Non-prize Christmas Crossword published in the FT of December 23, 2020
As usual for Christmas, we have a crossword from Gozo with added dimensions of puzzling. Let us start with the completed grid with the normally clued answers highlighted:
When I first published this blog, it was with a wrong answer for 24ac. I can easily forgive myself for getting it wrong but I was slow to realize it even when several commenters offered the correct answer. I learned a lesson there; to pay more attention to such comments. I think this should also be a reminder to readers that the answers we give in these blogs are the best we can do but they are not official solutions and there will be errors although, I hope, only in rare cases.
I appreciate that compiling this puzzle must have been a lot of work for Gozo and I thank him for his brilliance and diligence. But I also have to say that, while I usually thoroughly enjoy his special cryptics, this one rather wore me out. Finishing it took me several days and got to be a bit of a chore. I hate to have to say this but there it is. And I wonder if others had similar experience.
PART 1
Gozo’s instructions for this part read:
The clues in Part 1 lack definitions of their solution and they are all arranged in alphabetical order of their solutions which have then to be assigned, jigsaw-fashion, to their correct places in the grid. These solutions can be somehow paired. The two words of the hyphenated solution are to be entered separately.
It did not take me long to guess that this part comprises 15 pairs of clues the answers to which are mutually anagrammatic. They include a few well known anagrams such as EPISCOPAL and PEPSI COLA. Here is a table showing each clue, its answer, its position in the grid and its anagram.
| Senator is off | ASSERTION | 55ac | SENORITAS |
| Girl in bed | CANNOT | 52ac | CANTON |
| It’s insincere talk! Right! | CANTON | 49ac | CANNOT |
| Three queens | CATERER | 19dn | TERRACE |
| Punctuation mark — one on an index | COLONIALIST | 34dn | OSCILLATION |
| The German maladies | DERAILMENTS | 56ac | STREAMLINED |
| Moderate Left | EASEL | 5dn | LEASE |
| Run out of guts | ENTAILS | 31ac | SLAINTE |
| English page is firm friend | EPISCOPAL | 8dn | PEPSI COLA |
| Fine new terminus | INFESTATION | 2dn | SINFONIETTA |
| Has a tenant | ISLET | 32ac | STILE |
| Isolated pillar and large box reduced | LATCHES | 33ac | SATCHEL |
| Tenor leaves coffee | LATE | 36ac | TALE |
| Pastureland from the Home Counties | LEASE | 25dn | EASEL |
| Pieces whale together | MENORCA | 45ac | ROMANCE |
| Bridge player’s early auction, for starters | NORTH SEA | 4dn | SHERATON |
| Big pop-singer. Not I, sadly | OSCILLATION | 20dn | COLONIALIST |
| Ground spice in a cutback | PEPSI | 18ac | |
| COLA | 22dn | EPISCOPAL | |
| New tea-shop in ruins | PHAETONS | 43ac | STANHOPE |
| Ancient invader at castle, disheartened | ROMANCE | 45dn | MENORCA |
| Some prizes at Chelsea | SATCHEL | 16ac | LATCHES |
| Reasons it out | SENORITAS | 7ac | ASSERTION |
| Girl has to inform against | SHERATON | 44ac | NORTH SEA |
| Edited, if it’s a nonet | SINFONIETTA | 1ac | INFESTATION |
| Favoured among candidate list | SLAINTE | 29dn | ENTAILS |
| Ollie’s friend Bob | STANHOPE | 42dn | PHAETONS |
| Female leaves joint | STILE | 41ac | ISLET |
| Pupils in rows | STREAMLINED | 12dn | DERAILMENTS |
| Teenager’s first beer | TALE | 28ac | LATE |
| Land on church | TERRACE | 47dn | CATERER |
And here is a list of explanations for the same clues:
Senator is off (9) ASSERTION – anagram (off) of SENATOR IS
Girl in bed (6) CANNOT – ANN (girl) in (in) COT (bed)
It’s insincere talk! Right! (6) CANT (it’s insincere talk) + ON (right)
Three queens (7) CATERER – CAT (one queen) + ER (a second) + ER (a third)
Punctuation mark — one on an index (11) COLONIALIST – COLON (punctuation mark) + I (one) + A (an) + LIST (index)
The German maladies (11) DERAILMENTS – DER (the German) + AILMENTS (maladies)
Moderate Left (5) EASEL – EASE (moderate) + L (left)
Run out of guts (7) ENTAILS – ENTRAILS (guts) with the ‘R’ (run) removed (out of)
English page is firm friend (9) EPISCOPAL – E (English) + P (page) + CO (firm) + PAL (friend)
Fine new terminus (11) INFESTATION – anagram (new) of FINE + STATION (terminus)
Has a tenant (5) ISLET – IS LET (has a tenant)
Isolated pillar and large box reduced (7) LATCHES – LAT (isolated pillar) + CHES[t] (large box reduced). The relevant meaning of ‘lat’ is Indian and something I had to look up.
Tenor leaves coffee (4) LATE – LATTE (coffee) with one T (tenor) removed
Pastureland from the Home Counties (5) LEASE – LEA (pastureland) + SE (from the Home Counties)
Pieces whale together (7) MENORCA – MEN (pieces) + ORCA (whale). Technically this is wrong because, despite having the nickname “killer whale” in English, orcas are actually dolphins. But I think it is still easily solvable.
Bridge player’s early auction, for starters (5,3) NORTH SEA – NORTHS (bridge player’s) + E[arly] A[uction]
Big pop-singer. Not I, sadly (11) OSCILLATION – OS (big) + CILLA (p0p-singer, that is Cilla Black) + anagram (sadly) of NOT I
Ground spice in a cutback (5-4) PEPSI COLA – anagram (ground) of SPICE in (in) A (a) + LOP (cut) reversed (back)
New tea-shop in ruins (8) PHAETONS – anagram (in ruins) of N (new) TEA SHOP
Ancient invader at castle, disheartened (7) ROMANCE – ROMAN (ancient invader) + C[astl]E
Some prizes at Chelsea (7) SATCHEL – hidden word (some)
Reasons it out (9) SENORITAS – anagram (out) of REASONS IT
Girl has to inform against (8) SHERATON – SHE (girl) + RAT ON (to inform against)
Edited, if it’s a nonet (11) SINFONIETTA – anagram (edited) of IF ITS A NONET
Favoured among candidate list (7) SLAINTE – IN (favoured) in (among) SLATE (candidate list)
Ollie’s friend Bob (8) STANHOPE – STAN (Ollie’s friend) + HOPE (Bob)
Female leaves joint (5) STILE – STIFLE (joint) with the ‘F’ (female) removed. ‘Stifle’ here refers to the joint between tibia and fibula in a quadruped — and is new to me.
Pupils in rows (11) STREAMLINED – STREAM (pupils) + LINED (in rows)
Teenager’s first beer (4) TALE – T[eenager] + ALE (beer)
Land on church (7) TERRACE – TERRA (land) + CE (church)
PART 2
Here are explanation for the normal clues:
ACROSS
13 A female, blonde, 45 (6)
AFFAIR – A (a) + F (female) + FAIR (blonde). The definition refers to 45dn (ROMANCE).
14 Doctor titters, having quickly noted passages (7)
STRETTI – anagram (doctor) of TITTERS
15 Article from Tunisia badly installed (2,4)
IN SITU – anagram (badly) of TUNISI[a]
17 Brief outline of high seat, mostly gold on the outside (6)
APERCU – PERC[h] (high seat, mostly) in (on the outside) AU (gold)
20 Met wagon reversing (4)
YARD – DRAY (wagon) backwards (reversing). Some non-Brits may have wondered about this one. ‘Met’ refers to the London metropolitan police or [Scotland] Yard.
21 Cry out enthusiastically, first reaching throbbing climax (7)
EXCLAIM – E[nthusiastically] + anagram (throbbing) of CLIMAX
24 Cambridge’s testaments (5)
WILLS – double definition (the first referring to Prince William, Duke of Cambridge)
In my original version of this blog I gave the answer as BIBLE — which seemed the clear and obvious answer to me. The Cambridge Bible is a biblical commentary set published in parts by Cambridge University Press. Several commenters wrote that they had WILLS instead. And I still believed that I was correct. But now I have both a comment from Tom Johnson (Gozo) asserting that it is WILLS. I have to apologize for my mistake – sorry – both to readers and to Gozo himself. I do realize that BIBLE is not a good answer because the two definitions are so close.
26 See 40
27 Small measure that is for Highland stalker (6)
GILLIE – GILL (small measure) + IE (that is)
38 Terrain’s tilled holding drill (6)
INSTIL – hidden word (holding)
40, 26 Graduate gets to bank – but only just (6)
BAR ELY – BA (graduate) + RELY (bank)
47 Care for under a bob? (4)
TEND – TEN D (under a bob?) with ‘D’ referring to old (pre-decimalization) pence
48 Aphorism some scaremonger backs (5)
GNOME – reverse (backs) hidden word (some)
50 Where Wedgwood produced pottery, having left off portraiture, maybe? (7)
ETRURIA – anagram (maybe) of [port]RAITURE. Etruria is better known to me as a region of ancient Italy but it is also the name of the Staffordshire district than includes Stoke-on-Trent which is where Josiah Wedgwood worked.
53 Flatten or first extrude mineral (4,3)
IRON ORE – IRON (flatten) + OR (or) + E[sxtrude]
54 Saving player‘s energy with a rest (6)
GOALIE – GO (energy) + A (a) + LIE (rest)
DOWN
3 Took no food around end of June — then gorged! (7)
FEASTED – [jun]E in (around) FASTED (took no food)
6 Muslin for Highland dress seen round there in France (8)
TARLATAN – LA (there in France) in (round) TARTAN (Highland dress). Tarlatan is an open-weave cotton fabric used for stiffening garments.
9 Poet turning up in Vladivostok (4)
OVID – reverse (turning up) hidden word (in)
10 Survey the cricket, perhaps, without parking (7)
INSPECT – P (parking) in (without) INSECT (the cricket perhaps)
11 WI cricketer, turns up, drinking most of herbal tea that’s handmade (9)
ARTISANAL – TISAN[e] (most of herbal tea) in (drinking) LARA (WI cricketer, that is Brian Lara) backwards (turns up)
28 Empty trawler in quest of fish (5)
TROUT – T[rawle]R + OUT (in quest of)
35 Used to be hard to clean (4)
WASH – WAS (used to be) + H (hard)
37 Olympic entertainers running in heats, carrying a number (9)
ATHENIANS – A (a) + N (number) together in (carrying) anagram (running) of IN HEATS
39 Small country mansion rebuilt around the centre of Kilmarnock (3,6)
SAN MARINO – [kilm]AR[nock] in (around) anagram (rebuilt) of MANSION
43 Silver placed in star-shaped moulding (8)
ASTRAGAL – AG (silver) in (placed in) ASTRAL (star-shaped)
50 Purgative in polythene material (5)
ENEMA – hidden word (in)
51 In Edinburgh bounce bairns upwards (4)
STOT – TOTS (bairns) backwards (upwards). ‘Stot’ is a Scottish word that is new to me.
I would add, Pete, that I’m sure it took a lot of effort to blog as well, so I think that part would have worn me out. Many thanks for that. I quite liked the puzzle — it contained memorable twists on his usual holiday fare as I recall it and on the Spectator themed puzzles that he does under another name. I think I completed it in one rather long sitting with my usual heavy reliance on reference materials, which I need to give myself a fighting chance. I remember GILLIE as my last one in, and it was probably the last word I looked up among several options given the crossers. So it was a battle to the end. Thanks Gozo.
Having never tried one of these puzzles, I wasn’t sure of success but was game for a battle and found the brief intriguing.
Like Pete, it took me most of the festive period between revelry and much-needed hikes. Still, as a mere solver, I found Gozo’s grid proved both surprisingly accessible and immensely rewarding.
Inevitably, there were some half-parsed answers but, as a whole, this setter’s cluing is clean as a whistle. A big thank you to Pete for the monumental task of parsing it. I realize how exhausting it must have been.
SINFONIETTA/INFESTATION were among my first in so I suspected paired anagrams early on and was bold enough to slot them in the 1a/2d squares. SENORITAS/ASSERTION later confirmed this along with LATE/TALE.
Slowly filling in conventional answers and the unnumbered pairs by elimination, I seemed to nibble around the edges then inch closer towards the centre, ending, funnily enough with 27ac, GILLIE, like ub @1.
Wrestling with all those anagrams was the chief delight and helped with (for me) obscure words like STRETTI. I briefly entertained WILLS (Duke of Cambridge) at 24ac!
Too many favourites to list but ARTISANAL (surface), GOALIE (unexpected def), TARLATAN (lovely word) and SHERATON (wit), were among them – though did think past tense ‘had’ would have been better in the latter’s surface? Also, ‘latte’ for coffee really grates. I know it has become common parlance but it’s really just milk!
I mused that ‘three queens’ were four: Queen Cat(herine), ER, ER, female cat.
Kudos to Gozo for such an absorbing solve – already looking forward to next year’s!
I’m another who enjoyed this challenge. I treated it more as a logic puzzle by highlighting all the Part 2 answer spaces (as you have done above Pete). I then grouped all the Part 1 clues by answer length which I think helped a lot. It must have all been very well clued as the only queries I had were for the unknown (to me) defs like LAT for pillar and STIFLE for joint.
Congrats and thanks to setter and blogger.
Seems an awful long time ago that I did this puzzle. I obviously forgot to reread the preamble, because I didn’t make use of the pairing of the solutions. No doubt it would have helped me fill the grid, but I managed it anyway.
Thank you for the acknowledgement, blogging this puzzle certainly was a hefty piece of work. It is something I am very happy to do once or twice a year but I am glad it is not required more often.
NNI, thank you for commenting. I think I would have found completing the grid horribly difficult without the pairings.
I didn’t just briefly entertain WILLS for 24ac as Diane did, but entered it – it fits definition & wordplay & the crossers – which is unfortunate. I did not know the Cambridge bible commentary so would never have twigged that BIBLE also parsed.
shikasta@6
I also had WILLS for 24a.
I also had WILLS for 24A.
Many thanks for the blogging effort Pete as this was definitely not a one session puzzle for me. I am not even sure it was a one week one! Anyway, I filled in the numbered clues first, including WILLS and then went looking.
I immediately found ASSERTION, or SENORITAS or NOTARISES. That was where my problems began. I had to sort a lot more before I was happy with what I entered. The result was I kept going back to it for days.
Thanks for the inventive problem Gozo – it really did give me a lot of satisfaction. Eventually.
Wow! What a lot of work, to solve, to blog, and I assume to set.
One typo in the blog: MENORCA is 33ac, not 45ac (which doesn’t exist, but 45dn is its pair, ROMANCE).
Thanks, Pete, for LAT which was new to me and STIFLE of which I needed reminding. A long solve but once I understood that I was looking for paired anagrams and started to tabulate them it fell into place relatively easily, and satisfyigly. I did wish that Part 1 had a theme, though – trying to solve it from wordplay only was tough, and (as with SATCHEL/LATCHES) it was too easy to see what the correct solution was without having any good reason for it.
Thought this was good fun – a bit of cryptic solving and a lot of detective work around word-length and constituent letters – my page never had so many scribbles all over it! I did for once resort to an anagram solver, else I’d never have got SINFONIETTAS or PHAETONS…
So is WILLS officially wrong?
I very rarely read comments about my puzzles when they are reviewed on Fifteen Squared. However a couple of friends have drawn my attention to discussion about the solution to 24 Across. Quite where the idea that Wills is “officially wrong” has come from eludes me, as no one has asked me for my view. WILLS is the required solution. “Bible” has never been considered as an alternative from where I am standing.
Tom Johnson
Gozo
Mr. Johnson, Thank you for setting me straight on this and apologies for my error. I have corrected the blog accordingly.
Well, thanks, Gozo, for dropping by. Should have trusted my gut.
Thanks very much to setter and blogger. This ticked all the boxes for a Christmas puzzle which required several sittings ‘helped’ by not spotting the paired anagrams until very late. Is it a coincidence that episcopal/Pepsi cola was also in the Spectator Christmas puzzle?
Thanks Tom & Pete for clarifying – of course I’m not looking for “official” solutions from 15^2, it’s just a great source for learning from; but I noted that four or five comments seemed to accept Bible instead of Wills. Maybe I should have asked for ‘consensus’.
Thanks Gozo and Pete
Good to see a variation for the holiday puzzle which took a number of hours on and off across the first week of 2021 and appreciated the effort taken by the compiler to put this one together. Must congratulate you, Pete, on the comprehensive and well structured blog.
Took way longer than it should have to twig on to the related anagrams in the Part 1 clues, when I finally saw the ASSERTION / SENORITAS pair for the penny to drop. There were quite a number of terms that were new to me, so having online help was a must for me to get some of them. There were a couple of small word play components that had me stumped as well – ON for ‘right’ (which I couldn’t find a connect) and OUT for ‘in quest of'(which I eventually did).
Was another who had WILLS – it was the last one in. Didn’t consider BIBLE which I think doesn’t cover off the ‘S of Cambridge’s if it was to be a double definition.
Thoroughly enjoyed wasting the amount of holiday time that I did in getting this one out, although was worried near the end as to where to put PEPSI as I’d already filled in 18a with LEASE earlier on in the solve.