The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28084.
Forgive me if this sounds like damning with faint praise, but after yesterday’s Puck, what would not be anticlimactic? My real gripe is not with Qaos, but the Powers that Be, who rob me of an hour’s solving time, until the UK joins us in Daylight Savings Time on March 29. As I am rapidly turning into a pumpkin, I cannot spot the theme which surely is there somewhere – I see wisps of groups and albums, but nothing pans out. So now is your chance to shine.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | AMOROUS | A million men love us being in love (7) |
| A charade of ‘a’ plus M (‘million’) plus OR (Other Ranks, ‘men’) plus O (‘love’) plus ‘us’. | ||
| 5 | LOATHED | Strongly disliked misleading hotel ad (7) |
| An anagram (‘misleading’) of ‘hotel ad’. | ||
| 9 | BLAKE | Painter of British water? (5) |
| A charade of B (‘British’) plus LAKE (‘water’). Probably William Blake is intended, although I would not describe him a a ‘painter’ primarily. | ||
| 10 | IMBROGLIO | I’m playing Borg: 51-0? What a mess! (9) |
| A charade of ‘I’m’ plus BROG, an anagram (‘playing’) of ‘Borg’ plus LI (Roman numeral ’51’ – this time the genuine article) plus O (‘0’. | ||
| 11 | MILLIMETRE | In 1999 I will move tree a short distance (10) |
| An envelope (‘in’) of I’LL (‘I will’) in MIM (as a subject that has been touched on before in these hallowed halls, this is not a canonical formation, so let us call it a Romanesque numeral, ‘1999’) plus ETRE, an anagram (‘move’) of ‘tree’. | ||
| 12 | GUM | Face put the other way, it can stick (3) |
| A reversal (‘put the other way’) of MUG (‘face’). | ||
| 14 | CHRIS TARRANT | Jesus! What an infamous game show host (5,7) |
| A charade of CHRIST (‘Jesus’) plus ARRANT (‘infamous’). | ||
| 18 | CHOLESTEROLS | They might do you harm at prep school after Piggott enters (12) |
| … at least if they are LDLs. An envelope (‘after … enters’) of LESTER (‘Piggott’, former jockey) in CHOOLS, an anagram (‘prep’) of ‘school’. | ||
| 21 | RAT | Stratford’s uncovered grass (3) |
| A hidden answer (‘uncovered’) in ‘SrRATford’. | ||
| 22 | ENDANGERED | Stopped suppressing annoyance when threatened (10) |
| An envelope (‘suppressing’) of ANGER (‘annoyance’) in ENDED (‘stopped’). | ||
| 25 | IMITATING | Copying one winning chess game, capturing first time (9) |
| An envelope (‘capturing’) of I (‘first’ as in Charles I) plus T (‘time’) in I (‘one’) plus MATING (‘winning chess game’ if the opponent does not get to resign first). | ||
| 26 | SEVEN | First lady wears clothes of satin — they were magnificent in the film (5) |
| An envelope (‘wears’) of EVE (‘first lady’) in SN (‘clothes of SatiN‘), for the Western remake of Seven Samurai. | ||
| 27 | SLAVERY | Southern state utterly into bondage (7) |
| A charade of S (‘southern’) plus LA (Louisiana, ‘state’) plus VERY (‘utterly’). | ||
| 28 | RESISTS | Battles unruly sisters (7) |
| An anagram (‘unruly’) of ‘sisters’. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | ALBUMS | Books light metal seats (6) |
| A charade of AL (chemical symbol, aluminium, ‘light metal’) plus BUMS (‘seats’). | ||
| 2 | ORACLE | Vehicle reverses into space, losing bonnet, I predict (6) |
| An envelope (‘into’) of RAC, a reversal (‘reverses’) of CAR (‘vehicle’) in [h]OLE (‘space’) minus its first letter (‘losing bonnet’). | ||
| 3 | ONE-NIGHTER | Ignore, then review, single performance (3-7) |
| An anagram (‘review’) of ‘ignore then’. | ||
| 4 | SEIZE | Catch notes on the radio (5) |
| Sounds like (‘on the radio’) CS (‘notes’ – or, if you are not musical, SEES). | ||
| 5 | LIBERATOR | One rescuing volunteers eaten up by ’orrible savage (9) |
| An envelope (eaten up by’) of AT, a reversal (‘up’ in a down light) of TA (Territorial Army, ‘volunteers’ – just too useful for setters to give up) in LIBEROR, an anagram (‘savage’) of ‘orrible’. | ||
| 6 | AVON | Number 5: a climbing flower (4) |
| Flow on, sweet river: a reversal (‘climbing’) of NO (‘number’) plus V (‘5’, Roman numeral – no argument again) plus ‘a’. | ||
| 7 | HOLOGRAM | Photograph of empty measure, say (8) |
| Sounds like (‘say’) HOLLOW GRAM – or, if you prefer, HOLLOW GRAMME – ( ’empty measure’). | ||
| 8 | DOORMATS | Lackeys‘ party kicking up a storm (8) |
| A charade of DO (‘party’) plus ORMATS, an anagram (‘kicking up’) of ‘a storm’. | ||
| 13 | OROLOGISTS | Clockmakers wasting an hour: they have mountains to think about! (10) |
| A subtraction: [h]OROLOGISTS (‘clockmakers’) minus the initial H (‘wasting an hour’). | ||
| 15 | INTENSITY | Strength to take a seat, over 90 outside (9) |
| An envelope (‘outside’) of SUIT (‘take a seat’) in INTENY, an anagram (‘over’) of NINETY (’90’). | ||
| 16 | SCORPIOS | Signs of small business being supported by Apple’s operating system (8) |
| A charade of S (‘small’) plus CORP (‘business’ – a change from just CO) plus IOS (‘Apples operating system’). | ||
| 17 | PORT VILA | Left six, then left one here in Melanesia (4,4) |
| A charade of PORT (‘left’) plus VI (Roman numeral, ‘six’) plus L (‘left’) plus A (‘one’), fot the capital of Vanatu. | ||
| 19 | TRAVIS | Scottish group promotes special talent to gain victory with independence (6) |
| An envelope (‘gains’) of V (‘victory’) plus I (‘independence’) in TRAS, a reversal (‘promotes’ in a down light) of S (‘special’) plus ART (‘talent’). for a Scottish rock group. | ||
| 20 | ADONIS | Godfather, eliminating leading Democrat, is no criminal (6) |
| A charade of [d]AD (-‘father’) minus the D (‘eliminating leading Democrat’) plus ONIS, an anagram (‘criminal’) of ‘is no’. | ||
| 23 | AUGUR | I predict start of rain after a month, mostly (5) |
| A charade of AUGU[st] (‘a month’) cut short (‘mostly’) plus R (‘start of Rain’). | ||
| 24 | RACE | Adorn topless people (4) |
| A subtraction: [g]RACE (‘adorn’) minus its first letter (‘topless’). | ||
Not a bad puzzles overall, but pales into insignificance compared with yesterday’s absolute gem. A quick solve, with many cliched clues.
I finished the puzzle quite quickly, looking over the grid every couple of clues to see if a theme emerged, but it never did, so when I finished I had to call on the big guns.
The trick I use when I’m pretty convinced there is a theme but can’t see it is to do a Google search with a collection of answers that just “look like” they may be theme-ish. The beauty of this method is that if you have enough true theme words it doesn’t matter if you miss a few or include a few interlopers.
“Blake travis avon hologram” surfaced the series Blake’s 7, with characters Travis, Avon, Tarrant, Vila and spacecraft Liberator. There may be others but that lot was enough for me.
I thought this was going to be a quick finish, as about two-thirds of the answers went in on the first pass, but I bogged down on the last few and missed CHOLESTEROL (chokeberries fit the four crossers I had in at the time, but of course it didn’t parse). I did enjoy the usual mathematical clues from this setter and thought it was quite good, even if not by comparison with yesterday. Thanks to Qaos and PeterO, and to DrW @2 for his ingenious theme-finding method.
Blake’s SEVEN (26ac) was one of my faves.
So there are also ORAC{le}, Del TARRANT, and SCORPIO{s}.
Oops! Forgot to mention SLAVE{ry}.
Yes, I remember Orac the brain in the vat, but no, didn’t pick the theme, the show was a bit of Friday night fluff too long ago. The Scottish group and the show host were guesses, the latter still being a ? (what are ‘what an’ doing?). And ‘over’ as 15d’s anagrind, que? And wiki says Adonis was a mortal. Hey ho. Lester Piggott is the only UK jockey I know, but the student of mountains was a tilt. Quite fun in all, thanks P and Q.
Thanks for the early and through blog, PeterO. I couldn’t see the theme either though I too thought it might be musical – or even literary (BLAKE at 9a, “Stratford” in 21a and 6d AVON). Can’t really recall “Blake’s Seven” except for the title so I didn’t have a hope really.
gif@6 – my solving experience was very similar to yours. I also didn’t know 14a CHRIS TARRANT or 19d TRAVIS but the wordplays were fair and I worked them out. For some reason TA for “volunteers” still hasn’t stuck in my brain so 5d LIBERATOR was only partially parsed. I liked ALBUMS at 1d and regretted that it wasn’t a theme indicator.
Isn’t 10a IMBROGLIO a lovely word?
Thanks to Qaos for a puzzle that I found satisfying because I achieved my goal of not using any reference sources today.
I do admire those who spot the themes which i rarely do. Only failed on chris tarrent whom i’ve never heard of. It seems obvious enough after coming here. Thanks to petero and qaos
Thanks Qaos and PeterO
Is it Monday already? Raced through this. I didn’t know PORT VILA, but the wordplay was so clear that I didn’t bother to check it. No chance of the theme, of course – I never saw the programme.
A specific and a more general quibble. “Signs” for SCORPIOS doesn’t make sense (even ignoring the standard complaint about “house”. Yes, many people might be born under the sign of Scorpio, but there is only one sign.
More generally, I object to “cholesterol” being an all-purpose baddy. As PeterO points out, low-density lipoprotein is the culprit. Cholesterol is a single chemical substance, an essential component of cell membranes, amongst other requirements.
grantinfreo@6. Don Bradman was mortal, but still a god. I accept Adonis may not have been such a good cricketer……
Almost all the across clues went in on the first pass with just a brief delay over whether it was GUM or MUG. So the downs became an exercise in trying not to just guess from the crossers but the subconscious just kept popping the answers up. Nice to see some more numerical shenanigans. Thanks to P&Q and now back to splendid isolation …
Seems like yesterday that I had Qaos and Puck at level pegging but as you imply, Peter, this was so disappointing after Puck playing a blinder yesterday. I’m sure he’ll recover form and that he’s not a victim of present circumstances.
I enjoyed this and it was about the right level for me. I find it insidious to compare puzzles from day to day. suffice to say Puck’s yesterday was very good and today’s Qaos was excellent in its own way. I rarely see themes, was aware that Qaos always has them, but really never knew or cared enough about Blake’s Seven to have had a hope in hell of spotting this theme; and indeed I wonder why Qaos bothered. Somehow I dragged TRAVIS up from the depths of my memory which was just as well because I would never have been able to parse it; so many thanks PeterO. And plaudits also for the early post, most appreciated!! Favourites were IMBROGLIO – yes JinA @7 it is a lovely sounding word – and CHOLESTEROLS for reminding me of Lester Piggott. Just remains to thank Qaos for a fun ride!
grantinfreo@6 I thought so too, so googled Adonis, the first entry (greekmythology.com) said he was a god. No idea about the provenance of that site – do we trust Wikipedia these days? Maybe he was a mortal in some parts of Greece, a god in others? Perhaps Eileen can elucidate.
Looked for a theme, but failed, too: I watched probably just one episode of Blake’s Seven. Failing a theme I looked for a Nina; why have compilers given up using these?
Thanks PeterO and Qaos
wiggers@10: According to legend, he died hunting. So maybe a bowler killed by Bradman, not that my cricketing knowledge extends to knowing whose spells/careers he ended
Both the Don and Adonis are immortal in name at least and, according to Chappelli, the Don could be very vindictive, as could the classical gods.
Dave @14 – there is a Nina, middle of the fourth row we get “Zen” the computer aboard the Liberator. One of several AIs in the series voice by Peter Tuddenham (who also did Orac and Slave). Not seen any others yet but with such a large number of characters there are likely to be others!
A lot of this went in very quickly and easily, a few held out until all crossers were in. The theme helped with the Scottish band (never heard of them) and to jog my memory of Port Vila, but I didn’t think to look for it until then. This all felt a bit clunky in places and the last few Qaos puzzles have not shone like some of his earlier ones to my mind. Still, a good diversion and fun to puzzle out so thank you Qaos and PeterO.
Definitely a gentle offering from Qaos as evidenced by me solving it on my phone – something I rarely do as I like to have a pen in hand, but I did this before getting up to print it off. That said it was a dnf as I came here and then realised I still had SEIZE outstanding. I did watch Blake’s 7 but didn’t spot the theme. Thanks to Qaos and PeterO.
[Thanks for saying that about comparisons, SPanza@13. I was going to include “Comparisons are odious”, one of my dear old Mum’s favourite sayings, in my post, but decided it would have sounded bossy. But there, I have now said it. I like to take each puzzle on its merits and not compare apples and oranges. Each setter who contributes here deserves to be honoured and appreciated in their own right, I reckon.]
I’m with TheZed@17 in thinking that the last few Qaos’ haven’t shone as much as earlier ones – nicely put – and also with JinA@19 in that all setters need to be appreciated.
I loved the programme (which obviously is irrelevant if you didn’t), so really enjoyed this.
I can’t see SERVALAN anywhere, unless she’s hidden very cleverly somewhere.
As well as Servalan, a quick nod to Jenna, Cally, Dayna and Soolin who didn’t make the cut. A bit of jiggling might have placed poor old GAN at 12…
Cormac @21 I too was looking for Servalan, if only because she was the only character I remembered other than Blake and Avon.
Many thanks Doc What for teasing out the theme. I could have stared at the finished thing until tomorrow and still failed.
Enjoyable enough and a fairly rapid solve but not helped by knowing less than nothing about Blake’s Seven.
Never a huge fan of themes, and this offering does little to change that view.
Stay well, all.
Well said SPanza (@13 2nd sentence)
I spotted Bakes 7 and guessed a few possibilities for characters although I’ve never seen it.
Rats! Didn’t spot the theme. One of my favourite quotes is when Vila says “I can always sense danger” and Gan replies “Yes, even when there isn’t any”.
Sing, sing, sing, TRAVIS last one in…thought CHRIS TARRANT and CHOLESTEROLS excellent. Lots to enjoy…
Agreed JinA and you never sound bossy! I thoroughly enjoy this site but do have two recurring gripes, the pedants who nitpick but never fail to enter the cited ‘error’ and any fierce criticism of setters. I appreciate all the setters since without them I would not have a puzzle to solve. I thought the treatment meted out to Rufus was appalling. And as an afterthought the editor comes in for constant stick, but those that slate him do not go to the Times or Telegraph to get their daily, often free, fix.
@William (#24)
“…not helped by knowing less than nothing about Blake’s Seven.”
Sure, but not hindered either, right? It’s not like Qaos ever does list themes along the lines of “Several solutions were characters in 9, 26 and are not further defined”.
Being a fan of Blake’s Seven, I enjoyed this (and it helped me get Travis and Port Vila). I spotted Blake(‘s) Seven, Tarrant, Slave, Oracle, Liberator, Vila, Travis, and Avon; rather to my chagrin, I missed Zen.
I wonder if someone could pop the video of Travis’s song “Sing” on here, the bunfight always makes me laugh whenever I revisit it. A tonic in difficult times for us all..
I’m totally with SPanza @13 and 28 and Julie @19.
Many thanks to Qaos and PeterO.
For 9a I prefer (unless it goes against the theme, which I totally fail to see, as a cricketophobe) BRACE – race as in watercourse, and nautical brace and painter are both ropes.
B7 fan here, and the Liberator crew meant as much to my younger self as the gang aboard Serenity might to someone born 20 years later. At least we got four series.
That said, I missed the theme for the first half, having hastily pencilled in Brush for Blake. It was only once I started on the downs and found Liberator and Avon that it started to fall into place. Servalan might have been difficult to clue, but a shame we didn’t see Nation in there
A relatively gentle workout, but good fun. Thanks to PeterO and Qaos
Hmm. While I basically applaud the sentiment (in times like this we could all do with taking time to be kind) I’m not totally with SPanza @28.
There is nothing wrong with criticism and expression of personal likes and dislikes. Personal attacks are clearly out of order, especially when we are talking about a free service. But when a clue simply does not lead unambiguously to the solution, then why not call it out?
The crossword editor of the Guardian comes in for stick when he lets things slide that other editors simply would not. And to suggest that his critics don’t go off to other crosswords for their fix when the daily offering from the Guardian has annoyed them is laughable – the majority will also have done the Indy, FT and others also, and will have found the editorial rigour elsewhere to be more stringent.
Where I completely agree is in the appreciation of all the setters.
For 9a there was an actor named Blake Painter.
Spotted the theme on completion. I loved this show, so it was enjoyable finding all the theme related words even if i had to read the wiki entry to remind myself of all the characters. Well done TheZed for spotting Zen.
I agree this was a relatively straightforward solve but fun nevertheless. I’m with JinA@19, SPanza and Eileen.
Thanks to Qaos and to PeterO.
Sarah @30 and “Scorpio” was their ship after Liberator, making 10 solid references plus the Nina. Not a bad ratio with so many character names near impossible to include as they don’t correspond to words.
TheZed @38; blast, I did see Scorpio, but incompetently left it off my list. Congratulations on Zen!
It amused me that Zen was there without being part of the main group…
Blake: Seven of us can run this ship properly
Vila: Six, surely
Blake: you forgot Zen
Avon: You’re not counting that machine as a member of the crew
Blake: Oh? What do you say to that, Zen?
Zen: Please state course and speed
Blake: Very diplomatic
Hovis @ 26, Scutter @ 40, Vila had so many good lines! https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Blake%27s_7
Highly enjoyable. I didn’t get SEIZE, and not knowing either PORT VILA or the plural SCORPIOS I ended up with a sad-looking SW corner. But I loved the clue that caught my eye first with “Jesus!” (CHRIS TARRANT) and several others. I readily parsed and solved M-ILL-CMXCIX-ETRE (using the only valid way of writing 1999 in Roman numerals) but of course had to adjust the answer not only to fit the space but also to go along with what PeterO neatly described as the Romanesque numeric form that I know Qaos uses occasionally.
Thanks to Qaos and PeterO.
@SPanza
I’d be impressed at your amazing ability to infer that anyone who criticises the Guardian editor by definition never does any other puzzles were it not so utterly wide of the mark. As Mitz has says, there are many solvers on here who do most if not all of the broadsheet cryptic every day. They do not comment on, for example, the Times puzzle on here because, er, this blog isn’t about the Times
Mitz @ 35: I think we basically agree – well not perhaps on the subject of the crossword editor – what winds me up a bit are the pedants who like to make a specific esoteric point and then try to pretend that they did not enter the answer even though to the rest of us, and them, it was perfectly obvious. Clearly when a setter gets it wrong or the answer turns out to be ambiguous then it should be pointed out, and I’m sure the setters appreciate this. On the editor, he is I guess well paid to get it right and so if he does not, I accept your point, he needs to be criticised. However, another part of his job is to keep the puzzles coming and for this he needs a stable of setters and for me the Guardian has the best stable of the lot and for this I give him thanks! Here where we live in southern Spain we are in lock down, so the joy of the daily crossword free online is very comforting. I used to do the El Pais crossword but I can’t get it online (well I don’t think I can) and there are no deliveries. Everyone try to keep well, and all the best!
It goes to show how neat the surfaces are on a lot of Monday puzzles. This was one such puzzle , but Qaos is not so good at it
Bingybing @ 43: of course you are completely correct, mea culpa!! I tend to be a slowish solver and have other things in my life than crosswords so the Guardian and perhaps on occasions the FT is enough for me.
Enough variety on the Guardian site for me. Not looked at a Times in 35 years!
I came here specially to note the rare occasion of me spotting a theme, and the even rarer occasion of me knowing more than enough about the subject for it to help! Thank you Qaos for making an old Blake’s 7 fan very happy 🙂
Blake may have been a poet and famous as such, but he made most of his living as a printmaker, selling prints of his artwork. So in income terms he was primarily an artist. Just saying…
Julie in Australia @7
You are one up on me – I had not even come across the title Blake’s 7. Given a little more time, I might well have used the method of Dr WhatsOn @2 to stumble on it.
grantinfreo @6
Dying gods are by no means unknown – they are a major theme of The Golden Bough. One example is Dumuzid, or Tammuz, who was adopted as a minor character in the Greek pantheon, and named Adonis, apparently because that title – Lord – was mistaken for a personal name.
Big Jack @33
Ingenious, but I do not find it very convincing; I think that anyone who referred to a brace as a painter,, or vice versa, would be laughed out of the yacht club (and, for that matter, ‘water’ as a definition of RACE is a little ropy).
Thanks, PeterO.
As usual, it was only after finishing the puzzle that I thought “Oh, hang on, it’s Qaos, so there must be a theme.” When I spotted it, I was reminded of Terry Wogan saying (after the original lead actor, Gareth Thomas, had left) “Why is it called Blake’s 7? There are only five of them, and none of them’s called Blake.”
Afternoon all,
Many thanks for all the comments and to PeterO for the blog. I wrote this crossword following Paul Darrow’s passing in 2019: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48501099. Blake’s 7 was a wonderful slice of BBC sci-fi when I was growing up. As themes go, I admit it’s a bit niche, but as ever with ghost themes having no knowledge of the theme won’t stop you solving the crossword.
For those looking at the gender balance, it was purely down to whether the characters names could be defined in other ways (e.g. Avon), or embedded in other terms (e.g. ORAC/le). GAN was sacrificed at 12 ac for a better grid fill, as I really wanted to get the two computers (ZEN and SLAVE) to be “on” their respective ships in the grid.
Best wishes,
Qaos.
I was rushing out this morning, so neglected to mention that there were several of my favourite type of clues – build up from the parts to give an unexpected solution. Favourites were CHOLESTEROLS (despite the quibble), ALBUMS, ORACLE, SEIZE, OROLOGISTS, TRAVIS (top favourite), and ADONIS.
Hi Qaos,
What about DROP NETS at 8d to allow GAN at 12a? 😉
Thanks for another cracker. Another three in the pipeline to make your century…?
Can anyone suggest a sentence where ART & TALENT can be used synonymously?
bodycheetah @55 It’s slightly old-fashioned in style but:
“I’d set crosswords professionally, but I lake the art/talent”
Thanks to Qaos for dropping by – glad to see the lack of female names was for the reason surmised as the show was pretty progressive, having a female pilot, warrior and evil baddy, rather than counselor/empath role. I was a great fan of B7 growing up and going back to it, particularly the way it subverted all the tropes of the good guys pulling together for the team. It’s not even clear who the good guys were most of the time.
Had to come to parse SLAVERY. Didn’t see the theme even I saw half the programmes – I was working shifts at the time ?.
Misspelling INTENSITY when writing it down (a hazard with down lights) didn’t help the last few.
@55: The Talentful Dodger! Seriously though, how about ‘he/she had an art/talent for football’?
Peter Blake was the artist for the Beatle’s Sgt Pepper album cover and designed the Razzle Dazzle decoration of the Mersey ferry
“‘Wednesday Morning, 3am’ was the debut album by American folk-rock duo Paul Simon and Talent Garfunkel”. Yeah, that works
sorry @59 greengrocer apostrophe
Scutter @60 I’m more of a Talent Blakey fan
OK, I’m dumb. What’s the connection between rat and grass (21ac)? And why the “what an” before infamous?
Also, never heard of Chris Tarrant (even though I filled it in)) – British, I presume?
Anyway, nice puzzle…
Jay @63: A “grass” is an informer (it’s a verb, too).
Chris Tarrant is a TV presenter in the UK.
Well, I sit here in my bunker in Bisops Tawton in the throes of isolation owing to being incurably aged.The proceedings only enlivened by the cries of the scaffolders preparing my porch roof for repair. And then there’s the crossword: not really one of this setter’s best but mostly agreeable enough. TRAVIS was LOI and I assume they are a group? Bunged OROLOGISTS in but I can’t say I liked it much. I’ve heard of BLAKE SEVEN but that’s as far as it goes. I’ve certainly never seen it. Annoyingly Mrs PA was a great fan but I never thought to consult her!
Thanks Qaos.
Jay @63. Yes, Chris Tarrant is very well known on this side of the water. He’s been on British TV for decades but is best known for his long spell as host of our version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
Grass is the UK equivalent of rat, e.g. “he grassed him to the police”. Someone who implicates a large number of people is known as a supergrass. I believe the etymology is from another curiously British term, i.e. to shop somebody. If you did so you were a shopper, a grasshopper, a grass.
Thanks Qaos and PeterO. Able to complete most of this gem and particulary enjoyed AVON and SEVEN. Can’t believe I missed TRAVIS despite owning 3 of their records and seeing them in concert awhile back. I guess I’m “The Man Who” couldn’t solve the clue.
Some comments I have taken as referring to my “quibbles” (I may be oversensitive). Qaos can certainly be forgiven for the CHOLESTEROLS, as that is a very common (mis)usage. However, could anyone explain how there can be more more than one “sign” called SCORPIO?
Also Adonis, as in the episode “Who Mourns for Adonis?”
Ah the days when the BBC produced pearls for peas while now they turn out sh*t for megabucks…
correction: that was Star Trek…
Thanks to PeterO and Qaos, and thanks again to Qaos for dropping by to explain how this particular puzzle came to be. I invariably enjoy Qaos’s puzzles and the “Spot the theme” element; however once BLAKE, LIBERATOR and AVON had become three of my first six answers into the grid it became blindingly obvious what the theme was ! Like Trovatore@4 , Blake’s Seven was one of my favourite programmes back in the day. I was particularly impressed with how a way was foud to work TARRANT and VILA into the grid, not to mention TRAVIS. Qaos did not say so but I bet he regrets that there was no practical way to work SERVALAN into the grid (although CALLY might have been possible with a bit of twiddling.)
Is ‘grass’ not a reference to the song ‘whispering grass don’t tell the trees . . .’? Enjoyable puzzle – thanks to both.
Many thanks to Qaos for dredging up a classic from my past.
Doctor Who! Star Trek! Give me Servalan anytime.
Remarkably for me I had the theme very early, but got carried away and had Gan at 12 for a while. Still great fun and a quick completion for me.
Jay in Pittsburgh @ 63 asks three questions.
Two have subsequently been answered but the one in the middle was clearly avoided.
And why the “what an” before infamous?
It was actually my sole point of criticism in this otherwise fine puzzle.
So why?
Those who thought this clue was a favourite might be able to explain.
Or, more likely, not.
I failed to solve Chris Tarrant (never heard of him, and my mind went blank on the clue), and SEIZE which is very nice.
My favourites were ADONIS, MILLIMETRE, ENDANGERED.
New for me was the band, TRAVIS – also never heard of them.
Thanks, B+S
muffin @68 (in case like me you happen to still have this page on your screen)
I have a couple of friends who are both SCORPIOS
Yes Pedro but they aren’t signs, they are people.
Job @77: how about “What signs are you two?”, “We’re both Scorpios”.
Lord Jim @78
Er, no. “What sign are you two?”. “We’re both Scorpio.”
If you had a page full of star signs, with many repetitions, you could cut it up and sort it into Leos, Scorpios etc.
You can use the same method next time this quibble comes up; it works for any noun. Mind you, it also works for adjectives, so I suspect there’s a logical or linguistic fault in there somewhere.
Sil@74
If there was the slightest chance of an answer, I may have asked the same question.
But there isn’t, so I didn’t.
I may also have asked if 2 clues in one puzzle had ever previously shared exactly the same def – “I predict”.
It’s the Guardian, its Qaos, English is, at best, a second language.