An unusual spot for Monk, who’s more known for setting Saturday Prize puzzles. And for me, this one was only slightly less difficult than one of the former. Are the days when the IoS was more relaxed than the weekday Indies gone? No complaints, though, as one gets a good feeling for completing it. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
I can’t find a theme to account for the puzzle appearing on this particular day, though there are some suggestive answers: 15 across, 21 down, 22 down, 1 down, 24 across and 25 down. On the other hand, there could be absolutely nothing to it.
Across
6 Possibly fool sporting body for nothing (5,2)
SWEET FA : SWEET(a dessert, of which a fool, made of pureed fruit and cream or custard, is an example;possibly) + FA(abbrev. for “Football Association”, a sporting body;organisation).
Answer: …, with FA standing for “Fanny Adams”, or “F**k all”, take your pick.
7 Local hyenas intermittently entering ground emptied in clearance (2-5)
GO-AHEAD : The 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th, and 10th letters of(… intermittently) “Local hyenas ” contained in(entering) “ground” minus all its internal letters(emptied).
Defn: Approval to proceed with an action.
9 Wanting to have church police (5)
FORCE : FOR(wanting;desirous of, as in “who’s for dessert?”) plus(to have) CE(abbrev. for the Church of England).
10 Form one question in English exam, dropping second half of another (9)
ETIQUETTE : [ I(Roman numeral for “one”) + QU(abbrev. for “question”) ] contained in(in) [ E(abbrev. for “English”) + “test”(an exam) minus(dropping) “s”(abbrev. for “second” in time notation) ] + the 1st 2 letters of(half of) “test”(another exam).
Defn: The set of conventional and correct behaviour in polite society.
11 Lacking cover, soldiers gathered in a group (2,5)
EN MASSE : [ “men”(soldiers) “massed”(gathered;assembled together) ] minus its 1st and last letters(Lacking cover, …)
13 Jerks back sadomasochistic idiots (6)
SPASMS : Reversal of(back) [SM(abbrev. for “sadomasochism”) SAPS(idiots;fools) ].
15 Big occasion deserving wild dancing (6,7)
SILVER WEDDING : Anagram of(… dancing) DESERVING WILD.
19 Generally good for all not to open zip (6)
ENERGY : [ “Generally” with “g”(abbrev. for “good”) replacing(for) “all” ] minus its 1st letter(not to open).
20 To cover floors, picked up fabric (7)
SPANDEX : SPAN(to cover;to extend over and across) + homophone of(…, picked up) “decks”(the floors of a ship, or platforms resembling them).
23 She sings to 2 clubs when touring (9)
STONECHAT : Anagram of(… when touring) [TO + ATHENS(solution to 2 down) + C(abbrev. for “clubs”, the suit in the notation of card games) ].
Answer: An Old World songbird.
24 Section of programme guide about this girl (5)
GEMMA : Hidden in(Section of) reversal of(… about) “programme guide“.
26 Classical father leers at bum (7)
LAERTES : Anagram of(… bum) LEERS AT.
Defn: In classical Greek mythology, the father of Odysseus.
27 Watch start of court proceedings on outside broadcast (7)
OBSERVE : SERVE(the act of hitting the ball to start play;proceedings in a tennis court) placed after(on) OB(abbrev. for “outside broadcast” as opposed to studio broadcasts in television or radio).
Down
1 Indeed — right time (4)
YEAR : YEA(yes;indeed!) + R(abbrev. for “right”).
2 Interpreted thus, accountants voided capital (6)
ATHENS : Last one to be parsed: Anagram of(Interpreted;translated) [ THEN(as a result of;thus, as in “that being so, you should then/thus go”) + “accountants” minus all its inner letters(voided) ].
But, the setter’s intended wordplay is trickier: “accountants” minus all its inner letters(voided) written/read as(Interpreted thus, …) [ A THEN S ].
3 Party girl stifling smell about to grab male (4,5)
MAKE MERRY : [ MARY(a girl) containing(stifling) reversal of(… about) REEK(to smell strongly of) ] containing(to grab) M(abbrev. for “male”) ].
Defn: …, as a verb.
4 Ripped off official, having looked around (8)
GAZUMPED : UMP(short for “umpire”, an official in a contest) contained in(having … around) GAZED(looked steadily and intently).
Defn: …;swindled.
5 Threw away black stone I’d damaged (10)
JETTISONED : JET(black in colour) + anagram of(… damaged) [STONE I’D].
6 Moderate son getting a great deal (6)
SOFTEN : S(abbrev. for “son”) plus(getting) OFTEN(a great deal;a great number of occasions).
Defn: To make less extreme.
7 Facile drivel mostly rejected (4)
GLIB : Reversal of(… rejected, in a down clue) “bilge”(drivel;nonsense) minus its last letter(mostly).
Defn: …;superficial.
8 Fancy — disheartened squirrels trapped in their nest (6)
DRESSY : “squirrels” minus all its inner letters(disheartened …) contained in(trapped in) DREY(a squirrel’s nest in the form of a mass of twigs in a tree).
12 New and concerning example of no-one getting the runs (6,4)
MAIDEN OVER : MAIDEN(new;descriptive of person or thing that has been untried or unused) plus(and) OVER(concerning;about, as in “the fight was over her”).
Defn: …, specifically, during an over in a cricket match.
14 Stopping reckless canoeists (9)
CESSATION : Anagram of(reckless) CANOEISTS.
16 Sketch given unusual title, oddly enough (8)
VIGNETTE : Anagram of(… unusual) GIVEN + the 1st, 3rd, and 5th letters of(…, oddly enough) “title“.
Defn: A brief description, account or episode.
17 Wife calm, having left slyboots (6)
WEASEL : W(abbrev. for “wife”) + EASE(calm;freedom from worries and problems) plus(having) L(abbrev. for “left”).
18 Send out Henry to cut a flower (6)
EXHALE : HAL(nickname for Henry, famously Prince Henry in Shakespeare’s Henry IV) contained in(to cut) EXE(the English river;flow-er).
21 Dignified, posh adult returned unfinished relish (6)
AUGUST : Reversal of(… returned, in a down clue) [ U(signifying posh;upper-class) + A(abbrev. for “adult”) ] + “gusto”(relish;enthusiasm in doing something) minus its last letter(unfinished …).
22 It’s not that things will turn out no good (4)
THIS : “things” minus(will turn out) “ng”(abbrev. for “no good”).
Cryptic defn: From: if it’s not “that” then it’s “this”, and vice versa.
25 Regard standard record brand (4)
MARK : Multiple defns: 1st: Consider, as in “You’ll be sorry. Mark my words”; and 2nd: A degree or level of quality, as in “this is below the mark”; and 3rd: To use a line, figure or symbol as a record of something; and 4th: A distinguishing mark, eg. on cattle to denote the owner, or on products to show the make.
Thanks for blogging, scchua.
I too was intrigued as to why Monk should appear in an IoS puzzle, since he’s normally the hard but fair tormentor in the ‘hard’ Thursday slot in the Indy. I think you’ve cracked it, though. The setter’s first name is MARK, so my guess is that THIS YEAR in AUGUST is MARK and GEMMA’S SILVER WEDDING, and the fact that we’re seeing Monk on a Sunday suggests that today is the day. Did he bowl a MAIDEN OVER twenty-five years ago? Will they MAKE MERRY later on today? Will ENERGY and SPASMS be involved in such merriment? (Okay, maybe not that last bit …)
If we’re right, then congratulations to both and thanks to Monk for this and the many other puzzles he’s produced for the Indy.
I would never have spotted the theme, so well done to scchua and Kathryn’s Dad@1 for picking it up. I found this a bit easier than a usual non-Sunday Monk, but I really enjoyed it. I missed the subtlety of the “intended” wordplay for ATHENS, but otherwise everything seemed logical enough. I liked the surface for MAKE MERRY, the def for THIS and the qd for MARK which was a perfect way to finish.
A pangram to boot.
Thanks (and ? congrats) to Monk, and to scchua.
Great stuff. Funnily enough, ATHENS was my second one in, after SWEET FA, but I parsed as scchua missing the more obvious A THEN S. 3d, 1d and 9a were my last ones in. Loved the surface for 19a (hopefully not part of the theme which went past me). Always a lot of satisfaction to finish a Monk even at his easiest. Thanks to Monk and to everybody else for explaining the theme and that it was a pangram – I rarely spot these.
This setter usually gives me a workout, so I was happy to complete this one (not very quickly, but then I’m seldom fast). I did see A THEN S, but at the last moment, and there were also a few others I had to stare at awhile to parse.
I very much enjoyed it all and would probably have marked lots of clues as highlights if I’d solved with a pen.
It’s been a strange week and I think I’ve only done about four puzzles, but they’ve been good ‘uns. Hope to get round to a few more next week!
Thanks – and I assume congratulations – to Monk, and thanks too to scchua.
I enjoyed the solve very much but as usual I hardly ever spot a theme so I missed this one
Congratulations to Mark and Gemma and thanks to scchua for the blog
Enjoyable and tough, I thought. Most of the solve was pretty steady, but I came a bit unstuck in the NW. Fave clue was the chortlesome 19a so thanks to The Bro for the puzzle (and happy anniversary) and thanks to to scchua for the blog.
Well, we (me and my apprentice) found this tough going, much tougher than your usual IoS fare. But we celebrated our sapphire rather than silver wedding this year so our excuse is that the old grey matter isn’t as good as it used to be.
We got ATHENS (parsed as scchua did) early on but then had doubts as we thought of ‘chanteuse’ for 23ac but couldn’t see what the anagram fodder could be; only realising that 14dn was an anagram of ‘canoeists’ with the E already anchored from 15ac helped us to get the correct answer.
The SE corner proved the most intractable, though everything seemed quite obvious once we finished.
We didn’t know enough about the setter to spot the theme, but having been told we wonder if the big day in 1992 was a 8dn occasion.
Plenty to like, including the aforesaid 8dn as our CoD.
Thanks, Monk and scchua.