A tricky one today, but a good one. Thank you Monk.
Around the outside of the grid is BARTHOLOMEW PLUS WISEWAN, or Morcambe and Wise as they are better known. Spotting this early helped me greatly in solving the puzzle.
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | RUBEOLA |
Massage succulent plant around source of spots? (7)
|
| RUB (massage) ALOE (succulent plant) reversed (around) | ||
| 9 | A-WEEK |
At specific intervals, regularly sarky about number one (1-4)
|
| every other letter (regularly) of sArKy contains (about) WEE (urination, “number one” in baby-talk) | ||
| 10 | NOT CRICKET |
Football is certainly this unfair (3,7)
|
| double/cryptic definition | ||
| 11 | DIAL |
Literally relaxed face (4)
|
| DIAL is literally (regarding the letters) LAID back (relaxed) | ||
| 12 | ASIDES |
Best singles, those intended for audience not players (6)
|
| A SIDES (the best singles) – as opposed to B-sides | ||
| 14 | COCKAPOO |
Chatty bird having no time to hug soft dog (8)
|
| COCKAtOO (chatty bird) missing T (time) contains (to hug) P (soft) | ||
| 15 | MOUSING |
Prowling medic taking drugs (7)
|
| MO (medical officer, medic) with USING (taking drugs) | ||
| 17 | GROGRAM |
Material page removed from grand plan (7)
|
| P (page) missing from G (grand) pROGRAM (plan) | ||
| 20 | EIGHTEEN |
A number of half-cut neighbours teeter with head fully down (8)
|
| NEIGHbours TEEter (half-cut) with the first letter (N) moved to the very end (fully down) | ||
| 22 | UNRULE |
Fraudulent suspect hiding terribly daft anarchy (6)
|
| anagram (suspect) of FRAUDULENT missing the letters of DAFT – terribly indicates that the letters D-A-F-T are not presented in that order | ||
| 24 | SEAR |
Brand buttocks, right side then left (4)
|
| ARSE (buttocks) with the two sides (AR and SE) swapped (right then left) | ||
| 25 | FORESHADOW |
Suggest warning party to block playwright (10)
|
| FORE (warning, on golf course) then DO (party) inside (to block) SHAW (playwright) | ||
| 27 | THORN |
Old character split when outside hospital (5)
|
| TORN (split) contains (when outside) H (hospital) – old Norse letter | ||
| 28 | PLATEAU |
Apostle briefly wrapping brown bread for table (7)
|
| PAUL (apostle) missing last letter (briefly) contains (wrapping) LATE (brown bread, rhyming slang for dead) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BROOKS |
Sanction brother’s housing permits (6)
|
| OK (sanction) inside (with…housing) BRO’S (brother’s) – permits in the sense of tolerates | ||
| 2 | ABAC |
Nomogram cut short by surprise (4)
|
| ABACk (by surprise, cut short) | ||
| 3 | ROBINSON |
Flora perhaps covering edges of Ifton Heath, for one (8)
|
| ROBSON (Flora Robson perhaps, actress) contains (covering) IftoN (edges of) – Heath Robinson, cartoonist | ||
| 4 | TACTIC |
Skilful exploit carrying most of credit (6)
|
| ACT (exploit) inside (carrying, with…on its shoulders) TICk most of credit – definition is an adjective “relating to taxis” | ||
| 5 | HEADBANGER |
Fanatic leader standing on crate (10)
|
| HEAD (leader) on BANGER (crate, an old car) | ||
| 6 | OKLAHOMA |
Musical in which very good French article mentioned Mr Simpson (8)
|
| OK (very good, acknowledgement) LA (the, article in French) and HOMA sounds like (mentioned) “Homer” (Mr Homer Simpson) | ||
| 8 | ACK-ACK |
Hiking gear regularly chopped to make type of fire (3-3)
|
| bACK pACK (two letters chopped) – regularly indicates in the same position in each word | ||
| 13 | DISC HARROW |
Burn in hell with scold that’s going over old ground? (4,6)
|
| CHAR (burn) inside DIS (hell) ROW (to scold) – what a plough does | ||
| 16 | OLIVETTI |
Old engineer in operation to stop excessive current (8)
|
| LIVE (in operation) inside (to stop, like a cork) OTT (excessive) I (current, electrical symbol) – Adriano Olivetti | ||
| 18 | ROUSSEAU |
French painter unexpectedly arouses you at the climax (8)
|
| anagram, (unexpectedly) of AROUSES and yoU (last letter, the climax of) – any of several French painters with this name | ||
| 19 | UNWRAP |
Execute present revelation (6)
|
| cryptic definition? | ||
| 21 | ELFINS |
Children absorbed in self-instruction (6)
|
| found inside (absorbed in) sELF-INStruction | ||
| 23 | LOOK UP |
Improve visit (4,2)
|
| double definition | ||
| 26 | ABEL |
Former US president minimally identified first victim (4)
|
| ABE L. (a minimal identification of Abraham Lincoln) – victim of Cain in the Bible |
A very difficult crossword but once I’d spotted the Nina things gradually slotted into place
Thanks to Monk for the extreme brain mangling, which I did enjoy, and to PeeDee for the blog
That was way tough. Very much enjoyed the tussle though. Thought I’d never get the SW quadrant but I suddenly came up with OTT I and OLIVETTI then sprang to mind. This was followed by the tricksy EIGHTEEN & SEAR and I completed. However I did need a word fit on DISC HARROW and ABAC, both new to me. Congrats to anyone who got the latter. I’m a retired mathematician and have never heard of a nomogram. Having looked it up, I’m none the wiser.
GROGRAM was also new to me but I guessed that from the wordplay.
Didn’t look for a nina until I’d finished and what a nice one it was.
That was really very tough. This often happens for me when I try to solve Monk.
I always enjoy Monk puzzles but lets get the nina straight.
I believe there was an obscure act(googled this ) called Bartholomew Plus Three
So wondering if WISEMAN(Wisemen) could be relevant.
Or has Monk acquired two dogs called Bartholomew and Wiseman.
Just wondering.
Thanks Monk and Pee Dee
Early night beckons
Indeed, very difficult (but luckily there was a nina).
I started in the SW with MOUSING (15ac), and ended there too (SEAR, 24ac).
Never heard of GROGRAM but easily gettable – PeeDee, the blog has one R too many.
I wonder whether, as in 18dn, ‘you at the climax’ for U fully works, especially in a Down clue.
And I still can’t see how, in 4dn’s TACTIC, ‘A carrying B’ leads to ‘A inside B’, instead of the more logical ‘B inside A’.
Despite what the blog tells me (which I do understand).
Perhaps, someone can tell me a bit more?
But, yes, another fine crossword from Monk – for which thanks.
Thanks to PeeDee too, of course.
Sil – for “climax” read “culmination” (in Chambers) – the last letter of
PS – I’m not wholly convinced by “on the shoulders of” myself.
Very convoluted and difficult.
Beautiful Nina-
Morecambe and Wise
(Bartholomew and Wiseman)
Impenetrable for this casual American solver — without general knowledge that includes ROBINSON, BROOKS, NOT CRICKET, GROGRAN, ACK-ACK, ABAC, or the nina itself, plus wordplay that also requires specialized knowledge — I only could solve a smattering of clues. I generally get a bit further with Monk but not this time. Thanks PeeDee for the blog.
Beat me hollow / way above my league.
My worst effort for ages.
Di you experts always look for Nina?? I had so few clues, and in any event never heard of B&W, so wouldn’t have helped.
We just about completed the SE corner and a couple elsewhwere, but the rest was totally beyond us. We suspected a nina but couldn’t work it out and it wouldn’t have helped anyway.
But thanks, PeeDee for the explanations.
Completely beaten by this but, in our defence, we are not sure that the fabulous nina compensates for some pretty arcane clueing.
Failed on SEAR, UNWRAP, ABAC and the old engineer. I had never heard of a nomogram, and when I Googled it (which is normally a last resort for me) there were no four-letter alternatives, though with hindsight abaque would have got me there; ABAC only appeared when I typed ‘nomogram abac’ in the search box (after seeing the solution here).
I thought ACT carrying TIC was OK – if you think of it like a bicycle with panniers on either side, though slightly unbalanced…
I wasn’t too impressed with the first letter of NEIGH TEE ‘fully down’ in an across clue.
This was a long hard slog, and of course I didn’t see the nina; the S would have been handy for SEAR. I liked ABE ‘minimally identified’ L, and ‘Flora’ and ‘Heath’ was neat too. Thanks PeeDee and Monk.
To see Ifton Heath, a village between Oswestry and Ellesmere, is a real joy. One of the places I know of from my knowledge of bus routes close to my home town.
Tom Johnson — aka Busman and Gozo
I thought that was a belter of a puzzle. Very difficult but also very fair. I was on the verge of giving up when a couple of flukes meant that I spotted the beginnings of a nina. It wasn’t all/plain sailing from there, but it certainly helped.
Thanks to Monk and PeeDee
A brutal puzzle today that totally defeated us. We only got a handful of clues and gave up. Our worst effort in a very long time. We don’t seem to be on Monk’s wavelength very often. Oh well! Thanks to Monk and Pee Dee.
Monk remains in my “Do not attempt” list.
I’m with you, Geoff. After reading PeeDee’s excellent blog there were still half a dozen clues that I wouldn’t get in a month of Wednesdays. Fortunately there’s always tomorrow.
Thanks Monk and PeeDee
This was in the John Henderson sphere of difficulty and took over 3 hours of dedicated time across three days to finally nut it out ! Having said that, I enjoyed it tremendously – going from despair of looking for ages to get the next lead in clue and finally seeing an OKLAHOMA or an UNWRAP to get going again. Would have been helpful to look for a Nina earlier than when it had been completed … my surname is the same as the second one – on the side that I needed help.
Had a feeble attempt at parsing SEAR when I finally got it, based on REAR and the S on the right hand side of ‘buttocks’ – but it was nowhere like the correct word play. Hadn’t heard of the rhyming slang ‘brown bread’ for dead, so that went over my head as well. Finally, didn’t twig to ‘LAID back’ as the meaning for ‘relaxed’.
Thought that the cryptic clue for UNWRAP was one of the best that I’ve seen.
Finished in the NW corner with TACTIC (is it a semi &lit?), NOT CRICKET (clever clue) and ABAC (another Maths graduate who hadn’t heard of a ‘nomogram’). My brain hurts but satisfaction level off the charts !