There’s a lot to like in this Orense puzzle…
… but it is not perfect.
I started off really liking puzzle – the first six across clues and the first four down were excellent. Then I noticed that the setter had used “topless” teice in the space of three across clues, and, to my mind, “topless” works better on down clues. This was then compunded by “reportedly” being used twice as a homophone indicator (13ac and 5dn), which shows a lack of imagination and could easily have been edited out.
Also, I can’t find confirmation in any of my three dictionaries (Chambers, Collins, Oxford) for TIC meaning “a moment”. The setter was thinking of TICK (see my comment for 17 ac).
These were unfortunate errors that an editor should have picked up on, as otherwise the puzzle is full of clever misdirections and entertaining surfaces.
Thanks, Orense.
| Across | ||
| 9 | PROCEDURE | Manage to get around education’s way of doing things (9) |
| PROCURE (“manage to get”) around ED (education) | ||
| 10 | TORSO | Body temperature, more or less (5) |
| T (temperature) + OR SO (“more or less”) | ||
| 11 | AVENUES | A beautiful woman full of energy approaches (7) |
| A VENUS (“beautiful woman”) full of E (energy) | ||
| 12 | TONSURE | Haircut 100, of course! (7) |
| TON (“100”) + SURE (“of course”) | ||
| 13 | SEA | Reportedly understand Irish, say (3) |
| Homophone of [reportedly] SEE (“understand”) | ||
| 14 | LOSING HEART | Getting discouraged, seeing how beast may become best (6,5) |
| If BE(a)ST loses its heart, it becomes BEST | ||
| 17 | ATTIC | Time spent in a second room (5) |
| T (time) in A TIC (“a second”)
The compiler has this one wrong, in my opinion, as the TIC he refers to is the involuntary spasm, not the word meaning “a short moment” which is TICK (confirmed by Chambers) |
||
| 18 | OIL | Topless work is crude (3) |
| (t)OIL (topless “work”) | ||
| 19 | REPLY | Power invested in bank may be answer (5) |
| P (power) invested in RELY (“bank”) | ||
| 21 | UNDISCLOSED | A French record with topless models changed and kept under wraps (11) |
| UN (“A” in “French”) + DISC (“record”) + *(odels), where ODELS is [topless] (m)ODELS | ||
| 23 | ORB | Burt’s first to go after Golden Globe (3) |
| B(urt’s) [first] to go after OR (“golden”) | ||
| 25 | DISPUTE | Question one’s place in case of disease (7) |
| I’S (“one’s”) + PUT (“place”) in [case of] D(iseas)E | ||
| 27 | ORTOLAN | Bunting festooned in door to landing (7) |
| Hidden in [festooned in] “doOR TO LANding” | ||
| 28 | NOOSE | Part of aircraft storing old rope (5) |
| NOSE (“part of aircraft”) storing O (old) | ||
| 29 | EQUERRIES | Spain raises doubts about right personal attendants (9) |
| E (International Vehicle Registrattion for “Spain”) + QUERIES (“rasies doubts”) about R (“right”) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SPRATS | Arguments about river fishes (6) |
| SPATS (“arguments”) around R (river) | ||
| 2 | COVENANT | Agreement by which worker must support bad spellers (8) |
| ANT (“worker”) must support COVEN (a group of witches, who could be described as “bad spellers” in that they cast wicked spells) | ||
| 3 | GENUFLECTS | Shows respect, seeing cleft developing within taxonomic group (10) |
| *(cleft) within GENUS (“taxonomic group”) | ||
| 4 | GUNS | Arms may be comfortable when raised (4) |
| When raised, GUNS (“arms”) becomes SNUG (“comfortable”) | ||
| 5 | RECTANGLES | Figures as result of reportedly spoilt approaches (10) |
| Homophone of [reportedly] WRECKED + ANGLES (“approaches”) | ||
| 6 | STUN | Tory leader in tabloid shock (4) |
| T(ory) [leader] in SUN (“tabloid”) | ||
| 7 | TRAUMA | Shock term oddly imposed on a university degree (6) |
| T(e)R(m) [oddly] imposed on A U (“university”) MA (Master of Arts, so “degree”) | ||
| 8 | COVENTRY | City firm opening on the outskirts of Rugby (8) |
| CO (company, so “firm”) + VENT (“opening”) on [the outskirst of] R(ugb)Y | ||
| 15 | SHOULDERED | Carried euros and held out 500 (10) |
| *(euros held) + D (“500” in Roman numerals) | ||
| 16 | HEREDITARY | The girl’s dietary change is genetic (10) |
| HER (“the girl’s”) + *(dietary) | ||
| 17 | ABUNDANT | A bread roll and crackers with tea, say, in great supply (8) |
| A BUN (“bread roll”) + *(and) with T (“tea, say”, i.e a homophone of TEA) | ||
| 20 | PROCLAIM | Declare in favour of allegation (8) |
| PRO (“in favour of”) + CLAIM (“allegation”) | ||
| 22 | DESPOT | A tyrant’s place after poor exam results (6) |
| SPOT (“place”) after D & E (“poor exam results”) | ||
| 24 | BANISH | Exile party outside Northern Ireland (6) |
| BASH (“party”) around N.I. (Northern Ireland) | ||
| 26 | USED | House doctor must keep employed (4) |
| Hidden in [must keep] “hoUSE Doctor” | ||
| 27 | ONUS | Duty of rising star after Oscar? (4) |
| <=SUN (rising “star”) after O (Oscar, in the phonetic alphabet) | ||
*anagram
I guess, in 17a, ‘spent’ could loosely refer to coming up short, I.e. losing the last letter. But then there is no inclusion indicator. Time in a spent second would be meaningless. On the other hand, I don’t particularly like ‘spent in’ for an inclusion when ‘in’ would work better.
Thanks to Orense and loonapick.
Thanks for the blog loonapick – I was trying to work out how POT meant place as I had DEs as poor exam results! I agree with your preamble and particularly liked TONSURE LOSING HEART and COVENANT. Thanks also to Orense – it’s the first puzzle of theirs I’ve done.
Thanks loonapick Orense
I suppose there could be a word missing in 17a
“Time spent staying in a second room” just about works
Thanks to Orense and loonapick. I got through more quickly than usual for me and missed the tic-tick lapse. My only difficulty came with the DE or D&E in DESPOT, a combination of letters new to me.
Liked the surface of 10a, though l suspect seeing this device in another puzzle. FOI GUNS, LOI 9a. Also loved coven=bad spellers.
Thanks, Orense, and thanks, loonapick for the explanations! LOI was RECTANGLES.
It’s fun to learn a new Britishism with almost every FT puzzle. Got TONSURE but didn’t know the meaning of TON as 100 til I looked on Wikipedia. Here a ton just means “a lot”, or 1000 lbs. which I think you call a tonne?
Just wondering, please forgive the question – is it just I, or are we less familiar with UK culture and terms here than you would be with US references? I’m still learning cricket terms like “on” and “leg”. Would UKers get, say, baseball terms more readily?
(I do FTs partly because there aren’t as many cryptics here. The Nation has a weekly and Harper’s has a monthly, and that’s about it that I can find.)
Jeff@usa. Spellings such as tonne seem to be rarely used over here – ton is more common. Here it usually refers to 2240 lbs. We also use metric tons = 1000 kg. We still use spellings such as programme but program (especially in computing) is also well-used.
Personally, the only cricket terms I know have been learnt from cryptics. I know next to nothing about baseball though I have read all of Schulz’s Peanuts strips.
Hovis, you’re right – actually a ton is 2000 lbs in US and Canada; 2240 in the UK – here 2240 is a “long ton” and used for things like airplane fuel. Good article on Wikipedia under “Ton” that explains all the international variants and that it just means “100” also.
Thanks Orense and loonapick
Two in a row of Orense / loonapick puzzles whilst on holidays in North Queensland, where I can’t print off current crosswords and have gone back to old ones that I hadn’t done at the time.
Didn’t notice the double ups and the TIC mishap passed me by as well – too relaxed I’m putting it down to. Liked the misdirection in many of the clues.
Finished in the NW corner with COVENANT and the trickier than it should have been AVENUES.