After last week’s challenge from Nimrod, I’m back to blogging something gentler this week
This was a good sound Wednesday crossword of the standard typical of the day.
The clue that took me longest to parse was 5 down, COLONIST. It took me a while to notice the vital punctuation mark in the clue.
There were a few simple but elegant clues today, such as those for INSTANCE and TURNIP.
I found it a bit odd to see the clue about Petr Cech and his injury at 6 down, given that it happened nearly 13 years ago. Perhaps it’s come up because of his recent retirement from playing football.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
| 1 |
Semites and I chat about sensitivity to beauty (12) |
Anagram of (about) SEMITES and I CHAT AESTHETICISM* |
AESTHETICISM (the cult of the beautiful, applied especially to a late 19th century movement to bring art into life, which developed into affectation) |
| 9 |
Tall building with supply leads requiring changing for drill, perhaps (5,4) |
TOWER (tall building) + POOL (supply) with the first letters [leads] of each word swapped (requiring changes) to form POWER TOOL POWER TOOL |
POWER TOOL (a drill is an example of a POWER TOOL) |
| 10 |
Shady individual inspires lecturer (5) |
UNIT (one; individual) containing (inspires) L (learner) UN (L) IT |
UNLIT (shady) |
| 11 |
Travel buddy is regarding part of the lower arm (6) |
CAR (form of travel) + PAL (friend; buddy) CAR PAL |
CARPAL (relating to the wrist; regarding part of the lower arm) |
| 12 |
Metamorphosis of an insect, for example (8) |
Anagram of (metamorphosis) AN INSECT INSTANCE* |
INSTANCE (example) |
| 13 |
Perhaps eating cheese mostly provides immunity (6) |
SAY (for instance; perhaps) containing (eating) FETA (type of cheese) excluding the final letter (mostly) A SA (FET) Y |
SAFETY (protection; immunity) |
| 15 |
Papers covering very tardy individual (8) |
ID (identity papers) containing (covering) (SO LATE [very tardy]) I (SO LATE) D |
ISOLATED (solitary; alone; individual) |
| 18 |
Outrageous old lady that punctured tyre walls (8) |
FLAT (punctured tyre) containing (walls) GRAN (old lady) FLA (GRAN) T |
FLAGRANT (outrageous) |
| 19 |
How to find pi’s root (6) |
TURN IP (follow that instruction) and you will TURN IP to give you PI TURN IP |
TURNIP (root vegetable) |
| 21 |
Cheat with drug, receiving sack in game (8) |
(CRIB [copy; cheat] + E (ecstasy; drug]) containing (receiving) BAG (sack) CRIB (BAG) E |
CRIBBAGE (card game) |
| 23 |
Sergeant Major encounters nettles and grins (6) |
SM (Sergeant Major) + IRKS (annoys; nettles) SM IRKS |
SMIRKS (grins) |
| 26 |
In the morning leave Germany, heading west in blind faith (5) |
(AM [ante meridiem; in the morning] + GO [leave] + D [International Vehicle Registration for Germany {Deutschland}]) all reversed (heading west) (D OG MA)< |
DOGMA (doctrine laid down with authority; something believed in by supporters without question) |
| 27 |
English statue left for leading nationalist as payment (9) |
E (English) + MONUMENT (statue) with the first (leading) N (nationalist) replaced by (as) L (left) E MOLUMENT |
EMOLUMENT (salary or fees; payment) |
| 28 |
Piles of rubbish in holy mess needing tidying, which takes up energy (7,5) |
TAT (rubbish) contained in (in) (an anagram of [needing tidying] HOLY MESS containing [which takes up] E [energy]) S (TAT) ELY HOM (E) S* – either E could be the one contained |
STATELY HOMES (piles; pile is slang for a tall building or big house) |
| Down | |||
| 1 |
Space out extremely tedious features (7) |
Anagram of (out) SPACE + TS (first and last letters of [extremely] TEDIOUS) ASPEC* TS |
ASPECTS (features) |
| 2 |
Drain small jug (5) |
S (small) + EWER (jug) S EWER |
SEWER (drain) |
| 3 |
From now on woman’s terrible fate is supported by the Queen (9) |
HER (woman’s) + an anagram of (terrible) FATE + ER (Elizabeth Regina; queen) – as this is a down entry, the letters ER are below and therefore supporting the first seven letters HER AFTE* ER |
HEREAFTER (AFTER this; from now on) |
| 4 |
Loves to enter motorcycling event and honk horn (4) |
(O [zero; love score in tennis + O [zero; love score in tennis] to give ‘loves’) contained in (to enter) TT (reference the Isle of Man TT [Tourist Trophy] motorcycling event) T (O O) T |
TOOT (make sharp sounds on a horn; honk horn) |
| 5 |
Immigrant: International person of impeccable morals (8) |
COLON (:, punctuation mark that is in the clue) + I (international) + ST (saint; [person formally recognized by the Christian (especially Roman Catholic) Church as having lived a life of holiness and exceptional virtue; a person of impeccable morals) COLON I ST |
COLONIST (an immigrant settling in a foreign country, often with similar individuals or groups having the intention of taking control from the native inhabitants) |
| 6 |
He broke P Cech’s skull in collision (5) |
S HUNT (reference Stephen HUNT, player at Reading Football Club in a match against Chelsea on 14 October 2006 who fractured Petr Cech’s (P Cech) skull when HUNT‘s knee collided with Cech’s head in a goalmouth incident. Cech subsequently recovered from the injury and returned to playing, initially with Chelsea and latterly with Arsenal. Cech has just retired from active playing after the recent Arsenal Chelsea match in the Europa Cup final in Azerbaijan. He will now take up an coaching / managerial appointment at Chelsea) S HUNT |
SHUNT (collision) |
| 7 |
Arrange 1,100 drifters (8) |
PLAN (arrange) + K (one thousand) + TON (informal word for 100) PLAN K TON |
PLANKTON (drifting organisms in oceans, lakes or rivers |
| 8 |
Show up bigoted politician ignoring black director (6) |
BATTEN (reference Gerard BATTEN [born 1954], currently leader of UKIP, he will step down in July after losing his seat in the European elections last month. Frequently characterised in the media as a bigot) + D (director) ATTEN D |
ATTEND (be present at; how up) |
| 14 |
Ruddy duck is a bird (8) |
FLAMING (red; ruddy) + O (zero; duck score in cricket) FLAMING O |
FLAMINGO (large tropical or subtropical wading bird of a pink or bright-red colour, with long legs and neck and a downward-curving bill) |
| 16 |
Blowhard damaged mud hut loo (9) |
Anagram of (damaged) MUD HUT LOO LOUDMOUTH* |
LOUDMOUTH (boastful person; blowhard) |
| 17 |
Propose that trousers neuter when extremely tightly fitting (8) |
SUGGEST (propose) containing (trousers) N (neuter) S (N) UGGEST |
SNUGGEST (most closely fitting; tightly fitting) |
| 18 |
Show California’s boring flag (6) |
CA (California) contained in (boring) FADE (tire; flag) FA (CA) DE |
FACADE (exterior front or face of a building) |
| 20 |
Planted vegetables outside for cash, once (7) |
PEAS (vegetables) containing (outside) SET (planted) PE (SET) AS |
PESETAS (former currency [cash] of Spain before the Euro was adopted in 2002) |
| 22 |
Son in ship shot off the side wall (5) |
S (son) contained in (in) BOAT (ship) BOA (S) T |
BOAST (a term in the game of squash to describes a shot that makes the ball first hit one of the side walls and then the end wall, or to hit a stroke of this kind) |
| 24 |
Discharge of water from lavatory, say (5) |
RHEUM (sounds like [say] ROOM [the lavatory is a example of a room]) RHEUM |
RHEUM (a mucous [slimy watery fluid] discharge, especially from the nose) |
| 25 |
Dirty introduction to sex with lubricant (4) |
S (first letter of [introduction to] SEX) + OIL (lubricant) S OIL |
SOIL ([make] dirty) |
Finished this but didn’t fully parse all the answers. Assumed S. HUNT was somebody in 6d although I was figuring on motor racing. Used to play squash but don’t recall that meaning for BOAST. Guessed there must be a bigoted politician called BATTEN and then checked via google. Thanks Duncan for filling in the gaps.
Got 5d fairly quickly. Seen this technique quite a few times. First saw it many years ago in a Paul clue for “colonic irrigation”. (Wonder how many can remember that one.) My last two in were PLANKTON and the glorious TURNIP – my personal favourite. Thanks Eccles.
Yes, a bit gentler than Nimrod but still not easy. I couldn’t parse 5d (missed the punctuation mark) and didn’t know the events or people referred to in 6d and 8d. I put in BOAST unconfidently even though nothing else seemed likely.
TURNIP looked as though it was going to be impossibly cryptic but it turned out to be so easy it was hard. PLANKTON on the other hand really was hard, for me anyway, and as last in gets my vote as clue of the day for both wordplay and definition.
Thanks to Eccles and Duncan.
I found this a much trickier Eccles than usual. I’d agree that TURNIP has to be top favourite in an enjoyable brain-stretching solve
Thanks to Eccles and Duncan
Great puzzle, great review – thanks both.
Thanks Eccles and DS
I enjoyed this, as Eccles has a very deft touch and an enjoyable sense of humour. I share the general approbation for 19, but I did have one small niggle that FLAG appeared in both clue for 18D and solution to 18A. Never mind.
Some very crafty clues, such as for Colonist – we missed the colon so couldn’t parse it. We liked the clue for Flagrant too – a nice misdirection, we thought, had us looking for TE as ‘tyre walls’ before we twigged what was going on.
A great puzzle – thanks, Eccles and Duncan
I also fell into the ‘Tyre walls’ trap for a while, and didn’t know Boast or Batten, so took a lot longer than normal for an Eccles. I was pleased to see that the Rev Spooner didn’t get any royalties from 9ac. Turnip was my CoD. Thanks Duncan and Eccles.
Congratulations Eccles on another excellent crossword and many thanks Duncan
I’m sure that most of the people doing this crossword regard Batten as a bigot. I probably do as well, except that I’d never heard of him. But there are lots of people who don’t feel that way. Isn’t it rather liberal consensus to call him a bigoted politician?
I’m with you, Wil, no fan of UKIP, but one of the reasons I do crosswords is as an escape from the current political imbroglio! Neutrality, please.
Hi, thanks to Duncan for the very comprehensive blog, and all who commented. Wil, I take your point to an extent, but when I came up with the structure of the clue I had a look at his twitter feed. The level of hate and anti-Muslim stuff on there is appalling, and I would like to think that any decent human being would consider it horrendous, rather than any liberal consensus. I certainly do not think that anyone is a bigot just because they want to leave the EU.
Batten is a bigot all right. You don’t have to dig too far to find out his very close links with some very unsavoury characters on the far right, as well as his own memberships and associations.
Now that’s out of the way, I’d just like to say this was a terrific puzzle, thanks to Duncan and Eccles. And I had to amend a puzzle I’m working on as it had the exact same clue for Flamingo! (gets out marker pen for notebook)