We don’t see Raich in the Indy as often as we used to, so I was pleased to find his name at the top of the puzzle this morning. I found this one much tougher to crack than I would normally expect from this setter, though.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Flier, tough to manage, some recalled
MOTH
Hidden reversed in tougH TO Manage. A gentle start for those of us who obligatorily solve 1 across first. The puzzle stopped being gentle shortly afterwards.
3 More sensual side introduced by son? That’s right
STEAMIER
A charade of S, TEAM, IE for id est or ‘that is’, and R.
10 Party in a long foreign craft
GONDOLA
An insertion of DO in (A LONG)* The insertion indicator is ‘in’ and the anagrind is ‘foreign’.
11 First pair of emigrants joining crowd in Victoria, say
EMPRESS
A charade of EM for the initial two letters of ’emigrants’ and PRESS. Victoria was often described (on statues particularly) as the Empress of India.
12 Nice speech mama’s prepared – it may be needed 21?
ESCAPE MECHANISM
(NICE SPEECH MAMAS)* Unless I am completely off-piste, I think we may be straying into risqué territory here, which is a slight surprise, since I’m sure the setter won’t mind me remarking that Raich is no Harry Hoskins. The solution to 21ac is THE MORNING AFTER, and I can only imagine that we are being invited to imagine the scenario of waking up next to somebody that you don’t remember having gone to bed with, and thinking that it’s probably a good idea to make a hasty exit before you remember whether you did actually exchange bodily fluids the night before. Happy to be corrected.
13 Persist in using withdrawn basic measure in motorway feature?
CONTINUE
An insertion of UNIT reversed in CONE. The insertion indicator is ‘in’; the reversal indicator is ‘withdrawn’.
14 Impatiently desiring drink getting euro at outset for pounds
EAGER
Raich is inviting you to replace the L (for ‘pounds’) in LAGER with E.
17 Graduate’s with the Italian guy
BASIL
A charade of BAS and IL for one of the words in Italian for ‘the’.
18 School mentor’s No 1 reject having been accepted for United?
COMBINED
This took me forever to solve and parse. An insertion of M for the first letter of ‘mentor’ and BIN for ‘reject’ in CO ED for ‘school’.
21 Ordered ninth? AM of regret!
THE MORNING AFTER
(NINTH AM OF REGRET)* with ‘ordered’ as the anagrind. An extended definition rather than a full-on cad.
23 Letter in Greek about Queen backing city
CHENNAI
An insertion of ANNE reversed in CHI. The insertion indicator is ‘about’ and the reversal indicator is ‘backing’.
24 Bitterness linked to long time in ship
GALLEON
A charade of GALL and EON.
25 Former journalist admitting offence taken after threats
EXTORTED
An insertion (‘admitted’) of TORT in EX ED. TORT is a legal term (it’s the French word for ‘wrong’).
26 Carrier in Tangier evacuated? Indeed
TRAY
A charade of TR for the outside letters of ‘Tangier’ and AY, an informal indication of assent.
Down
1 Gathered to bring in silver (new) that’s attractive
MAGNET
An insertion (‘to bring in’) of AG for ‘silver’ and N in MET.
2 Determined action – sue for reconstruction
TENACIOUS
(ACTION SUE)*
4 Sweet stuff, torte, parcelled oddly
TREACLE
The odd letters of ToRtE pArCeLlEd
5 How chintz is arranged
ALPHABETICALLY
A cd. The letters in ‘chintz’ are in ALPHABETICAL order. If you ignore a stupidly obscure genus of grass (8 letters) and a couple of unlikely adverbs (‘beefily’, anyone?) then at six letters ‘chintz’ is the longest word in English in alphabetical order, sharing the podium with abhors, accent, access, almost, biopsy, bijoux, billow, effort and (the equally unlikely) ghosty.
6 Old people’s reserve, popular when brought up
ICENI
A charade of ICE and IN reversed gives you the ancient tribe from what is now Norfolk who got involved in a number of serious rucks with the Romans under Boudicca.
7 She’s optimistic about newly-trained mare
ROSEMARY
An insertion of (MARE)* in ROSY. Cluing a name with just a pronoun is not my favourite type of clue.
8 Neat feature in place to retire. Guy’s niche?
HOSPITAL CORNER
This took me as long to solve as the rest of the puzzle put together. It’s a way of folding bed sheets so that the sheet remains secure, but easy to replace; I had never heard of it. The parsing is ‘Guy’s’ for the London HOSPITAL and ‘niche’ for CORNER. I got obsessed with ‘neat’ being ‘cattle’ so even when it had to be HOSPITAL I was still stuck.
9 Perm finally in hairdresser’s place for swimmer
SALMON
An insertion of M for the last letter of ‘perm’ in SALON.
15 Occasional visitor glassed?
GUEST BEER
A cd.
16 Former pupil’s story involving constant showjumping feature
OBSTACLE
A charade of OBS for Old Boy’s and C for the speed of light in TALE.
18 Hostile to North, this person’s to scheme underhandedly
CONNIVE
Another one that took me forever to see. A charade of CON for ‘hostile to’, N and IVE (‘this person has’).
19 Household of soldiers, mature
MENAGE
This was easy at least. A charade of MEN and AGE. A French word, indeed meaning ‘household’, but perhaps best known to English speakers in menage à trois, a sleeping arrangement where the morning after you’d just need an exchange mechanism rather than an escape mechanism.
20 Initially beau gagging for it – that’s fine maybe
BRANDY
A charade of B and RANDY. The ‘fine’ refers to a quality standard for the drink.
22 Contest level over time
EVENT
A charade of EVEN and T. ‘Over’ works because it’s a down clue.
Many thanks to our Irish Setter for today’s puzzle.
From distant memory from the days when I could afford it -I think it was a “fine champagne cognac”
Re Escape Mechanism, in my innocence I thought it was something to do with a hangover, but perhaps the apparently more worldly-wise Pierre’s interpretation is the one to go with. I too had never heard of a hospital corner, and at one point was trying to fit porter, so had to combine word-list and online search to get this one. Very enjoyable puzzle anyway, so thanks Raich and Pierre.
Thanks, both, for an entertaining puzzle and blog.
I think THE MORNING AFTER is a full &lit – and I thought it was brilliant: it’s now in my little book of classic clues.
Coupled with 12ac, of course, it’s even better. Actually, in every dictionary I’ve looked in, ESCAPE MECHANISM is given only as a term in Psychology: ‘a mental process by which a person avoids something unpleasant’ [Chambers] – nothing to do with a hasty retreat through a window – but that doesn’t detract from the story. 😉
Thanks again for the fun.
Found this pretty straightforward apart from the 18D/18A combo (the latter getting my ‘ugh of the day’ award).
Really enjoyed the rest of it though, perhaps aided by having learnt to do hospital corners for my ‘House Orderly’ badge in the cubs many years ago!
Haven’t come acroos Pierre’s interpretationof Escape Mechanism but was struglling to see how it fitted the ‘morning after’ bit of the clue so I live & learn.
Thanks to Raich & Pierre
An enjoyable puzzle – thanks to setter and blogger.
I got 8d straight away, having spent two years at a boarding school decades ago where, if your HOSPITAL CORNERS were not up to standard, you’d find all your bedclothes piled on the floor so you could have another attempt. Happy days…
Re 20d, Chambers gives “fine” as “ordinary French brandy”.
Unparsed for me were 18ac, and 8 & 18dn. And I’m not surprised having been let in on the explanations.
Stumped in the SE for a while as I’d managed to enter BREACH for 20dn thinking the clue said “..that’s a fine maybe”. As in you might get a fine for a breach of the regulations.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
Thanks, fun Monday puzzle. I couldn’t get 18, relieved in a way that others struggled with it.
I made solid steady progress until, like others, hitting the buffers on the twin 18s. I’d have a beard down to my ankles before parsing those without this blog. 6d ICENI also eluded me. HOSPITAL CORNERS I dredged from the memory of a Guinness Record attempt on the BBC for fastest bed dressing to NHS standards. Norris McWhirter was quite stern on the corners, as you’d expect.
Please tell me the 8 letter obscure genus of grass ?
Harder than usual for Raich but no worse for that. Agree that THE MORNING AFTER WAS superb.
Excellent puzzle.
Found it, Aegilops
That’s the one, Jay. I did say it was obscure (except maybe to grass specialists).
Many thanks for the excellent blog, Pierre, and also to all those who commented. Difficulty level can sometimes be difficult to assess and there was no aim to make this one harder than usual so useful to know that was the experience of some solvers. Re THE MORNING AFTER, a hangover was what I had in mind – ordering a ninth (drink – by coincidence “one over the eight”) with the sufferer perhaps seeking an ESCAPE MECHANISM along the lines mentioned in #3.