Philistine brings in the New Year with an entertaining puzzle.
There’s a bit of a medical mini-theme going on (appropriately enough), including the long intersecting answers LAPAROTOMY and MEDIASTINUM: I knew the former but had to work out the latter from the helpful wordplay. Thanks to Philistine, and Happy New Year to all.
| Across | ||||||||
| 1. | SCRIBE | Vacant single bed inside for writer (6) CRIB in S[ingl]E |
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| 4. | DAMASCUS | Olympic event, for one, a master’s city (8) DISCUS (Olympic event) with I (one) replaced by A M.A. |
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| 9. | AMNION | Baby wrap an omnishambles (6) It wouldn’t be Philistine without a lift-and-separate: this is an anagam (“shambles”) of AN OMNI. The amnion is “membrane that closely covers the embryo when first formed”, perhaps more familiar in the adjectival form “amniotic” |
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| 10. | SCORPION | Picaroon’s puzzle’s not a stinger (8) PICAROONS* less A |
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| 11. | HOUSEMAID’S KNEE | Complaint of junior doctor pocketing floppy disk has been uncovered (10,4) DISK* in HOUSEMAN (junior doctor) + [b]EE[n] |
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| 13. | THRENODIES | Laments acknowledgement I put into trilogies (10) NOD I in THREES |
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| 16. | APEX | Top copy (Times) (4) APE (copy) + X (multiplied by, times) |
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| 18. | LAPAROTOMY | Opening to examine innards of engine, a mate having reversed battery terminal (10) Reverse of (MOTOR + A PAL) + the last letter (“terminal”) of batterY |
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| 21. | THE FACTS OF LIFE | Straight instruction in this flat: coffee should be stirred (3,5,2,4) ( |
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| 23. | RETICENT | Reserved lease covering quote rejected (8) Reverse of CITE in RENT |
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| 24. | SPONGE | Sucker for cake (6) Double definition |
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| 25. | ACRONYMS | An old friend — title and initials (8) A CRONY + MS (title) |
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| 26. | DEFECT | Join the enemy of imperfection (6) Double definition |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 1,14. | SHAGPILE | Have sex with more than three on the French carpet (8) SHAG (have sex with) + PI (3.14…, more than 3) + LE |
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| 2. | RANCOUR | Franco urged to suppress resentment (7) Hidden in fRANCO URged |
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| 3. | BROWSING | Reading lines penned by Crosby (8) ROWS in BING |
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| 5. | ARCHIPELAGO | Islands wind up being held by corrupt rich OAP (11) Revere of GALE in (RICH OAP)* |
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| 6. | ACROSS | It’s not like this clue to be a hybrid (6) A hybrid is A CROSS, and this is a down clue |
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| 7. | CHIANTI | Greek character opposed to what might be ordered in 13 down (7) CHI + ANTI |
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| 8. | SINCERELY | From then till now, bank with honesty (9) SINCE (from then till now) + RELY (to bank (on)) |
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| 12. | MEDIASTINUM | Radio and TV broadcast must include Home Is Where The Heart Is (11) MEDIA (radio & TV) + IN (home) in MUST* – probably the most obscure of the medical answers: it’s “a membranous partition between two body cavities or two parts of an organ, especially that between the lungs” (so including the heart) |
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| 13. | TRATTORIA | Display excessive skill over restaurant (9) Reverse of AIR OTT ART |
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| 15. | COLLAPSE | Fall of everybody climbing trees outside (8) Reverse of ALL in COPSE |
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| 17,22. | EJECTOR SEAT | See to car and jet crash — with this? (7,4) (SEE TO CAR JET)* &lit |
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| 19. | OFFENCE | Misdeed of criminal (7) OF FENCE |
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| 20. | FALCON | Bird flu affects little children, only not at first (6) First letters of Flu Affects Little Children Only Not |
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Yes I agree, Andrew, very entertaining and most enjoyable, though the two long medical terms were difficult and I had to look them up once I had solved them from the fodder and crossers to be sure I was right.
I ticked 10a SCORPION, 11a HOUSEMAID’S KNEE, 16a APEX, 21a THE FACTS OF LIFE, 24a SPONGE, 6a ACROSS, 7a CHIANTI, 13d TRATTORIA and 26a DEFECT, so clearly I did like it a lot. I double-ticked 1d14a SHAGPILE, which was a lol moment.
Many thanks to Philistine for the holiday humour and the challenge, and to Andrew for the clear and helpful blog.
Like Julie, SHAGPILE was my favourite.
Small error in blog for 21a. IN is not part of the anagram.
Thanks all.
Ditto to Andrew and Julie, lots of fun with a bit of nutting out for the medical dnk bits (eg houseman for junior doctor. amnion from amniotic, LOI 12ac), plus a bit of sauciness to kick off the new year.
Thanks Andrew and Philistine, HNY all.
Thanks , Andrew for a great blog of a puzzle that was just right for today.
I’d echo absolutely all that Julie in Australia says, apart from knowing LAPAROTOMY [having had one!].
Andrew, the link in your preamble didn’t work for me. I think this [fingers crossed] is what you were looking for.
Huge thanks to Philistine for a delightful puzzle.
Yes, had a chuckle at 1d. Gave up on 18a and a couple of others.
Maybe I’ll have more time to spend on crosswords this year.
Thanks for the link Eileen. Very interesting and I’m sure I’ll appreciate Philistine’s contributions all the more for it.
Thanks Eileen: I’ve corrected the link.
Thank you Eileen…
Greetings to dwarf…were any confused? (5,3,4)
.. and thank you William. Ho ho ho!
26 across the only blemish, had cement in there before I realised I was breaking down the clue incorrectly. A clever one…
Lovely puzzle. Strangely, I had a lot of trouble seeing THE FACTS OF LIFE, which was my LOI. A Happy New Year!
Enjoyable puzzle.
Loved shagpile!
9 and 12ac unknown words but perfectly work-outable.
LOI was Damascus, had to think about that one for a bit 🙂
Thanks to Philistine and Andrew for a great start to 2019.
Thanks to Philistine and Andrew. I merely echo sympathies already expressed in that it was an entertaining puzzle. Last three for me (unsurprisingly given my lack of medical knowledge) were mediastinum, laparotomy and amnion, all of which needed a dictionary check. Another fan of shagpile and I also liked archipelago. Thanks again to Philistine and Andrew.
An interesting new year challenge. I didn’t like cluing PI as “more than three” but other than that a good new year test.
Rather more obscure words than usual for Philistine but an entertaining challenge.
Thanks to Philistine and Andrew and Gappy New Year to all.
I got THE FACTS OF LIFE almost immediately, and SCORPION soon after. Alas, from there on things slowed right down. Maybe if I’d had any professional medical training I might have finished this quicker – but the simple fact is, my having completed this puzzle is a testament to the wonders of Wordsearch, Google and Wiki. Many were wild guesses, followed by tortuous and agonisingly slow grasping towards a coherent parsing. HOUSEMAIDS KNEE happened like that, and around halfway through it occurred to me that there may indeed be a medical theme – but alas, a GCSE in Biology didn’t help as much as the jolly old interweb. I did enjoy COLLAPSE and BROWSING, I smiled at the economy of the clueing to SPONGE and DEFECT – and I do at least know what a THRENODY is – but a puzzle that includes answers like LAPAROTOMY, MEDIASTINUM and AMNION is clearly not aimed at layfolk such as me!! Thanks to Philistine for the extra education, and to Andrew for the extra explanations!
Thanks to Philistine and Andrew. Like PetHay I struggled with those three medical terms but did manage to piece them out. Lots of fun.
A very slow start for me and then SHAGPILE emerged. Most amusing and caused me to remember when this was the definition in a game of charades that I once took part in. I’ll leave to your imagination the contortions that this involved! I was another who needed to look up the medical answers- well, not HOUSEMAIDS KNEE!
Lots to like here and a good start to the New Year. I particularly liked ACRONYM however.
Thanks Philistine.
Thank you Philistine and Andrew (very thorough, as always).
Three new words today; a good start to the new year.
My grandfather, like Philistine, was a surgeon, but it was my
grandmother who told me of complaints such as tennis elbow and
HOUSEMAID’S KNEE. Although, she was unlikely to contract
either as the most energetic thing I ever saw her do was croquet.
Buon Anno a Tutti from a cold and damp ARCHIPELAGO.
What an entertaining way to start the new year. Wonder how the editor allowed the risque 1d clue, but he he , the answer is innocent. FOI SPONGE, LOI AMNION which gave me a lot of grief as l looked for synonyms of ‘omnishambles’ before l saw the light when l twigged the medical theme.
BTW, no FT today, it seems.
Thanks to Philistine and Andrew. A slightly more straightforward offering from Philistine this week, apart from MEDIASTINUM which only Chambers Word Wizard could help me with. I don’t know why LAPAROTOMY was familiar but I did work for the NHS some 40 years ago. Not only was SHAGPILE my favourite, it was my FOI – lack of breeding coming (pun not intended) to the fore again I’m afraid !
DON’T GO OUT AND BUY A DAIRY……………
if you have an unused 2013 diary !
Why is OTT “excessive”? (13D)
Il principe – just remember Easter will be wrong!
Glenn – Over The Top
An enjoyable start to the year. Thanks to Philistine and Andrew. I felt pleased with myself for getting the 3 medical terms. I knew amniotic fluid and laparoscopy but had nothing to help with 12d so had to rely on crossers and wordplay – which is how it should be. The stinum part was particularly puzzling. It apparently comes from the latin root stare from which we get stand and stasis but I haven’t come across it being used with an “i” after the “st” before.
Happy New Year to all.
Ralph Houston,
Many thanks for that reminder; particularly important here.
I must remember that I’m an Anglo-Saxon, protestant, atheist savage.
Thank you, Ralph Houston! Once *again*, I am foiled by the use of abbreviations… 🙁