Tough and rewarding, with a few that needed parsing after the fact. Favourites were 1ac, 3dn, 4dn, 7dn, and 15dn. Thanks to Puck
There are four ‘national’ outer solutions. This prompted a quick look for any further connection, but I couldn’t spot anything potentially suspicious [other than a few surely unrelated ‘leg’s in the clues].
| Across | ||
| 1 | SPANISH ARMADA | Fleet Street’s original old man about to do wrong and injure a lawyer (7,6) |
| Street’s original letter + PA=”old man” + SIN=”wrong” reversed/”about” + HARM A D(istrict) A(ttorney)=”injure a lawyer” | ||
| 10 | UNIT TRUST | One reportedly made secure investment choice? (4,5) |
| =a type of investment fund UNIT=”one” + TRUST=homophone of ‘trussed’=”reportedly made secure” |
||
| 11 | SINGE | Type of dressing essential for burn (5) |
| hidden in dresSING Essential | ||
| 12 | CROWD | Pressgate? (5) |
| double definition: =”Press” and =”gate”=the size of a crowd e.g. at a football match | ||
| 13 | GREEN ROOM | Where rest of ham never returned during wedding party? (9) |
| “ham” refers to actors, and a GREEN ROOM is where actors rest backstage NE’ER=”never”, reversed/”returned” and inside GROOM=”wedding party”=one of the two parties to a wedding |
||
| 14 | ANIMATE | Mischief-maker follows a game live (7) |
| ATE=Greek goddess of mischief, following A + NIM=”game” often played with matchsticks [wiki] | ||
| 16 | STOLLEN | Sweet bread hot around Luxembourg (7) |
| hot” describes goods recently STOLEN, around Luxembourg | ||
| 18 | COGNATE | Related couple dance round in church (7) |
| TANGO=”dance” reversed/”round” in C(hurch of) E(ngland) | ||
| 20 | DEMESNE | Meets regularly in wooded valley estate (7) |
| regular letters of MeEtS inside DENE=a narrow “wooded valley” of a small river | ||
| 21 | INCOMMODE | Inconvenience of one new wee chair? (9) |
| =”inconvenience” as a verb I=”one” + N(ew) + COMMODE=”chair” where one might “wee” |
||
| 23 | GRITS | Good porridge rejected, if US version (5) |
| =a US name for a dish of porridge G(ood) + STIR=prison=”porridge” reversed/”rejected” |
||
| 24 | NIOBE | One dressed in black: flipping stoned mourner? (5) |
| =in Greek myth, NIOBE was turned to stone as she mourned the death of her children I=”One”, inside EBON=”black”; all reversed/”flipping” |
||
| 25 | VESTIBULE | Lobby against sporting blue ties (9) |
| V(ersus)=”against” + (blue ties)* with “sporting” as anagram indicator | ||
| 26 | ENGLISH SETTER | Dog, having cocked up leg in street, keeps quiet (7,6) |
| (leg in street)* with “cocked up” as anagram indicator; around SH=”quiet” | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | POISONING | Infecting one’s leg with iodine — and, sadly, no GP around (9) |
| I’S=”one’s” + ON=”leg” side in cricket + I(odine); with (no GP)* around | ||
| 3 | NOTED | Famous day school? On the contrary (5) |
| D(ay) + ETON=”school”; all reversed/”On the contrary”. Eton is a boarding school, rather than a day school |
||
| 4 | SNUGGLE | Arms raised and leg bent to get comfy? (7) |
| GUNS=”Arms” reversed/”raised” + (leg)* | ||
| 5 | ACTRESS | Current Hair cast member (7) |
| A(lternating) C(urrent) + TRESS=”Hair” | ||
| 6 | MISINFORM | Give fake news to schoolgirl, say? (9) |
| homophone of ‘Miss in [a school] form’=”schoolgirl, say” | ||
| 7 | DUNNO | Sorry, I can’t help you up on horse first (5) |
| ON reversed/”up”, with DUN=”horse” first | ||
| 8 | DUTCH AUCTIONS | Wife, not daughter, has arranged a discount, going round sales with lowered prices (5,8) |
| =a descending price auction where the asking price starts high and is gradually lowered until someone is willing to pay dUTCH=”Wife”, minus d(aughter), with (a discount)* going around it |
||
| 9 | GERMAN MEASLES | Illness caused by bug — one given various names by the French (6,7) |
| GERM=”bug” + A=”one” + (names)* + LES=”the [in] French” | ||
| 15 | ALARM BELL | A batter collecting runs, cricketer Warner (5,4) |
| =something that warns you. In the surface reading, David “Warner” is an Australian cricketer A + LAM=”batter” as a verb around R(uns) + Ian BELL=England “cricketer”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nim |
||
| 17 | LASSITUDE | Dog bitten by dog and bone gets fatigue (9) |
| homophone of ‘Lassie + chewed’=”Dog + bitten” – I think I remember this same homophone in another Guardian clue long ago homophone indicator is “by dog and bone” which gives ‘by phone’ using rhyming slang |
||
| 19 | EVOLVES | Goes round topless, then matures (7) |
| rEVOLVES=”Goes round” without its top letter | ||
| 20 | DRESSES | Clothing medic top and bottom in scrubs? (7) |
| DR=”medic”, plus ESSES, as in there are two ‘esses‘ at the top and bottom of scrubs | ||
| 22 | CROWN | Top part of grid in empty column (5) |
| ROW=”part of grid” in ColumN | ||
| 23 | GRIST | Corny stuff in act Sir Galahad served up (5) |
| hidden, reversed/”up” in “acT SIR Galahad” | ||
Thanks Puck and manehi
Great fun, though a couple I didn’t fully parse – LASSITUDE and DUTCH AUCTIONS.
Favourites were INCOMMODE and MISINFORM. I also liked ALARM BELL, but I’m not sure if it’s entirely fair – very English cricket supporter directed!
For once what looked like a clue needing specialist cricketing knowledge really was a clue needing specialist cricketing knowledge.
admit to having cheated that one. Thanks for explaining LASSITUDE – I was cudgelling my brains trying to see how TUD=phone. Enjoyably hard work today – I liked SNUGGLE and MISINFORM among many.
It’s a sign of my age that the “cricketer Warner” that occurred to me in 15 down was Plum Warner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelham_Warner
We have to own up that cricket is a building block in English cryptics and I wouldnt have it any other way.
Unfamiliar with NIM (definitely not cricket)
Still in two minds about 17 but overall a super puzzle.
Thanks to manehi and Puck.
Great fun Thank you Puck and manehi
Thanks, manehi.
As so often, I agree with all your favourites but I have at least another half-dozen ticks. I loved the rest of ham, wee chair, stoned mourner, top part of grid, dog having cocked up leg, etc …
I smiled at LASSITUDE, too, once I got it – like Brenda @2, I spent time trying to equate TUD with phone.
Super stuff – many thanks to Puck for the fun.
Eileen@6: I agree wholeheartedly. Many thanks Puck and manehi.
Ditto Martin@7. I didn’t parse DRESSES – now my favourite clue. Excellent from Puck and manehi – thank you both.
Re 17d: one could object that “chewed” is not pronounced exactly the same as “….tude” but that would be unsporting and it’s still a superbly constructed clue.
Excellent – lovely surfaces, inventive clues and yet all very manageable. Greenroom had me groaning and needed all the crossers bar one before I saw it, grits was clever and lassitude was LOI and came to me as I walked away from the puzzle to top up the tea, running through possible letters to fill the gaps. I particularly enjoyed the not-so-obvious definitions such as Fleet, related couple (did anyone else think “in” plus “CE” for church and head in a very different direction?), stoned mourner and Warner.
Demesne is such a lovely word, coming from the same root as “domain”, ultimately from dominus, so the province of a Lord. Estate is a little more humble (not to demean it…)
Many thanks Puck and Manehi.
ALARM BELL seems perfectly fair to me with or without cricketing knowledge. If you follow cryptic rule 1 – ignore punctuation; then apply rule 2 – what doesn’t look like a definition but could be (warner) and together with the word split (5.4) you’re well on the way to ALARM BELL. “Batter” and “runs” add to the misdirection to convince us we need to know cricket to solve the clue. Yes, you need to know BELL as a cricketer to parse it fully but a quick search would confirm it. Without resorting to aids I guess you’d have to wait for all the crossers and assume it’s right. That’s how I see it anyway – but it’s much easier of course when you do know of Ian Bell.
Thanks manehi and Puck
I enjoyed this with one exception.
I had GERMAN and ENGLISH early on so this prompted me to look for other countries in 1a and 8d, which helped the solving tremendously.
The exception? 17d. The surface doesn’t make any sense to me; you have to solve a mini clue to get the homophone indicator; and “tude” is not “chewed” for me. I was also a TUD chaser.
I found this difficult and slow going, but rewarding in the end. Favourite was SPANISH ARMADA when the penny finally dropped. Separating “Fleet” from “Street” to give the definition is I think an example of what was originally meant by a “lift and separate” clue, as someone pointed out a week or so ago (sorry I don’t remember who). (See the “Crossword Unclued” site for more details.)
Thanks Puck and manehi.
Really hard work but ultimately rewarding. Had to dig deep for DESMESNE courtesy of a recent trip to Dorset and work long long ago
Didn’t know ate or NIOBE so needed a Google check to finish. Once again too many great clues to single any out.
One quibble – the definition for GREENROOM is a little clumsy.
Thanks for the challenge Puck and M for the excellent blog
A really enjoyable puzzle with some brilliant surfaces, deliciously misleading.
I specially liked 1 ac, 21 ac (almost Pauline), 15 dn, 20 dn.
Only slight quibble with LASSITUDE. Hmm, that homophone, not sure …
Easily the best puzzle this week so far.
Many thanks to Puck and to manehi.
Niobe did for me I’m afraid, didn’t know the Greek mythology reference, nor the term “Ebon” for black. Rest went in, albeit with a few unparsed… Ian Bell, Ate, scrubs. But personally no probs with chewed homophone, my only whinge would be “dunno” which took me ages as I was expecting a proper word, rather than slang (a pet hate of mine in these crosswords). And I do like a theme! Got this one early on which helped with the remaining two big ones. Really enjoyable crossword.
Did anyone else find Animate hard to parse? And similar problems with lassitude, for reasons fully expounded above…
This is the first crossword this week that I have had time even to start, and it was a cracker – one of the best this year, I would say. Commenters have shown their favourites, but I have too many to list.
I wondered if a lack of ‘speciaiist’ knowledge would be an obstacle to some solvers, but I happened to know Bell the cricketer and Nim the game. It was nice to see WhiteKing’s ‘defence’ of 15a ALARM BELL, and I would just add that whether it’s solvable or not is very much down to the quality of the clue. I’m sure I could have got this without the cricketing knowledge. (Indeed, I got ALARM BELL before Bell.)
As Lord Jim @13 says, the term ‘lift & separate’ did at first apply (I’m sure) to what we do with ‘Fleet Street’ in 1a. It later came to apply primarily to single words that you have to split, thereby forcing you to read the clue in a different way. I would just add that ‘Pressgate?’ at 12a uses the same idea, but that word on its own already looks too much like a double definition. (But it was still a good clue!)
The only clue that seemed a bit out of place among so many excellent clues was 17d LASSITUDE, partly because of that ‘near-homphone’ but more because of the surface, as David Ellison @12 commented.
I’m always slow to see themes, and it was my third themeword (SPANISH) that made me realise there would probably be a fourth, and I knew where to look! Very neat.
All in all a superb crossword. Thanks to Puck and Manehi.
Strange thing about LASSITUDE; I have been repeating it to myself to convince me it doesn’t sound like “chewed”, and after a few repetitions it does (sometimes) seem to.
There is an advert for Trivago on television, and I am always convinced that Gabrielle Miller is saying “chivago”; but my wife assures me it it quite clearly “trivago”.
Ronald @17
Yes – I found ANIMATE the hardest to parse. I knew NIM and was forced to stare at ATE for a while – until I remembered the ancient god or goddess (i didn’t know which). ‘Mischief’ didn’t help, because I had forgotten that, or never knew it.
[Sorry, Gaufrid, couldn’t resist posting this of Gabrielle Miller]
Top puzzle from Puck, elegantly clued throughout. I particularly liked the use of ‘Type of’ as the hidden word indicator in 11, ‘dog and bone’ as the indirect homophone indicator in 17, and the misdirection of ‘related couple dance’ in 18, with (I’m assuming) ‘couple dance’ = (it takes two to) tango. My assumption that 16 ended with ‘in’ (hot), meant this was my LOI. Thanks very much to Puck and manehi, excellent stuff all round.
Superb crossword, but having seen the explanation, I think 17 needs a ? to show that it is slightly tenuous. Agree with Grim and Dim: he may have died 50-odd years ago, but he’s the one I thought of too. Thank you David Ellison for supplying the name of the Trivago lady: no GK is ever wasted – I think…
Great crossword with lots of lovely clues. DUNNO about Lassie chewed however – looks like one of Paul’s pun homophones.
Thanks manehi, especially for the parsing of ANIMATE where I didn’t know either of the nouns in the wordplay. I spent far too long looking for a ‘type of dressing,’ doh. I vaguely knew NIOBE, though probably from Niobium.
I particularly liked the wee chair and the SPANISH ARMADA.
Thanks to Puck manehi. I was another who found this tough and slow going, but ultimately enjoyable. I found the right side easier than the left, which held me up for a while. Struggled with Dutch auctions which held me up on some of the across clues. Animate, cognate and Niobe were last ones in, with the latter thanks to a vague recollection from a previous puzzle. I thought there were some obscure words/terms in this but thankfully none that I could not drag up from the depths of somewhere or other (though had to come here to sort out some bits of parsing). All my favourite clues have been mentioned and thanks again to Puck and manehi.
Would anyone care to explain how and where there is an embed indicator for the SINGE clue? It doesn’t work. Why is everyone happy with clues that don’t work?!
bingybing @26. I saw it as ‘type’ = typewritten characters/a series of letters, and ‘of’ as the inclusion indicator.
Yep, a pretty fab crossword, eloquently explained by Manehi; especially the preposterous parsing of 17 dn. For me a mix of plain sailing and on the rocks. SE fell into place swiftly but took forever to get 8dn so stumbled over the line. Niobe was an uneducated guess. Loved 7dn which for me personally went nicely with 17dn! Thanks Puck for a spritely morning.
Thanks all for the comments – I managed to track down the previous ‘Lassie chewed’, from Paul 25,199 in December 2010:
Roughly speaking, was it the on-screen bone that ___, showing exhaustion? (9)
Thanks to Puck and loonapick. I got through after a struggle but needed lots of help in the parsing. With ANIMATE I knew Ate (and elsewhere Niobe) but not Nim, did not know Ian Bell, DUTCH AUCTIONS, or UNIT TRUST, and did not parse LASSITUDE.
Thanks both,
I enjoyed this all the more for finding it hard to get going. Some splendid, groan-making clues.
Does ‘dunno’ really make it respectable dictionaries? Is green room really one word?
As Ian Bell is in the sixth most capped English cricketer of all time and in the top 10 of most English batting records, I don’t think it was particularly obscure to clue him as “cricketer”. “Driver” would have been the definition for cricket aficionados, for whom the clue was complicated by the possible misdirection relating to Brian Lara.
And pat on the back for Puck’s appropriate cricketing usage of r=runs.
Late today (dental stuff) but agree with lots of above. FOI stollen (clever, given the geog), then slowly chewing round the grid. Forgot about Ate, so animate was a biff. Ditto the auction, obvious from crossers but too lazy to parse. Ditto greenroom, sure I’ve heard it but no real recall. And finally ditto Lassie chewed, laugh-out-loud-groan when reading the blog. Also liked vestibule, snuggle and dresses.
Thanks Puck and Manehi, lots more fun than the dentist.
Tyngewick @ 31
Both ‘dunno’ and ‘greenroom’ (sic) are in Chambers, which I believe to be a respectable dictionary.
Very challenging for me DNF (had a couple left) and struggled with some parsings. But also very enjoyable.
Thanks Puck – a lovely puzzle and thanks manehi – a very helpful blog.
Ate and Nim and Ian Bell aren’t unfair – you can’t know everything, it’s just annoying when you don’t.
coming late to the blog, after doing the crossword itself early:
like @3 Grim and Dim and Komornik @23, on 15d I thought first of Plum Warner (whose name does live on at Lord’s through the newly-rebuilt Warner Stand) – and from there I slid on to the phoney cricketer Jack Warner, much better suited to playing Dixon of Dock Green than, by then in his 50s, England’s veteran star batsman on the eve of retirement in the film of The Final Test in 1953. The only convincing part of his performance was being out for 0, like the real-life Bradman in his own final test 5 years earlier. Excuse the digression, but clues do often cause one’s thoughts to wander like that. Fine clue anyway, fine crossword and blog; thanks to both
Wot, no French Letters?!
Lots of lovely clues, Lassitude and Green room evoked a groan.
Tough in places but easier than yesterday’s Paul. A very enjoyable solve.
Thanks to Puck and manehi
This was slow going for me. Nothing on the first pass and only GERMAN MEASLES on the second. SPANISH ARMADA opened it up for me- and I really don’t know how I got that one- parsed after the event I’m afraid. ALARM BELL was a guess after having the crossers. Never heard of any of the cricketers. I was abit unsure about LASSITUDE but-
Thanks Puck.
A great puzzle
I was shocked that I finished it without assistance. Didn’t parse absolutely everything… Along with all that others have said I loved GRITS/GRIST in the SE corner
Struggled like mad to get going, but what a pleasing puzzle to complete. I think Spanish Armada was my favourite – a cracking bit of misdirection to hide the definition, and then a really cleverly constructed solution.
An absolute corker of a puzzle. Thanks setter and blogger.
Good Puckish fun. Ticked MISINFORM and DRESSES.
Many thanks to Puck and manehi.
[Lord Jim – Yes, that might have been me. Nice to see someone use “lift and separate” correctly, as it was originally devised. Many thanks – it’s one of my bugbears; there are those here who would wrongly describe a “wordsplit” type clue as lift and separate.
(I continue to disagree with Alan B on this one. See Crossword Unclued. Some might argue that it is somewhat disrespectful to attempt to change the meaning of such a recently coined word – particularly when the neology’s originator is such a respected Times Champion. Not that I would necessarily hold that view, but I am gratified by Lord Jim’s attentiveness. And perhaps I shall now plod silently, yet somehow gratified, to the moonlit downseas perhaps never to….)]
A dnf due to my ignorance of “Niobe” but an absolute beauty of a puzzle with many forehead slapping moments of realisation providing the highpoints to a relaxing day off work.
Thanks Puck
“Your dog’s just eaten my topper.”
“So what?”
“I don’t like your attitude.”
“It was your attitude, not mine.”
William F P @44, the neologism might more strongly discourage misuse if it actually made sense. The pure examples feature separating before lifting – taking two related words, splitting them and then (usually) lifting one part out to form the definition, leaving the other as part of the cryptic element. “Separate and lift” would not chime so well with the advertising slogan, bt would do a better job of dissuading “inappropriate” usage.
[William @44
I remember reading about the origins of ‘lift snd separate’ and the way it was and, as you say, is still used. I believe, though, that in many people’s minds, as evidenced from time to time on this forum, the kind of device used in 1a today (‘Fleet Street’) is so familiar now that it is hardly seen as a cryptic device any more. ‘Fleet Street’ is the only one today. I saw ‘Spice Girl’ recently at the start of a clue, and I enjoyed the surface (because it was good), but as a solver I found it second nature to think of ‘Spice’ to define the answer and ‘Girl’ to form part of the wordplay. The solver doesn’t have to do anything except read the clue one way, then another, and then another if necessary. There is really no separating to do, and certainly no lifting. Such a cryptic ‘device’ only deserves a name if you have to transcend the normal way of reading a clue as a sentence (or phrase) and effectively insert a break where there is actually none present. The only example I have to hand is in one of my own crosswords where you read the word ‘backchat’ in the clue but you must read ‘back’ as meaning to reverse part of the answer and ‘chat’ to define ‘gas’ which is the bit that is reversed. That is what I would now call ‘lift and separate’, modifying the original meaning of that neologism in order to apply it to a more identifiable and definable cryptic device.
You’re right – we disagree. But I utterly respect your case for honouring the neologism and using it describe what is going on the clue to 1a today.]
As others have said, I found this tough, but enjoyable. I did‘t know ATE, NIM, NIOBE, or BELL but was still able to get the answers. I do agree with BlueCanary @ 14 that the definition for GREENROOM was disappointingly awkward, and with bingybing @ 26 that there is no (satisfactory) inclusion indicator for SINGE. Sorry Greensward @ 27, “type of” seems like a bit too much of a stretch.
Van Winkle@32
My problem was that the first batter I thought of who would fit the crossers I had was A(lan) Lamb though I did solve but not parse the clue in the end.
Thanks to Puck and manehi