A tougher crossword this time – least ways that’s the way I found it.
It has some top-notch clues and it was worth re-reading them to do this blog.
When I started solving this I persevered with the anagram at 1/15. I thought it worth it the reward of a bunch of first letters. The anagram fodder was clear, and there can’t be that many 12 letter (or 9 letter) words to be made from it – it still took my several minutes. Then I didn’t get much reward from those first letters – only 4d solved before moving on to the rest of the puzzle, which looked pretty empty – less than half finished by the end of the first pass, that mostly in the bottom half.
The rest eventually came together but I found the last couple were particularly tricky.
Of course looking back while producing this blog I wonder why I found it so tricky, but that’s just the usual story: “It’s easy when you know”
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1/15 | FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE | Exotic fan dance in decline – pine for an alternative to living off the British taxpayer? (9,12) (FAN DANCE IN DECLINE PINE)* AInd: exotic. |
| 6/3/22 | PROS AND CONS | Arguments on both sides for Boris’s ultimate ‘plus’ with party members (4,3,4) PRO (for) [bori]S AND (plus) CONS (party members) |
| 10 | GOLD DISC | Record success in faking old discovery (4,4) Hidden in fakinG OLD DISCovery. This hidden was in the last half dozen solved – I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the first answer in for many people. Hiddens are like that aren’t they. |
| 11 | ANGLER | A potential hooker‘s view, right? (6) ANGLE (view) R[ight]. Not that sort of hooker – even though the 6 Nations is on at the moment. |
| 12 | SLACKS | Casual wear left in beds (6) L[eft] inside SACKS (beds) |
| 14 | INK STAIN | Spot topless rose satin shifts (3,5) [p]INK (SATIN)* AInd: shifts. Rose as in colour rather than the flower – Pinks are different to roses, though roses are often pink – where am I going with this ? … |
| 18 | GO INTO BATTLE | Enter a Southern English town and start scrapping (2,4,6) Double Def. The first referring to the town near Hastings named after the horrendous battle where the noble King Harold was cruelly defeated by the dastardly William the Bastard. |
| 21 | POWER CUT | Crew up to mischief, which is disruptive, currently (5,3) (CREW UP TO)* AInd: mischief. Current-ly with current as in electrickery |
| 23 | RUDDER | Course determined by this Republican tit (6) R[epublican] UDDER (tit) Penultimate answer in – mainly because I was fooled where the definition was in the clue. |
| 24 | CARTON | Funny thing, abandoning ‘love’ box (6) CARTOON – O. Definitely seen this construct a few times before, it is fun though. |
| 25/9 | STEPPING BACK | Action of pissed off royals? A way to get Essex town “tail” (8,4) ST (way) EPPING (Essex town) BACK (tail) |
| 28 | GNAT’S PISS | At evening’s end, Stan sips sloppy, crap booze (5,4) [evenin]G (STAN SIPS)* AInd: sloppy. |
| Down | ||
| 2 | IF ONLY | No-fly cruises centre bust? I wish! (2,4) (NO FLY [cru]I[ses])* AInd: bust. |
| 4 | CRIB SHEET | Bed with minimum of bed linen, a help to a cheat? (4,5) CRIB (Bed) SHEET (minimum of bed linen) |
| 5 | ARCHIVE | Royal sprog all over Victor’s record collection (7) V[ictor] inside ARCHIE (Royal sprog) |
| 7 | RIGHT-ANGLED | Like a corner of true England pointlessly ballsed up (5-6) RIGHT (true) (ENGLAND – N (point))* AInd: ballsed up. I particularly liked this clue |
| 8 | SPECIMEN | Piss taken in hospital? (8) Cryptic Def. |
| 13 | CONTINENTAL | A European as opposed to a Brit? (11) Cryptic Def. I suppose – I may be missing something here – not only Freedom of Movement etc. |
| 16 | DETERRENT | Depression surrounding Spielberg’s film blunder is an obstacle (9) DENT (Depression) around ET (Spielberg’s film) and ERR (blunder) |
| 17 | IGNORANT | Go in pants to rave, not having a clue (8) (GO IN)* AInd: pants, RANT (to rave) |
| 19 | BUTTS IN | Interferes when arses get elected (5,2) BUTTS (arses) IN (elected). Seems like someone’s been interfering a lot lately then. |
| 20 | TENNIS | Balls take a bashing in this perverted vice trap (6) SIN (vice) NET (trap) All reversed (perverted) Last one in, and an excellent Eye-style clue. Before I solved it from trap=NET, I got as far as considering “Beanos” from Balls as in parties, which fitted the crossers – the wordplay cannot be coerced to justify it. |
| 26/27 | PEP TALK | Exercise and start to produce gas – it’s supposed to be arousing (3,4) PE (exercise) P[roduce] TALK (gas) |
I have my doubts about the new technician they’ve taken on at work.
Apparently, when they took him on to work in Quality Control in the M&M factory, productivity fell by 50%.
He said all he was doing was discarding the ones incorrectly marked with a W
Thanks beermagnet, I found this one easier than the last one, but I’m sure I still spent ten times longer in the solve than you.
Re 13d I read it as the continent being geographically “opposed” to Britain thereby distinguishing the brits from other Europeans.
I saw continental as referring to continental Europe……UK is part of Europe but I can always remember referring to ‘the continent’ as being the bit that wasn’t an island. There is continental Europe and Europe in general.
This is Wikipedia on continental Europe:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Europe
Has anyone else noticed that Cyclops has so far scored Three No Trumps in his clues for 2020 (a New Year’s resolution, perhaps)?
Winsor @2 take your point. Continental is also defined as “an inhabitant of mainland Europe” in Oxford dictionary. I felt that “opposed to” identified a European physically opposite Britain I.e. on ‘the continent’ and therefore a continental. I just happen to be watching football at the moment so this may only be resolved by VAR.
John E @3 – hadn’t spotted the Trump thing, but no doubt the orange one will make an appearance before too long.
I saw 13d the same way as Winsor. I think the surface makes you think it’s something to do with change of status after Brexit, Perhaps?. That’s why it’s a ‘cryptic def’ as @Beermagnet seems to hesitate to assert.
There are a whole load of really great clues here. I think I’ve appreciated them more reading them again at leisure in the blog than when I was concentrating on the solve. Nicely blogged too; very clear, thanks.
In 16d, it’s unusual to see ET get attributed in a crossword clue, although it’s often a ‘film’. Spielberg will be pleased.
I agree 7d was an excellent clue, too, although some people will try and tell you it’s not ‘pointless’ because the N (a ‘point’) stays.
Is the M&M joke funny? Depends how you look at it, I suppose (-:
Many thanks to both.
When I toured Central Europe some years back I remember being told Frankfurt was the busiest airport in Europe. Having just come through Britain I knew Heathrow was busier and said so. I was told “Ah yes, but Frankfurt is the busiest in mainland Europe.” They had the same attitude to the Shard versus the Berlin Tower.
Given the nature of this crossword, I was looking for a third option in 11a!
As a member of the smutty gang with Mystogre, I too stumbled a little over 11a.
Personally this is one of /the/ worst Eyes I have done to date. The definitions in some cases were shoddy and unfair.