Thanks Philistine for an enjoyable solve. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Morecambe and Wise are in the grid, but if there’s a connection to the other answers, I can’t see it.
Across
1 Importance of parasites coming back, in a manner of speaking (11)
DISTINCTION : Reversal of(… coming back) NITS(the young form of lice and other parasitic insects) contained in(in) DICTION(a manner of speaking/the style of enunciation in speech).
Defn: Having great significance, setting something or someone apart from others.
9 Heavy bones are not just visible with clothing removed (7)
ONEROUS : 1st and last letters, respectively, deleted from(… visible with clothing removed) “bones are not just“.
Defn: Involving a great deal of effort, trouble or difficulty, as in “he was given the heavy task of sorting out the mess”.
10 Any person yet to see whisky promoted? (7)
WHOEVER : “however”(yet/on the other hand) with “w”(letter represented by “whisky” in the phonetic alphabet) moved to the start of the word(to see … promoted).
11 Ulster starts to expect witty improvisation in Irish comedian (5,4)
ERNIE WISE : [ NI(abbrev. for Northern Ireland/Ulster) + 1st letters, respectively, of(starts to) “expect witty improvisation” ] contained in(in ) ERSE(the Irish Gaelic language).
12 Captured by spies from the east saying you are made of gold (5)
AURIC : Reversal of(… from the east, in an across clue) CIA(abbrev. for the Central Intelligence Agency, the US spy organisation) containing(Captured by …) [U R](letters representing the pronunciation of/saying “you are“, as is used in texting).
13, 2 Some great awful shop (9)
MEGASTORE : Anagram of(… awful) SOME GREAT.
14 Boss had embraced sweetheart, given honest choice (not half) (4,6)
HEAD HONCHO : HAD containing(embraced) middle letter of(…heart) “sweet” plus(given) the last 3 letters, respectively, deleted from(not half) “honest choice“.
16 Six and half a dozen being the same not producing eggs (10)
VIVIPARITY : VI(Roman numeral for “six”) + VI(Roman for half a dozen/6) + PARITY(the condition of being equal/the same).
Defn: The characteristic of animals who give birth to living young rather than laying eggs that hatch.
19 Bird dived across the pond (4)
DOVE : Double defn: 2nd: The US (across the pond, ie. the Atlantic Ocean) equivalent of “dived”, the past tense of “dive”.
20 Intends to have different names in the same answer (5)
MEANS : 1st: Anagram of(different) NAMES; and 2nd: Hidden in(in the) “same answer“.
21 No pain or gain as ale is drunk (9)
ANALGESIA : Anagram of(… is drunk) GAIN AS ALE.
Defn: The inability to feel pain.
23 Gas worried a very young person (7)
NEONATE : NEON(a rare gas) + ATE(worried/caused to be troubled/ate at).
Defn: …, technically, an infant less than 4 weeks old.
24 Charge university student implicated in search (7)
COULOMB : [ OU(abbrev. for the Open University, or even Oxford University in the UK) + L(letter displayed by a student/learner driver) ] contained in(implicated in) COMB(to search through thoroughly).
Defn: The unit of electric charge.
25 Dicky learned that in the West End (11)
THEATRELAND : Anagram of(Dicky) LEARNED THAT.
Defn: A name for … area of London, in which numerous theatres are located.
Down
1 Gives no warning to road users and couldn’t care less (6,4,1,4)
DOESN’T GIVE A HOOT : Literally, doesn’t use the vehicle’s horn/hooter to warn others.
2 See 13
3 Where Oxonian may dream and breathe? (7)
INSPIRE : [IN SPIRE](a literal reference to where a member of Oxford University may get inspiration, Oxford being poetically called “the City of Dreaming Spires” after the stunning architecture of the university buildings.
4 Change sides with Dr Who to become a ranch hand (7)
COWHERD : Anagram of(… to become) [ 1st and last letters of(… sides) “Change” plus(with) DR WHO].
5 One type of power about to switch (8)
ISOLATOR : I(abbrev. for “one”) + SOLAR(a type of power, that which is generated by sunlight) containing(about) TO.
Defn: …, specifically a mechanical device to cut off power to an electrical device or circuit.
6 Always a sudoku, possibly, for social harmony? (5,1,5,4)
NEVER A CROSS WORD : Cryptic defn: Possibly, a puzzle enthusiast who always does a Sudoku puzzle will never attempt a crossword.
7 Dump below? (5,8)
BOWEL MOVEMENT : A reverse clue: “below” is: Anagram of(… MOVEMENT) BOWEL.
Defn: …, slang for an act of defecation.
8 Funny man‘s rice pudding — second helping arrived, bowl first eaten (4,9)
ERIC MORECAMBE : Anagram of(… pudding) RICE + MORE(a second helping, say, of food) + CAME(arrived) containing(… eaten) 1st letter of(… first) “bowl“.
15 One loses faith when a male part’s not right … (8)
APOSTATE : “prostate”(a male gland/body part) minus(…’s not) “r”(abbrev. for “right”).
17 … and for performance, ultimately a male chemical (7)
REAGENT : Last letters, respectively, of(…, ultimately) “for performance” + A + GENT(a male).
Could the ellipsis and surface be an allusion to prostate disease leading to ED and medication for the latter?
18 Part of hospital in coma (7)
TRANCHE : H(abbrev. for “hospital”) contained in(in) TRANCE(a sleeplike state that one could liken to a coma).
22 Grow up dear! That’s not even cheese! (5)
GOUDA : 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th letters deleted from(That’s not even) “Grow up dear“.
Very good fun “phiistine” on good form, and doing better than the Grauniad typesetters. After solving I had a gripe or two with some bits (“coma” for “trance” is a bit dodgy, and the use of the measure of something “coulomb” for the thing itself is a little metonymic for my taste, being an ex-metrologist, but the very fact that I enjoyed the solve start to finish says much more than a couple of late questions!
At first I struggled to get in to this and wondered where the breakthrough would come, but it solved steadily with hold-ups and all made sense. I did put the wrong part of speech for “viviparous” in place of “viviparity” (oh the ambiguity of gerundives) but eventually found my error.
Thank you scchua for the fine blog and pics, and Phiistine for the excellent puzzle. I hope the editor gives you your “l” back soon.
Entertaining solve with generally good cllues.
I ticked ONEROUS, BOWEL MOVEMENT and APOSTATE.
Thanks Philistine and scchua.
Apologies for anyone waiting for me to close the parenthesis in my comment @1. Here’s one to add in where you feel it best fits: )
DNF, because for 16a I put “viviparous”, despite not being able to parse the last three letters; then nothing would fit at 18d. Thanks, Philistine and Scchua.
Like John @4 I originally had viviparous which is one of those splendid words I remember from long ago biology lessons – but I soon realised I had to read the clue again when 18d wouldn’t work
A very enjoyable crossword, thank you Philistine and Scchua
Yes, good fun and an excellent crossword. I had to get most of my answers by working on both the whole and the parts, making for a very satisfying experience with few guesses. I particularly liked BOWEL MOVEMENT and NEVER A CROSS WORD, but there was a lot more to appreciate with such a variety of tricks and devices being used.
13/2 had to be MEGASTORE, which I first thought might be GAME STORE, but that has two words.
Like thezed, I tried to put VIVIPAROUS into 16a, because that part of speech seemed to be indicated, but as VIVIPARITY means the state of not producing eggs I thought it was ok.
Thanks to Philistine and Scchua.
This was a very fine puzzle IMHO. At present I think Philistine is my favourite of all the Guardian stable of setters. I particularly liked BOWEL MOVEMENT – so irreverent – VIVIPARITY and DOVE. I wonder what our many friends posting from the States will say about it.
So in conclusion a very big thank you to Philistine and Scchua!
Thanks for the blog. I managed to invent the word viviparate, so not a clean solve for me …
A nearly perfect puzzle from Philistine. thezed@1, I also thought that COULOMB didn’t quite equate to charge, but coma = trance is supported by my Collins. I liked BOWEL MOVEMENT now that it’s been explained to me (at first I thought it was just a weak cryptic definition), NEVER A CROSS WORD, and MEANS. I’ve never before seen an answer clued as an anagram and a hidden word in the same clue, and the surface was almost &lit-ish.
S Panza@7, i thought DOVE was perfectly fine.
Thanks to Philistine and Scchua.
I was like The Zed@1, John Wells@4 and crytpicsue@5, putting in VIVIPAROUS at 16a instead of VIVIPARITY. This mucked up my SE, so I failed to get 24a COULOMB and 18d TRANCHE (for the latter, I biffed in UNAWARE – “in coma”). I also couldn’t see DOVE at 19a for love or money.
Along with previous posters, I ticked 7d BOWEL MOVEMENT (even though it was a bit gross) and 8d NEVER A CROSS WORD.The inclusion of Morecambe (and Wise) today reminded me of the pier which appeared (appiered!) in a recent puzzle.
Thanks to Philistine and scchua.
[Sorry, on review, I see Alan B@6 also went the VIVIPAROUS path for a while too. That one certainly misled a few of us. I thought I was pretty smart remembering VIVIPAROUS from high school Science, but in the end I was clearly not so smart.]
Any enjoyable puzzle, unusually straightforward for Philistine
Thanks to manehi and Phiistine (sic)
An not Any!
What Thezed says. Great fun.
As others have said, a really good puzzle. Many thanks to Philistine, and scchua for a number of unscramblings.
On units and what they measure, as raised by thezed@1 and DaveInNCarolina@9 – would you find permissible “Force as novel measure of weight? (6) NEWTON”?
I did enjoy this, so thanks to Philstine and to scchua for the blog. That was in spite of emitting a slight groan – alost inaudible – at the same places as thezed @1 (16a and 24a, close parentheses… 🙂 )
Me @16 – it appears that the “m” in “almost” is inaudible; much like the “l” in “Philistine”….
Thanks Phiistine and scchua
On the easy side for a Philistine – indeed MEANS was so easy I was reluctant to write it in in case I had missed something! IHowever didn’t parse COWHERD or APOSTATE, and missed the ERSE part of Ernie…
Favourite was MEGASTORE – surely this is a genuine &lit?
Only thing I didn’t like was “promoted” 10a. For me it means “moved upwards”, not sideways – so would have been fine in a down clue.
A DNF for me, I suppose, as I persuaded myself that both “viviparate” (the state of being viviparous) and “parate” (the opposite of disparate) were words.
I also bunged in COULOMB, while wondering where the “extra” ‘O’ came from.
I’m another fan of 7d.
Many thanks to Phlistine & Scchua.
This may be more of a US thing than UK, but there are a very large number of universities (in the hundreds at least) who go by their initial letters. So using the not-further-defined word “university” to stand for one particular abbreviation is not in my opinion the best, despite the gettability of the clue as a whole.
I had a different problem than most others initially with 16a: I read “not producing eggs” as meaning should produce eggs, but the mechanism wasn’t working, hence futile attempts to squeeze negating prefixes in there. BTW “parent” comes from the same root as “parous/parity”.
The rest was a breeze. Thanks all.
In response to JohnR@15, newton bears the same relationship to force as coulomb to charge. However, to expand on my earlier comment, I don’t insist on perfect equivalence between definition and answer in a crossword. It is enough for me if the definition points clearly to the answer, so I regard both Philistine’s clue and the one you provided as perfectly permissible.
The international radio communication code word for W is whiskey not whisky.
mij @22
But how can you tell the difference on the radio (for which the alphabet is intended)?
I was initially on Team VIVIPAROUS too. Isn’t “not bearing eggs” an adjectival gerund?
Thanks to Philistine ans scchua. This largely unpacked quite readily, but the last few seemed to take forever. I was another in the viviparous camp, moved then to viviparate before deciding on viviparity which of course made more sense. This meant trance and coulomb were the last ones. Another fan of bowel movement and never a cross word and I also liked head honcho. Thanks again to Philistine and scchua.
muffin @ 18: I’m promoting you to lead the convoy?
jc @ 24: I think it’s also nounal – ‘viviparity’ = ‘The quality of being viviparous’ [Chambers] {my emhasis}.
Me @ 26: emphasis, even…
Every good puzzle but I think 1 down would be better if ‘gives’ was replaced by ‘provides’
remembered viviparous from Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, in there a scandal for humans. had to ask mr google for the alternative suffixes.
Didn’t know there was such a word as VIVIPARITY so I fell into the same trap as everyone else. I liked the awful shop – yes, I make it an &lit.
Glancing back I’d like to give a shout out to “Auric” as well – most familiar to me as the first name of the Bond villain Goldfinger, who was reputed to be a jab at the architect Ern? Goldfinger, who’d built near Fleming’s home in Hampstead in a manner which the locals might have considered a tad unsympathetic to the surroundings.
Re “coulomb” for “charge” – I started to write a long and convoluted reply on the SI system and how one cannot swap a unit for the quantity it represents but it got too long and too convoluted. I think, in the end, it depends on the degree of looseness one is happy with. For me that varies with the clue – I’ll forgive more for a good surface, or where the answer “just works” and the parsing is more a post hoc justification. Equally, I appreciate some are more sticklers for exactness.
1dn was LOI. I had the DOESNT GIVE A with three blanks T. Given it was located next to BOWEL MOVEMENT I had a horrible feeling that the answer might be tad scatological. Happily,NEONATE put paid to that!
I liked this but I do agree with those who found this rather easy for Philistine. I was expecting a theme seeing Eric and Ernie were there but I couldn’t find one.
Thanks Philistine.
Another -ouser to start with. At the gentle end of Philistine with some great clues. BOWEL MOVEMENT was right up my schoolboy street and MEANS was a really innovative clue for such an easy to see solution. Also liked HEAD HONCHO which I’ll have to look up as to where it comes from. Thanks to Philistine and scchua.
A great puzzle today, Phiistine and (with a nod to @thezed 1 and 3 for a bit of wit to make me smile) I hope you get ur ‘l’ back soon too.
I loved the irreverence of BOWEL MOVEMENT and the new terms for me of ERSE (even though Mrs The Ball can understand a lot of same I’ve never heard the term before) and NEONATE.
Thanks Philistine for the crossword and to scchua for the blogging, good job both.
Are any of the VIVIPAROUS community going to explain how they justified PAROUS as representing “being the same”? If it hadn’t apparently been so commonly done, it would have surprised me that anyone would enter a “solution” without that didn’t have the support of the cryptic element.
Enormously enjoyable: I’ve seldom laughed so much!
I agree with Van. I had the vivip… But needed the word for same=parity; simples. Re; coulomb, I have always associated it with charge from my galvanometric days at the boy’s grammar school where we had separate lessons in physics and chemistry. The girls grammar school was about four miles away. They did chemistry and biology. My next door neighbour, grammar school girl, taught me the biology. Which turned me into a good gardener!!
Re 6d I always do both Sudoku and the crossword.
Another fine puzzle from one of the Graun’s P stable. I thought “visible” was a bit iffy in 9. I loved BOWEL MOVEMENT, ERIC and ERNIE. Hands up, all those who (like me) Googled “Cowheld” to see if he was an actor.
For those having a problem with COULOMB for charge, how would you feel having “distance” as a definition for mile or kilometer?
Thanks, Phili and scchua.
Another who initially wrote VIVIPAROUS only for 18d to have a very unlikely U-A-C-E, so had to think twice then PARITY dawned on me..LOI 18d.
I had GAME STORE for 13,2 at first, before getting 1d and 7d. Also had a few alternatives for the last word in 1d but I couldn’t see the word play.
I couldn’t see where the C and E came from in 4d. C hang E sides is always swapping Left and Right.
Regarding 11across, Ulster is not a synonym for Northern Ireland (NI).
An enjoyable puzzle, although I had to come here for the parsing of “Ernie Wise” (many thanks!).
Like Morph@28 I thought give/gives in 1D should have been avoided.
Thanks to both Philistine and sschua.
Don’t know what all the fuss is about. VIVIPARITY? never heard of it – has to be right.
Got to this late and over dinner (supper?) so was displeased with BOWEL MOVEMENT until I copped myself on. An enjoyable romp for the most part and while I may accept the pedants revolting about COULOMB et al (and the acceptance of the tantalising eric and ernie ghost appearances) I draw the line Fiach@42 with your offering:- Northern Ireland and Ulster are literally synonymous, although neither is actually accurate, since the northernmost part of Ireland is not included and three counties of Ulster are excluded.
But it’s a crossword. Let there be no Sudokus between us. (Why would anyone want to do a number puzzle? Support your local crozzie and duck Alzheimer’s I say.)
Thanks to scchua and Philistine
A promising crossword in need of some care and attention.
1a missed opportunity – Some Philistine interrupts delivery of Wordsworth, or even – Part of me wanted to stop delivery of Wordsworth, or many,many others
11a As pointed out @42 ULSTER is not NI
16a 2 inaccurate synonyms in the cryptic reading
24a It is not reasonable to expect OU to be inferred from UNIVERSITY. I suspect this is a mistake or a typo (OVER) missing perhaps
1d As has been said, GIVES in a clue with GIVE in the entry is clumsy and unnecessary
3d WHERE AN OXONIAN MAY DREAM does not give INSPIRE (unless we are being asked to imagine student rooms in some high garret, but I don’t think so)
4d and 8d – I know some don’t mind bizarre, meaningless surfaces, but surely there’s a limit!
Much else here needed a polish which this setter is more than capable of providing.
Dansar your criticisms of this puzzle suggest that you could not fill in at least 7 answers. Since I doubt this is the case can we assume you are being a tad pedantic?
S Panza @46
I don’t think I am. I get no satisfaction from simply completing a crossword. I want to be challenged and occasionally defeated by clever misdirection, and subtle use of our wonderful language. A good crossword clue is a work of art and I buy the Guardian in the hope of some Rembrandt or Vermeer. If I wanted Jackson Pollock or Tracy Emin’s unmade bed I’d buy the Daily Mirror.
This crossword felt like one that had put aside for further treatment which it failed to receive.
What you actually are saying, S Panza, is that if you can get the answer you shouldn’t complain (too much). For most solvers that will be ‘fair enough’ but Dansar makes clear that he needs a bit more than that.
Calling that ‘pedantic’ is, I think, a bit strong but at least you didn’t call him a Remoaner.
I do think Dansar has some valid points, e.g. when he doesn’t want to see NI = Ulster. Many other setters do it, though. My quibbles were – as usual – in the technical area. For me, ’embraced’ (in 14ac) should not have been given in the past tense but I can live with that. Also, ‘bowl first’ (for B) in 8d is something I find very, let’s say, inelegant.
Yes, some surfaces were perhaps a bit clunky but we’re not all Arachnes. And let’s face it, clues like 21ac, 25ac and 22d are very well written. Not difficult but kind of lightish (whatever that means) and natural.
Some say that this was one of the easier Philistines but I’m afraid I cannot remember one of his harder puzzles anymore. Must have been a long time ago.
To muffin (and others): unfortunately 13,2 is not an &lit – it’s just wordplay + definition. True, they seem to be ‘related’ but that doesn’t make this clue an &lit – ‘shop’ is not part of the wordplay.
Overall, we liked this crossword a lot but, indeed, it was over all too soon (which doesn’t have to be a negative thing).
Many thanks to scchua & Philistine.
Fun puzzle. Thank you to scchua and Philistine
Sil @48. I’d say that Philistine’s end-letter alphabetical jigsaw qualified as quite hard, and very enjoyable. Prize puzzle mid-November last year. Generally I find a wider range, with him than with others, between quick and slow solves: this one towards the harder end.
VW @35
I’ve only just seen your comment, I’m afraid – hence my very late respose.
I’m one of the sizeable ‘viviparous’ community on this page. I solved the clue from VI+VI and then got the answer VIVIPAROUS (so I thought) from the definition ‘not producing eggs’ – a good match. I was hoping, of course, that PAROUS (from PARITY = ‘the same’, perhaps?) was a word. I looked it up and it wasn’t. PARITY (which means ‘the same’ ratjher then ‘being the same’) obviously had to be right, and the answer VIVIPARITY (the state of not producing eggs) was a good enough match for the clipped definition ‘not producing eggs’, as I commented earlier.
Simples reslly.
Hard working Scouser? Not, that is to say, unusual