Serpent slithers into the Saturday slot this week.
At first sight we were intrigued by the unusual grid with no less than eight three-letter words in the middle. We then realised that these and several other entries were paired symmetrically, we had to take our hats off to Serpent for the grid construction.
As we have come to expect from Serpent, the clues were all well constructed and a pleasure to solve – our only minor quibble is the inclusion of two apparently superfluous words in 35ac – unless we’ve missed something – it couldn’t be anything to do with the mayhem / chaos being caused by our PM could it?
| Across | ||
| 1 | Technology company appearing before United States Congress (6) | |
| COITUS | IT (technology) with CO (company) ‘appearing before’ US (United States) | |
| 5 | Hazardous energy company’s first to be limited by guarantee (8) | |
| INSECURE | E (energy) C (first letter of ‘company’) in or ‘limited by’ INSURE (guarantee) | |
| 9 | Lord endlessly describes archaeological project about ancestry (8) | |
| PEDIGREE | PEE |
|
| 10 | File newspaper article (6) | |
| COLUMN | Double definition | |
| 11 | Certain pundit used to get confused (10) | |
| UNDISPUTED | An anagram of PUNDIT USED – anagrind is ‘to get confused’ | |
| 12 | Long queue’s left to make way for parking (4) | |
| PINE | ||
| 13/21 | Tell like-minded fools to recite mind-numbing mantra (5,5) | |
| COUNT SHEEP | COUNT (tell) SHEEP (like-minded fools) | |
| 16/23 | Romeo’s first and last lines some mimic (6) | |
| PARROT | RO (first and last letters of ‘romeo’) in or ‘lining’ PART (some) | |
| 18/25 | Holding practice game breaches code of conduct (5,5) | |
| HOUSE RULES | USE (practice) RU (rugby union – game) ‘held by’ HOLES (breaches) | |
| 19/20 | Imagine writer had worried endlessly (6) | |
| IDEATE | I’D (writer had) EATE |
|
| 21 | See 13 | |
| 23 | See 16 | |
| 25 | See 18 | |
| 29 | Show off little black dress that’s seen better days? (4) | |
| BRAG | B (‘little’ black) RAG (‘dress that’s seen better days’) | |
| 30 | Criminal cut lead off Paddington’s cladding (6,4) | |
| DUFFEL COAT | An anagram of CUT LEAD OFF – anagrind is ‘criminaI’ | |
| 32 | This leads to experience identical to draught Guinness when pouring (6) | |
| WIDGET | Cryptic definition – An anagram of the first letters or ‘leads’ to Experience Identical To Draught Guiness When – anagrind is ‘pouring’ | |
| 33/2 | Can late action transform what contributes to sea level? (8,5) | |
| ATLANTIC OCEAN | An anagram of CAN LATE ACTION – anagrind is ‘transform’ | |
| 34 | Depicted red deer roaming around the East End of London (8) | |
| RENDERED | An anagram of RED DEER (anagrind is ‘roaming’) round N (Last letter or ‘east End’ of ‘London’) | |
| 35 | Chaos could produce new border (6) | |
| MAYHEM | MAY (could) HEM (border) – we’re not sure about the inclusion of ‘produce new’ here | |
| Down | ||
| 2 | See 33 Across | |
| 3 | Idiot claiming university charged something for teaching (7) | |
| TUITION | TIT (idiot) round or ‘claiming’ U (university) ION (‘charged something’) | |
| 4/27 | Director tips off member of production team (6,6) | |
| SCRIPT EDITOR | An anagram of DIRECTOR TIPS – anagrind is ‘off’ | |
| 5 | Reluctance to move home upset irate neighbours (7) | |
| INERTIA | IN (home) ‘neighboured’ by an anagram of IRATE – anagrind is ‘upset’ | |
| 6 | Get guards returning last month to part company (6) | |
| SECEDE | SEE (get, as in ‘understand’) round or ‘guarding’ DEC (last month) reversed or ‘returning’ | |
| 7 | Fiddle plays stripped-down rock ballad (7) | |
| CALYPSO | An anagram of PLAYS and |
|
| 8 | Tell anecdote about stealing car protected by computer key (9) | |
| REMINISCE | RE (about) round or ‘stealing’ MINI (car) in or ‘protected by’ ESC (computer key) | |
| 14/22 | He agrees to wedding being re-arranged, leaving one date unavailable (9,7) | |
| OTHERWISE ENGAGED | An anagram of HE AGREES TO WED |
|
| 15/16 | One acknowledges waiting lorry (6) | |
| TIPPER | Someone who tips or ‘acknowledges’ a waiter could be described as a TIPPER | |
| 17/18 | Quite a bit sooner (6) | |
| RATHER | Double definition | |
| 22 | See 14 | |
| 24 | Casual worker depressed by not working (7) | |
| OFFHAND | HAND (worker) after or ‘depressed by’ OFF (not working) | |
| 26 | Strange ladies perhaps stuffing headless rabbit (7) | |
| UNCANNY | CAN (toilet – ‘ladies perhaps’) in or ‘stuffing’ |
|
| 27 | See 4 | |
| 28 | Broadcast about doubtful case for asylum (6) | |
| BEDLAM | BEAM (broadcast) round DL (first and last letters or ’case’ of ‘doubtful’) | |
| 31 | Speech for audience is vital thing to have on record (5) | |
| ASIDE | The A-SIDE of a record is the more commercial side – ‘vital’ to the success of the record | |
I think 35a is fine. HEM as a verb can mean “produce new border”.
Serpent never fails to impress me with his ingenuity and masterfully constructed surfaces. My favourite was WIDGET, which I first thought was just a cryptic definition and then saw the anagram.
Nearly didn’t finish with 31d taking me some time to get but all done without aids. Thoroughly enjoyed it. I doubt I’ll feel the same about today’s Guardian which I’m looking forward to trying but with a touch of dread.
Thanks to Serpent and Bertandjoyce.
Great puzzle with 1a a real zinger to kick things off. Very interesting and impressive gridfill.
Many thanks to Serpent, B&J
Yes, a great puzzle, although quite a lot of thought needed for some clues. All those linked clues in the middle of the grid were a bit tricky – talking of which we parsed 17/18 as a triple definition seing ‘quite’ and ‘a bit’ as each equivalent to ‘rather’.
The SW quadrant was the last to fall; eventually we realised 14/22 was an anagram and what the anagram fodder was, then everything else fell into place. But we only saw WIDGET as a cryptic definition; BRAG was brilliant, though.
Thanks, Serpent and B&J.
Utterly brilliant. It took a while to get my furry head around all the linkages but then I got into it.
COITUS is, as Baer says, a real zinger, and I also laughed at the B RAG, enjoyed the TUITION and really liked INERTIA. My last in was ASIDE.
I won’t tell you how long I spent wondering if UNLOONY could possibly be a word (26d).
Doubtful case = DL (BEDLAM) and the plural anagram fodder in ATLANTIC OCEAN struck me as unserpentine and so were a surprise, though I’m happy with both. Was also surprised by WIDGET’s anagram of an acrostic (which I very nearly missed) – very sneaky!
Many thanks Serpent and Bertandjoyce.
Terrific puzzle with some really ingenious cluing. The middle cluster of three letter words held out till the end. 14,22 is the best clue I’ve seen in ages. Great stuff Serpent!
….and thanks,of course,to Bertandjoyce.
In the end, 32ac defeated me. I’d forgotten the beer meaning of WIDGET.
After a day at the Cambridge Folk Festival [did I say Folk?] plus a lovely walk today in The Brecks (near Thetford), I went back to crosswords and, once more, Serpent didn’t disappoint.
Like Dormouse, I didn’t finish – for the same reason he gave.
Whilst solving I did question the ‘neighbours’ device in 5d as all my neighbours [well, I actually have only one] live next to me and not above or below me.
On second thoughts, it’s allright (and also in a Down clue, which was actually my point) – France and Belgium are neighbouring countries, aren’t they?
Many thanks to Bertandjoyce & Serpent.
Sil @ 8: (in addition to your second thoughts): if you live in a tower block your neighbours could well be above and/or below.
I know, Simon, but I never had that kind of feeling …
Many thanks to Bertandjoyce and to everyone who has been kind enough to comment. I can confirm that RATHER was intended to be a triple definition, as allan_c @3 suggested.
I’ll be with you again in a couple of weeks…