A nice solve, and relatively gentle for a Wednesday. As it’s Brummie I had a look for a theme but haven’t spotted one. Favourites were 5ac, 1dn, and 7dn. Thanks to Brummie.
| Across | ||
| 1 | OCTOPUS | Seafood dish of the month followed by canned soup (7) |
| OCT[ober]=”month” + (soup)* | ||
| 5 | SEAWEED | Laver, maybe, put dread into top player (7) |
| Laver is a type of edible seaweed [and in the surface reading, Rod Laver is a tennis player] AWE=”dread” inside SEED=someone put into the upper brackets of a tournament=”top player” |
||
| 9 | SCREE | Southern Native American rock formation (5) |
| S (Southern) + CREE=member of a Native American tribe | ||
| 10 | See 21 | |
| 11 | SPURIOSITY | Falseness breaks your spirit — right to be ousted by society (10) |
| (your spirit)*, with one R (right) replaced with S (society) | ||
| 12 | OPPO | Equivalent of work pressure, love (4) |
| =opposite number, counterpart OP=”work” + P (pressure) + O=zero=”love” |
||
| 14 | THERMOPYLAE | Battle of Palermo: they lost (11) |
| site of a famous ancient battle between Greek and Persian forces (Palermo they)* |
||
| 18 | STATISTICAL | Distillation of Attica’s list of facts (11) |
| (Attica’s list)* | ||
| 21, 10 | TAKE LIBERTIES | Consider, say, sailors’ spells of leave ashore to be overfamiliar (4,9) |
| TAKE [as an example]=”Consider, say” + LIBERTIES=a name for sailors’ shore leave | ||
| 22 | IMPATIENCE | Being short of one million on card game (10) |
| I=”one” + M (million) + PATIENCE=”card game” | ||
| 25 | ENCHAINED | Treated like an old convict from East China, end badly (9) |
| (E China end)*, with the first E=”East” | ||
| 26 | IVIED | Protected by a climber, one was in contention (5) |
| I VIED=”one was in contention” | ||
| 27 | MEERKAT | Volatile market brought about end of the neighbourhood watch member (7) |
| meerkats have been used as a symbol of neighbourhood watch groups (market)* around the end letter of [th]E |
||
| 28 | ESSENCE | European city church centre (7) |
| ESSEN=”European city” + CE (Church of England) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | OBSESS | Initially one shilling to enter Elizabeth I’s haunt? (6) |
| Initial of O[ne]; plus S (shilling) inside BESS=nickname for Queen Elizabeth I | ||
| 2 | TARSUS | Seaman’s sources of unusually strong bones (6) |
| =bones in the foot TAR’S=”Seaman’s” + sources/initials of U[nusually] S[trong] |
||
| 3 | PAEDIATRIC | Sort of paretic aid related to minor medical care (10) |
| (paretic aid)* | ||
| 4, 24 | SALES TALK | Small beers, gas and pitch (5,4) |
| S (Small) + ALES=”beers” + TALK=”gas” as in ‘chatter’ | ||
| 5 | SUBATOMIC | Like a very small bit of mosaic, but cast (9) |
| (mosaic but)* | ||
| 6 | AWRY | Twisted, breezy wife supplants one (4) |
| AIRY=”breezy”, with W (wife) replacing I=”one” | ||
| 7 | EXIT POLL | Indicator of who’ll get in league after mad exploit (4,4) |
| L (league) after (exploit)* | ||
| 8 | DISCOVER | Find Pluto cold no more (8) |
| DIS=Roman god of the underworld=”Pluto” + C (cold) + OVER=”no more” | ||
| 13 | SPILLIKINS | Shed is hosting family game (10) |
| I’d not heard of this game, involving picking up sticks from a pile without disturbing the other sticks SPILL=”Shed” + IS around KIN=”family” |
||
| 15 | ESTAMINET | Bar providing energy (sustained energy), almost other-worldly (9) |
| =a small bar or cafe E (energy) + STAMIN[a]=”sustained energy, almost” + ET (Extra Terrestrial)=”other-worldly” |
||
| 16 | ISOTHERM | Breathes with different rhythm ultimately — indication of temperature (8) |
| =a contour line representing a certain level of temperature IS=exists/lives=”Breathes” + OTHER=”different” + [rhyth]M |
||
| 17 | BACKACHE | ‘Stern Bill’ — the bloke’s a real pain (8) |
| BACK=”Stern” of a boat; + AC (account)=”bill” + HE=”the bloke” | ||
| 19 | ENSIGN | Standard element of McLaren’s ignition (6) |
| =a flag hidden inside [McLar]EN’S IGN[ition] |
||
| 20 | PEDDLE | Sound cycle: ‘Hawk‘ (6) |
| sounds like ‘pedal’=”cycle” | ||
| 23 | ADDLE | Go off seat that’s lost its top (5) |
| [s]ADDLE=”seat” without the top letter | ||
| 24 | See 4 | |
Very enjoyable puzzle.
Thanks Brummie and manehi
I wondered about TARSUS rather than TARSI for “bones” but I think it’s ok, looking at my Chambers definition.
At first, I plumped for SALES CHAT for 4,24 but soon realised the error of my ways.
Spuriosity, errkk! Surely not (not in my Collins or SOED). Sounds like something TB-T (rest his soul) would say in ISIHAC.
Thanks Manehi. A steady solve, SW corner taking the longest. TsILT Dis =Pluto (thanks for the parsing of discover) and Laver=seaweed. Thanks to Brummie
Thanks Brummie and manehi
I enjoyed this (not always the case with Brummie). There were some nice anagrams – THERMOPYLAE, SUBATOMIC. I particularly liked PAEDIATRIC and (LOI) MEERKAT for their misleading definitions. (I saw how 27a would work quite quickly, but there was quite a choice of last letters to add to the fodder!).
I didn’t see TAKE for consider, so just pencilled that in until confirmed. “Breathes” for IS is rather loose.
STATISTICS are more to do with numbers than facts.
I was fed LAVER by my Devonshire grandmother as a child, so that was FOI!
Bit of a write-in – only had to really think about ESTAMINET, a word I learned in crosswordland. But enjoyable nonetheless. Thanks to Brummie and manehi.
@grantinfeo – ‘spuriosity’ is in the full-length OED, listed as ‘rare’: in fact, apparently used only three times in the 19th century, the first time in Kingsley’s The Water-Babies (1863), and twice in the Athenaeum in 1894. So it’s not altogether a real word!
Thanks Brummie and Manehi.
Can I gently question 22a? Not sure how the noun equates to “being short” (or is this a gerund?)
Apart from me@3, yes, a nice puzzle, nothing too taxing, although the Pocket Rocket’s disguise as seaweed was new, and I wondered whether the ‘say’ in 21,10 was redundant. Mrs ginf would have loved 27, she adored the little critturs. Can ‘obsess’ be passive with respect to the experiencer, as in ‘such things obsess me’? Minor in 3d was neat, tho used thus before no doubt. Spill was a bit loose for shed in 13d, I thought; what did we call this game in Oz…pins and needles? And in 16d, yes I thought ‘as I live and breathe’, but is=exists=lives=breathes, in reverse!, is some stretch! Hey ho. Ivied and peddle were LOsI, clever. Fun in all. Thanks Brummie and Manehi.
I thought this was another cracker: we’ve been spoiled so far this week. Brummie on excellent form and so much to like. In particular, some delightful misdirectional (is that a word?) definitions. Laver for SEAWEED, being short for IMPATIENCE, neighbourhood watch member for MEERKAT and minor medical care for PAEDIATRICS all brought a smile. I’ve no idea how the brain dredges up deeply stored data when prompted by a crossword clue but I was delighted to remember both ESTAMINET and, amazingly, SPILLIKENS which I haven’t played for over 50 years. ISOTHERM was LOI – I was looking for a word indicating breathing irregularities. The only surface I thought was weak was 20d but that’s nitpicking. Several of the above could have been COTD but BACKACHE just pips it for me.
Is it just me or does Essen seem to pop up reasonably regularly? Certainly more than any other German town.
Thanks to Brummie for the workout and manehi for the blog
Ian Wilson – I think the state of ‘being short’ with somebody is ‘impatience’… Feels ok?
Pleasant enough Wednesday solve.
SPURIOSITY is in Collins online, but as ‘rare.’ Spuriousness is almost as bad a mouthful.
I liked the neighbourhood watcher and tried ‘wiry’ for twisted at first.
Thanks Brummie and manehi.
Very enjoyable – with a light touch. My favourites were THERMOPYLAE, SEAWEED, IVIED (a word I did not know but gettable), EXIT POLL and ISOTHERM.
I failed on SPILLIKINS (one I didn’t know and couldn’t work out). I got MEERKAT without understanding it, but now it’s been explained I think it’s a good clue.
Thanks to Brummie and manehi.
A nice crossword. I was completely stumped by peddle with all the crossers present, but coming back to it four hours later it jumped out at me. Funny thing, the mind.
Thanks for that Sarah@7, I reckon my reaction was a propos. And I’d love to have the full OED!
Ian wilson@8 22a I’m with you on this one it grated. I’d never heard of oppo being equivalent but got it.
Re spillikins It was called pick-a-sticks on the box we had in my childhood. ( Or jackstraws) Seems also to go by the name Mikado.
Thanks to Brummie and manehi.
Not for me. I was reminded of the story told by Michael Bentine: on a train with an older, toothless, gent he was handed a tomato and asked if he would mind “starting” it. I couldn’t really get going on this and resorted (about halfway) to the reveal button and once you start you can’t stop. I regretted this eventually with crackers like ESTAMINET and OBSESS, but SPILLIKINS, SPURIOSITY and SEAWEED (to an extent) made me feel just a little justified. I rarely get on Brummie’s wavelength.
Ian Wislon@8 I think it probably is a gerund. A state of impatience with something is a state of being short with something. But a little forced I’d agree.
Never heard of Spillikins which was LOI and which I only got from wordplay and confirmed by the “Congrats! You solved it!” message on the app.
An entertaining puzzle with a couple too many anagrams for my personal preference, but as has been said, some very nice misdirectional definitions.
Robi @12 If “spuriousness” is bad, its opposite must surely be the even worse spuriousnessless…
A few interesting words in here – spillikins rang only the faintest bell, as did estaminet, from a previous puzzle rather than in the wild. I wasn’t sold on “scree” being a rock formation as most of the scree I have navigating is broken up piece of rock so the exact opposite of a formation. Likewise “ivied” – the walls I have stripped ivy from were being eaten by it, not protected, so perhaps the theme here is that it is opposites day!
Thanks Brummie, and manehi for clearing it all up.
Thanks to Brummie and manehi.
I liked 22a IMPATIENCE and 3d PAEDIATRIC. A few unfamiliars – “Laver” as SEAWEED at 5a (I thought it was a tennis reference to “our Rod Laver”, as in “top player). The MEERKAT at 27a doesn’t feature in Neighbourhood Watch here so I had to google to confirm that one. I think we call 13d SPILLIKINS “Pick Up Sticks” here in Australia. Had not encountered 15d ESTAMINET before. So several TILTs.
I thought the misdirection in the surface of 1d OBSESS was also clever.
Sorry if some of this is a bit echoing/repetitive of earlier posts but I have just cut and pasted what I typed up in response to the puzzle while waiting for the blog to appear.
No clues stood out as great for me, but the quality was consistently good throughout, so quite enjoyable. I learned several things along the way (OPPO, ESTAMINET, SPILLIKINS, laver = SEAWEED), all fairly clued and thus gettable. Thankfully the American spelling of PAEDIATRIC (missing the first A) didn’t fit the grid, or I would have missed it. Couldn’t parse BACKACHE, so thanks to manehi for that, and thanks to Brummie for a pleasant hour or so.
I hadn’t heard of the link between meerkats and neighbourhood watch, but after years of those TV commercials the punning link between meerkats and markets made tis FOI. Thanks to setter and blogger as ever
TheZed @19
I wondered about SCREE, but it’s formed from rocks, so therefore is a “rock formation”?
[Apologies to gif who had already referenced the “Pocket Rocket”, and to several others who said what I said earlier (in terms of the order of the blog as it now appears). By the time I posted my comment, the 15² forum was already up to 20 posts. So what I was ready to say at the outset was very quickly overtaken by subsequent posts.]
Jenny Cant @16 I vaguely recall some debate about ‘oppo’ last time it appeared. Which surprised me a little. I thought it came from opposite number and, presumably, has some sporting history? Unless it’s of mathematical origin. But as a word to describe one’s counterpart or peer in another organisation, or even to describe a partner with whom one regularly interacts, I’ve seen and heard it used plenty of times.
muffin @5 and grantinfreo @9 Funnily enough, the breathes=exists=is connection was my immediate assumption so didn’t feel it was particularly loose.
TheZed @19 Although I’ve said there was only one weak clue imho, I think you’ve rightly drawn attention to the fact that scree is pretty much the absence of formation so it deserves a question mark.
Good discussion of “estaminet” in the French Wikipedia, as the term is (was mostly) used in north France and Belgium.
I’ve only encountered it in T. S. Eliot’s Gerontion.
Bonus problem: find Thermopylae in that poem.
Muffin @23 on which grounds sand and soil are rock formations too? I’m all for a bit of ambiguity but this one just pushed it a bit far for me.
Re “oppo” when my mum worked part time in teaching she always referred to the other teacher who had her class the rest of the week as her “oppo”, so very much in the sense of her counterpart or equivalent rather than opposite. The etymology is from “opposite number” but in the sense of someone you work with on the same job, rather than (say) two outside centres in rugby being opposite numbers (though that would also work for “equivalent”). So a typical use in the sense I’ve heard here in the UK would be “I’ve got to dig this trench and my oppo is as much use as an inflatable dart board”
I was held up a long time on the SE. I didn’t know either ESTAMINET (I now realise I had the A and I in the wrong places, so technically DNF) or SPILLIKINS (as my Aussie compatriots say, I knew that game as Pick-up-Sticks), and had to construct them laboriously. Both IVIED and PEDDLE took a long time coming too, though they are ‘kick yourself’ material when they do. And what is this Pommy obsession with MEERKATs?
Nice and steady solve (apart from ESTAMINET), thank you Brummie.
Initially thought this might be of an Everyman/Dacesque type of straightforwardness. But soon disabused; some delightful constructions here. In particular, EXIT POLL, ISOTHERM and DISCOVER.
As for SPURIOSITY – my immediate thought was “now there’s a useful word!”
Many thanks, both and all.
Thanks to Brummie and manehi. I also had the fodder for MEERKAT but it was the second to last in just before ISOTHERM – both of which I’d given up on before going shopping and they went straight in on returning. As someone else above said – funny how our brains work. THERMOPYLAE was a tilt for me and I liked PEDDLE. ESTAMINET was also a memory dredge from a previous puzzle, and I too knew SPILLIKINS as Pick-a-Sticks – in fact I’ve still got the sticks in their tube from my childhood.
If no-one has already mentioned it, surely the Meerkat = “neighbourhood watch member” refers to the social behaviour of these animals, where a few will stand guard at the rocky outcrop/nest thing and look out for predators while others head off to find food etc? i think marmots may do something similar. After my mild whinge yesterday am delighted to see discussion has turned to the mysterious gerund today! Lots here that I struggled to fully parse and I only guessed “estaminet” because there used to be a bar ( attached to a restaurant I think) of that name in London where my wife and I would occasionally pop in for a glass of some obscure French wine. The barman once gently amended my order on the grounds that “your lady will not like that one, sir”. Thank you manehi and Brummie for entertainment and explanations. My favourite 5A.
Knowing little of tennis, seaweed was my first thought. SPILLIKINS was new to me but not to Aurigetta. Likewise ESTAMINET. She says I should read more.
Thanks to Brummie and manehi.
muffin @23 If a loose pile can be described as a formation, then I will have to rethink how I describe my teenage son’s dirty washing!
My favourites were 14a THERMOPYLAE, 8d DISCOVER, and 17d BACKACHE, all really nice clues.
Dan Milton @26 – I too thought of Gerontion because of THERMOPYLAE (the “hot gates” in that poem) and ESTAMINET. Strangely enough I had referred to the poem and the hot gates a few days ago in my comment on Chifonie’s puzzle 28,122. Another echo of something a few days ago was that in Monday’s Quiptic we had “lived” for WAS, which helped to get “breathes” for IS in today’s 16d.
Many thanks Brummie and manehi.
On OPPO: in golf those with whom one plays in stroke play are generally referred to as “opposites”; they’re not opponents any more than the rest of the field and beating them carries no guarantee of overall success.
TheZed@: Love the inflatable dartboard.
Strange where one learns things. I came across ESTAMINET on a drinking tour of Brussels (and didn’t realise it was used in English until today), and LAVER from my Welsh dad. I thought it a rather uncryptic clue until I remembered the tennis player, and that despite never living in Wales, I have a good smattering of Welsh words in my vocab.
The Zed @19: Rock formation = SCREE would be loose (pun intended!) in a geology text book, but this is a crossword. Did anyone fail to complete because of the “looseness” of this definition? Surely not – so it’s a good clue imho. (I wonder if Brummie, in anticipation of this sort of criticism, enjoyed setting this clue “loosely”?)
Similar comments could apply to breathes=>exists=>is, which others have drawn attention to. The clue encourages a bit of lateral thinking, especially if, like me, you recognise the possibility that the word ends in THERM, so different=> OTHER. What can the first two letters be? Oh yes, IS. Breathes? Doh, PDM. This is what crosswords are all about, isn’t it? Would you prefer the clue to start with “Iodine seems at first…”? I prefer brain twisting to spoon feeding.
Thanks to Brummie for an entertaining solve, and Manehi for the blog.
TheZed @19: ….or even the noun derived from spuriousnessless, spuriousnesslessness. ASPURIOSITY is of course so much neater, as I’m sure all will agree.
Gazzh @32: yes I noticed the return of the gerund too! Btw did you see that the same device we were discussing yesterday also made a return appearance? At 26a we have VIED = ‘was in contention’, after yesterday’s HECTORED = ‘was intimidating’. This time the simple past tense is used as an equivalent to was + adjectival phrase – but the principle is pretty much the same.
I almost entered STADIUM for 5a when I only had a couple of crossers – isn’t there a Rod Laver arena?
Thanks Brummie and manehi.
Hovis@2, it seems TARSUS is all the foot bones, so plural. Individually they are tarsals.
Coming from Wimbledon, I appreciated Laver, but now live near Wales, so could see the trick about seaweed coming.
As to MEERKAT, I also thought of those annoying adverts where the word is punned with ‘market’.
Like others, I appreciated several of the clever clues. Thanks, manehi and Brummie.
Thanks both,
Surviving lockdown means maintaining standards so I don’t start the crossword until lunchtime. To do so would sap the moral fibre as much as starting on the gin before 6pm. Consequently by the time I get to 15^2 whatever was worth saying has already been said, together with a lot that wasn’t. I enjoyed this greatly so thanks to setter and blogger and to the other gentle contributors who provide amusement and opinion, whether strictly to the point, or not.
Tyngewick @41 No, it hasn’t all been said: I think you’re the first to mention gin which is a splendid idea. And, has been observed before, it’s always after 6pm somewhere in the world!
Brummie sometimes gets panned for his surfaces, but I think today’s are excellent on the whole and led to a satisfying solve. I got the impression it was a little anagram heavy, but no mind. Funnily, I also correctly identified the anagram fodder for MEERKAT but couldn’t, for the life of me, solve it on the first run through. I enjoyed the DISCOVER clue the most – very clever. Pluto does have a methane based greenhouse effect, so I reckon the Plutonians may have cause to worry.
Interesting discussion on SCREE. To me, this is classic crossword misdirection in that the phrase “rock formation” is read one way in English, but can be thought of as a formation of rocks, i.e. any particular arrangement of a bunch of rocks. In that sense, I think the definition is fine.
Nice puzzle. Thanks, Brummie and manehi. It is odd not to find a theme and I have the sneaking suspicion I may be missing something.
This was ok. I got stuck on SPURIOSITY despite it being- mostly- an anagram. Laver immediately meant SEAWEED to me with the tennis player coming much later. Laver,the SEAWEED is quite common here in North Devon. I got MEERKAT from the anagram- I’d forgotten the Neighborhood Watch connection even though I must have seen the advert- age,I expect. Liked PEDDLE and SCREE.
Thanks Brummie.
My Welsh relations also eat LAVER, but call it (I think – I’ve never seen it written down!) LAVABREAD.
I think I’ve asked before, Peter – if I have, sorry, I’ve forgotten. Where exactly? I was born and brought up in Barnstaple.
Sorry – Bishop’s Tawton. It’s come back to me!
Essexboy @39 – i had IVIED as an I contained in IVED which is a word meaning “contention” that I made up to make sense of the clue, so missed this entirely. And you are right that the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne is a fine place to watch a game of tennis, or even to fry an egg on occasion. Muffin@ 43 I have always seen “Laverbread” spelt this way in Wales but pronounced like Lava with fairly short A’s (with little or no “r” popping up in the middle, if that makes sense). Of course who knows how it may be spelled on pub blackboards when these hopefully reappear?
This was my 2nd crossword today and the second that had BACKACHE as an answer, both with great surfaces. Failed on SEAWEED because I had “wiry” for twisted and not AWRY. (I figured “a” could be “one” as well as “i”) Favorites were OBSESS and ISOTHERM. Thanks Manehi for parsing, esp. the “dis” of DISCOVER. Thanks Brummie for the fun.
Before the thread got going on spuriousnessless, I was going to cast a vote for SPURIOSIFICATIONALITY, but decided not to.
Thanks for another fine crossword, Brummie, and for the explanation of a few TILTs, manehi.
Fairly straightforward but am I alone in never having heard of ESTAMINET? There were so many anagrams I ran out of workspace for my letter circles. Couldn’t parse MEERKAT, failed on IVIED and had to check the spelling of PAEDIATRIC. Thanks Brummie and manehi.
Came to this late. Don’t accept 26A as a great clue as ivy clad is not the same as protected by ivy. Anyone who has had an old brick wall or any lime mortar structure or fence weakened by ivy will agree!