A challenging puzzle from Anax this week…with some clever cross-references, silky surface readings and a bit of mirthful misdirection…
After a bit of a flying start from letting my eye roam straight to 23D (GRUB) and working up via 21D LOCUM, 21D WAPITI and the wonderful homophone for 17D NEW DELHI (NUDE ELLIE!), I soon ground to a bit of a halt and had to roll up my sleeves to complete this.
Cross-references – the clue for 7D THREE referred to the position of POSH at 3D; and 15A LASS used 14 A LEFT (L) BEHIND (ASS) as its wordplay!
Silky surface readings – 10A – SAFETY CAR (mostly used after scary spins – in F1, or motor racing generally?) is fairly apt and self-descriptive; and 26A MASHIE-NIBLICK (that is Bill, wet after squash club) evokes a sweaty returner from a squash match!
Mirthful misdirection – 6D EXCLAMATION MARK, with the symbol (!) as its own definition; ‘Girl, 14’ at 15A, reminiscent of the Kingsley Amis novel, ‘Girl 20’; 26A mentioning the squash club when the answer is actually a golf club…
My only quibble would be with 4D EFFEMINACY – where the clue’s reading implies that a butcher would lack this…I’m sure there must be a few camp butchers out there, who will guffaw in a Kenneth Williams-eque way when you ask for a tasty sausage, or a nice piece of rump!…Oooo, errr, Matronnnn!… (Last minute thought: Unless ‘butcher’ refers to someone who is more butch…so less effeminate?)
My LTI (‘last two in’, as they sort of fell in together) were 9A HELIX and 2D COXCOMBS, as the X eventually gave them both away…
An enjoyable solve and blog – thanks to Anax.
(NB. I will be out all today at the Times National Crossword Championships, so may be slow to reply to comments below – but keep ’em coming!…)
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Solution | Clue | Definition (with occasional embellishments) / Logic/parsing |
|
| 1A | VICE-PRESIDENT | Somebody outside church with local deputy (4-9) | deputy / VI_P (somebody, important person) around CE (Church of England), plus RESIDENT (local) |
|
| 9A | HELIX | Around start of lesson I spell ‘curlicue’ (5) | curlicue / HE_X (spell), around L (start of Lesson) + I |
|
| 10A | SAFETY CAR | It’s used after mostly scary spins (6,3) | (it) – &lit-ish/ anag, i.e. spins, of AFTE( |
|
| 11A | SHADOW | Plant pots fooled dog (6) | dog (as in, follow) / S_OW (plant) around (potting) HAD (fooled) |
|
| 12A | EMACIATE | Apparently I returned and consumed waste (8) | waste / EMAC I (I came ‘back’, or I returned) plus ATE (consumed) |
|
| 14A | LEFT BEHIND | Abandoned port in difficulty, what? (4,6) | abandoned / LEFT (port, side of a ship) + B_IND (difficulty, hitch) around EH (interjection – pardon, what?) |
|
| 15A | LASS | Girl, 14 (4) | girl / Clue 14 leads to LEFT BEHIND, which could be interpreted as L (left) + ASS (behind) |
|
| 18A | ROAM | Butter spread by old tramp (4) | tramp / R_AM (male sheep that butts) around (spread by) O (old) |
|
| 19A | CONCRETION | Nodule I fitted in plastic connector (10) | nodule / CONCRET_ON (anag, i.e. plastic, of CONNECTOR) around I |
|
| 21A | LOTHARIO | A Duran Duran album opened by ugly old reprobate (8) | reprobate / LOTH (obsolete for ugly) + A + RIO (1980s album by Duran Duran) |
|
| 22A | ADONIS | Pop’s nursing home rejected male model (6) | male model / S_ODA (pop, fizzy drink) around (nursing) IN (at home), all rejected |
|
| 24A | CHORISTER | Singer, or first to interrupt singer (9) | singer / CH_ER (American singer) around (interrupted by) OR + IST (1st, or first) |
|
| 25A | LEAVE | Don’t take that which may be taken (5) | double defn. / to LEAVE means not to take something; and LEAVE can be taken, from work, or from a situation |
|
| 26A | MASHIE-NIBLICK | That is Bill, wet after squash club (6-7) | (golf) club / MASH (squash) + IE (id est, that is) + NIB (bill, beak) + LICK (wet) |
|
| Down | ||||
| Clue No | Solution | Clue | Definition (with occasional embellishments) / Logic/parsing |
|
| 1D | VULGAR FRACTIONS | Do they show parts near the bone? (6,9) | they – &lit-ish/CD? / VULGAR (near the bone, rude) + FRACTIONS (parts) |
|
| 2D | COXCOMBS | Navigator’s enthralling hunt for swells (8) | swells / COX_S (navigator’s) around (enthralling) COMB (hunt for) |
|
| 3D | POSH | Hard to finish puzzle without Queen Victoria (4) | Victoria (beckham, ‘Posh’ Spice) / POS(ER) (puzzle, poser, without ER (Elizabeth Regina, queen) + H (hard) |
|
| 4D | EFFEMINACY | Extremely fine cuts in my cafe, oddly what the butcher lacks? (10) | what the butcher lacks? / EF_MINACY (anag, i.e. oddly, of IN MY CAFÉ) around FE (extreme letters of FinE) |
|
| 5D | INTACT | Sound is a little faint, actually (6) | sound / hidden word, i.e. a little, in ‘faINT ACTually’ |
|
| 6D | EXCLAMATION MARK | Talk on camera, mix freely! (11,4) | ! / anag, i.e. freely, of TALK ON CAMERA MIX |
|
| 7D | THREE | About to enter not just any posh location (5) | posh location (POSH is at 3D!) / TH_E (definite article, not just ‘any’!) around (entered by) RE (about, in the matter of) |
|
| 8D | WHISTLER | Mountain road parts as long as river (8) | (US) mountain / WHI_LE (as long as ) around (parted by) ST (street, road), plus R (river) |
|
| 13D | PHLOGISTON | Soft light so weird on something in fire? (10) | something in fire / P (piano, soft) + HLOGIST (anag, i.e. weird, of LIGHT SO) + ON |
|
| 16D | SINISTER | Nun’s kept in the dark? (8) | the dark / S_ISTER (nun) around (keeping) IN |
|
| 17D | NEW DELHI | Naked girl reportedly in capital city (3,5) | capital city / homophone, i.e. ‘reportedly’ – NEW DELHI sounds like NUDE ELLIE (naked girl) |
|
| 20D | WAPITI | Deer – it’s one with foot raised (6) | deer / IT + I (one) + PAW (foot) – all raised |
|
| 21D | LOCUM | Substitute’s lofted pass? I’m not sure (5) | substitute / LOC (col, or mountain pass, lofted) + UM (hesitation, I’m not sure) |
|
| 23D | GRUB | Ferret’s food (4) | double defn. / to GRUB can mean to ferret around; and GRUB can be simply ‘food’ |
|
Great stuff. I parsed 10a as an anagram of AFTER SCArY (mostly scary in an unusual way). Particularly liked the 14a, 15a combo and 17d. Fortunately I knew the golf club at 26a – don’t think I would have got it otherwise.
Really great puzzle; thanks to Anax and mc_r.
Good luck at the finals, enjoy
I really enjoyed this. Quite tough of course, but I managed an unaided grid-fill with just a bit of checking afterwards. Perfect.
Lots of highlights. I particularly liked the references to grid locations.
Thanks to Anax and mc_rapper.
Good luck to friends at the Championships! I’ll be along in a few hours to cheer.
Thanks, Hovis at #1 – a much better parsing of SAFETY CAR – will update later…
baerchen and Kitty – thanks for the encouragement, but I think I’ll need more than luck…mid-table mediocrity beckons, I fear…
Some of my very favourite people enjoy mid-table mediocrity!
Great puzzle and great blog.Thanks for pointing out the posh ref-I was scratching my head over THREE.I loved the NUDE ELLIE too.The “club” was screaming out at me-and i checked and it parsed.What more can I say.Anax rocks!
Forgot-honorable mention to PHOLGISTON-I liked that so much in 3rd form that I foolishly read chemistry at Uni.
Hovis @1 you can also parse it as AFTEr SCARY, so the “mostly” refers to After rather than Scary, in which case it’s a more customary use of “mostly”
Oren@8. Of course. How stupid of me. I shall now bang my head against the wall.
Sheer class. I missed POSH (excellent) which left me wondering why three was right.
I skied at whistler throughout my postgrad studies – brilliant. Would show up in the lab, if it was a sunny day we’d coerce some driver and bugger off to whistler and party. Sigh, those were the days.
I loved the 14a/15a combo – how clever is that? Anax rocks indeed.
New Delhi was first in and started the solve with a smile.
Yep, best puzzle I’ve done (since the last Anax)
Many thanks Anax & mcr
Great puzzle. I did wonder where THREE came from. Loved NUDE ELLIE and 14a and 15a. Luckily I knew the golf club, but needed assistance with the fire. Thanks Anax and mcr.
Absolutely wonderful blog mc_r – really grateful for the amount of effort put into it.
Some of you may remember a recent Anax where important characters in The Last Of Us (video game) were chronologically hidden in the across answer pairings. That was supposed to be it in terms of referencing the game in crosswords, but there were some unexpected opportunities here. 14a LEFT BEHIND is the title of the game’s DLC and the central character Ellie (very fortuitous if unintentionally risque reference in 17d) happens to be 14, so 15a was a real bonus.
As a self-confessed TLOU nerd – don’t worry, I don’t actually play other games – I know most of its trivia, but for the first time spotted something while streaming a playthrough some days ago. The game has very, very few specific time references (none at all after the intro) and you have to look out for them. By far the most powerful of these happens when Joel’s daughter dies, and his watch shows the time as 2:25am. 225. Yeah, that one.
Have a great weekend all.
Thanks mc_rapper .. and may you be rewarded at the comp. I too was bothered by the butcher’s lack of EFFEMINACY, being a butcher’s daughter myself, and thought, no Anax wouldn’t do that, surely. I think your butch-er is on the money.
And thanks to anax for the great puzzle and for dropping in. I enjoyed it even without getting the theme.
Failed on THREE, but should have got it after 3D.
My FOI was 6D ! LOI 26 which I needed google for. All very fair and fun.
Well, that was what I would call a very ‘distinctive’ crossword.
From my first one in (24ac, CHORISTER) to my last (13d, PHLOGISTON) a real joy!
I do not want to single out a particular clue but I had a soft spot for 11ac (SHADOW).
I know that Anax is very precise when it come to cryptic grammar, something that’s incredibly tedious for many solvers.
Therefore, I wasn’t convinced that ‘spins’ (singular) is right here as there are two components that ‘spin’ (afte[r] + scary).
With other setters I wouldn’t have flagged this up, with Anax I do however.
Great puzzle with or without a theme.
Thanks mc_rapper for the blog.
when it comes to cryptic grammar
@15. I don’t know Sil v H. It could be read as a plural noun in the wordplay as well ie spins of both (most of) after and scary giving a singular ‘it’. And it’s good for the surface, almost &litish.
A two-day job for us, Saturday out of reach of any help and Sunday requiring much help, with several ‘Doh!’ moments, e.g the THREE/POSH cross-reference, EXCLAMATION MARK and LASS. We did LOTHARIO from crossing letters but coudn’t parse it having never come across the old meaning of ‘loth’.
Thanks, Anax for the challenge; and mc_rapper67 for the expert explanations.
Wow – what a busy day yesterday! Thanks for all the feedback and comments, especially to Anax for dropping by with some background on the puzzle…I think we would have all had to dig fairly deep to get some of those references!…
Close, but no cigar at the Championships yesterday – not quite mid-table mediocrity, but 14th in the heat meant I missed out on the final (yet again!), although I get to try again next year without having to qualify! Congrats to all who took part, and to you-know-who for yet another comprehensive win!
Although I follow Anax on social media, and have seen references to The Last of Us in his posts, I thought it was a rock band!
Oh dear; I seem to have morphed into my father
Nice crossie and blog – thanks to both setter and blogger (who it was nice to meet yesterday in that London).
Still haven’t got a proper answer to my ‘spins’ query @14.
Yes, paddymelon made an effort to justify its use but I’m afraid Anax doesn’t do these kind of nounal anagram indicators.
(and rightly so)
Close, but no cigar at the Championships yesterday – not quite mid-table mediocrity, but 14th in the heat meant I missed out on the final (yet again!), although I get to try again next year without having to qualify! Congrats to all who took part, and to you-know-who for yet another comprehensive win!
I feel for you m_cr but I am so happy not to be like you.
Still haven’t got a proper answer to my ‘spins’ query @14.
Hi Sil,
I am completely happy with spins. We’ve had this discussion before. I believe anagram fodder is always a singular entity, as in [fodder] anagrind. Hence spins is correct. In fact, spin would have looked horribly wrong to me. I am aware that some others think anagram fodder can be plural, as in a collection of letters or words, but to me that just feels convenient and lazy. I trust Anax – though I will admit he has corrected me on cryptic grammar in ways that I am still trying to get my head around.
Yes, we had this discussion before.
Not sure though that AFTE[r] + SCARY is an entity that needs a singular anagram indicator.
Here we may disagree, although I perfectly understand what you’re saying.
That ‘spin’ doesn’t make sense (i.e. looks horribly wrong), probably because of the surface, doesn’t impress me much.
If you think it should be plural, just re-write the surface.
I trust Anax too, not sure though he’s right here.
Many thanks for posting, Dutch.
Not many solvers seem to be interested in these kind of discussions (anymore.
You are – and that’s a good thing.
Hi there guys!
This is an interesting discussion which crops up every now and then.
The general principle is that, even if parts of the fodder are separated by an indicator applicable to one of them, they can be treated as a single unit. In algebraic terms, the anagram fodder components here are A and B, and maybe we can refer to the treatment of A as (x) – it gives us A(x) + B = C (answer)…
…except, of course, we’re using language not arithmetic. In cryptic form, A + B is equally valid as AB, and it’s always been like that. As a result, we generally treat AB as a single thing, but it turns out we’re committing no sin by treating it as plural components. Ultimately, the setter has the freedom to choose according to taste, but in the SAFETY CAR clue far more solvers would object to ‘spin’ (verb form based on the plural A + B) than ‘spins’ (AB).
Blimey – that all got a bit metaphysical and forensic – my head spins, or should that be ‘is in a spin’?
As a speed solver who didn’t even spot the anagram, let alone the plurality or singularity of its indicator… I’ll get my coat!
Correspondence closed?!
Yes, closed here.
However, the three of us let it go on a bit elsewhere.
We do care for the general well-being of Fifteensquared visitors, you see ….. 🙂