A midweek puzzle of midweek difficulty.
On my first scan of the clues, I only answered about four of them, but the rest of the puzzle gradually revealed itself. Some of them (DE MILLE, for example) took a while to parse, but everything worked itself out in the end.
On DEMILLE, the director's name is spelt DeMille (which I think should be enumerated as (7) rather than (2,5) despite the capitalised M.
Thanks, Picaroon.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | LIMITED COMPANY | Saw fewer people in business (7,7) |
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As we are all doing now, i.e. LIMITing our COMPANY |
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| 9 | DAN DARE | Pilot participating in raid and a rescue (3,4) |
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Hidden in [participating in] "raiD AND A REscue" Dan Dare was a "pilot of the future" in the Eagle comic. |
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| 10 | EXACTOR | Refuse cold chop sent back for demanding chap (7) |
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<=(ROT ("refuse") + C (cold) + AXE ("chop")) [back] |
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| 11 | CHILI | Something hot? The opposite when picked up (5) |
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A chili is hot, but its homophone [when picked up] is CHILLY ("the opposite") |
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| 12 | ADORATION | Love a portion sliced by cook (9) |
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A RATION ("portion") sliced by DO ("cook") |
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| 13 | ABNEGATES | Denies president’s hosting new billionaire (9) |
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ABE (Lincoln, "president") hosting N (new) + (Bill) GATES ("billionaire") |
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| 14 | HAGUE | Tory grandee‘s hot with fever (5) |
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H (hot) with AGUE ("fever") |
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| 15 | TEDDY | Bear first sign of tailspin (5) |
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[first sign of] T(ail) + EDDY ("spin") |
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| 17 | PARAGRAPH | Passage of a good king, dressed with flourish (9) |
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A + G (good) + R (Rex, so "king") dressed with PARAPH ("flourish" added to a signature) |
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| 20 | RUMINATES | Ponders brief massage — setter’s back and bum! (9) |
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[brief] RU(b) ("massage") + <= I'M ("setter's", back) and NATES ("bum") |
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| 22 | PAVER | Head of patriotic state who puts out flags (5) |
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[head of] P(atriotic) + AVER ("state") For flags, think flagstones. |
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| 23 | ECLOGUE | English prompt to store wood in rural work (7) |
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E (English) + CUE ("prompt") to store LOG ("wood") |
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| 24 | TRIPOLI | Experience high oil supply from this city? (7) |
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TRIP ("experience high") + *(oil) [anag:supply] |
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| 25 | HEAVY BREATHING | Thug about to stop washing pants (5,9) |
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HEAVY ("thug") + RE ("about") to stop BATHING ("washing") |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | LADY CHATTERLEY | Boy and unknown person talking on line, a seeker of romance (4,10) |
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LAD ("boy") + Y ("unknown", in maths) + CHATTER ("talking") on LEY (line) |
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| 2 | MANSION | Two males welcoming one making a pile (7) |
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MAN + SON ('two males") welcoming I (one) |
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| 3 | TEASINGLY | Drink alone in a provocative way (9) |
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TEA ("drink") + SINGLY ("alone") |
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| 4 | DIE-CAST | Moulded terse version of Caesar’s Rubicon speech? (3-4) |
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According to Suetonius, Caesar uttered the famous phrase ?lea iacta est ("the DIE has been CAST") after he made the decision to cross the Rubicon. |
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| 5 | ONEROUS | Weighty responsibility saving deposit up (7) |
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ONUS ("responsibility") saving <=ORE ("deposit" up) |
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| 6 | PRADA | Red paper out of very fashionable company (5) |
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PRA(v)DA (Soviet newspaper, so "red paper") lacking (out of) V (very) |
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| 7 | NOTHING | Love alcoholic drink that’s kept diluted (7) |
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NOG ("alcoholic drink") that's kept THIN ("diluted") |
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| 8 | PRINCE CHARMING | Dreamboat preparing to hug dissolute chancer (6,8) |
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PRIMING ("preparing") to hug *(chancer") [anag:dissolute] |
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| 14 | HIGH POINT | Gyrating hip, thong covering one’s best part? (4,5) |
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*(hip thong) [anag:gyrating] covering I (one) |
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| 16 | DE MILLE | Demi Moore’s outside with grand French film-maker (2,5) |
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D(emi Moor)E ['s outside] with MILLE (French for thousand, so "grand French") Refers to Oscar-winning director Cecil B DeMIlle. |
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| 17 | POTHERB | Maybe Rosemary‘s Baby’s opening after fuss (7) |
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B(aby) ['s opening] after POTHER ("fuss") |
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| 18 | ROSETTE | Dry wine European bottles getting badge of honour (7) |
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ROSÉ ("wine") + E (European) bottles TT (teetotal, so "dry") |
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| 19 | ALVEOLI | Where air’s kept awfully volatile after temperature drops (7) |
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*(volaile) [anag:awfully] where VOLAILE is VOLA(t)ILE after T (temperature) is dropped |
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| 21 | NEGEV | Edible plants raised by Nile’s banks in arid area (5) |
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<=VEG ("edible plants", raised) by N(il)E ['s banks] |
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Just like yesterday, 1ac and 1d went in reasonably quickly and made this a whole lot easier. DAN DARE was cute and HEAVY BREATHING funny. DIE CAST was a guess so thanks loonapick for the explanation and other faves were RUMINATES, ABNEGATES, POTHERB, RAVER but the standout clue by far, for me, was PRINCE CHARMING. (Adam Ant anyone?) Not a difficult solve but I thought this was top class. Ta Picaroon & loonapick
Failed on POTHERB as I didn’t know ‘pother’.
I wondered if BOTHERB might be a thing, and to my delight I found that it is!!
Otherwise very nice. Etiquette prevents me from commenting on why 3d and 18d went in easily.
For some reason DAN DARE brought to mind Michael Palin’s oft-worn t-shirt in 80 Days.
Thanks Picaroon and loonapick
Another superb puzzle from Picaroon. My only reservation is in 10a where I am in difficulty in equating ‘rot’ with ‘refuse’, but it’s just a very minor quibble and I’m probably missing something.
Yes, I was struggling to get started until DAN DARE came to the rescue. Loved HEAVY BREATHING and also liked PAVER and DIE-CAST (a Dinky little clue?).
essexboy @2 I was also thinking BOTHERB? But we needn’t worry. Ridicule is nothing to be scared of.
Thanks to Picaroon for a pleasing puzzle and loonapick for the blog.
Top class indeed and a very similar experience to that of loonapick. Very little on first pass (with that slight feeling of rising panic as clue after clue delivers nothing). HAGUE was first in (‘grandee’? How old I feel when I recall a grandee as a schoolboy!). Several ticks shared with AlanC above: RUMINATES and ABNEGATES, POTHERB and DAN DARE (which it had to be but which I did not spot lurking). I was misdirected by ‘saw’ in 1a and by ‘pants’ in 25a, initially taking each as a cruciverbal chestnut: HEAVY BREATHING probably my COTD as a result. ECLOGUE was a dnk but clearly signalled, I was pleased to spot a device that often defeats me in TEDDY and I laughed at the surfaces of both PRINCE CHARMING and the Paulian HIGH SPOT.
Thanks Picaroon and loonapick.
I thought this was wonderful, particularly HEAVY BREATHING, TEDDY, ROSETTE (didn’t we have that the other day?) and PRADA. Picaroon never disappoints. Many thanks to him and to loonapick.
Self @5: that’s HIGH POINT, not high spot.
essexboy @2 & Penfold @4: another BOTHERB here for a while. Sounds rather hi tech to me.
Neat set of clues here, arachnoid in succinctness, in which, as for George C @3, rot for refuse was the sole eyebrow flicker. Who knew paraph? .. not this boy, but gettable with crossers. Flag/paver is a chestnut but worth it for the surfaptness. Heavy breather was a [bodice?] ripper, and Lady C reminiscent of my uncles coming home after postgrad smuggling her (plus Roth, Henry Miller, issues of the Eye) in their steamer trunks. Lots to enjoy, thanks to the pirate and loonapick.
I didn’t know ‘paraph’ so thanks loonapick for the parsing; also for PRADA (LOI)
So much joy here. Loved RUMINATES (because I love the word ‘nates’ which should be back in common currency) and LADYCHAR+TTERLEY and NEGEV and DEMILLE but I think my favourite was DIECAST which took me back to Latin O-level and all Gaul being divided into three parts … except for the village where Asterix lives.
Thanks Picaroon and loonapick
Good start with LADY CHATTERLEY a write-in. It all went smoothly from there, though I didn’t know PARAPH. Slightly unfortunate the crossing “company”s at 6, and that DeMille starts DEMI – that confused me for a while. Lots of good clues. DAN DARE favoruite.
Very enjoyable. Like others I had a slow start and then a steady solve. Favs PRINCE CHARMING, PRADA. Paraph was a TILT and it took forever for me to see DAN DARE which rang a faint bell. Thanks to Picaroon and loonapick
A delight, though I’m another one slightly surprised, shall we say, by ROT = REFUSE.
So many lovely surfaces and cleverly constructed clues – perhaps HEAVY BREATHING, PRADA and PRINCE CHARMING particular favourites.
Thanks to Picaroon and loonapick, and a particular thumbs up to Picaroon for using something other than a reference to the Sun/Daily Mail to get the letters to be inserted in PARAPH (a word I didn’t know, though apparently I’d had one in my signature for years, but gettable from the crisp wordplay).
Obviously clear to previous posters but why is mansion = a pile please?
A puzzle that I really enjoyed, but which took a while to solve. Like ngaio@11 in New Zealand, I quite liked 6d PRADA, as we have been watching the Prada Cup being sailed in Auckland to select the challenger for the America’s Cup. Loved 1d LADY CHATTERLEY – like grantinfreo@8, I thought that solution seemed to go well with such other entries as 3d TEASINGLY and 25a HEAVY BREATHING. And I quite liked the simplicity of the “hot stuff” at 11a, CHILI. Thanks to Picaroon for the fun and loonapick for the helpful parsing of a couple I couldn’t quite untangle.
[gif@8, your story reminded me of the time aged about 17 (naive country girl new to university life in the city) when I was lucky enough to find a copy of D.H. Lawrence’s novel for 20 cents in a second hand bookshop – I had been keen to find out what all the fuss was about! You can imagine how disappointed I was when I got it home and discovered on closer inspection that it was the expurgated version!]
My thoughts on this largely echo NeilH’s @12 but I have to add ECLOGUE and DIE-CAST to the favourites. (loonapick, is your ? in ‘alea’ a typo?)
Many thanks to Picaroon for another superb puzzle and to loonapick for a blog to match.
Nice puzzle
Favourite: TEDDY
New DAN DARE (comic hero / pilot); PARAPH = flourish; POTHER = fuss; ALVEOLI
Pedro @13 – a pile can have the meaning of a large, imposing building or group of buildings
Pedro @13: “Pile” is a large building as in “what an imposing pile” – it carries a slightly sneering or negative overtone sometimes.
Like others found this to be a lot of fun with only a couple of DNK (POTHERB) and the 1a/1d fell in very quickly which got me off to a flying start with the NW filled in very quickly. I then ground to a complete halt requiring coffee #2 before I started on the SE but a quick look in the mirror and PRINCE CHARMING was there in a flash, as will be the emergency glazier now…
Lovely puzzle so thanks be to Picaroon and loonapick!
Pedro @13 and michelle @16
Yes, the aristocracy tend to have piles. Serves ’em right!
When I had LADY CHATTERLEY, HEAVY BREATHING and PRINCE CHARMING, I was certain I was onto a theme, and that 1a would fit it, so it was disappointing that LIMITED COMPANY didn’t seem to have the same sort of risque connotations. Ah well. As for others, a slow start, then steady progress, though I was held up in the NE for quite a while. ‘Demi’ starting DE MILLE (who, by the way, seems not to have split his surname into two words) confused me too, muffin @ 10. I did know POTHER – from a previous crossie, I think, but like many DNK Paraph (or ECLOGUE). Thanks, Picaroon and loonapick.
[Penfold @18: you have my backing in having a go at the aristos. Givethemorrhoidspainking! … I’ll need my coat today…]
Thanks for the piles of explanations re piles.
[Btw, seems only a few days ago similar CHILI came up]
Virgil. We had to read some passages from the Eclogues for O-level and then went through all of them at university. Loved them. Wondered how the same person could write such beautiful verse as that and the Georgics (which I hated with a passion).
ALVEOLI. I thought that these was functioned as surfaces for the exchange of O2 and CO2, rather than where air is kept?
Didn’t know paraph, but the answer was obvious from the crossers.
Didn’t we have ROSETTE on Monday?
Anyway, a very enjoyable little puzzle.
Thanks to Picaroon and to loonapick
Thanks loonapick, i found this a long but very satisfying solve which you have helped me to understand fully as I didn’t know POTHER (another Botherber here), PARAPH, NATES or ECLOGUE (clearly clued though so was not surprised when this turned out to be a word) and had forgotten the existence of PRAVDA so tried various subtractive and additive anagrams of “red paper”.
My FOI was DAN DARE (the Eagle was still going in the 80s and my comic of choice for a while otherwise I might never have spotted it) and I will give Picaroon a pat on the back for including his arch enemy at 14 across!
LOI EXACTOR, getting to ROT from Refuse via Rubbish took some time. Many in the running for top clue but HEAVY BREATHING just shades it, thanks Picaroon.
Well spotted Gazzh
I think that the expression *What rot* meaning *what rubbish* used to be common so rot – rubbish = refuse
Anyone else remember this – it’s the kind of thing Bertie Wooster would say
I meant rot = rubbish = refuse not minus
Another learning experience. Too many unfamiliar words in both wordplay and definition. Plus being not very good at cryptic crosswords. Picaroon’s puzzles are usually a step too far.
I enjoyed what I could do.
Thanks Loonapick for filling in the blanks.
Anna @22: you’re right about ALVEOLI but they are sacs in which air is ‘kept’ whilst the process occurs. I guess, technically, air isn’t kept in the long term anywhere in the body; certainly breathing, HEAVY or not, sees air enter and exit so the keeping is only ever going to be temporary which, I think, lets Picaroon off the hook.
I enjoyed this, especially TEASINGLY, PAVER, ABNEGATES and ECLOGUES
But like Neil @12 and one or two others, I’m ‘surprised’ by REFUSE = ROT at 10a. COOK = DO at 12a left me a bit puzzled too. Just me? Am I missing something?
Thanks to Picaroon for an enjoyable workout and loonapick for an enlightening blog.
PostMark @ 28
Hm, yes. I can see your point, but I think it’s stretching the use of the verb to keep. More like ‘passing through’. Anyway, thanks for replying to my question.
I found today’s puzzle mostly straightforward, and was well within sight of the finish line when I encountered POTHERB and ECLOGUE! Ah well, can’t win them all. I enjoyed it hugely, though, and was thoroughly on Picaroon’s wavelength until I wasn’t!
I was really slow to get going and the first half was a grind; once I had some checkers available then I could biff my way quite quickly through to the finish. I think my experience endorses comments made so far about the clever misdirections (‘saw’ and ‘pants’), the unknowns (‘paraph’, ‘eclogue’, ‘pother’ and ‘nates’), and the semantic triangulation used to equate ‘rot’ with ‘refuse’. But these thorny bits were balanced by some very straightforward clueing (CHILI, MANSION, TRIPOLI) so all in all a jolly fun puzzle.
Thanks to our setter and our blogger.
[PostMark @20: I all for rectifying the aristo’s piles situation…]
Grizzlebeard @29: I recall posting the same query about Cook=Do a while ago. Cooking the books was given as an example of ‘doing’ in the sense both words can equate to deception. I seem to recall there were also examples using cook in its culinary sense – cook/do it for an hour in the oven. It’s certainly become one of those accepted synonyms in crosswordland. Hope that helps.
Fiona Ann@25: yes, I agree with your analysis — but I think Picaroon is unfair here. For example, in the phrase “Not a jot of remorse”, one might equate ‘jot’ with ‘hint’ (“not a hint of remorse”) and, of course, ‘hint’ means the same as ‘imply’ (as in “she hinted/implied as much”. But I think it unjustifiable, therefore, in a clue to define JOT = ‘imply’.
With DAN DARE and LADY C first two in, I was back to the days of my youth, with the covers of Lawrence’s book furtively concealed inside another book cover. So maybe the excellent HEAVY BREATHING and TEASINGLY were connected. Though The Eagle was openly read and innocently enjoyed at the time. Last one in was PRINCE CHARMING.
Thanks Picaroon & loonapick
Grizzlebeard @ 20: COOK = DO is a bit of a chestnut, as in “How are you going to do the potatoes?”.
pserve_p2 @ 35: I don’t think you are comparing like with like. Your jot > imply example goes from noun to verb, whereas rot, rubbish and refuse are all nouns.
(Trying to imagine a day when current cabinet members are described as Tory Grandees but it’s just not happening.)
Simon S@38: OK, fair point – but even if I change the triplet to nouns, ‘jot’ – ‘hint’ – ‘nudge’, then it is still dodgy to claim that ‘jot’ = ‘nudge’. My point is that Picaroon is trying to define by using an intermediate word (as Fiona Ann @25 observed, the word ‘rubbish’ or some other stepping-stone is needed to make the definition work) and that intermediate word has to have a second meaning or usage that enables it to “pivot” the semantics to fix the inequality of ‘rot – ‘refuse’.
I’m going to DO garlic prawns for lunch
Then I’m going to DO the dishes
And I DO hope I have time to DO the sudoku
Useful word for setters!
Typically good Picaroon puzzle. A bit slow in the NE as I’d forgotten about Pravda (is it still going? I know it means ‘truth’), couldn’t make sense of 8d, and I was trying formulations like ‘paragrade’ at 17a. Indeed if that latter had been a word it would have gone in, for parade = flourish, and paraph just sounds made up. Eventually I just had to take it on trust.
rot = refuse: Oh, and Gazzh@23 also picked out the need to use ‘rubbish’ in order to make it work. Crosswords are all about wordplay — so finesse in such matters is important, I think, to the crossword setter’s art.
Many thanks, Loonapick. You’re quite right that DeMille is one word. I do hope that didn’t cause too much furrowing of brows, chewing of pencils or gnashing of teeth. (Fancy being so blithe about surrendering a particule!)
For rot, I was just thinking about the contents of my organic waste bin. That’s rot (decomposing matter), which I suppose must be a kind of refuse because the refuse collectors collect it.
Trailman @ 42
Pravda (??????) is indeed still going. It now describes itself as ‘mouthpiece of the central committee of the Communist party of the Russian Federation’.
(????? ???????????? ???????? ???? for the linguists out there).
Oh well, I was hoping the Russian would show, but it doesn’t.
CHARMING to think of LADY CHATTERLEY as a “seeker of romance” rather than just HEAVY BREATHING. We always looked for the romantic bits of the book, as we shared it in the playground.
I really struggled today, which is unusual because I can usually get on Picaroon’s wavelength. Loved HEAVY BREATHING, though.
Picaroon @44, I’m relieved that you have a plausible one-stage synonym, as two-stage would be a step too far for me. And if two-stage was acceptable, why not three-stage …
I found this quite tough, as I tend to struggle with synonyms unless they are fairly obvious; several unknown words were also a challenge. And rot as a noun isn’t something I use very often!
I’ve been doing crosswords long enough now to remember NATES, and to know that do=cook, but I’ve never met a PARAPH before.
I did get POTHERB, and loved the clue, but I’d like to query the definition. Potherbs in my youth were not green flavouring herbs like rosemary, but the components of what would now be called a stew pack: the onions, carrots, Swedes etc to add to your casserole. If my grandmother asked for a pennyworth of potherbs, that’s what she would expect to get.
I’m relieved that others found this a bit slow to start. I’m another not knowing paraph or pother (which I’ve had to ‘add to my dictionary’ as it was underlined). Picaroon @44; Oxford has ‘1.1Rotten or decayed matter‘ to support your thesis.
I thought this was a great crossword as I slowly built up the answers. Many good clues, and I ticked RUMINATES, LADY CHATTERLEY, NOTHING, DEMILLE, and my favourite, HEAVY BREATHING.
Thanks Picaroon and loonapick.
Hello, just wondering if anyone else thought there might be a sub theme of love / sex? (Lady Chatterley, Prince Charming, teasingly, heavy breathing, teddy, adoration, nothing (as in “much ado”) …) ? Or maybe looking too much into it!
Trailman @42 and Anna @45: Both Pravda and Izsvestia are still going. As Pravda means Truth and Izsvestia means news the old Russian axiom still holds that in Pravda (Truth) there is no Izsvestia (News) and in Izsvestia (News) there is no Pravda (Truth).
This from the country that has “Da nyet, navernoe” as a response – that’s “Yes, no, maybe.”
Thanks to Picaroon @44 for popping in to clear out the rubbish! (Are you going to DO the cooking while you’re here?)
My only query in this initially tricky but ultimately satisfying solve was what ‘person’ is doing in 1d? loonapick has skimmed over it in the blog (LAD+Y+CHATTER+LEY where Y=”unknown” in maths, and CHATTER=’talking’). So is it ‘unknown person’=Y? Or ‘person talking’=CHATTER(ER)? Presumably the former, but it’s an ‘unknown’ usage to me.
Last one in was the terse version of the Rubicon speech – definitely clue of the day!
SH @54
I took “someone who chats” to be a chatter; a chatterer is someone who chatters!
The cast of thousands were drawn up on the shores of the Red Sea. The cameramen were ready, the lights were on. Charlton Heston, staff in hand, was ready to speak his lines.
And a Voice spake from Heaven, and it said:
“Ready when you are, Mr. DEMILLE…”
I am surprised by the debate on ‘rot’.
It is rubbish and getting ‘rubbish’ as a ‘noun’ from ‘refuse’ despite the v./n. switch seems to be none-too-difficult.
And, yes, I am familiar with the expression ‘What rot!’ from my reading of PGW (Fiona Anne@ 25).
I must have used it in conversation.
A lovely crossword from the Pirate but a slow burn for me today with only a handful on the first pass.
Notwithstanding the spirited defence of ROT/REFUSE by way of RUBBISH, I still don’t think it’s good enough. Can’t really construct a sentence where the two can be interchanged. Perhaps someone can?
Loved looking up PARAPH.
Many thanks, both.
Gladys @50: Me too ‘re POTHERB. I was moved to look it up and Chambers gives, ” a vegetable, especially one used for flavouring, eg parsley. ” which rather infers that either the herb or the vegetable would fit the def.
Gladys and William
Whenever I see “potherb”, I think of Isabella and the pot of basil…
muffin @60: Didn’t know the story and now I wish I hadn’t looked it up! Grim!
William
There are several folk songs with similar plots. I don’t know which came first, the songs or Keats. The first one I heard is here.
Learnt a new word PARAPH. Thanks.
Maiden Bartok @ 53
Thank you for confirming what I said about Pravda. I am not interested myself in Izvestiya. (Why do you spell it with an s after the z?)
It is a nuisance that I can’t write the Russian words properly here. But the ‘Da nyet navernoe’ thing is a translation from American and is supposed to be comical. I have never ever seen it on Russian social media.
Incidentally, I only have a presence on Russian social media because I practise the language that way, the borders remaining resolutely shut due to Mr Covid.
Anna @64: I have NO idea why I spelt it that way but I remember being taught the phrase at school in Russian and then promptly forgetting it. I seem to remember that there was some kind of twist along the lines of “In Truth there is no News, in News there is never any Truth” which is cumbersome in English but easier to construct in Russian (although the rest of Russian was a total mystery to me and remains so).
The “Yes/No/Maybe” is an Americanism but there is an element of truth in that the Russain pschye which can be quite morose and resigned – “yes/no” was about as enthusiastic as my grandmother would ever get! Until the vodka or plum brandy starts to flow, that is (and we’ve had a few of THOSE family reunions I seem to (not) remember).
Russia (specifically Pyatigorsk where my family originates from) was on my list of places-to-visit-in-2021 – the plan was to fly to Moscow and then take the 22h train trip south. Might be my quickest chance for a vaccine…
George@3 : although the surface suggests ‘refuse’ is a verb, to parse the clue, you need it as a noun, meaning rubbish.
muffin @55. Thanks. I just couldn’t see it because there is a real word for someone who is talking. Interestingly, according to Chambers, both chat and chatterer are formed from chatter. It’s only in the cryptic world that one who talks is a CHATTER.
Ah that IS interesting. Thanks. As you know, I only live 3 hours on the train from the border.
It’s at moments like this, when I feel 225 could do with a section for general chat, as opposed to strictly crossword stuff. I don’t think the GD section is really suitable as it is quite cumbersome (on my computer anyway, and I’m the first to admit that might just be my incompetence in all things computerish).
Morose and resigned eh? That applies to Finnish people too !!
Re my post @ 68
It was in response to MaidenBartok @ 65.
I liked this puzzle a lot, especially when I gave up trying to fit a version of “alea iacta (or jacta) est” into the grid.
I was for a while hesitant about the accuracy of the last two across clues. In 24a, I thought surely one smoked pot to get high but took acid to TRIP, so they’re not really synonyms. One could not expect our esteemed setter to know this. But then I found them equated in a dictionary, so some lexicographer somewhere thinks they’re the same.
I had the BREATHING sense of “pants” in mind but for a while saw it only as a verb, so it looked like a part of speech mixup. As a noun it works a lot better.
I really enjoyed this crossword despite some GK – lovely clues, I particularly liked LIMITED COMPANY for the elegant double meaning within a smooth surface, PAVER for surface, TRIPOLI for its extended definition and HEAVY BREATHING for not using pants as an anagrind (which confused me – LOI!)
Many thanks Picaroon and loonapick
Dr Whatson @ 70
You can get high on dope, acid, coke, mushrooms and a host of other substances. Some take you on a trip, some lift you like a rocket, and some mellow you out. They’re all highs.
I did this puzzle early enough to be one of the first commenters, since our cat had the bad grace to wake me up at 4 am demanding to be fed. (I don’t know what got into him; he normally waits at least until dawn, or until he detects that one of us is already up.) But then I managed to get back to sleep before hitting the blog. Thanks for the explanation of PARAGRAPH (“paraph” was new to me, but the answer could hardly have been anything else.)
Anna @68
There used to be a ‘Chat Room’ page many years ago but it morphed into what is now the ‘General Discussion’ page. The ‘General Discussion’ page states that it is “for the discussion of general crossword related matters and other topics of interest”. The “other topics of interest” can be interpreted quite widely (provided it doesn’t include football, religion, politics or the weather 🙂 ).
Rishi @ 57
Also there used to be the expression *What tommyrot*
As well as in PGW this and *what utter rot* were, I’m sure sed by characters in the Biggles books I read as a child – and maybe some Enid Blyton stories
Simon S @72 & Dr WhatsOn @70: someone asked, a short while ago, what our setters had been smoking as allusions to illicit substances seemed to be all around. Now the solvers are doing it. As always, it’s good to know one can turn to the community here for insight, advice and familiarity with pretty much all topics… Toot, toot 😀
Thanks both,
OED has ‘rubbish’ as a synonym for ‘rot’ (as an interjection) at meaning 5.
Tilt: paraph and eclogue, which I learn is a short rustic verse. One from my native Lincolnshire comes to mind …
Corn be ripe
Nuts be brown
Petticoats up
And trousers down.
Gaufrid
Thanks. But we’re going round n circles now – my posting of yesterday. Sorry, you probably think I’m just a moaner …..
Anna @78
It’s no more difficult to post a comment in General Discussion as it is here, though I appreciate your concern about how far you had to scroll down to get to the end of the comments. This would have been rectified weeks ago (it’s one of my Christmas week activities) but at that time I was busy finalising the new theme. However, now that the new theme has been installed, I can get on with other things and one of the first on my list was to archive the old General Discussion comments, which I did yesterday.
Gaufrid
Thank you very much for doing all the work you do.
A brilliant puzzle from a great setter
Thanks to Picaroon and loonapick
Very satisfying crossword — thanks Picaroon. Like others I started slowly but the pace quickened until I completed this gem. Favourites were ABNEGATE, TRIPOLI, and NOTHING. ECLOGUE was a new word for me but the wordplay led to nothing else. I couldn’t fully parse 25a and 17d so thanks Loonapick for the blog.
Do as a verb for cook is illustrated by underdone, overdone, done to a turn.
Late to the party today, but as loonapick says, “On DEMILLE, the director’s name is spelt DeMille” – as in, “ready for my close-up now”? TTS&B
Thanks Picaroon and loonapick for the entertainment. Got almost all of it last night with an exception or two. I was held up till this morning in the NW corner by biffing in unparsable MILLION for “pile” and a few crossers for 9a. Finally when I noticed the hidden DAN DARE (whom I’ve never heard of, probably like most non-Brits, but it does sound like somebody’s name) I rethought the pile.
Couldn’t parse NOTHING — thanks, loonapick
loonapick, you parsing of 18d would give ROSEETT. It has to be ROSE (wine) around E + TT.
NATES for “buttocks” surely has long ago disappeared from actual language use. Anybody ever use the word?
Valentine @85. I think you have misinterpreted Loonapick’s parsing: ROSÉ (“wine”) + E (European) bottles TT, by which he means ROSE__E enclosing TT.
Your version works, of course, but so does Loonapick’s!
Good puzzle. NOTHING to add specifically, but Tyngewick @77’s rhyme reminded me of the mnemonic for stalagmites and stalactites – The tites come down and the mites grow up! Very effective it is, too.
Thanks, S&B.
[phitonelly @87. Your mnemonic for stalagmites and stalactites has a cleaner version as I recall, useful for teaching to younger children who are not fixated on innuendo. StalaCtites desCend from the Ceiling, while stalaGmites Grow up from the Ground.]
Valentine @85: I, too, spent time desperately trying to parse MILLION for pile. Did you have M for male, Lion for Male, I being the one… and what the L to do with the L?
Превосходно
Very enjoyable, educational even.
Tyngewick @77’s rhyme reminded me of this.
What is it about Lincolnshire – it out-sauces Worcestershire imho?
[Gonzo @90: It certainly is – but how did you do that?]
I think D H Lawrence might raise an eyebrow at the idea that Lady Chatterley was seeking ‘romance’!
Used to read the Dandy, Beano, Beezer, Tiger and Scorcher but never came across DAN DARE in the seventies. Loved 14d, incidentally my FOI.
Ong’ara in Kenya
Middle class parents steered their offspring towards Eagle, as it was “higher class” than the ones you read (you missed Hotspur and Roy of the Rovers, though, or was that Victor?). Eagle was also distressingly Christian.
[essexboy@92: laboriously from here using ampersand-hash-number-semicolon for each character. But there might be a WordPress widget giving a pop-up keyboard…]
muffin @ 85: I think it was Victor (was that the one that had text stories as well as strips?) Certainly wasn’t the Eagle.
Simon S @97
Yes, Victor, I think. Which one had Alf Tupper, tough of the track?
Eagle had a tedious detective called Harris Tweed!
[Gonzo @96
Ah, OK, с п а с и б о
As you say it’s a bit labour-intensive – I don’t think I’ll be attempting any lengthy analyses in Russian just yet!]
muffin @98: Rover/Victor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alf_Tupper
[muffin @98, saw Pentangle at the Sydney Town Hall, 1972…can’t remember if they sang that one though 🙂 ]
[er, should have been @62…]
sheffield hatter @88. Yes, that works too but I think it loses a little in the translation 🙂
Stalactites have to hold on tight.
I loved Eagle. I was not allowed it, being a girl, so I read my brothers’ copy. Could not believe that anyone except me might remember Dan Dare!
Loved the crossword. Thank you Picaroon and Loonapick.
But PS: meaning is NOT always transitive. A means B and B means C does NOT imply A means C. So I didn’t like ROT = REFUSE, and if my paper had had a CHECK button, I’d have pressed it.
[gif @101 – gosh! I think I was there too!]
[TT @105, well well! How the web weaves…]
…and while on musos, thanks for the link Alphalpha @91…I love Rambling Sid!
Alphaalpha @91: Oh – Kenneth Williams! Lovely… Reminds me of the last time I was down in Brighton and tried to find my favourite barbers, Bona Riah.
grantinfreo @VARIOUS: I saw the current The Pentangle incarnation at the Komedia in Brighton in (I think…) 2016-ish (Jacqui McShee’s Pentangle, that is).
Excellent crossword as always from Picaroon. Revealed the desert but otherwise ok though a few words new to me & indebted to loonapick as unable to properly parse a few. Thanks all.