I was panicking a bit to begin with, because on scanning the clues I couldn’t do any of them for a while. Then a few fell and it was all easy enough, a pleasant offering from Knut today. There were one or two small things I was a bit uncomfortable with, as indicated below, but on the whole it was good.
Definitions underlined, in maroon. Anagram indicators in italics.
It looks as if it’s going to be a pangram, because there are quite a few unusual letters, but I can’t see a Z. Or a J for that matter. But anything more substantial?
| Across | ||
| 1 | STATELY HOMES | More than one House of Lords soliloquy’s beginning: “Let Tom Hayes go free” (7,5) |
| s{oliloquy} (Let Tom Hayes)* | ||
| 10 | TOM DICK AND HARRY | Whittington, chasing cat, ran hard all over the place with unknown, random blokes (3,4,3,5) |
| Tom [= cat] Dick [= Whittington] (ran hard)* y [= unknown] | ||
| 11 | RARELY | Bloody lavatory emptied once in a blue moon (6) |
| rare [as in the rare cooking of a steak] l{avator}y | ||
| 12 | AVOWABLE | I could swear it‘s a Volkswagen, empty, going round Elba (8) |
| a V(0)W (Elba)rev. — neither Chambers nor Collins gives much help, saying simply that this is an adjective formed from ‘avow’, so what it actually means I’m not sure; something like this I suppose. | ||
| 14 | YELLOW CARD | New York taxi driver’s first caution (6,4) |
| yellow car d{river} — well a New York taxi is yellow, but is ‘yellow car’ anything more than a description? Caution as in football etc. | ||
| 15 | IDES | 13th or 15th? That is before time (4) |
| id es{t} | ||
| 17 | ARCH | Being mischievous, skipping first half of study (4) |
| {rese}arch — but arch = mischievous; how does it equal being mischievous? | ||
| 19 | PINA COLADA | A bit of syrup in a cola daiquiri (a rum cocktail) (4,6) |
| Hidden in syruP IN A COLA DAiquiri | ||
| 22 | IN NO TIME | It’s pub-o’clock; get a round in, sharpish! (2,2,4) |
| inn-(O)time — pub o’clock and inn-time are fanciful definitions of the same thing | ||
| 23 | BEMOCK | Take the Mickey out of British comeback kid at first (6) |
| B (come)rev. k{id} — which Collins says is equal to mock and is used rarely — not everyone would be happy with comeback = come back | ||
| 25 | LEADING QUESTION | A starter for 10 likely to be ruled out of court? (7,8) |
| 2 defs, one of them referring to University Challenge, the other referring to a law court | ||
| 26 | TRENDSETTING | Retirement finally, Roger, stop compiling crosswords, giving others inspiration! (12) |
| Retiremen{t} R ‘end setting’ — not quite sure how R = Roger — maybe something from signalling, but in neither Chambers nor Collins | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | TUMBREL | Acrobat ends with somersault into wagon (7) |
| tumbler with its last three letters somersaulting and becoming rel | ||
| 3 | TRILLION | Huge number working to support Turkey, Italy turn up sick (8) |
| Tr I (ill)rev. on | ||
| 4 | LIKE | Admire Liberal 50s President (4) |
| L Ike — Eisenhower was known as Ike | ||
| 5 | HANOVERIAN | From a noble family – a Chinese dynasty – superior to Scotsman (10) |
| Han [the dynasty] over Ian | ||
| 6 | MOHAWK | Whoa … strangely into Mark’s ridiculous hairstyle (6) |
| (Whoa)* in Mk — as in Mark II, referring to cars etc | ||
| 7 | SCRIBED | Sun copy editor put pen to paper (7) |
| S crib ed | ||
| 8 | STORMY DANIELS | “Don is masterly when aroused” – actress (6,7) |
| (Don is masterly)* — with a bit of &littism, since the reference is to Donald Trump | ||
| 9 | CYBERSTALKING | Crystal Maze screening live piece, illegally transmitting online (13) |
| be [= live] in (Crystal)* king [a piece in chess] | ||
| 13 | SCRIMMAGED | Two Frenchmen in disgrace, sent off having participated in brawl (10) |
| MM in (disgrace)* | ||
| 16 | SOMERSET | Where cider is drunk, luring in Liverpool banker endlessly (8) |
| so(Merse{y})t — banker = river, the crosswordland staple | ||
| 18 | CINEAST | Film actors entertaining fashionable eastern movie buff (7) |
| c(in E)ast | ||
| 20 | AEOLIAN | Jane, Molly, Ida, Ena regularly getting out of the wind (7) |
| {J}a{n}e {M}o{l}l{y} I{d}a {E}n{a} | ||
| 21 | STRIKE | Hit Sierra, then three-wheeler (6) |
| S trike | ||
| 24 | DUKE | Nobleman expected to receive his king (4) |
| du(K)e | ||
*anagram
Thanks John and Knut.
There are some extraordinary clues here in this gem of a puzzle.
Finding that anagram in 1 across, for instance, giving the rallying cry of a cause celebre de nos jours – one that many of us endorse.
Then the cheeky hint in 8 down, knowing that in our world Don is only one person!
And the poignant valediction to Rufus in 26 across.
My children say ‘awesome’ rather a lot, but today I am saying it too.
Fun, cheeky and topical – just what you expect from Knut I really enjoyment myself throughout so a big thank you to him and to John for the explanations
What with Julius in the FT this was almost like two buses arriving at the same time.
But this had a serious message underneath and very much appreciated.
Thanks Knut and John.
Thanks, John
I’ve been out since before the blog was posted but I just have to endorse every single thing that Conrad says @1.
The splendid 1ac will be squeezed onto the first page of my little book of absolute classics – what a spot! – and I do hope Rufus has seen the lovely 25ac.
Huge thanks, as ever, Knut – bravissimo! [And now I find that there’s a Julius, too – my cup runneth over.]
Thanks Knut, John
Ditto, generally. In addition to the headliners, I really liked RARELY and YELLOW CARD.
A most enjoyable puzzle. It’s all been said! Thanks Knut and John.
I think being in 17ac isn’t part of the definition, just a description of what you get if you skip the first half of study.
Probably too late to get a response but I can’t see how to get the o inside the VW.
Thank Knut and John.
Thanks for the blog, John, and to those who have commented.
@xjpotter…the O between the V and the W is intended to suggest that the VW is carrying nothing; ie empty.
I’d be a liar if I said I was totally confident that Eimi wouldn’t reject it…
best wishes to all, Rob/Knut
Xjpotter@7 I’m guessing empty=contains nothing or 0.
I very much enjoyed this, all the more because no need for dictionary or google. Clues i really liked include 11a, 19a, 26a, and 8d. plenty more actually.
Many thanks Knut – haven’t finished today’s julius yet. And thanks John
Just spotted this after dinner, and couldn’t possibly miss out on a Knut. Liked the cider clue, my usual tipple as you well know, Rob.
A nice steady enjoyable and fairly quick solve for us. First thing spotted was 26ac and we thought it might be something to do with Rufus – well thought out, Knut. Too many superb clues to nominate a CoD.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
Splendid crossword – just like today’s Julius in the FT. We didn’t need both of them to outshine Imogen.
There were two clues that didn’t fully convince me [by the way, I am not picky and bringing the puzzle down, Knut knows already that they didn’t convince me].
12ac doesn’t work for me because of the definition being more allusive than given in the right part of speech. Also the anagram indicator ‘going round’ positioned before the fodder feels slightly uncomfortable.
And in 24d I do not understand why Knut uses ‘his’, apart perhaps for the surface – but the surface should never come first, IMO.
Meanwhile, 1ac is fantastic and makes clear that Knut was perhaps on a mission. Lots of other clues are topnotch but I wouldn’t have minded to have a theme today ….
17A ARCH – is an adjective to describe a knowing, possibly self-important, eyebrows-raised, “I know better than you”, look. I thought R for Roger referred to one of those shorthand communication letter, but of course that’s R for Romeo.
Great entertainment here.
Thanks to Knut and John.