Usually the Tuesday puzzle has some sort of theme, but I needed some training to spot this one.
Thanks to a not so subtle nudge from Gaufrid a lot of these are trains of some sort and I’ve probably missed some. It is also a pangram but that’s almost par for the course these days.
Across
7 Marriage-related book with scriptural instruction groom recalled (6)
BRIDAL
B(ook) & R.I. & LAD – stable groom reversed
8 Where to get better meal? A tip, so helping some travelling around (8)
HOSPITAL
Hidden reversed in meaL A TIP SO Helping
10 It’s time Sir reported flipping imbecile at the front (8)
MIDNIGHT
DIM reversed & sounds like KNIGHT
11 Spirit initially gulped by publican (5)
GHOST
G(ulped) & mine HOST
12 Wear shoe needing repair here? (4)
LAST
Double def
14 Listen in later at work, catching piano artist (3,7)
OIL PAINTER
OI! – listen to me! & P(iano) in a working [IN LATER]*
16 Inclined to ring after getting drunk (needs taking back) (7)
TILTING
LIT – drunk reversed & TING (ringing sound)
18 Such clothing for certain size of lady requiring carriage charge (7)
FREIGHT
This seems to the the clothing of F(o)R & EIGHT – a smaller lady’s size of dress
21 Toy has frayed seams and several holes (4,6)
MESS AROUND
To toy with. frayed SEAMS* & ROUND (of golf) – several holes
23 Rattigan’s boy without success, lacking speed (4)
SLOW
Win removed from “the (win)SLOW boy”, by Rattigan
25 Maybe horse in Kentucky Derby, having secured victory, bucks (5)
GRAVY
On the gravy train. GRAY (US spelling) for the grey horse with V for victory inserted
27 Southern pressman who quickly runs through the tape? (8)
SPRINTER
S & PRINTER
29 Father, ailing inside, needs drug for small lumps (8)
PAPILLAE
ILL inside PAPA & E(cstacy)
30 They ruminate about times when overcome by beer (6)
CATTLE
C(irca) & 2 xT(ime) in ALE
Down
1 Uncle Sam avoids me when drinking Northern tincture (6)
ARNICA
ME removed from A(me)RICA with N(orthen) inserted
2 Celebration about sporting god (4)
ODIN
DO – party reversed & IN (wearing, sporting)
3 Signal to stop paving-stone being put on pile (4,4)
FLAG DOWN
FLAG (paving) & DOWN
4 Transport service close to Land’s End starts (7)
SHUTTLE
SHUT – close & starts of T(o) L(ands) E(nd)
5 Ex-Brazilian footballer, weight shooting up, stifles belly in pics (4)
ZICO
belly of (p)IC(s) inside OZ – ounce reversed
6 Jack consumed the nuts, biting with molars (3-5)
JAW-TEETH
J(ack) & a consumed [THE NUTS]* with W(ith) inserted
9 In the morning, soldier’s upset, given letter from abroad (5)
SIGMA
AM (morning) & GI’S all reversed
13 Emperor‘s spiritual book (5)
TITUS
Double def
15 Perhaps Scandinavian stores top-class for DIY hardware (5)
NAILS
A – top class in NILS – Scandinavian name
17 One spread dictionary, looking up written symbol (8)
IDEOGRAM
I – one & [MARG – spread & O.E.D.] reversed
19 Rosy wants first in biology – a strain at such a university? (8)
REDBRICK
RED – rosy & first in B(iology) & RICK – strain
20 Scotch, in the past, had Sue sloshed at Queen’s Head (7)
QUASHED
Q(ueens) head & [SUE HAD]* sloshed
22 Religious class rejecting plonk that circulates in Middle East (5)
RIYAL
The money in Qatar, R.I. & LAY – to plonk down reversed. Why didn’t Scorpion use ROYAL train I wonder?
24 Too old, really, to ignore institute (6)
OVERLY
O(ld) & I(nstitute) removed from VER(i)LY – really
26 Line a cub scout section up (4)
AXIS
A & SIX – which is a division of a scout pack reversed
28 Northumbria area dry and clear (4)
NETT
Northumbria is in the N.E. & TT (dry)
This was the tough Scorpio I used to fear and I failed on 16(lazily writing in listing) and needed a check on at least a couple of others. And thanks for the theme ,fellows-heard of some of them.
Very fine puzzle but tough!
6d I think is J+ATE (consumed) including W + (THE)*
Found this very hard going, with a few unparsed, e.g DOWN for put on pile?
Thanks to S&B
Hi Paul A, yes 6d is parsed wrongly, oops, sorry and yes the DOWN bit in 3d was left for later and I missed it when finishing off. Any takers?
Down is fluffy stuff, like (carpet) pile
I found this tough but enjoyable. I also had listing at first, and tried alternatives for a few other clues before finally getting the thumbs up from the computer
Thanks Scorpion, flashling
Yes, hard going and took ages. In the end, still didn’t get PAPILLAE and therefore the crossing AXIS and missed the theme. Knew there had to be one (it’s Tuesday after all), but just couldn’t spot it.
Thanks to Scorpion – definitely a win for you today – and to flashling for demystifying the parsing.
Tough going over two sessions; we were held up in the NW corner having confidently put HOSE for 12ac (anagram of ‘shoe’; hose, as in ‘doublet and …’ being an item of wear). Failed to spot the theme but did notice it was a pangram (although too late for it to be any help). Never heard of ZICO, but fortunately it was pretty obvious from the clue.
We thought it was a bit naughty cluing RI in very similar ways for BRIDAL and RIYAL. But otoh we liked IDEOGRAM and REDBRICK.
Thanks, Scorpion and flashling
PS, flashling – your choice of colour to highlight the theme words is hard on the eyes and makes them difficult to read.
Tough stuff indeed, but with lots to like. I was soundly beaten and missed the theme, but I’m used to that so I was still able to appreciate the nice clues of which 5d was me fave. Thanks to The Pincers for the puzzle and to the currently ubiquitous Flash for the blog.
@Allan_c I’ll try not to use that colour scheme in future, @Harry this is my last one standing in for Duncan so you can be glad I’ll not be back for 3 weeks.
I’ve done easier Scorpions in the past.
Yet I got there in the end.
Did I say I got there?
I left 16ac and 18ac open despite thinking that they might be ‘listing’ (wrong) and ‘freight’ (right).
The former is obvious now but the drunk could have been me …..
In 18ac I wondered whether there was a clothing size for women called FR8.
I still think that ‘clothing for’ leading to FR is a bit iffy while I also don’t see why Scorpio uses ‘Such’ at the beginning of the clue.
Is there perhaps something else going on?
We will, probably, never know.
If a theme is not obvious enough (for me, of course) then I will miss it.
And so I did.
No problem with ZICO (5d) – surprisingly one of Hoskins’s favourites.
Thank Gaufrid for the blog (& Scorpio for the entertainment).
Gaufrid?
Flashling, of course – so sorry!
Brutal for a non-Brit. Unfamiliar with jaw teeth, redbrick, arnica, six for a Cub Scout pack, marg as a slang term, RI for a scriptural inscription, Bratigan/Winslow, Northumbria.
Completely defeated me. Only got a handful.