This week’s Thursday slot has been occupied by Punk, whose work I rarely have the opportunity to blog.
I found this puzzle very challenging and in the end had to resort to the internet to find the entries at 5 and 14, both of which were unfamiliar to me; and to the dictionary to find (the self-referential?!) 20 and 28. And I needed to work really hard even to arrive at four clues left to solve! The grid, in providing fewer first letters than many other grids do, doubtless had a hand in cranking up the difficulty level.
Difficulty aside, I thoroughly enjoyed being challenged in this way, despite having to admit defeat in the end. My favourite clues today were 11, for surface, and 12, for its fun factor and French content. Incidentally, there seemed to be a generous sprinkling of homophone clues in this particular Punk – purely unintentional, I suppose.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 08 | EVILDOER | Scoundrel I loved is unreliable? Let me think
*(I LOVED) + ER (=let me think, i.e. sign of hesitation); “is unreliable” is anagram indicator |
| 09 | BARREN | Unable to produce young nobleman, so to speak?
Homophone (“so to speak”) of “baron (=nobleman)” |
| 10 | FU MANCHU | Asian villain having much fun with a criminal
*(MUCH FUN + A); “criminal” is anagram indicator; Fu Manchu is a fictional villain in novels by Sax Rohmer |
| 11 | PAUNCH | Strike consuming a corporation
A in PUNCH (=strike, hit); a corporation here is a pot-belly, hence paunch |
| 13 | RUN-UP | Approach ladder – one way to go on it?
RUN (=ladder, in e.g. stocking) + UP (=one way to go on it, i.e. up or down) |
| 14 | RHODESIAN | Old African went on concealing heroin, as in pants
[H (=heroin) in RODE (=went on, e.g. a horse)] + *(AS IN); “pants” is anagram indicator |
| 16 | TEAR UP | Destroy sheep munching corn
EAR (=corn, i.e. part containing the seeds) in TUP (=sheep) |
| 17 | LASSIE | Dog star, animal in myth
ASS (=animal) in LIE (=myth, fabrication); the reference is to a fictional collie called Lassie, originally created by Eric Knight and the star of numerous books, TV shows and films |
| 21 | SMALL-TOWN | In America, provincial street keeping shopping centre private
[MALL (=shopping centre) in ST (=street, i.e. abbreviation)] + OWN (=private, personal) |
| 24 | AT HOME | In a doubter, not as sure in conclusion
A + THOM<as> (=doubter, i.e. a doubting Thomas, from the Bible; “not as” means the letters “as” are dropped) + <sur>E (“in conclusion” means last letter only) |
| 25 | DECANTER | Month before start of refit for vessel
DEC (=month, i.e. December) + ANTE (=before, as prefix) + R<efit> (“start of” means first letter only) |
| 27 | ERRAND | Sovereign, money for job
ER (=sovereign, i.e. Elizabeth Regina) + RAND (=money, in South Africa) |
| 28 | DIASTOLE | Great deal spoken about rifle’s ultimate pump action?
DIASTOL (LOT=great deal + SAID=spoken; “about” indicates reversal) + <rifl>E (“ultimate” means last letter only); diastole is dilatation of the heart, hence “pump action” |
| Down | ||
| 01/23 | WELFARE STATE | Free at last, we built the foundation of a caring society
*(FREE AT LAST WE); “built” is anagram indication |
| 02 | DIAMANTE | Punk is dressed by poet in glittering fabric
I AM (=Punk – i.e. the compiler – is) in DANTE (=poet, of Inferno fame) |
| 04 | WETHERSPOON | Sloppy kiss inspires her local success
HER in [WET (=sloppy) + SPOON (=kiss, in slang)]; the reference is to the successful chain of high-street pubs |
| 05 | PARACELSUS | Fool’s written up translation of secular parts for alchemist
*(SECULAR) in PAS (SAP=fool; “written up” indicates vertical reversal); the reference is to the Swiss physician and alchemist Paracelsus (1493/4-1541) |
| 06 | BRUNEI | Sultanate where tea is about to be served, did you say?
Homophone (“did you say?”) of “brew (=tea) + nigh (=about to be served)” |
| 07/03 | ANTHONY EDEN | PM annoyed with the hopeless situation, finally
*(ANNOYED + THE) + <situatio>N (“finally” means last letter only); “hopeless” is anagram indication; the reference is to former UK Prime Minister Anthony Eden (1897-1977) |
| 12 | BOULANGERIE | Retailer in pain has to verbally express contempt for intimate habits?
Homophone (“verbally”) of “boo (=express contempt) + lingerie (=intimate habits, i.e. underwear)”; the “pain” of the definition is the French word for bread, as sold in a boulangerie! |
| 14 | PORT LYMPNE | English reserve in political heavyweight, one lacking leadership
(a) PORTLY MP (=political heavyweight, cryptically!) + <o>NE (“lacking leadership” means first letter is dropped); the Park Lympne Reserve is an animal park in Kent |
| 18 | INACTION | Lack of movement just north of Chiswick around one
I (=one) in IN ACTON (=just north of Chiswick) |
| 19 | ASHAMED | Was obliged to lock me up, when previously guilty
AS (=when) + [ME in HAD (=was obliged)] |
| 20 | BEARDED | Say what has made this drinker fat – and hairy?
Homophone (“say”) of “beer did (=what has made this drinker fat)” |
| 22 | ASHORE | A playwright reported on land
A + homophone (“reported”) of “Shaw (=playwright, i.e. GBS)” |
| 26 | ALSO | A group of musicians on top
A + LSO (=group of musicians, i.e. London Symphony Orchestra) |
5 and 14 were OK with me but slipped on a nana with 12not recognising “pain”. Sneaky but cant help admiring it (especially as I’m reading Zola).And I got snagged with WET(HER)SPOON-unforgiveable for me.
But with 14-I’d like VAR.
Good puzzle, but defeated me and I ended up failing on three answers including the ‘English reserve’ which I’d never heard of.
I liked ‘brew nigh’, the ‘Retailer in pain’ and the misdirection of ‘Dog star’.
Thanks to Punk and RR
I know the definition of obscure is ‘anything you haven’t heard of’ but PORT LYMPNE? Really?
Quite a challenge but I got there in the end.
If you have a dinosaur-mad grandson like me, then in addition to the visiting all the lovely animals to be found at Port Lympne, there is a wonderful dinosaur trail too with ‘life-size’ models. (The solution to this in the blog shows PARK rather than PORT)
Thanks to Punk for the brain stretching and RR for the explanations
Thank you for pointing out the typo in the blog, crypticsue – now corrected!
At least 5dn was a write-in for me. He turned up as a character on the fun TV show Warehouse 13 a few years ago, but I’d heard of him long before that. As to the rest, however, I had to cheat to get the last half dozen, but I didn’t help myself by entering INACTIVE in 18dn.
Obviously not on Punk’s wavelength – gave up after Chambers Word Wizard failed to find anything for 4, 12 and 14, leaving us with a handful of others incomplete too.
Also failed to complete, incl BOULANGERIE, very clever, annoyed I didn’t get it, and naturally PORT LYMPNE, though no complaints.
Thanks to Punk for some really testing stuff and to RakojaRiku for fine blog in testing situation.
I thought this was incredibly difficult and as I went to bed last night having failed to complete I was planning what my post was going to say, something along the lines of ‘Thank goodness I wasn’t blogging this one, for I’d have been rather rude about it. I have the highest regard for Punk as a setter, but on this occasion he has gone too far …’, and then listing all the clues which illustrated this.
Fortunately a night’s sleep stopped me from doing that. Now I look at the blog, in many cases it’s a fair cop: I just wasn’t clever enough to see the answers, some of them quite simple, like 26dn (I was fixated on ALPO and APEX and ACME), and some of them very good, like 20dn. But in 4dn isn’t it a bit of a stretch to expect overseas solvers to know about British pub chains? And isn’t it a bit unfair to require knowledge of a French word (which according to Collins and Chambers hasn’t made it into English) without indicating that it is French? I don’t know why I’m so concerned about overseas solvers, but perhaps it’s a feeling that a crossword should be universally accessible. How many outside London and overseas can fairly be expected to know that Acton is just north of Chiswick (quite apart from the grammatical fact — some would call it a solecism committed by the setter — that ‘in Acton’ isn’t just north of Chiswick; Acton is)?