The puzzle can be found here.
Jason is a frustrating compiler, in my opinion, because when he’s good, he’s very good (clues such as 10ac, 9d and 14d, for example), but he always seems to include a few clues that I find a little off – examples today would be 4ac and 28ac. I’m also uncomfortable with the abbreviation used in 24dn.
Thanks, Jason
| Across | ||
| 1 | SPARSE | Far from dense son to analyse clue, say (6) |
| S(on) + PARSE (“to analyse clue, say”) | ||
| 4 | COMPOSER | He scores recycling bin after emptying tons (8) |
| COMPOS(t)ER (“recycling bin”, with no T (“tons” emptied))
Is a composter and a recycling bin the same thing? |
||
| 10 | PORCELAIN | China in place or out of place? (9) |
| *(in place or) | ||
| 11 | ANTIC | French abandoning mad lark (5) |
| (fr)ANTIC (“mad”, with FR(ench) abandoned) | ||
| 12 | LIP | Sauce spout (3) |
| Double definition | ||
| 13 | IMPORTANCE | Top Crimean flip-flopping power (10) |
| *(top crimean) | ||
| 15 | ENAMOUR | Bushy hair brushed back – our delight (7) |
| MANE (“bushy hair”) + OUR | ||
| 16 | LOUNGE | Thrust round old gathering spot for lizards? (6) |
| LUNGE (“thrust”) round O(ld) | ||
| 19 | SELFIE | Small brownie that is making photo (6) |
| S(mall) + ELF (“brownie”) + I.E. (“that is”) | ||
| 21 | TANGELO | Starting to tempt spirit of half hybrid (7) |
| T(empt) + ANGEL (“spirit”) + O(f) (half of “of”) | ||
| 23 | ON THE TABLE | Where cutlery may be is up for discussion (2,3,5) |
| Double definition | ||
| 25 | AFT | Behind our paper on article (3) |
| F.T. (“our paper”) on A (“article”) | ||
| 27 | CANOE | One paddles in this ocean surprisingly (5) |
| *(ocean) | ||
| 28 | PRECIPICE | Recipe with pic strangely making you gorge (9) |
| *(recipe pic)
I don’t like this clue – a gorge may have a precipice, but I don’t think the two words are synonymous. Also, the “you” is superfluous (necessary for the surface reading, but that in itself does not justify its inclusion). |
||
| 29 | DECANTER | Does picking up tilt bottle? (8) |
| DEER (“does”) picking up CANT (“tilt”) | ||
| 30 | WALRUS | Legislation about what’s on Russian cars – an Arctic beast (6) |
| <=LAW (“legislation”, about) + RUS (international car registration letters for Russia, so “what’s on Russian cars”) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SUPPLIES | Down with p-pork pies in stores (8) |
| SUP (“down”) + P + LIES (“pork pies”) | ||
| 2 | AEROPLANE | Open a real easy crate? (9) |
| *(open a real) | ||
| 3 | SHED | Get rid of Slough (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 5 | OWN GOAL | Keep end in Pyrrhic victory, say (3,4) |
| OWN (“keep”) + GOAL (“end”) | ||
| 6 | PLAY TRUANT | Avoid aunt partly upset (4,6) |
| *(aunt partly) | ||
| 7 | SATIN | Plonked among glossy material (5) |
| SAT (“plonked”) + IN (“among”) | ||
| 8 | ROCKER | One finds no crank on this chair (6) |
| Double definition | ||
| 9 | FARMER | Fellow developing mare, right? (6) |
| F(ellow) + *(mare) + R(ight) | ||
| 14 | COFFEE BEAN | This ground could be the source of stimulating stuff (6,4) |
| Cryptic definition – a coffee bean, once ground, makes coffee (“stimulating stuff”) | ||
| 17 | GRENADIER | E’er daring, happily I pulled the pin on mine (9) |
| *(eer daring) | ||
| 18 | FORTRESS | Military stronghold in favour of lock (8) |
| FOR (“in favour of”) + TRESS (“lock”) | ||
| 20 | EXAMPLE | Test pressure on the French precedent (7) |
| EXAM (“test”) + P(ressure) on LE (“the” in French) | ||
| 21 | TILLER | Who fixes the roof with extra line for turning handle? (6) |
| TILER (“who fixes the roof”) with an extra L(ine) | ||
| 22 | VOICED | Asserted nothing in failing Democrat (6) |
| O (“nothing”) in VICE (“failing”) + D(emocrat) | ||
| 24 | TUNIC | Cask, one with coloured top (5) |
| TUN (“cask”) + I (“one”) + C(oloured)
Hadn’t come across “coloured” for C before, but my Chambers indicates it is (was?) a South African abbreviation – if that’s the case, I don’t want to see it used. |
||
| 26 | VISA | Pass is in Virginia (4) |
| IS in Va. (“Virginia”) | ||
*anagram
Nice enough puzzle and I share your verdict of Jason’s clueing in general, loonapick.
IMO, ‘making you’ in 28ac is all right. We had discussions on it years and years ago in which I had to be convinced (which wasn’t easy). Think of ‘mother is making you tea’.
I cannot see how ‘Pyrrhic victory, say’ is some kind of definition for OWN GOAL (5d).
I didn’t think about C as a stand-alone abbreviation for ‘coloured’ but thought Jason might have done some double duty here [‘coloured top’ = C]. As I don’t like double duty (and certainly not as presented here) and knowing that Chambers supports the C abbreviation, I am sort of OK with it. It serves the surface well, doesn’t it?
Thanks Jason and Loonapick. In 2ac, a composter is a recycler for organic matter so I think its OK. Typo: 21d is TILLER.
Rather new at this, so I’ll keep it short and deferential, but I believe you have a typo in your answer for 21d. Given your parsing, did you perhaps mean “tiller”.
Thanks for spotting my now-mandatory typo!! – now amended
Thanks Jason and Loonapick for the excellent blog.
I tend to agree with your general comments on the puzzle.
Enjoyed this, though slightly mystified by the crank/rocker story, maybe I should have spent my youth differently.
Like Sil, I didn’t quite think of a Pyrrhic victory as an own goal, which isn’t really a victory at all except for the other side.
I was happy with ‘making you’ as a link, it does get used regularly, but I agree a precipice could be part of but is not a gorge.
C for coloured is seen ocassionally since it is listed in chambers and can be tempting to use – I agree entirely with loonapick’s sentiments.
However the puzzle was fun, worked my way through it steadily and it entertained throughout. I liked “gathering spot for lizards”
Many thanks Jason and loonapick
Thanks to Jason and loonapick. For once I managed to parse everything, even COMPOS(T)ER, and PLAY TRUANT was my LOI. Very enjoyable.
Thanks Jason & loonapick.
Could you explain the parsing of 17 down, please?
psmith @8, as loonapick makes clear it is an anagram [happily] of E’ER DARING.
The definition is “I pulled the pin on mine”, since a ‘grenadier’ can be a soldier equipped with grenades (‘mines’). That said, the wording of the definition is slightly clumsy, isn’t it, but what I do not like more is the use of the past tense (‘pulled’). I think, many setters often use the past tense when it really should be the present tense (or the -ing form of a verb [n/a here]), or when they mean to use the past participle of a verb.
Thanks Sil.
My confusion was in not realising that mine meant grenade.
Perhaps the addition of ellipses would indicate that the action of pulling the pin had unhappy consequences for the grenadier …
Thanks Jason and loonapick
A sometimes quirky setter, but one in which you can be reasonably confident that your answers will be correct – just that some of them have an odd definition to deal with. Didn’t have as big an issue with the couple that were mentioned as I did with the Pyrrhic victory from an OWN GOAL. Hadn’t seen a ‘mine’ and a ‘grenade’ being used synonymously before either.
Was a quicker solve than his previous puzzle, finishing in the NW corner with PORCELAIN and FARMER as the last couple in.