)”
14. Our team in African capital find cold reception (7)
WELCOME
WE = “Our team” followed by LOMÉ = “African capital” around C = “cold”
Definition: “reception”
17. 9 6 16 with Richard, regulars at tennis (7)
DICKENS
DICK = “Richard” + [t]E[n]N[i]S
Definition: “9 6 16” / DEAD WHITE EUROPEAN MALE – referring to Charles Dickens
20. Pipe turned in spiral shape almost by old woman (8)
NARGILEH
HELI[x] = “spiral shape almost” + GRAN = “old woman”, all reversed
Definition: Pipe
22. Glower, about to lend out (6)
CANDLE
CA + “about” (“circa”) + (LEND)*
Definition: “Glower” as in “something that glows”. I’ve been solving crosswords for many years now, and it still takes me ages to see this device! (except for its most common use, “flower” to mean river)
24. 9 6 16, usually first in a haunt of vice (5)
AUDEN
U[sually] = “usually first” in A DEN = “a haunt of vice”
Definition: “9 6 16” / DEAD WHITE EUROPEAN MALE – referring to W. H. Auden
25. Scrooge, say, broke, about to chuck last bit away (9)
SKINFLINT
SKINT = “broke” around FLIN[g] = “to chuck last bit away”
Definition: “Scrooge, say”
26. Dog refusing lead at end of day, troubled by fleas? (5)
ITCHY
[b]ITCH = “Dog refusing lead” + [da]Y = “end of day”
Definition: “troubled by fleas?”
27. John’s eating no end of sausage in place in New Mexico (3,6)
LOS ALAMOS
LOO’S = “John’s” around SALAM[i] = “no end of sausage”
Definition: “place in New Mexico”
Down
1. 9 6 16 church has half of Room 101 at the front (6)
CICERO
CE = “church” + RO[om] = “half of Room”, with CI = “101” “at the front”
Definition: “9 6 16” / DEAD WHITE EUROPEAN MALE – referring to Cicero
2. Going from either end over diocese, travelling the shortest route (8)
GEODESIC
G[oing] = [goin]G = “Going from either end” + (DIOCESE)*
Definition: “travelling the shortest route”. Chambers says that a “geodesic line” is “the shortest line on a surface between two points on it”
3. 9 6 16 dunking roll in tea? The opposite (6)
BUCHAN
“dunking roll in tea?” might be BUN = “roll” in CHA = “tea”, so “The opposite” would be CHA in BUN.
Definition: “9 6 16” / DEAD WHITE EUROPEAN MALE – referring to John Buchan
4. Discrimination, the charge against 9 6 16s? (7)
ELITISM
Double definition: “Discrimination” or “the charge against [DEAD WHITE EUROPEAN MALES]”
5. Barman’s wife is in bed (6)
LAWYER
W = “wife” in LAYER = “bed”
Definition: “Barman” – a cryptic way of describing someone who works at the bar, i.e. in the legal profession
11. 9 6 16 is up to receive top honours (4)
SAKI
IS reversed = “is up” around A[ce] and K[ing] = “top honours” (the honours in Bridge are the Ace, King, Queen and Jack)
Definition: “9 6 16” / DEAD WHITE EUROPEAN MALE – referring to Saki, a.k.a. Hector Hugh Munro
15. Rising, point to foreign character: “Beware void!” (8)
EVACUATE
E = “point” (of the compass) + TAU = “foreign character” + CAVE = “Beware”, all reversed
Definition: “void”, as in “to void / to evacuate”
18. 9 6 16’s work: regal ruin, as family’s taken over (4,4)
KING LEAR
KIN = “family” before (REGAL)*
Definition: “[DEAD WHITE EUROPEAN MALE]’s work” – referring to Shakespeare’s King Lear
19. Tick on list, we hear, 9 6 16 (7)
CHEKHOV
CHEKHOV sounds like “check off” or “tick on list”
Definition: “9 6 16” / DEAD WHITE EUROPEAN MALE – referring to Anton Chekhov
21. 9 6 16 massaged ego, then stopped short (6)
GOETHE
(EGO)* + THE[n] = “then stopped short”
Definition: “[DEAD WHITE EUROPEAN MALE]’s work” – referring to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
22. 9 6 16 hoax involving American gunmen (6)
CONRAD
COD = “hoax” (as an adjective) around NRA (the National Rifle Association) = “American gunmen”
Definition: “9 6 16” / DEAD WHITE EUROPEAN MALE – referring to Joseph Conrad
23. 9 6 16 part of Germany, more central (6)
LANDOR
LAND = “part of Germany” – the states of Germany are Länder (singular “Land”); [m]OR[e] = “more central”
Definition: “9 6 16” / DEAD WHITE EUROPEAN MALE – referring to Walter Savage Landor
Thanks mhl. I enjoyed this, it was a difficult challenge but, unlike a previous offering, an entirely fair one. I had completed about three quarters of the grid before 9, 6, 16 revealed itself. POETS or AUTHORS wouldn’t fit the letter count and I had to wait until the crossing letters built up. 20a was new to me and I had flirted with ‘screw’ for some time. I never did explain 19d to my own satisfaction, don’t know why, it is so obvious now.
I thought ‘top honours’ in 11 down might be AK for Australian Knights which have been reintroduced, and got rid of again, over the past half century, at the whim of successive Prime Ministers. They’ve been shelved again, after the controversy created by former PM Tony Abbott’s “captain’s pick” of Prince Phillip. I did think that clue was rather unfair, with an obscure abbreviation (even the bridge reference given above) and an obscur-ish DWEP.
The rest of the crossword was great. Loved it. The theme fell in early and the wordplay was fair.
Thankyou mhl and Imogen.
I meant DWEM. serves me right for taking a shortcut with the abbreviation for the theme.
Like Biggles @1 I had a load of writers entered before getting 9, 6, 16, which I was less than happy about; it seemed to me a random collection of words rather than a recognised phrase (white anglo-saxon protestants for example). I lost a bit of interest and failed to finish, or maybe I just found it too difficult. But I’m still not clear how someone who is alive is an example of someone who is dead.
Very enjoyable and not too difficult for me as i got the theme early and had heard of nearly all the DWEMs: I had Dickens from the wordplay and the theme phrase (which was familiar to me) just hit me, probably helped by the surface hint. Not too sure how the definition works though. Is it “me” as personification of the answer with “ripe for revision” an appeal for more diversity, perhaps? Is Imogen not a female, then?
12a, JONSON: I criticised the use of “legs” for two occurences of ON by Paul in Guardian Prize 27202 (@11), two weeks ago: “on” as an adjective means the same as “leg” (in cricket), but both are adjectival so “two legs” = “two ONs” seems highly dubious to me. However, as the illustrious editor has now let it pass twice in fifteen days, I suppose that we must accept that in the Guardian, that’s cricket!
22a, GLOWER: Me, too, Mhl. Wicked isn’t it?
2d, GEODESIC: … also describes the path light follows through curved space in the General Theory of Relatity (I knew that Physics degree wasn’t wasted!)
11d, SAKI: I got this from the wordplay, but thought he sounded more Japanese than European before confirming his identity with search.
Theory of *Relativity*
Brownphel @4 DWEMs are definitely a “thing”
I didn’t enjoy this much. I thought the clues for the DEAD WHITE EUROPEAN MALES were often obscure and difficult to deduce eg CAMUS at 8a, 12a JONSON and 22d CONRAD. The crossers in those clues weren’t much help. There are countless dead white European males, and countless European poets and authors (which was not signalled as the sub-set of the theme as far as I could see). I didn’t ever get the “Me?” part in the main clue. I limped along with the solve but used lots of online help and lost interest part way through. Glad others liked it but it was just not my cup of tea.
Ah, thanks for the Bridge reference in SAKI, my LOI and I was thinking ‘A exam grade plus Knighthood’.
In 2d I think the def. is ‘the shortest route’ and the anagrind ‘travelling’.
I had to wordsearch NARGILEH, but given the general difficulty I’m relaxed about it.
The ‘me’ in 9,6,16? Just the hypothetical DWEM speaking?
Thanks mhl and Imogen.
@4. I didn’t finish either but I try not to google answers just for the sake of completing it. I like to challenge myself to do it with my current knowledge and see how far it gets me…in this case a bit short.
A couple of comments on the clue explanations: I thought the ‘me?’ in the main clue referred to the fact that a White Dead European Male could be viewed as dominant and pale-hued as included in the anagram. Very neat, I thought.
And re 2dn, the definition is ‘the shortest route’ with ‘travelling’ the indicator to anagram ‘diocese’.
Thanks Imogen and mhl for the lengthy explanations 🙂
Thanks Tony @6. I haven’t lived in Europe for 15 years and am clearly out of touch. Are we expected to intuitively know that Imogen is not a black lesbian immigrant from Syria? And no one has explained yet how she (or he) is an example of a dead person
I’m with brownphel and Julie in A. While one doesn’t want theme clues to lead to a small, closed set of answers – “signs of the zodiac”, for example – one expects something a bit more structured than a phrase narrowing down the field to hundreds of millions of possibilities! And the fact that “me” in the theme clue is simply wrong is a serious flaw. We gave up and did something more positive with the rest of the weekend.
I’m with the nay-sayers. I thought this was self-indulgent and tedious, not just because I failed to finish in the SE, though I didn’t try for long, throwing it away in disgust!
LANDOR (who he, ed.?) – I toyed with BONN OR and KOLN OR, but couldn’t be bothered to search for possible authors starting with a 4 letter German place name.
Can anyone supply the link to get today’s crossword please?
[Shirley @13
It’s an alphabetical jigsaw, so an interactive one isn’t possible, I think. There should be a .pdf, though.]
[It’s under the “Cryptic” heading]
This was quite an interesting challenge and I only got the “theme answer” when most of the clues relating to it were solved. I’d never heard this phrase before but the OED has:
dead white male n. usu. depreciative (orig. and chiefly U.S.) (also more fully dead white European male) a dead Caucasian male writer, philosopher, etc., whose pre-eminence, esp. in academic study, is challenged as disproportionate to his cultural significance, and attributed to a historical bias towards his gender and ethnic group; = DWEM n.
My only quibble is that this could hardly be applied to CAMUS, BYRON, JONSON, DICKENS, CICERO, Shakespeare, CHEKHOV and GOETHE.
However as I only got the theme near the end this didn’t spoil anything as I was going with a “great literary figures theme”. Perhaps that’s what Imogen thinks DWEM means (or perhaps he was being ironic! 🙂 )
This weeks prize is here
Non-interactive so no online version. Pretty annoying as the our boat hasn’t room for a printer! 🙁
Many thanks BNTO and Muffin. I never thought to look under Cryptic!
Like others, I only got the DWEM key towards the end – I was initially thinking of writers or poets. From memory, it was the relatively easy wordplay for DICKENS that led me to realising there was something else linking together all these writers and poets.
I did have to do a bit of googling to solve the puzzle and am thankful to mhl for the explanation of SAKI. The best I could come up with was KA = Knight of St Andrew. However I was dubious as I understand KSA is the more usual acronym.
Anytime I manage to complete a Prize – even with a spot of electronic assistance – I’m happy. Thanks to Imogen and thanks to mhl.
Thank you Imogen and mhl.
I was determines to finish this last Saturday, and managed to do so – really enjoyed the solve. I did not get the DEAD WHITE EUROPEAN MALE until late on, so thought the theme was going to be great literary figures, as did BNTO @16 (had to check the meaning online).
I do not play bridge and, like Gonzo @8, I thought of the A exam grade and Knighthood for SAKI. I would have had trouble with SHAGREEN, but we had a clue for it in a Picaroon puzzle in April this year.
I found this an interesting challenge, but was left feeling a bit dissatisfied. I got a lot of the DWEMs from wordplay only, without having a clue about DWEM itself. Then, having finally cracked it with about 4/5 left, I found I still had to get the rest from wordplay only (there being so many DWEMs, if you include all the obscure ones, which Imogen obviously did), and that didn’t seem to be quite as enjoyable as having normal clues to play with.
I liked the DWEM clue, though, and needed the hints in the surface to get it.
Thanks Imogen, mhl
Thanks Imogen and mhl for an enjoyable puzzle well explained. I got a few of the writers from the wordplay and remembered DWEM as a ‘thing’ to nail the (clever !) anagram. I think many of themed writers don’t really fall into the DWEM category other than by literal categorisation, e.g. Buchan, Saki, Landor all minor players. DWEM is really meant as a critique of a canon, so Goethe, Cicero, Dickens all fair game. Also somewhat biased towards anglophone no Russians ( Dostoevsky would be interesting clue.) or Greeks (Plato easier to clue ! )
Technologically speaking this was a first for me, I solved the puzzle entirely on my phone as I lost the paper version early on. Worked surprisingly well.
Re 9 across: ‘dead white’ is a bit lame as a collocation. I thought ‘We dominate, are pale-hued’ was also the definition, but no, that would require ‘males’ to be the last bit of the solution. But as Imogen is alive and male, what IS the definition?
@23 I should just have written ‘But as Imogen is alive, what IS the definition?’
Could the ‘me’, refer individually to the ‘authors’ themselves, CAMUS, BYRON etc., each relevant clue begins 9 6 16 ?
I enjoyed this and twigged the anagram reasonably quickly but I was initially confused having started the solve with DICKENS and KING LEAR but suddenly DWEM leaped out at me and the rest of the puzzle was well clued and gettable, even LANDOR, of whom I’ve never heard,and NARGILEH which was new to me.
Oh, and I don’t understand the “me?” bit of the DWEM clue!
Thanks Imogen.
Cookie @25 – Yes, I think you’re right.
I wasn’t so worried as others by the ‘me’ in the DWEM clue. As it’s sort of an &lit., and ‘We’ has been used in the fodder to indicate the whole group, a first person pronoun is needed as an example of the group.
Beaten by CHEKHOV and NARGILEH (despite being sure HELI was involved somewhere).
Can’t win ’em all.
Thanks, Imogen and Mhl.
Thanks to Imogen and mhl. I too was defeated by MARGILEH and needed help parsing CAMUS, SAKI, and WELCOME (I did not dredge up Lome), but I enjoyed playing with the DWEMs.
Thanks Imogen and mhl. And thanks Cookie@25 – that accounts for the question mark as well – a multiple definition by example.
Thanks Imogen and mhl
I guessed what the second and fourth letters of 9/6/16 might be from the enumeration, so solved that before I got any of the theme answers, but there was a fair amount of brain-wracking to get them.
Tony @ 5: (silly) mid-on (and mid-off) are both nouns, so it seems perfectly fair to me.
Reading through the comments, the solvership(?) seems to be largely divided between those familiar or not with the key phrase. It is in fact in Collins, which I believe constitutes the primary source for Guardian crosswords, as well as the OED (BNTO @~16: “depreciative”? Or “deprecative”?). Also, one might think it a phrase Guardian readers would have seen used, given the paper’s editorial line.
Given that Imogen is definitely not dead, whatever his/her gender, colour and nationality (none of which we could be relied upon to know anyway), I think the “me” must be a personification of the answer, in the tradition of “My first is in FEMALE, but not in MALE” etc. it seems there was something of an overlap between definition and wordplay, but as I got it quite quickly I’m inclined to think it was reasonably fair.
Eoin Sharkey: No Russians? Wasn’t Chekhov Russian? (Nice clue that, btw, giving me a nice pdm when I got it).
I’m with the naysayers, too.
The ones I solved were all poets, so I was looking for something around Dead Poets Society. When I finally got DWEM, I was less than overwhelmed; getting the theme usually gives me some satisfaction, but not last Saturday.
I was as pleased as punch at the start because I quickly got HIDEOUSLY,LOS ALAMOS and GEODESIC, which I, also, new from General Relativity. Buckminster Fuller was celebrated for his geodesic domes, among other things.
However, like others,I gave up.
Thanks mhl for the blog, much needed in places.
Tony @33
Although I didn’t attempt this crossword (as it didn’t appeal to me at all) I have found this blog page very interesting – particularly with regard to the main clue: 9A/6/16 DEAD WHITE etc.
I thought the &littish anagram was brilliant as it’s the sort of thing I’ve tried to do myself a few times recently, and it’s not easy.
What struck me most forcefully, though, is the strange ‘me?’ at the end of the clue, supposedly indicating the answer. It seems from reading this page that no solver found that indication of any help whatsoever in solving the clue. On the contrary, it has merely been the subject of a separate quest to make sense of it. I think you or Cookie (@25) must be right, or perhaps both of you are.
[Btw, Tony, I have replied to your comment on the General Discussion page.]
Yes, it was a great anagram which so nearly led to an &lit it must have been irresistible. Maybe the “me” at the end was to counter the misleading “we” in the anag, as the answer was singular. It may even be that it was added by the editor. It would be wonderful if Imogen were to come by to tell us his/her thinking in devising this clue.
Btw, the doubt arising as to Imogen’s gender made me laugh when I remembered a couple of the clues in your Nottingham S&B specials. Is there a “Meet the Setter” on the Guardian crossword blog which would dispel the notion expressed above somewhere that Imogen could be a living black lesbian from Syria, I wonder?
Having written all the above, I notice Mhl has identified Imogen as Richard Browne, which at least suggests a male.
[I wasn’t sure your General Discussion comment needed a reply, but I’ve given one now anyway.]
Tony @36
On first seeing how the clue worked I thought it didn’t need the ‘me?’ at the end, and I still think that. All it did was to create a discussion point!
Imogen is definitely male and definitely has the same name as my son (we are Browne not Brown). I’ve read articles in the Meet the Setter series with Alan Connor, and I’m pretty sure Imogen has not (yet) been the subject.
My other comment didn’t need a reply, but thanks anyway. (I’ve now read it.)
Brown(e) bread = dead maybe??
Alan @ 37
“it didn’t need the ‘me?'”
… which perhaps adds weight to my hypothesis that it was an editorial intervention — in which case, given the flak it has generated, Imogen may have “cross words” for Mr Stephenson! On the other hand, one can imagine there might have been a lot of complaints about a singular answer to an apparently plural clue.
Sw @38
I don’t know – that seems a bit far-fetched!
Tony @39
I think we can only speculate. I certainly don’t know what goes on by way of editorial discussions or interventions except on those occasions when a setter comes online (to this site, for example) to explain what has happened.
I completed this but didn’t particularly enjoy it. I got the ‘theme’ early on but it wasn’t something I was familiar with. It might just as well have been ‘Famous People’ (which is what I worked on for the rest of the solve). Not very satisfying. Thanks for the blog.
Really enjoyed this one. A very slow start, with only a couple of gentle ones, but after staring at the fodder the theme evemtually jumped out and although the rest was tricky in places it never seemed impossible. LANDOR was the only one I thought a bit obscure, though NARGILEH was only familiar from previous crosswords.
Thanks to Imogen and mhl
Imogen’s identity has been common knowledge for a while, as you will see if you click the link on the setters page. His first Guardian puzzle was published in 2003, just before he was appointed as the Times crossword editor, and we had to wait more than 10 years for the next one…