A typically witty and allusive puzzle from Paul this week.
Geography, music, Shakespeare, architecture and children’s literature: they are all to be found in this puzzle, as well as a classic piece of toilet humour. At the time we solved the puzzle, there were only two clues we couldn’t parse, but both became clear during the process of writing the blog. Many thanks to Paul.
| Across | ||
| 1 | SAFETY | Report covering achievement, having abandoned a refuge (6) |
| FE(A)T (achievement) in SAY (report). | ||
| 4 | CROSSBOW | Firing weapon, one flying straight over ship, then boat cut in half (8) |
| SS (boat) BO(at) in CROW (one that flies straight). Not quite sure what “firing” adds to the clue. | ||
| 9 | NEARLY | Not quite noon, expected later (6) |
| N(oon) EARLY. N for noon is in Chambers, although I am struggling to recall an example of its use. | ||
| 10 | TIMOR SEA | Brief hint: solver needs answer that’s “water off Australia” (5,3) |
| MORSE (famous fictional detective, a solver of crimes) in TI(p) (hint), A. | ||
| 11 | PORTION OF CHIPS | Short script edited with info and photo that’s traditionally found in newspaper (7,2,5) |
| *(SCRIP(t) INFO PHOTO). | ||
| 13 | FOR EXAMPLE | Backing of king sufficient, say (3,7) |
| OF (rev) REX, AMPLE. | ||
| 14 | ERGO | Accordingly caught by better goalkeeper (4) |
| Hidden in “better goalkeeper”. | ||
| 16 | NASH | Pavilion ultimately remains — his design? (4) |
| (pavilio)N ASH (remains). A lovely semi-&lit clue referring to John Nash and his Royal Pavilion in Brighton. | ||
| 18 | RANSOMWARE | Children’s author admitting actions an online threat (10) |
| WAR (actions) in (Arthur) RANSOME, author of the Swallows and Amazon books, among others. | ||
| 21 | ALAS POOR YORICK | Like track I see in English city, start of line from small village? (4,4,6) |
| A LA SPOOR (like track), IC in YORK. As Timon pointed out, a hamlet is a small village, and this is a well-known quotation from Hamlet. It’s an outrageous definition, but IMHO fully justified by the question mark. | ||
| 23 | CONSOMME | Right battle it’s clear (8) |
| CON(servative) (Right in a political sense), SOMME (battle). | ||
| 24 | SIN TAX | Announcement of written arrangement, a charge on smokers etc? (3,3) |
| Sounds like “syntax”. I was surprised to find this phrase in Chambers. | ||
| 25 | STEINWAY | Grand people in sweaty shifts (8) |
| *(IN SWEATY). Another very witty definition. | ||
| 26 | PSYCHO | Film us leaving cat with tailless dog (6) |
| P(us)SY CHO(w). | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SONG | Air circulating on jumbo jets all finally used up (4) |
| Final letters of “circulating on dumbo jets” reversed (up, as this is a down clue). | ||
| 2 | FLAVOUR | Suggestion: somewhere to go in all seasons (7) |
| LAV (somewhere to go!) in FOUR (all seasons). | ||
| 3 | TELETEXT | Source of news then oddly allowed after, not leader (8) |
| ThEn (odd letters) LET (allowed) (n)EXT (after). Arguably, “then” is doing double duty as part of the definition, as I doubt that anyone is still using teletext; I believe the service was discontinued in the UK some years ago. | ||
| 5 | RHINOPLASTY | Review of short play in theatre adaptation? (11) |
| *(SHORT PLAY IN). “Theatre” here refers to an operating theatre. | ||
| 6 | SLOUCH | Slump that was painful after gutting of sawmill (6) |
| S(awmil)L, OUCH. | ||
| 7 | BUSTIER | Top row of vehicles? (7) |
| A charade of BUS TIER. I thought that a “top” referred to some form of clothing worn over a vest or other underwear, but the dictionary says that it is a “garment for the upper part of a person’s body” so the definition here is perfectly fair. | ||
| 8 | WHATS MORE | Shower mat slipping on top of that (5,4) |
| *(SHOWER MAT). | ||
| 12 | OOMPA LOOMPA | Beastly sound arising, father’s about to threaten diminutive figure (5-6) |
| MOO (rev), LOOM (threaten) between PA and PA. The Oompa Loompas were the small characters in Roald Dahl’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. | ||
| 13 | FAN DANCES | Spanish Steps short of energy dry up — entertainment, barely? (3,6) |
| FANDAN(go), SEC (rev). Another witty definition. | ||
| 15 | SMARTIES | Clever lot, males promoted before relations (8) |
| RAMS (rev), TIES (relations). | ||
| 17 | SHAWNEE | Playwright born a Native American (7) |
| SHAW NEE. | ||
| 19 | ASCETIC | Small vinegary drinks for abstainer, perhaps? (7) |
| S(mall) in ACETIC (vinegary). | ||
| 20 | UPTOWN | Complex put on private residential area (6) |
| *PUT, OWN (private). | ||
| 22 | EXPO | Fair old pan having bottom scrubbed (4) |
| EX (old) PO(t). | ||
*anagram
Thanks to Paul and bridgesong. I much enjoyed the YORICK quote. I knew John NASH but not his link to the Royal Pavilion and struggled with TIMOR SEA and OOMPA LOOMPA. The term SIN TAX is widely used in the US and is defined in Wikipedia as “an excise or sales tax specifically levied on certain goods deemed harmful to society and individuals, for example alcohol and tobacco, candies, drugs, soft drinks, fast foods, coffee, sugar, gambling and pornography.”
Thanks bridgesong. you haven’t left much to say, it was a most enjoyable test. I didn’t score well on the first pass but with the help of crossing letters eventually made it. I did like 21a, I had thought, notwithstanding Gray, that ‘hamlet’ was a village without a church but find ‘small village’ is also correct. I had to check this time that private can = own.
Nice job, thanks Paul and Bridgesong, but one quibble for each of you. Imo “all seasons” is just not a good clue for FOUR; there is no indication a count is involved, and moreover it’s not true everywhere in the world.
16a can’t be a true &lit since the “his designs” part is not used twice (the & in &lit).
Hurray! I finally finished a prize in time to comment here. I didn’t even need help with any parsing – first time ever. Maybe that’s why I thought this was an especially good puzzle. I normally judge clues by the wit of the surfaces (and there were many witty ones here), but my favourite this time was 21d, which had a less than smooth surface but a brilliant construction – and I liked the small village. LOI was SMARTIES, which baffled me for ages, and then was a doh when the penny dropped – funny how the brain works (or doesn’t sometimes).
Thank you Paul for a delightful puzzle, and Bridgesong for the excellent blog.
Dr. Whatson @3: on reflection, I think you’re right about NASH, and I have slightly amended the post.
I look at Fifteensquared nearly every week, but rarely comment. I find the site very informative so a thank you to setters and bloggers, and that includes those just commenting.
I have the smallest of quibbles. Should 12 DN be fathers’ rather than father’s as there are are two PAs in OOMPA LOOMPA?
Thanks, bridgesong. I enjoyed this one a lot, as usual with Paul, although I struggled a bit with a fairly empty left hand side until I thought of NASH and things started to fall into place. I loved the Hamlet reference. STEINWAY was neat too, and my LOI as a struggled to get a plural out of those letters. One of a number of ‘oh!’ moments when I saw it. I did feel that ‘detective’ equals ‘solver’ was a bit of a stretch, but eventually I remembered that Morse (at least in the books, I’m not sure about the TV series) was also a keen solver of cryptic crosswords, which makes that even neater – if arguably a bit obscure. Very nice, Paul, thanks.
KeithS
I think you can ignore apostrophes in the wordplay. They’re usually only there to help the surface and/or mislead the solver.
Actually “fathers'” makes less sense than “father’s” in the wordplay instructions anyway.
Sorry KeithS. Last post should have read Tigger
So, I’m not the only one who didn’t like ‘four’ for ‘all seasons’.
But there was plenty to like in this puzzle. Some very good clueing, combining deceptive wordplay and smooth surfaces – 4 and 24 ac, 5 and 7 dn, for example.
Never heard of an OOMPA LOOMPA but it was easily workoutable from the wordplay. Just what I think a crossword clue should be!
Many thanks to Paul for a great puzzle and of course to bridgesong.
I thought in 12d that father = Papa so the apostrophe is quite in order.
Tough but for me but very enjoyable. Had to resort to looking through a list of Hamlet quotes to find the right one (Á LA for like seems a bit of a stretch?). Many v beautiful clues here; NASH and STEINWAY even though the former was a write-in and the latter a real head-scratcher. Right up until reading the Bridgesong’s Excellent blog I thought ‘Grand’ alone was the def and the wordplay was a 2 letter abbr for people in anag of ‘sweaty’.
My LOI was SONG — trivial definition but I didn’t parse until the blog.
Thanks again to Paul, Bridgesong and all the erudite commentators
I’m sure this appeared as a cryptic a few days ago. I emember Yorick. The number 27716 would suggest so. And as it is allegedly a prize should it be 225ed?
Online there is a ridiculously easy Crucible 27722 claiming to be the prize.
Or am I caught in a time warp?
Thanks both. A version of TELETEXT is still broadcast by the BBC on the red button
Sorry, stupid me. I hadn’t relaised it was the key to last week’s prize. Of course there must be a delay. Apologies again.
Thanks to bridgesong and Paul
One of Paul’s best, I loved GRAND PEOPLE.
I agree with others that ALL SEASONS doesn’t really lead to FOUR, but if we allow that it does then the clue might have been rendered:
Somewhere to go in all seasons in one (7)
Does Vivaldi, with the well-known FOUR Seasons, lurk in the background of 2d, helping to make the cluing acceptable? (not that I had registered it as a problem)
Agree Biggles A re papa, head-scratched about it for a bit. Ditto acd re Nash. Don’t mind (or am used to) ‘a la’ for ‘like’. Took minutes to suss grand piano (d’oh, several pianists in the family). Nice allusion, quenbarrow; in a recent beeb program on music therapy for dementia the researcher’s mum said “Take that [Vivaldi] off and play “Waiting at the church”! Hey ho.
Nice puzzle Paul and thanks Bridgesong.
Another fine crossword from Paul. I had some problems with YORICK but, once I got it, I laughed out loud. Lots of other goodies- OOMPA LOOMPA, PORTION OF CHIPS and WHATS MORE. I can’t say I saw a problem with FOUR SEASONS but I suppose—.
Thanks Paul.
I enjoyed this puzzle and came here to doublecheck a few parsings.
Rhinoplasty was my favourite.
In 13ac (rev) applies only to “of”.
Thanks bridgesong and Paul.
13a was the only one I couldn’t completely see – I had missed rex for king (by the way, rex is not reversed, just the of).
Thanks, mynollo and David Ellison: I spotted that error a few hours ago but didn’t get round to correcting it. I’ll do it now.
PS both times I’ve been to Prinnie’s Brighton playpen it’s been closed for renovation.
Nice puzzle.
In 4a “Firing” delineates the type of weapon (not a sword, for instance), so is helpful.
10a Not only was Morse a solver of cryptic crosswords, but so too his creator, the late Colin Dexter (as well as being a fine setter).
21a I have often seen the words elsewhere “some editors do not allow wordplay in the definition”.
Re your comment “I believe the service (teletext) was discontinued in the UK some years ago.” (Until I read Shirl @ 14 I had no idea it was still going.)
There’s a parody of Billy Joel’s “I didn’t Start the Fire” on Youtube and the title / main lyric strikes a chord with me: “We never owned an iPad, the only texting we did was teletexting.”
It’s worth a look but, be warned, some of it is laboured!