Knut often seems to get me, which at least from my point of view is no problem at all, because as usual this is a pleasant and well-constructed puzzle. There are one or two clues which I’m a little vague about, as outlined below, but no doubt they will be explained and it will all be quite obvious.
Definitions underlined, in maroon. Anagram indicators in italics.
There seem to be some references to Are You Being Served, since there is a Captain Peacock and that chap with a 70s haircut used to wear kipper ties (was the actor’s name Scott?), elastic comes into it, and I expect there was a Major Someone in the cast of characters. I could look it up and would get a few more references than these, but I’ll leave that to you.
Alternatively it’s something about the board game Cluedo, which I think has characters called Scarlet and Peacock, but there are other characters not mentioned here so I’m not sure.
[As has been immediately pointed out in the comments it’s a whole lot of Captains: Captain Peacock, Captain America, Captain Sensible… Now how did I miss that?]
| Across | ||
| 1 | CAPTAIN | Blow up? It can with dad back in a position of authority! (7) |
| (it can)* with (pa)rev. in it | ||
| 5 | PEACOCK | A quick kiss, embracing a firm, gorgeous bird (7) |
| pe(a co)ck — I got the a’s wrong and was initially wondering if there was a bird called an apecock | ||
| 10 | NEMO | In terms of regular features, he plumbed the depths (4) |
| {I}n {t}e{r}m{s} o{f} — well-disguised and it defeated me — got Nemo (Captain Nemo of 20000 Leagues Under the Sea) but couldn’t see why | ||
| 11 | SQUARE DEAL | Teddy’s big idea: turn informer about a Communist (6,4) |
| squ(a red)eal — Teddy’s big idea was the Square Deal of President Theodore Roosevelt | ||
| 12 | KIPPER | One smoked plenty of them here untipped (6) |
| I couldn’t really see this and still am not all that sure: ‘them here’ refers to One, or 1ac, so you have skippers, and if that word is untipped you have ‘kipper’ — at least that’s what it seems, but I’m not all that comfortable with ‘them here’ referring to a word in the definition in this way [Well if I’d been able to see the theme, which is that many of the answers are Captains, then all would have made perfect sense: ‘plenty of them here’ = skippers — thanks crypicsue@1 and no doubt there will be a few more] | ||
| 13 | SENSIBLE | Reasonable review of Ibsen’s leading characters in Little Eyolf (8) |
| (Ibsen’s)* L{ittle} E{yolf} — Little Eyolf is a play by Ibsen just to make it all that much neater | ||
| 14 | FANTASTIC | Out of favour, Spanish king’s daughter given endless criticism – incredible! (9) |
| {in}fanta stic{k} | ||
| 16 | SCOTT | Explorer very dry, having packed cape (5) |
| s(C)o TT | ||
| 17 | WEIRD | You and I would welcome the Inland Revenue; that’s unusual! (5) |
| we'(IR)d | ||
| 19 | STOP PRESS | Special time to clamp down on breaking news? (4,5) |
| S t oppress | ||
| 23 | HASTINGS | Crones blocking way in battleground (8) |
| ha(st in)gs — I suppose ‘block’ can mean either ‘go round the outside of’ or ‘clog up by being in the middle of’ and although my mind naturally goes to the latter, it’s the former that’s used here | ||
| 24 | REMARK | Observation on gospel (6) |
| re Mark — Matthew, Mark, Luke and John | ||
| 26 | ST CLEMENTS | Scent smelt unusually suggestive of citrus fruit? (2,8) |
| (Scent smelt)* — is it suggestive of citrus fruit because of ‘Oranges and lemons/Say the bells of St Clement’s’ or because of clementines? Not sure which, perhaps both. | ||
| 27 | JACK | Raise the standard, boy! (4) |
| 3 defs | ||
| 28 | SCARLET | Will break up cartels (7) |
| (cartels)* — ref Will Scarlet of Robin Hood’s Merry Men | ||
| 29 | SPARROW | Bird-box argy-bargy (7) |
| spar row — the fact that it’s bird-box and not bird — box or bird box is something that will not appeal to Ximeneans, but this device is occasionally used in the Indy crossword and personally I’m easy about it | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | AMERICA | Superpower liberating Crimea peninsula finally (7) |
| (Crimea)* {peninsul}a | ||
| 3 | TROOP | Turkey dung tipped over host (5) |
| Tr (poo)rev. | ||
| 4 | INSURES | Covers batting square, upsetting game Essex openers (7) |
| in [= batting] s (RU)rev. ES{sex} — lots of cricket references here, which don’t seem to meld into a coherent whole — and also if you’re going to say ‘openers’, then how many of the opening letters of the word are you using? ‘Openers’ usually to my mind refers to the opening letters of separate words. | ||
| 6 | ERRANT | Rambling diatribe from Her Majesty (6) |
| ER rant, the ‘from’ being equivalent to ‘following on from’ — or is it, fancifully, an ER-rant? | ||
| 7 | CADDIE CAR | Solution for one who cannot bear clubs? (6,3) |
| CD — the caddie car was the original word for a golf trolley (which wheels the clubs instead of necessitating their being carried (borne)), whose invention removed the need for a caddie | ||
| 8 | CHAPLET | Floral wreath Penny laid in Swiss Cottage (7) |
| cha(p)let | ||
| 9 | BURST INTO SONG | Britons go nuts when drunk, start chanting (5,4,4) |
| (Britons go nuts)* | ||
| 15 | THROTTLER | Essentially, Terry-Thomas’s cad left imprisoned; what a choker! (9) |
| {Terry)-Th{omas’s} rott(L)er — with a bit of &litterey because Terry-Thomas referred to a cad as a rotter | ||
| 18 | ELASTIC | What holds up laciest pants? (7) |
| (laciest)*, semi-&lit. | ||
| 20 | PERKS UP | It delivers coffee to drink; looks fresh! (5,2) |
| perk [= percolator] sup | ||
| 21 | SIROCCO | Held up in Languedoc? Cor! I say! It’s hot! (7) |
| Hidden reversed in LanguedOC? COR! I Say! | ||
| 22 | ANOMIE | A name for Le Pen that is an indication of falling moral standards (6) |
| a nom [since Le Pen is French and this is the French for name] i.e. | ||
| 25 | MAJOR | One PM at one time is one one above one (5) |
| In the army’s officer ranks, a major is one above a captain (1ac) | ||
*anagram
12a – ‘them’ refers to the number of solutions containing names of 1a’s
Thanks John, and chapeau to Knut.
Captains galore. (Skippers if you will.)
I’m especially pleased that Knut remembers Captain Fantastic (14 across). Captain Fantastic (David Jason), implacable enemy the evil Mrs Black (Denis Coffey) were in Do Not Adjust Your Set which ran from 1967 to 1969.
The ImDb says “it is a vitally important series in the evolution of British comedy. Very funny in its own right, ‘DNAYS’ directly led to the teaming of the writer/performers who would go on to create ‘Monty Python’.”
I won’t do this for all of them, but Captain Hastings (23 across) is Poirot’s dim sidekick.
Cracking puzzle – loved the theme. Thought KIPPER was a brilliant clue.
Can’t agree with criticism of 4dn which seemed pretty coherent to me. Wouldn’t a cricket team have two openers anyway?
Thanks to Knut and John.
Only saw the theme post solve, so missed the parsing of KIPPER, as well as NEMO. Enjoyed looking up the various theme related entries, many of whom I’d never heard of. Anyway, I’ve now been educated in the ways of skipperdom.
Favourite CAPTAIN was good old HASTINGS from ‘Poirot’ – even if he is a ‘dim sidekick’! – and SIROCCO and the triple def. JACK were my pick of the non-thematic clues.
New word for the day: ANOMIE. Ripe for use to show how clever (I think) I am.
Thanks to Knut and John.
WordPlodder@5 – there are two fictional themed Jacks – one in the Dr Who spin off Torchwood and the other in the Pirates of the Caribbean
Thanks crypticsue @6, you’re quite right. A bit more homework obviously in order.
I was doubly wrong as I also see there’s a CAPTAIN SIROCCO in the 1949 film “The Pirates of Capri” – “Fighting and loving his way through history’s most adventuresome era…”. Unmissable swash and buckle.
Should have done this before the Paul as I missed the obvious(there should be a Captain Kipper)
Aaah Jim lad! You put a spring in me step-i could have hopped all day!
Late to the party today – I had to go out before the blog was posted – but I want to add my twopenn’orth in praise of this super puzzle.
I agree with Jim T @4 in every respect.
Many thanks to Knut and John.
Aye aye – another voice in agreement. I really enjoyed this, and was happy to spot the theme too – bonus.
Really liked PEACOCK, JACK, SPARROW and more.
Thanks Knut and John.
P.S. I think that the citrusy association of St Clement’s originates from the rhyme. It’s a nice refreshing drink too.
Thanks John – always a pleasure – for the blog and to those kind enough to have commented. The bells idea was the thinking behind St CLEMENTS and a diatribe from the Queen could be an ER RANT, I think.
The intended list of captains in the puzzle is:
PEACOCK (Are you being served?), NEMO, SENSIBLE (bass player in The Damned), FANTASTIC (Do not adjust your set/Elton album), SCOTT; WEIRD (Andy Williams show; I loved it when I were a lad), HASTINGS (Poirot), JACK SPARROW (POTC), SCARLET (with his Mysterons), AMERICA (Marvel superhero) (TROOP) Captain, and a very iffy SIROCCO which I can’t claim as a clean kill but who turned up when I googled it.
best wishes to all, Rob/Knut
We were on the lookout for a theme and thought at first it might be Are You Being Served, but then NEMO turned up and KIPPER swung our vote in favour of captains – although we didn’t spot all of them. As for TROOP, Disko Troop is the skipper of the fishing boat which rescues Harvey Cheyne after he’s swept overboard from a liner in Kipling’s Captains Courageous (and the 1937 film).
We don’t have a problem with ‘openers’ referring either to the first two letters of a word or to the initial letters of two or more words; part of the solving process is sometimes deciding which is meant, and in the latter case how many words are covered by the instruction. And we thought 4dn was brilliant for its surface having nothing to do with the answer. That and ELASTIC were our clues of the day – even if ‘pants’ turned up as an anagrind two days running.
Thanks, Knut and John.
@AllanC
I’m not really a fan of “pants” as an anagram ind. but on occasion if it fits the surface then why not?
I cobbled together a topical sporting clue last weekend: Megastar in hot pants and a yellow jersey? (7,6)
Knut @14
Just brilliant! – far too good to waste! Many thanks.
Knut@14: We’re not really bothered by ‘pants’ as an anagrind – and its occurrence on successive days can only have been coincidence. So not a complaint, merely an observation.
As others (read: everyone) said, once more a very good crossword.
20d was my last one in as I’d never heard of ‘perk’ in relation to coffee. Fair enough, though.
I’m neither bothered by ‘pants’ (a very handy anagram indicator for a setter) nor ‘openers’ (although I would not allow myself to use it this way).
I had to think about ‘blocking’ in 23ac but I guess it’s fine (as John explained), even if it’s slightly unusual.
‘Out of favour’ (in 14ac) took more time to sink in. I assume that it is that, if you’re ‘out of favour’, you’re ‘not in’. And then ‘not in’ implies remove ‘in’. If that’s what it is, I am not sure whether the fact that the solver has to make two steps is 100% fair. In any case, I don’t think I’ve seen this device before. Many years ago, my alter ego tried to write a clue for ‘trademark’. He split it up into two pieces ‘tra/demark’. The second part cried out for ‘Denmark without the n’, and then he thought: let’s clue it by ‘old country’. The idea – similar to Knut’s – was dropped and I can see why he did it. That said, what Knut did in 14ac is somewhat more explicit. This, by the way, is no criticism, just a thought.
Another thing (also a matter of taste, probably) is TH being the centre of “Terry-Thomas’s” with the ‘s included (othersie it’s not the centre, of course). I am pretty sure that someone like John Halpern wouldn’t want to do this (and I am quite sure about that as my alter ego once was tickled off by him for doing something similar).
But hey, a great crossword, with, for me, 13ac, 27ac, 28ac and the absolutely belter 9d as highlights.
Many thanks to John & Knut
@Sil (and John again)
Eimi queried the use of “blocking” in this sense (not least because Silvanus uses it today “the other way round”, so to speak). The way I see it, is that if the police, for example, block the road then they do so by putting something in it. This “something” once in situ, then blocks the road. So in that sense I think it possible to justify either (but I would, wouldn’t I?)
Once again, I must thank you for your detailed comments which I always value