A beginners’ level puzzle from Neo in this morning’s FT.
Although this required a little bit of general knowledge (SATIE, EMERSON, SAINT HELENA, eg), this was not an overly difficult puzzle and used a good range of devices, so I think this would be a good puzzle to attempt with a newbie. I completed it in two run-throughs, with crossers from the first giving me what I needed for the second.
I would be interested in people’s opinions on the clue for EMERSON as I think to be completely accurate the B is removed from EMBERS, and not from ON as the clue would indicate. It wuld different if EMBERS ON was a phrase but EMBERS is not a verb, so this is not the case. I don’t think it detracted terribly from the clue, or the puzzle, but it does seem slightly awry.
Thanks Neo
| Across | ||
| 1 | BLIND SPOT | Possible Venetian spy misunderstood subject (5,4) |
| BLIND (“possible Venetian”) + SPOT (“spy”) | ||
| 6 | COVER | Fielder caught six balls (5) |
| C (caught) + OVER (“six balls” in cricket).
Cover is a fielding position in cricket. |
||
| 9 | EMERSON | Writer remains active having released book (7) |
| EM(b)ERS (“remains”) + ON (“active”) having released B (book) | ||
| 10 | POUNCED | Attacked having paid to trap snow leopard (7) |
| Pd. (paid) to trap OUNCE (“snow leopard”) | ||
| 11 | SATIE | Scorer required in the Johannesburg game? (5) |
| A S.A. TIE might be a game played in Johennesburg; S.A. = South Africa).
Erik Satie is one of my favourite composers (i.e. one who wrtites a score, so “scorer”) |
||
| 12 | YACHTSMAN | Sailor may snatch rum (9) |
| *(may snatch) [anag:rum] | ||
| 14 | BOA | Stole pig that has no tail (3) |
| BOA(r) (“pig” that has no tail) | ||
| 15 | SAINT HELENA | As in the lane perhaps where Napoleon last walked (5,6) |
| *(as in the lane) [anag;perhaps] | ||
| 17 | EMERALD ISLE | Green Man? Here one finds whiskey! (7,4) |
| EMERALD (“green”) + ISLE (“Man?”) | ||
| 19 | DOT | Dorothy starts with dripping on toast (3) |
| [starts with] D(ripping) O(n) T(oast) | ||
| 20 | HONEY BEAR | Two similar animals for Spooner? Here’s another! (5,4) |
| Had the Rev. Spooner said them, BUNNY HARE (“two similar animals”) may have come out as HONEY BEAR | ||
| 22 | GLOOM | Far side in cooling tower is dark (5) |
| [far side in] (coolin)G + LOOM (“tower”) | ||
| 24 | VIBRATE | Shake and strive to restrain unruly youngster (7) |
| VIE (“strive”) to restrain BRAT (“unruly youngster”) | ||
| 26 | PIEBALD | Unevenly coloured baked dish, no cover on top (7) |
| PIE (“baked dish”) + BALD (“no cover on top”) | ||
| 27 | NEEDS | Can’t do without Tyneside newsmen? (5) |
| NE (Northeast, so (to an Englishman at least) “Tyneside”) + EDS (editors, so “newmen”) | ||
| 28 | LIE IN WAIT | We initial changes to prepare ambush (3,2,4) |
| *(we initial) [anag:changes] | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | BLESS | Be grateful for B minus (5) |
| B + LESS (“minus”) | ||
| 2 | INERTIA | Finer arts bias essentially causing stagnation (7) |
| (f)INE(r) (a)RT(s) (b)IA(s) [essentially] | ||
| 3 | DYSPEPSIA | Heartburn, said Pepys, should be treated (9) |
| *(said pepys) [anag;should be treated] | ||
| 4 | PANTY GIRDLE | Daring type out to throttle Liberal supporter (5,6) |
| *(daring type) [anag;out] to throttle L (Liberal) | ||
| 5 | TOP | Upper surface found in vessel capsized (3) |
| <=POT (“vessel”, capiszed) | ||
| 6 | COURT | Ring found in sharp suit pressed here (5) |
| O (“ring”) found in CURT (“sharp”) | ||
| 7 | VICOMTE | Nobleman failing to grasp bon mots regularly (7) |
| VICE (“failing”) to hold (b)O(n)M(o)T(s) [regularly] | ||
| 8 | REDUNDANT | Communist and German worker not needed (9) |
| RED (“Communist”) + UND (“and” in “German”) + ANT (“worker”) | ||
| 13 | CATASTROPHE | Toaster chap fixed brings disaster (11) |
| *(toaster chap) [anag:fixed] | ||
| 14 | BEETHOVEN | Composer put plant on hot cooker (9) |
| BEET (“plant”) on H (hot) OVEN (“cooker”) | ||
| 16 | EVERGREEN | Laurel for one remaining fresh and vital (9) |
| Double definition | ||
| 18 | ENNOBLE | Dignify East German city overthrown by the French (7) |
| E (East) + <=BONN (“German city” overthrown) by LE (“the” in “French”) | ||
| 19 | DIORAMA | Miniature scene from play in which moon appears (7) |
| DRAMA (“play”) in which IO (“moon” of Jupiter) appears | ||
| 21 | YEATS | Support given over including English poet (5) |
| <=STAY (“support” given over) including E (English) | ||
| 23 | MIDST | Thick fog covers centre of Reading (5) |
| MIST (“fog”) covers [centre of] (rea)D(ing) | ||
| 25 | EEL | Slippery character getting in somewhere else (3) |
| Hidden in [getting in] “somewherE ELse” | ||
*anagram
Didn’t find this quite as easy as loonapick, perhaps because I was too busy admiring and being skilfully misdirected by some beautiful surface phrases, ‘Liberal supporter’, ‘dripping on toast’, ‘Venetian spy’ & ‘remains active’ among them.
Re the latter, I don’t think ‘embers on’ has to be a verbal or indeed nounal phrase to make the clue work. I saw it (when I eventually did see it; it was my last in) as just a sequence of letters from which you have to remove the ‘B’. Nobody thinks the fodder has to make sense so long as the surface is sound, which this certainly was.
Highly enjoyable and impressive stuff. Thanks to both.
Thanks for the blog, Loonapick.
As you say all very straightforward with some entertaining surfaces.
All solved quite quickly apart from EMERSON, which I would not have worked out.
Entered NAP for 5d which scuppered me for 1a. Apart from that, all pretty straightforward. Thanks to S&B.
I had lunch with a friend yesterday and one of the things we discussed was the fact that, whichever of his setting ‘hats’ he wears, you know that this setter will always provide you with a good entertaining crossword. This one was nice and straightforward, with lots of smiles along the way at the lovely surface readings
Thanks to Neo for the fun and loonapick for the blog
I agree that this was fairly easy except that, even with all the crosses, I never came near to “panty girdle” being stuck on “penny” for the first word. Thanks to both.
Thanks to Neo and loonapick. I agree – easy but fun. I had trouble parsing GLOOM, my LOI, but did work out EMERSON and PANTY GIRDLE thanks to the crossers.
Hello. Neo here. Thanks for the blog loona, and to all for comments.
9ac is a good example to point out that surfaces mean nothing in the REAL grammar of the clue, i.e. the cryptic grammar. In fact there is only one grammar in a clue: the other one, the surface, is a total illusion. So we have EMBERS (noun) plus ON (adjective) = EMBERSON ‘having released book’, or B, in our list of single-letter indicators, removed.
But who cares. It doesn’t matter what the parts of speech in the bits are, as long as the grammar works at the cryptic level, but this, unfortunately (as it seems to affect not just unwary solvers, but any number of compilers), is apparently occult knowledge. I wish it were not.
Anyway, ‘remains’ ends up looking like a verb in the surface when actually it is not, and that’s the art: put things together fairly, but with a view to mislead wherever possible. Even though most of you lot read this legerdemain like a kid’s book.
Re 9, surely the embers are still burning, albeit slowly, before they become ash, the remains?
Very well said Neo — I’m always happy to see one of your crosswords in the FT.
Thanks Neo and loonapick
Am with the setter in his comments here and had no issue with the clue, although it was one of the clues at the top that was toward the end of the solve.
Found the puzzle quite straightforward steadily working down from the top right to bottom left without too many holdups, other than that 9a. Simon, the Collins on-line dictionary has embers as ‘small pieces of wood or coal that remain and glow with heat after the fire has finished burning’, so reckon that ‘remains’ just about cuts it.
Finished with YEATS, PIEBALD and LIE IN WAIT as I meandered down to that part of the grid.
Hello again. EMBERS is used figuratively here. I think for the literal interpretation Simon and Bruce can fight it out, but we compilers can get quite poetic when the drugs kick in. Then it all goes fuzzy again.