A good commuter’s puzzle from Eccles today
Well, what I mean is that it’s a puzzle that many solvers will be able to finish in under an hour. There aren’t any really obscure words in the entries although the spelling of WHODUNIT may not be one that some solvers expect.
There was a good mix of clue types today but all seemed fair with a few of them offering a good way in to the puzzle.
My last one in was PEPPER as I was too focused for too long on the wrong part of speech, before realising that both shower and PEPPER can be used as a verb.
Favourite clues today were those for WHODUNIT for the wordplay and BREADTH for the surface I also liked those for the two long entries STAND-UP COMEDIAN and PICTURE POSTCARD
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
|
1
|
What a defender does as one shoots? (8)
|
MARKS MAN (a good defender in sport will MARK his / her opponent [MAN]) MARKS MAN |
MARKSMAN (person who shoots well)
|
|
5
|
Loud hiccup extremely difficult to sustain (6)
|
Anagram of (difficult) LOAD and HP (first and last letters of [extremely] HICCUP) UPHOLD* |
UPHOLD (sustain)
|
|
10
|
As photographs can be copies, one is framed in retrospect (5)
|
(I [Roman numeral for one] contained in [is framed by] APES [copies]) all reversed (in retrospect) (SEP (I) A)< |
SEPIA (brownish tone produced in certain, especially early, photographic processes)
|
|
11
|
Drawers of small vessels containing dash of rum (9)
|
S (small) + (KETCHES [two-masted sailing vessels] containing [containing] R [first letter of {dash of} RUM]) S KETCHE (R) S |
SKETCHERS (drawers)
|
|
12
|
A visit to the bar and back? (5,4)
|
ROUND (reference a ROUND of drinks bough at a bar) + TRIP (excursion; visit) ROUND TRIP |
ROUND TRIP (double definition of a journey there and back, cryptically defining a visit to the bar to buy drinks)
|
|
13
|
Absolute state (5)
|
UTTER (absolute) UTTER |
UTTER (speak; say; state) double definition |
|
14
|
South American natives‘ secretive, secretive matter? (6)
|
COY (secretive) + PUS (thick yellowish fluid formed by suppuration, matter that is secreted; secretive matter) COY PUS |
COYPUS (large South American aquatic rodents; South American natives)
|
|
15
|
Choose to bring back made-to-measure electric blankets (2-5)
|
RE-ELECT (hidden word in [blankets] MADE-TO-MEASURE ELECTRIC) RE-ELECT |
RE-ELECT (choose to bring back)
|
|
18
|
Faint sullen look comes over fool (4,3)
|
POUT (sullen look) containing (comes over) ASS (fool) P (ASS) OUT |
PASS OUT (faint)
|
|
20
|
Interrupted brother gaining knowledge (6)
|
BRO (brother) + KEN (knowledge) BRO KEN |
BROKEN (interrupted)
|
|
22
|
Nothing to like in talk (5)
|
O (zero; nothing) + RATE (value; like) O RATE |
ORATE (talk)
|
|
24
|
Ogles coach and gets complaint (9)
|
EYES (ogles) + TRAIN (coach) EYES TRAIN |
EYESTRAIN (tiredness of irritation of the EYES; complaint)
|
|
25
|
Visited female client I’d upset (9)
|
Anagram of (upset) F [female] and CLIENT I’D INFLICTED* |
INFLICTED (visited – INFLICT is given as a synonym of ‘visit’ in Chambers Thesaurus)
|
|
26
|
Tolerate being tender in hospital department (5)
|
BID (tender) contained in (in) (A and E [Accident & Emergency hospital department) A (BID) E |
ABIDE (tolerate)
|
|
27
|
Cockney’s recovering in London district (6)
|
EALING (a Cockney’s pronunciation of HEALING [recovering]) EALING |
EALING (London district)
|
|
28
|
Mystery of wife and husband getting one to hide naked body (8) |
([W (wife) + H (husband) ] + UNIT [one]) containing (to hide) OD (middle letters of BODY excluding [without the clothing {naked}] of B and Y) W H (OD) UNIT |
WHODUNIT (mystery. Chambers gives it spelled with one or two Ns)
|
| Down | |||
|
1
|
Looking back, they’re simply concealing suffering (6)
|
MISERY (reversed [looking back] hidden word in [concealing] in THEY’RE SIMPLY) MISERY< |
MISERY (suffering)
|
|
2
|
Trump: a sour, crazy, male is wanting reception like this? (9)
|
Anagram of (crazy) TRUMP A SOUR excluding (wanting) M (male) RAPTUROUS* |
RAPTUROUS (delighted, enthusiastic, ecstatic, descriptive of the kind of reception that Donald Trump seems to believe he is entitled to at all times)
|
|
3
|
Let down by actor regularly: average performer on stage (5-2,8)
|
STAND UP (fail to keep an appointment with; let down) + CO (letters 2 and 4 [regularly] of ACTOR) + MEDIAN (average, although technically not necessarily an average as I think back to my school lessons about mean, mode and median) STAND-UP CO MEDIAN |
STAND-UP COMEDIAN (performer on stage)
|
|
4
|
Declares a burden uplifting (7)
|
A + (STRESS [burden] reversed [uplifting; down clue]) A SSERTS< |
ASSERTS (declares)
|
|
6
|
Imagine after booking it might result in a sending off (7,8)
|
PICTURE (imagine) + POST (after) + CARD (booking, as in receiving a Yellow CARD in a sports match) PICTURE POST CARD |
PICTURE POSTCARD (something that might be sent off from a holiday to a friend)
|
|
7
|
It’s no secret how distance is related to speed (5)
|
Speed can be defined as distance covered OVER time (T) OVER T |
OVERT (open to view; public; it’s no secret)
|
|
8
|
Individual‘s record concerning the banks (8) |
DISC (record) + RE (concerning) + TE (first and last letters of [banks] THE) DISC RE TE |
DISCRETE (individual)
|
|
9
|
Very quietly cuts Lady Garden, perhaps, in shower (6)
|
PP (pianissimo) contained in (cuts) PEER (a LADY; I am not expert enough to know whether every titled LADY is a PEER. I suspect LADYs who are created life PEERs in their own right are, but I’m not sure if courtesy titles for the wives or daughters of male PEERs are PEERs themselves. Let’s assume for the purposes of this clue that LADY Garden is a life PEER) PE (PP) ER |
PEPPER (shower with something)
|
|
16
|
Face of joy hiding grievous heart (9)
|
ELATION (joy) containing (hiding) EV (middle letters of [heart] GRIEVOUS) EL (EV) ATION |
ELEVATION (face, of a building)
|
|
17
|
New Pope is to converse (8)
|
Anagram of (new) POPE IS TO OPPOSITE* |
OPPOSITE (converse)
|
|
19
|
Present concluding part of reciprocatory pact (6)
|
TREAT (present) + Y (last letter of [concluding part of] RECIPROCATORY) TREAT Y |
TREATY (pact)
|
|
20
|
Spread of British hatred is grotesque (7)
|
B + an anagram of (grotesque) HATRED B READTH* |
BREADTH (spread)
|
|
21
|
Maybe Ant and Dec finally accepted by fashionable crowd (6)
|
C (last letter of [finally] DEC) contained in (IN [fashionable] + SET [crowd]) IN SE (C) T |
INSECT (an ant is an example of an insect)
|
|
23
|
Very legal to go topless (5)
|
LAWFUL (legal) excluding the first letter (topless) L AWFUL |
AWFUL (very) I would associate ‘very’ with AWFULly rather than just AWFUL
|
I think 9d is a bit saucier than that. Lady Garden refers to a vagina and hence peer. I did wonder what solvers would think to that. My favourites were OVERT, BREADTH and INSECT. I would spell WHODUNNIT with a double N but checked and both my Collins and Chambers give both versions. Thanks to Duncan and Eccles
Hovis@1
Thanks for the extra information on Lady Garden. I’m just a naive and introverted blogger who doesn’t get out enough, so that definition had passed me by!
a most enjoyable puzzle from Eccles including a large dollop of thinking man’s smut at 9d.
Thanks to S&B
Thanks to S&B.
Eccles advertised his puzzle via Twitter with 9 down. Paul better look to his laurels! I’m just glad nobody asked me to describe the various scenarios the clue offers. (And why is the song ‘Brazil’ going round in my brain?)
I’m not actually sure this is a good puzzle for commuting: I did it on the move and felt rather self-conscious every time I snorted and chuckled. Nobody sat next to me.
Loved the WHODUNIT and indeed all of those mentioned by Duncan. MISERY and ELATION also struck a chord.
I’d take issue slightly with Baer above – unthinking kitties can also have a good chuckle as they sneeze at PEPPER.
Thanks to Eccles and Duncan.
baerchen @3-well I wasnt familiar with that piece of smut but I was told what the title of Crowded House’s second album referred to!
I learnt about the smuttier side of 9d courtesy of a Sarah Millican show and can also definitely confirm that the unfortunately named lady involved is indeed a life peer – Baroness Garden of Frognal.
Lots to enjoy here, my particular favourites being 12&27a plus 2d – I feel that many would agree with the sentiment expressed in the latter!
Thank you, Eccles – keep up the good work – and thanks to Duncan for the blog.
Enjoyable stuff. A nice and easyish solve, though I did get done by 5, 11 & 14a in the end. A few good laughs as always with Eccles’ Lady Garden giving the biggest chortle of the day. Thanks to the setter who’s a couple of member’s short of a congregation and also to DS for the blog.
Great stuff, all very enjoyable, well done Eccles and thanks Duncan
A game of two halves, as they say. Got the left hand side in very quickly and then seemed to take forever to do the rest. I was aware of the smutty meaning an 9dn, but didn’t realise Lady Garden was a real person.
26ac was my LOI because every time I’d read the clue, I failed to notice the last word in it. Odd.
Well we got it all without recourse even to our dead tree Chambers. Bu we couldn’t parse some answers – mainly because we didn’t look at the wordplay carefully enough. For WHODUNIT for instance we were convinced that ‘naked’ referred to ‘hide’ rather than ‘body’. Didn’t get the coarser meaning of 9dn, either, but I won’t bother explaining it to the apprentice even though she’s fairly broad-minded.
I’d agree with you, Duncan, about AWFUL – one would normally use ‘awfully’ to mean ‘very’. Except possibly in Scotland, but then it tends to be abbreviated to awfu’ as in this quote from Buchan’s Castle Gay: “Ye’re awfu’ clever, Wulkie. How wad ye hae seleckit it?” (referring to selecting a Rugby team).
That minor niggle apart this was a good entertaining puzzle. Thanks, Eccles and Duncan.
Cheers for the fine blog and comments. I was a bit concerned about one clue, but checked with several female solvers, and Lady Garden got thumbs-up from them all. (Hovis, I was considering it as just a euphemism for the general downstairs area. Perhaps it’s something for Alan Connor to discuss in his blog). I hope no-one was offended.
I agree about awful, by the way, but it is in the dictionaries. I imagine it in a Southern US accent, though.
I’m a bit late to this one but I liked it a lot too. Annoyingly, MARKSMAN was last in…
Thanks to Eccles and Duncan