Very happy to see a Quaiteaux on a Saturday slot and for me to get to blog it.
Though there are only a few puzzles by this setter, I remember them.
Typically they are not too hard and have clues whose answers can be clearly constructed from the wordplay.
That didn’t stop me slapping a couple of answers in wrong, in a rather hopeful fashion, throughout the solve.
There were about 10 clues to go after the first pass, mostly on the top left where 1a was a mystery and 1d I thought impossible with out some of the other answers. And so it proved: Though the clue didn’t cross refer to 10 and 7 it was insoluable without the anagram fodder provided by 23 – which was itself one of the trickier clues.
Last in, PARMESAN, was very satisfying once cracked. That’s got to count as a tough clue what with the anagram fodder being taken from a “&“
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | THEORY | Nothing divides the lines – that’s the idea (6) O (Nothing) between (divides) THE and RY (lines) |
| 4 | SMACKS | Blows kisses (6) Double Definition. First one in to give a useful clutch of first letters. |
| 9 | TRIUMPHANT | Run at it wildly, picking up speed and winning (10) MPH (speed) inside (RUN AT IT)* AInd: wildly. Top clue |
| 10 | PEER | Member of the Lords backtracking on record (4) RE (on) EP (reord) all reversed (backtracking) |
| 12 | APOSTATE | He no longer believes in a position Sartre oddly rejected A POST (a position) [s]A[r]T[r]E |
| 13/14 | PURSE ONES LIPS | Show disapproval, and put money where mouth is? (5,4,4) DD/CD Double Def. second one literal |
| 16 | PARMESAN | Cheese cut & grated (8) (AMPERSAN[d] )* AInd: grated. Last one in. Still had thinking to do after realising my mistake in 13d. |
| 19 | GUEST | One’s offered hospitality in rogue state (5) Hidden: roGUE STate |
| 21 | DIASPORA | Those living abroad get help returning, with first instalments of support payments of regular amounts (8) AID< (help, returning) first letters S P O R A from the last part of the clue |
| 23 | NETHER | Lower numbers (6) N and ETHER are each a number: N just from N[umber] and ETHER is the cryptic classic that makes you numb. I initially considered CATTLE when I had just the crossing T but the very next move gave me 15d which showed that this one couldn’t start with a C |
| 25 | AGIO | Finally, “Hi ho Silver” before the charge! (4) AG (silver) before [h]I [h]O I had to look this up: Agio is a fee charged for exchanging currencies |
| 26 | EVIL MINDED | Did men live sinfully, being intent on wrongdoing? (4,6) (DID MEN LIVE)* AInd: sinfully |
| 27/28 | PUT ONE ACROSS | Set theory was deceptive (3,3,6) PUT (set) ONE ACROSS (Theory, is the answer to 1 Across) |
| Down | ||
| 1 | THREE | 10 – 7 = 23? Head off in confusion (5) Definition is the solution to the expression 10 – 7 Answer to 23 is NETHER (qv) so ([n]ETHER)* in confusion |
| 2 | EQUATOR | Without question, a route should be organised as a central line (7) (A ROUTE Q[uestion])* AInd: organised |
| 3 | REPORTERS | Press on, having left the last trio of stragglers (9) RE (on) PORT (left) [straggl]ERS |
| 5 | MOTTO | Bottoms up, endlessly – that’s the watchword! (5) [b]OTTOM[s] < |
| 6/11 | CAPITAL LETTER | London landlord that’s facing sentence? (7,6) Charade: CAPITAL (London) LETTER (landlord) |
| 7 | SWEET SPOT | Steps we took (cancelling agreement) in order to find best contact place (5,4) (STEPS WE TOOK – OK)* AInd: in order |
| 8 | DA CAPO | Party embracing a limit on spending from the beginning (2,4) A CAP (a limit) inside DO (party). Musical term |
| 13 | PLAYING UP | No being cryptic and causing problems! (7,2) Answer as wordplay NO is ON (playing) reversed (up). I initially wrote in PUTTING UP. Not sure why now. |
| 15 | ERGONOMIC | For this reason lack of amplification is conducive to working (9) ERGO (For this reason) NO MIC (lack of amplification) |
| 17 | MISS OUT | Omit state (not Rhode Island) at beginning of trip (4,3) MISSOU[ri] (state, without R[hode] I[sland]) then T[rip] |
| 18 | NIACIN | Doctor, can I get the first pair to inject essential nutrient? (6) (CAN I )* AInd: Doctor, IN[ject]. As seen on the side of a packet of cornflakes |
| 20 | EAT INTO | Dropped dead while antidote was working? Bother! (2,4) (ANITDOTE – D[ead])* AInd: working |
| 22 | OCEAN | The main problem with canoe (5) (CANOE)* AInd: problem with |
| 24 | EVENS | Opposing odds when odds are extremely short (5) Double Def. I’m sure bookies can dream even worse odds |
Loved this. Finished, fully parsed, with several stand out clues I thought. For example, 9a, 16a, 27/28a, 3d and so on…
Didn’t know 8d or 25a but both were clearly clued. Did know DIASPORA but had to check what it meant.
My cat was on my lap whilst solving (as he often is) but didn’t prove helpful. When I asked if he could help with a difficult one, he just said “Me! ‘Ow”. I apologise for that.
He is now running around the house like a lunatic as cats do. Nobody knows why they do this. Given their startled expressions, I’m pretty sure they don’t either. Well, if you’ll excuse the terrible ‘homonym’, they do say cats are “fast idiots”. I’ll get my coat – cat’s already got his.
I loved it, too – the tricks were really good fun. Favourites were NETHER, PARMESAN (does that count as an indirect anagram? whatever), and PUT ONE ACROSS pick of the bunch
I didn’t get to the bottom of PLAYING UP, and left it to the end so that if the computer told me I’d finished I could pretend I hadn’t had to check it. It was obviously a reverse clue, but I couldn’t see playing as no up.
Thanks Quaiteaux, beermagnet
really enjoyed this. PUT ONE ACROSS was my last one in, what a satisfying way to end a puzzle. Lots of fun tricks without being OTT difficult
well done Quaiteaux and many thanks beermagnet
I didn’t quite get to the bottom of 13d either.
It took me a while to twig why PARMESAN was that, but then I realised the & had to be in the clue for a reason. That’s my clear favourite but there were lots of other goodies (like the lovely PUT ONE ACROSS) to enjoy too. And I did. Enjoy them, that is.
Many thanks Quaiteaux and beermagnet.
We found this challenging but not impossible and enjoyed many of the tricks. Favourite was PARMESAN, with 1ac, 1dn and 27/28 close behind. But we couldn’t parse 13dn and only got it right after getting 27/28. And we had to check in Chambers that AGIO was a word. One very minor quibble about the use of ‘on’ for ‘re’ twice (in 3 and 10).
Thanks, Quaiteaux and beermagnet.
For me, 1dn went the opposite way to our blogger. I guessed 1dn from the crossing letters, realised it was 10-7, and then was able to solve 23ac. Similarly, I got 1ac by solving 27/28.
Couldn’t parse 16ac, thanks for the explanation.
Took me a while to get started on this one, but then things stared fallin into place and I found myself filling in my last answer NIACIN in a few minutes under the half hour. Huge penny drop moment when I solved 27/28a and then wrote 1a in. Good fun. 23a and 1d were good too. Just followed the wordplay for 25a which I’d never heard of. Missed the parsing of 13d but it was the obvious answer. Liked CAPITAL LETTER. Thanks Quaiteaux and beermagnet.
Good fun tonight – thanks Quaiteaux.
Thanks beermagnet for the blog. We needed help parsing 16ac. Maybe if we had been more awake we would have wondered about the &. As it was, we were both hooked on AND being cut at the end so we couldn’t work out the PARMES bit at the beginning.
It was definitely a crossword of two halves today though – only two clues connecting the RHS and LHS. Thankfully it didn’t cause a problem tonight as two of the clues crossed the great divide!