Tees is quite the regular these days for the start-the-week puzzle in the Indy. I’m always pleased to bag him, so to speak, because you know you’re in for an enjoyable, wide-ranging and well-constructed cryptic. This one was a bit chewy, though. Still, it’s a Bank Holiday, so a bit more time to spend teasing it out.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Punch or put the boot in
KICK
A dd. ‘That cocktail’s got a real kick to it.’
3 Vulgar hangers-on, in court, in dramatic downfall
CLOUDBURST
I found the NE corner the toughest, and not seeing this for ages didn’t help getting going in that quadrant. It’s an insertion of LOUD and BURS in CT. It was the BURS bit that knackered me, but it’s fair enough. I would (probably) spell it BURR, but BUR is given in dictionaries as an alternative spelling.
Bur n: a prickly seed case or flower head that clings to clothing and animal fur
10 Thus political leader defends his specious argument
SOPHISM
That’d be the Donald then (although other leaders are available). A charade of SO and HIS inserted into PM, for a special type of ‘political leader’.
11 Chopping action to involve cold tongue
OCCITAN
I intuited it was a language, but having got the final N convinced myself that it would end -IAN. Wrong. An insertion of C in (ACTION)*. OCCITAN is a Romance language spoken in southern France, Monaco, and some parts of Italy and Spain. It’s also called langue d’oc in French (whence the region Languedoc); modern French is considered part of the group of languages called langues d’oïl. The nomenclature comes from the words for ‘yes’ in the two language groups: oïl and òc. Which is why modern French has oui for ‘yes’.
12 City investment story one foreign parliament backed
ILIAD
A charade of I and DAIL reversed. The DAIL (or more properly Dáil, pronounced DOYLE) is the lower chamber of the Irish parliament. Homer’s Iliad is the story of the long siege of the city of Troy during the Trojan War, hence ‘city investment story’.
13 Girl audibly forbidden to see lock-keeper
ALICE BAND
A charade of ALICE and a homophone of BANNED. The hair accessory is (allegedly) named after Carroll’s heroine Alice, of Looking Glass fame, but it is a band of choice these days for poseur sportsmen wishing to keep their flowing locks under control.
14 Eco-politician one blasted as rookie
GREENHORN
A charade of GREEN and HORN.
16 Mug — I had nothing to fill it
IDIOT
A charade of I’D and O inserted into IT.
18 Criticise Figaro as transparent part
ROAST
Hidden in FigaRO AS Transparent.
19 Domestic birth repelled quack
CHARLATAN
A charade of CHAR and NATAL reversed.
21 I’ll do clue for animation film
CELLULOID
(ILL DO CLUE)* with ‘for animation’ as the anagrind. CELLULOID film was a popular medium for film in days gone by; it fell out of fashion as less flammable options became available.
22 Initially given lash — not a nice feeling
GROPE
A charade of G for the first letter of ‘given’ and ROPE. A delightful surface and a whimsical – although entirely accurate – definition.
24 Local university replaced by separate sage?
POTHERB
Tees is asking you to replace the U in PUB with OTHER. I always thought it was POT HERB as two words, but it’s not. Neither is POTHOLE, so I was just being dim.
25 Composer admits small sin to French king
ROSSINI
An insertion of S and SIN in ROI, the French word for ‘king’.
26 Strident Welshwoman stifles singer keeping time
STENTORIAN
An insertion of T in TENOR, all inserted into SIAN, the common Welsh female name. The two insertion indicators are ‘stifles’ and ‘keeping’.
27 Pound note king refused in days gone by
ONCE
ONCE[R]. We still have a FIVER and a TENNER, but only older readers will remember the ONCER, because they have become things from days gone by.
Down
1 Old statesman cuckolding Philip?
KISSINGER
He is naughty, that Tees. Serious ‘cuckolding’ probably progresses a bit further than a kiss, but since Brenda is the object of desire here we’ll not go there. The reference is to Henry KISSINGER, the US ‘statesman’, and the setter is suggesting that by KISSING ER (Her Maj) he would be placing Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark in the position of a cuckold. He can’t see to drive these days, never mind notice that someone’s secretly snogging his missus.
2 Isle having better scripture studies
CAPRI
A charade of CAP and RI for Religious Instruction.
4 Prisoner to engage posh doctor over complaint
LUMBAGO
An insertion of U for ‘posh’ and MB for ‘doctor’ in LAG, all followed by O for the cricketing ‘over’.
5 Unworkable as unionist meets with Scottish foreman?
UTOPIAN
A charade of U, TOP and IAN. Siân and Ian have already turned up to the party – we just need Irish Pat to rock up and we’ll have the full set.
6 One scientist carries corrupt crate for another
BACTERIOLOGIST
Clever spot. An insertion of (CRATE)* in BIOLOGIST.
7 Medium no saint or pious high churchman
RITUALIST
[S][PI]RITUALIST. ‘High churchman’ works because ritualism is a recognised movement in the Anglican church.
8 Muscular flanks to expand under weight
TONED
Because it’s a down clue, it’s ED for the ‘flanks’ or outside letter of ‘expand’ under TON.
9 Serpent for instance to coil up on apparatus
WIND INSTRUMENT
A charade of WIND and APPARATUS. A ‘serpent’ is a wind instrument dating back to 1590 and undergoing, apparently, a modest revival.
15 Oriental girl and rank stars here?
EPAULETTE
A charade of E for East or ‘oriental’ and PAULETTE. If you ever want to remember that une épaule is the French word for ‘shoulder’, this is your link word.
17 Strong flavour before wrapping in citrus fruit
TANGERINE
A charade of TANG and IN inserted into ERE for ‘before’. The insertion indicator is ‘wrapping’.
19 Intimidate to restrict runs and hinder powerful opener
CROWBAR
An insertion of R in COW for ‘intimidate’ followed by BAR. The insertion indicator is ‘restrict’.
20 Gossip about cheat on Republican right in principality
ANDORRA
An insertion of DO for ‘cheat’ and RR for ‘Republican’ and ‘Right’ in ANA. The insertion indicator is ‘about’.
Ana n: anecdotes or literary gossip about a person
21 Somehow manages officers smuggling MDMA
COPES
An insertion of E for Ecstasy (aka MDMA) in COPS. The insertion indicator is ‘smuggling’.
23 One between the legs a cause of tears?
ONION
It often is, especially if you’ve forgotten to wear your box. An insertion of I in ON and ON, two ‘legs’ in cricket. The insertion indicator is ‘between’. That’s enough insertion indicators for this morning.
Many thanks to Tees for the Bank Holiday entertainment.
Tees in good form.
I couldn’t really see KICK for ‘Punch’ when solving and hadn’t come across a ONCE[R] before, although both clues weren’t too difficult to get. The second appearance for ALICE BAND in the last week or so which definitely helped.
I liked the surfaces for 23d (been there, done that in both senses) and 22a, as well as the ‘City investment story’ and ‘rank stars here’ definitions.
Thanks to Tees and to Pierre
Chewy in places but lots to enjoy
Thank you to Tees and Pierre
I wonder who’s Kissinger now.
Not Phil the Greek, copmus. Treason is still an offence in this country, btw. So we’ll say nothing about Phil’s (alleged) philandering in years gone by.
An excellent puzzle from Tees – thank you – and an equally excellent blog Pierre – thank you. Lots of ticks with KISSINGER the top favourite for me.
We almost got there – in fact we filled the grid but had ‘clobber’ for 19dn. We couldn’t really parse it but thought clobbering someone might intimidate them, and a powerful opener might lob the ball somewhere. Ho hum.
Otherwise a fairly straightforward solve, though the rather obvious ALICE BAND made us groan and we failed to parse RITUALIST. Favourites were BACTERIOLOGIST, EPAULETTE and ONION.
Thanks, Tees and Pierre.
Thanks to Pierre and Tees
Good, fun crossword, but a couple I don’t get.
19a Can BIRTH = NATAL?
1d I saw as a DD, with the ? relating solely to the second (as we don’t know who is doing the kissing – it may be Philip).
15d Is E an abbreviation for ORIENTAL? If so why not JOY instead of MDMA in 21d?
A+ for the def @22a
Dansar
Post-natal and ante-natal classes take place after and before birth, so I don’t think there can be any issue with NATAL.
I was okay with E being clued as ‘oriental’ through its use as an abbreviation for ‘East’.
If you think Philip could be doing the kissing and it’s still a case of cuckolding, then you’ve lived an interesting life.
Thank Pierre, thanks all.
Oriental for E I’ve always understood to be something of a crosswords convention. That is to say, something totally unfair, but so hackneyed that even pedants don’t bat an eyelid any more.
Cheers Tees.
Tees comment that ORIENTAL = E is hackneyed surprised me because I couldn’t remember seeing it before, so I had a look in the archive and found this
GERMANE European and oriental could be closely related (7) from Alberich, one of my favourite setters. That’s that then.
Still not sure about NATAL though. My Collins and Chambers both list ANTENATAL and POSTNATAL as unhyphenated adjectives.
I was present at the natal of both my children but I didn’t go to the afterbirth classes.