This wasn’t easy, and the last two solutions had to wait until the rest of the blog was complete. Thanks to Vlad. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
7 Each one discarded went off (8)
PERISHED : PER(each, as in “a dollar per try”) + I(Roman numeral for “one”) + SHED(discarded).
Defn: Rotted or decayed.
9 Fool head? One may be in the soup (6)
NOODLE : Triple defn: 1st: A silly or foolish person; and 2nd: … of a person.
10, 18 Emma‘s young fellow’s hot … mainly after exercise! (4,8)
LADY HAMILTON : LAD(a young fellow) + anagram of(… after exercise) HOT … MAINLY.
Defn: …, mistress of Lord Nelson.
11, 12 Sour response from women haters – “Lena’s unbalanced” (3,7,1,5)
THE ANSWER’S A LEMON : Anagram of(… unbalanced) WOMEN HATERS – “LENA’S.
Defn: A response to a question that is regarded as unreasonable or ridiculous; a sarcastic and acidic response.
12 See 11
14 Cut singers from ensemble – allocation not working (8)
CASTRATI : CAST(an ensemble;a group of musicians, actors or dancers performing together) + “ration”(allocation of a limited amount of stuff) minus(not) “on”(working, as with an electrical appliance).
Defn: Guess what has been cut from these male adult singers for them to retain their soprano or alto voices?
15 Annoying person is lacking subtlety (6)
NUANCE : “nuisance”(an annoying person) minus(… lacking) “is“.
17 Savings scheme – one that’s good making profit, reportedly (6)
ISAIAH : ISA(abbrev. for “Individual Savings Account”, a class of savings plans available to UK residents) + I(Roman numeral for “one”) + AH!(“that’s good!”;an expression of pleasure).
Defn: A prophet, a homophone of(…, reportedly) “profit” – one in the Bible.
20 Bum, of course, wobbling – no good interfering (8)
SCROUNGE : Anagram of(…, wobbling) COURSE containing(… interfering) NG(abbrev. for “no good”).
Defn: …, as a verb.
22 Grown-up girl’s crime (6)
BIGAMY : BIG(grown-up) + AMY(a girl’s name).
Depending on your point of view, why anyone would marry one person is a mystery, and why anyone would marry two is a bigger mystery.
23 Bespoke leotard? I am surprised (6-4)
TAILOR-MADE : Anagram of(… surprised) LEOTARD? I AM.
24 America’s the greatest country! (4)
MALI : M.(for Muhammad)ALI(American boxer who proclaimed that he was the greatest).
25 Ducks in river, mostly dry (6)
DEARIE : DEE(the river flowing through Wales and England) containing(… , …) “arid”(dry;waterless) minus its last letter(… dry).
Defn. and Answer: Affectionate forms of addressing someone.
26 Encouragement for revolting programme fronted by skinhead (8)
SEDITION : EDITION(a version of anything that is presented, such as a programme on radio or television, the evening edition of the news, say) placed after(fronted by) the 1st letter of(…head) “skin“.
Down
1 Occurred to little shop girl a month back (8)
BEFALLEN : Reversal of(… back) [ NELL(Trent, a young girl who is the main character in Dickens’s novel The Old Curiosity Shop) + A + FEB(short for the month of February) ].
Defn: Had happened to someone.
2 “Stop it!” Youngsters do show shame (4)
PITY : Hidden in(… do show) “Stop it!” Youngsters“.
Defn: A cause for regret or disappointment, as in “it’s a shame that he didn’t succeed”.
3 Basic accommodation in Black Country (6)
BHUTAN : HUT(a small house or shelter;basic accommodation) contained in(in) BAN(to black;to boycott).
4 Son isn’t a planned outcome of their actions (8)
ONANISTS : Anagram of(… planned) SON ISN’T A.
Defn: Those who practise coitus interruptus, as a means of birth control, or masturbation or as Woody Allen puts it, “sex with someone you love”. Either way the planned outcome is not a son (or even daughter).
A WIWD(wordplay intertwined with definition) clue.
5 Passing on hawk-like ring (10)
FORWARDING : [FOR WAR](the stance of hawks, metaphorically, those who advocate war in contrast to doves) + DING(to make a ringing sound, as with a bell).
6 Left in charge, teenager’s opening wine (6)
CLARET : L(abbrev. for “left”) contained in(in) CARE(the provision of protection, welfare, etc. for a person or thing, as in “put in the charge of an older sibling”) + the 1st letter of(…’s opening) “teenager“.
8 Steep‘s a top actress (need to add an “r”) (6)
DRENCH : DENCH(Judi, a top English actress) containing(need to add an) “r”. And, and of course, Meryl Streep is a top American actress.
Defn: To soak in water or other liquid.
13 Karma – we twerk with old bird! (10)
MEADOWLARK : Anagram of(we twerk …) [KARMA – WE plus(with) OLD].
16 Billed singers sign with John (8)
CANARIES : ARIES(an astrological sign) placed after(with) CAN(slang, like John, for a toilet).
Defn: …, or beaked singing birds.
18 See 10
19 Nuts to break up over European Community (6)
PECANS : Reversal of(… up, in a down clue) SNAP(to break, as with brittle things) containing(over) EC(abbrev. for “European Community”).
21 Caught bird that’s black and yellow (6)
CRAVEN : C(abbrev. for “caught” in cricket scores) + RAVEN(a bird that’s black in colour).
Defn: … or cowardly.
22 Creates endless colour in plots (6)
BREEDS : “red”(a colour) minus its last letter(endless …) contained in(in) BEDS(plots in the garden).
Defn: …, or produces something over a time period, as in “familiarity breeds contempt”, or between the sexes, “familiarity breeds, full stop”.
24 Dish out food to audience (4)
METE : Homophone of(… to audience) “meat”(food type).
Defn: …, say, punishment.
Thanks Vlad and scchua
Difficult, and not very enjoyable, though I did like CASTRATI (with a wince!) and NUANCE. Busy, so I’m not going to list everything I didn’t like.
Is MEADOWLARK LEMON part of a larger theme?
As you say, scchua, this wasn’t easy and since I have an irritating cold at the moment I made frequent use of the reveal button to shorten the agony, as it were. Many thanks to both vlad and scchua.
Thanks Vlad and scchua.
For me a challenging but enjoyable late night solve. I eventually solved, but failed to parse, 3dn, having been misdirected by the capitalisation and placing of ‘black’ to expect an adjective rather than a verb. I had B(lack)HUT, but couldn’t work out where the AN came from, and eventually turned the light out. So thanks to scchua for that in particular.
I thought this a very well-crafted and enjoyable crossword and much easier than some recent offerings.
Top class, Vlad, an excellent puzzle to cap a fine week.
Originally had ‘castrate’ for ‘castrati’, but saw my error in time to prevent a second successive failure to solve by one letter (yesterday’s Landor/Lander being the other.)
Many thanks Vlad & scchua.
Greensward @5 – yes top class Vlad. I had an unpleasant medical appointment this morning, and a good Vladding is a great way to be distracted. Thanks for the clear and thorough blog scchua.
Re 4 down, there is a rumour that someone had a budgie called Onan. Because it spilled its seed upon the ground.
I’ll get my coat.
Cheers again Jim.
Conrad Cork @6: those of us of a certain age will remember the late great Willie Rushton, who on the overthrow of the Said of Oman in 1970, defined Omanism as “spilling one’s Said upon the ground”.
Fell hook, line and sinker for 8d, even though I knew it was just too obvious for the star to be of the Meryl variety. Eventually put right with the help of crossers.
Reassured that I wasn’t alone in finding this hard, but it repaid a bit of initial frustration with some excellent clues including the ‘Cut singers’, ‘Encouragement for revolting’ and the &lit ONANISTS to name a few. Favourite though was ‘America’s the greatest’ for MALI.
Thank you to Vlad and scchua
Thanks Vlad; I was fairly impaled by this, especially not knowing the lemon saying – I see it’s in Chambers, is it well-known?
Good blog scchua; no wonder I found this very hard as it wasn’t to easy for you. I, of course, started to look for characters in Emma, doh! I suppose rules are there to be broken, but I thought that having to find a homophone as a definition was generally thought to be a no-no.
I liked Judy Drench.
I can’t say I enjoyed this greatly. 24a I thought America was redundant. Everyone knows Ali was the greatest so adding America’s confused me for some time.
Huge thumbs up from me. Fantastic cluing and laughs(groans) aplenty. Great end to a very fine week at the Graun.
Thought I’d post today if only to boost those applauding Vlad’s brilliant and stylish offering. Yes it was very hard but nothing wrong with that when the payoffs are so satisfying. Wonderful. Too many brilliant clues to list them all but I have to single out DRENCH as a favourite of 2017.
To Conrad Cork:
Yes, it was Dorothy Parker.
This was really enjoyable and amusing. Quite hard to get going but well worth the initial effort. Favourite was 8d, nearly misled by Meryl, and also loved 25a and 14a.
Re: CASTRATI, I seem to remember reading or hearing that not only does the “procedure” stop the voice breaking, but also the lungs develop more to give a stronger voice. Something to do with puberty not kicking in so the body keeps growing.
Thanks to Vlad for a great puzzle and Scchua for a thorough blog.
Thanks to Vlad and scchua. Tough going for me. The LEMON phrase was new to me, I puzzled over the M in MALI, and ISAIAH defeated me.
Thoroughly enjoyed this almost as much as Spiderwoman’s the other day. I failed to parse 5 down; I had FORWARD for hawk-like and couldn’t figure out the ‘ING’ bit.
I thought adding America’s in 24 across made for a better surface.
Many thanks Vlad and scchua.
I can’t spell my own name!
Thanks for parsing FORWARDING which I couldn’t sort out.
I actually finished this one – very unusual for a Vlad. Re 22a:
There was an old loony of Lyme
Who married three wives at a time
When asked “why the third?”
He replied: “One’s absurd,
And BIGAMY, sir, is a CRIME!”
Just to balance out comments made earlier in the week, when oh when are we going to get a crossword on a Friday that can be fitted in between reading the film reviews and getting back to work? More thin gruel, please.
Also, in the Guardian of course Streep and Dench are both actors.
Bit of a slog although I often find that if I don’t start until the pm
5d and 24a were excellent. Spent ages on Jane Austen characters for Emma.I only got castrati instead of castrate and 25a just before coming here (in Fergy time as they say on MOTD)
Thanks to the Impaler and Scchua.
Vlad has matched the very high standards of the last three days – this was another entertaining challenge full of devious misdirection, perhaps a little easier than some of his previous ones. THE ANSWERS A LEMON was new to me but dropped out of the fodder easily enough once a few crossers were in place. DEARIE was last in.
Thanks to Vlad and scchua
A great puzzle from Vlad with the bonus that I managed to finish it, albeit with the odd check to move things along. Conrad@6 – it must have been an unpleasant medical appointment for the impaler to be a distraction!
I’m another who didn’t parse FORWARDING. I had lots of ticks with 14 & 17a and 4 & 21d getting double ticks – and America in 24a added to the misdirection so much that it was my LOI.
Many thanks to Vlad for the puzzle and scchua for making everything clear.
I very much agree with those who thought this was a really well-crafted puzzle. I am by no means ashamed to admit to having employed electronic assistance and that did not detract from my satisfaction at eventually completing the grid. The cluing was first-rate, if occasionally quite demanding, and my favourites were PERISHED, LADY HAMILTON, CASTRATI, ISAIAH, BIGAMY and CANARIES. My thanks and appreciation to Vlad and scchua.
Didn’t really do it for me this one. I had to ask ‘why this’ and ‘why that’ too often.
Yes, a great puzzle but gave up on ISIAIAH as I thought a clue had to be a real definition rather than a homophone; and on DEARIE. But a really good workout. Favourites were NUANCE, MALI, ONANISTS and CANARIES. Many thanks to Vlad and scchua.
No-one picked up on my reference to Meadowlark Lemon?
Some good stuff here but 17ac was ludicrous. A lot of over zealous compliments to the setter as usual.
Thought this was impressive throughout, 24 Across last one in…
i enjoyed that workout. i hadn’t heard of the lemon answer and he did me with dearie for ducks. good one though
muffin @ 26
I agree that it would be a strange coincidence if Meadowlark and Lemon were to appear in the same crossword unless an allusion to the former Harlem Globetrotters player was intended, but I know very little about the sport to try to find connections to other answers, although M. Ali was, obviously, another American sporting hero.
Quite difficult but rather good. It took me a while to get on to Vlad’s wavelength but I think I’ve more or less managed it. Some very nice cluing here and I only failed to parse MALI. Just couldn’t see it. I liked FORWARDING,PERISHED and DEARIE which was LOI.
Not a bad week really!
Thanks Vlad.
George @ 30
The only other one I remember was bald and called “Curly”!
This was very challenging; that’s more of a comment on me than on the crossword, but I still enjoyed it very much.
Am I alone in thinking that duck, rather than ducks, is a more usual equivalent of dearie – maybe there are geographical variations?
proper puzzle.
Couldn’t get DEARIE=ducks, which is a great idea.
Stonking week in Graunland.
Nice weekend, all and thanks to Vlad & scchua
Gary @33
I’ve heard both, with about equal frequency.
Thanks both.
Took me a few hours to finish but got there in the end. A very good challenging puzzle I thought.
Superb puzzle. My favourites were CLARET and DRENCH.
Now to Arachne and Picaroon. What a week.
Neil
Terrific though took rather a long time. Finally defeated by meadowlark and dearie. Stared and jiggled but just couldnyget them. Fair play to Vlad
Many thanks to scchua for the blog and to others who commented.
Didn’t really expect anyone to remember Meadowlark Lemon.
You would probably have been slaughtered for it, but 11 12 does seem to want desperately to be a definition for 13.
For me, this was as difficult as Arachne and Picaroon together.
[despite some quick early entries in the South]
Also very different from those two.
But Vlad is Vlad.
Challenging, ultimately doable, yes, a satisfying solve.
DEARIE last my one in with quite a misdirecting definition (and, as one lacking this kind of ‘experience’, can Ducks be singular?).
Fine end to a marvellous Guardian week.
Many thanks to S & B.
Another depressing DNF for me yesterday 🙁 (I don’t suppose people want to hear my moans, but so what!). DEARIE was the one that eluded me – very 1950s, that expression! Anyway, I’d hate to be addressed like that by a shopkeeper, nowadays!
Aside from that, stupendous work by the Impaler! A bit dubious about ISAIAH – is that a definitionless clue, anyone? I’m sure Ximmie would be preaching Armageddon if he saw that one!
Oh dear, yet another reference to the saintly Alessandro Moreschi (14ac)! We had a few, recently. Had to cross my legs anxiously once that one emerged! And neat misdirection with DRENCH (surely no-one pencilled in STREEP in that light?).
Aside from these, a nice low-key avian theme, I thought. Though MEADOWLARK is more US than UK, not hard to suss out.
Thanks Vlad and Scchua. Hope to finish the next Vlad that emerges from his castle!
Sil @41 – now that I see it, yes, “Ducks!” could be an interjection, a term of endearment, just like “Dearie!”. One might often be addressed that way by a shopkeeper in bygone days. So the definition is fine.
I thought this was a corker. BIGAMY seemed to ding a bell (great clue but has it been used before?). DRENCH, FORWARDING and CANARIES were my favourites among many great clues. Many thanks to both!
PS. I referred to something along these lines the other day, but I was pleased to see ‘Ducks’ used in a non-cricket context: I like it when setters break with the cliches.
I know it is late in the day (in US Eastern Standard Time, no less) on “the day after” — probably in the neighborhood of 48 hours since the puzzle was published — but I just finally got my LOI (DEARIE) and wanted to say how much I enjoyed this puzzle, even if I did end up walking around with it in my pocket for 2 days, trying to pick off a clue or two at a time (and even if posting a comment so long after the blog first went up, may be like the sound of one hand clapping).
I thought FORWARDING and DRENCH were both brilliant — and how clever was it of Vlad to be able to link, in one clue, two of the great acting legends of our time, one whose name with its “R” removed makes a common noun, the other whose name with an “R” inserted makes a common noun, *and the two common nouns are synonyms*?? Great stuff. I also enjoyed NUANCE and CANARIES, the many bird references in the clues and/or answers, and of course, a reappearance of one of The Three Most Important Rivers in Crosswordland — even if it didn’t get the usual “flower” treatment. And there were many other great clues as well (including the aforementioned DEARIE, once the penny finally dropped).
In retrospect I can’t believe I missed MEADOWLARK LEMON. (featherstonehaugh @40, I loved your comment about 11,12 as a definition for 13, and I hope this really was Vlad’s intention!) As an American, I had no familiarity with the idiomatic phrase in 11,12, and as the wordplay and crossers were making it plain that this must be the answer, I was wondering, could this really be a “thing”? Which of course, it turned out to be. It reminded me of the puzzle earlier this year where the phrase “Who ate all the pies” (equally unknown to me) was a combination answer in the grid. [Googling that one led me to videos of UK football crowds chanting/singing it at matches, and one of an obese and foul-mouthed comedian singing it in front of an audience — that performance is now unfortunately burned into my brain. But I digress.]
Many thanks to Vlad and scchua and other commenters.
I failed ISAIAH – never heard of ISA = Individual Savings Account, and could not parse 5d.
Many favourites – 11/12, 14a, 23, 4d, 1d, 15a,22a
Thanks Vlad and scchua
Even later: I loved this puzzle, though I could not parse forwarding or befallen. Thank you Vlad for the puzzle and scchua for explaining everything so meticulously!
Finally solved this over a week after it appeared (I blame Christmas – too much going on). We found it difficult ( then we find most of Friday’s crosswords difficult – perhaps we need to get the shopping – and the paper – on a different day?). Liked Nuance , Noodle & drench but thought Isaiah was a bit tricky – even though I know an Isaiah ( and a little girl called Isa as well).