Thank you to Nutmeg. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Across
1. Bewildered, did he thirst for gossip? (4,3,4)
DISH THE DIRT : Anagram of(Bewildered) DID HE THIRST.
Defn: To ….
9. One Greek character left in time to find another (7)
EPSILON : [PSI(one character, viz. the 23th letter of the Greek alphabet) + L(abbrev. for “left”)] contained in(in) EON(a long period of time).
Defn: … Greek character.
10. High priest number two holding mass for stricken city (7)
POMPEII : [POPE(the highest/supreme priest of the Roman Catholic Church, or, in other churches, one having a similar position) + II(Roman numeral for the number two)] containing(holding) M(symbol for “mass” in physics).
Defn: …, buried by an eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, and remarkably excavated:
11. Batting pundit ran informal game of cricket (3-3-3)
TIP AND RUN : Anagram of(Batting) PUNDIT RAN.
12. Land cultivation hard on slope (5)
TILTH : H(abbrev. for “hard”) placed after(on) TILT(to slope/to incline).
13. Quits flat (4)
EVEN : Double defn: 1st: Neither side owing anything to the other; and 2nd: Said of a level surface.
14. Hold tailless mammal back pretty quickly (10)
ALLEGRETTO : “allege”(to hold/to claim or assert something without proof) minus its last letter(tailless) + reversal of(… back) OTTER(a semi-aquatic mammal).
Defn: A musical direction to play pretty/fairly quickly, but not as fast as with allegro.
16. Sport available on large rescue vessel (4,6)
LARK AROUND : AROUND(available/at hand) placed after(on) [L(abbrev. for “large”) + ARK(the biblical Noah’s vessel rescuing animals from the Great Flood).
Defn: To behave playfully or mischievously.
19. Snappy greeting between clubs repeated (4)
CHIC : HI(an informal greeting) contained in(between) C,C(abbrev. for “clubs” repeated).
Defn: …/elegant.
20. Conduced round home, given internal protection (5)
LINED : LED(conduced/brought about, as in “his habits conduced to his ill-health”) containing(round) IN(home/not out, as in “I am home by …”).
Defn: …, as with, say, one’s jacket.
21. Call round, unfortunately missing member of the House (4,5)
LORD LUCAN : Anagram of(unfortunately) CALL ROUND.
Defn: A member of the British House of Lords who disappeared after being suspected of murder in 1974.
23. Handiest resolute knight sent to the front (7)
NEAREST : EARNEST(resolute/serious in one’s intentions) with “n”(abbrev. for “knight” in chess notation) moved to the beginning(sent to the front).
24. Arrogance of man averse to keeping uniforms apart (7)
HAUTEUR : HATER(a man/woman who is averse to/intensely dislikes something or other) containing(keeping) [U,U(2 x abbrev. for “uniform”) separately(apart)].
25. Opportunists, one waiting to open morning paper (4-7)
TIME-SERVERS : SERVER(one waiting on/serving at tables in a restaurant) contained in(to open) TIMES(The …, the daily morning paper).
Defn: Those practising opportunism, the art of changing one’s behaviour/stance to fit prevailing trends or to please superiors.
Down
1. About to withdraw bill that 21 is known for? (12,3)
DISAPPEARING ACT : DISAPPEARING(about to withdraw/leave) + ACT(a bill/a draft of a proposed law submitted to a legislature becomes an act if passed).
Defn: Cf. answer to 21 across.
2. String of shops alongside beauty parlour (5)
SALON : Hidden in(String of) “shops alongside“.
3. End trial with explosion destroying a part of plant (7)
TENDRIL : Anagram of(… with explosion) [End trial minus(destroying) “a“].
4. Scrap previous wordplay raised as an example (7)
EXPUNGE : EX-(prefix signifying “previous”/former) + PUN(a play on words) + reversal of(raised, in a down clue) EG(abbrev. for “exempli gratia”/as an example).
5. Adolescent cheers up dons put in prison (8)
IMMATURE : Reversal of(… up, in a down clue) TA!(like “cheers!”, an exclamation for “thank you!”) contained in(dons) IMMURE(to put in prison/to confine against their will).
6. ‘This bed’s horrid’, says Violet Elizabeth, as story intensifies (3,4,8)
THE PLOT THICKENS : [THE PLOT](this bed/this area of ground in a garden where plants and flowers are grown) + THICKENS(how Violet Elizabeth, the lisping character in the series of children’s books featuring schoolboy William Brown, would say “sickens”/…’s horrid/is horrid).
7. Wasn’t tempted to interfere — neither Jack nor Jill did (4,4,5)
LEFT WELL ALONE : Cryptic defn: From the nursery rhyme “Jack and Jill … to fetch a pail of water …”
8. Conservative HQ’s prerogative? (5,2,6)
RIGHT OF CENTRE : RIGHT(prerogative/exclusive privilege) + [OF CENTRE](HQ’S/belonging to Headquarters/the centre of operations).
Defn: … side of the political spectrum.
15. Fancy dress mostly ready-made (8)
DAYDREAM : Anagram of(dress) [“ready-made” minus its last letter(mostly …)].
17. Former filling stations unopened — dedicated people sought (7)
OBLATES : LATE(former/once) contained in(filling) “jobs”(stations/positions to which persons are appointed) minus its 1st letter(unopened).
Defn: Lay persons dedicated to special religious work.
The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate:
18. Wind resistance in middle of Channel different (7)
NORTHER : R(symbol for electrical resistance in physics) contained in(in) [middle letter of(middle of) “Channel” + OTHER(different/distinct from one already mentioned or known about)].
Defn: A strong cold north wind blowing over Texas, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico.
22. Look to exploit wretch (5)
LOUSE : LO(look, as in “lo and behold!”) + USE(to exploit a person or situation to one’s own advantage).
Nice gentle start to a wet Friday. Thanks Nutmeg and scchua.
Surely it’s rather that Jack and Jill did make it to the well before falling and tumbling. They did not leave the well alone.
That was a lot easier than many of the other puzzles this week – either that or I’ve finally woken-up…
The long-ones (1a, 6d 7d, 8d) were write-ins for me – 21a followed very quickly after 1a with a mild chorttle. My only slight beef was 25a but only because it is an expression I’ve not come across.
Lovely puzzle to end the week, especially knowing that tomorrow is a Paul and therefore my count will be in numbers of letters rather than completed clues. One day, one day…
Thanks Nutmeg and scchua!
All went together very easily. My lifelong aversion to Just William did not hinder me with 8d. LOI was OBLATES, new to me in this sense.
Thanks to Nutmeg and scchua.
Yes, a pleasant and gentle puzzle, with some nice surfaces. Not entirely convinced by sickens = horrid, but the amusement of the recollection of Violet Elizabeth (and what a perfectly chosen name, isn’t it?) threatening to thcream and thcream until she was thick more than makes up for it.
Thanks to Nutmeg and scchua.
Thanks Nutmeg and scchua
I enjoyed it, but there was some GK needed – 6d would have been impenetrable if I hadn’t heard of Violet Elizabeth Bott, 11a is a bit regional.
I understood something different for TIME SERVERS – workers not making a fuss, waiting for retirement.
“Available” for AROUND is rather loose, and I think most people would say “lark about” but “mess around”.
POMPEII was favourite.
r@2, sorry for the confusion. Blog corrected.
Thank you so much for parsing 24a (silly me), and 17 and 18d. It all makes senses now. Jolly good fun!
I don’t know about easier, but it was fun, I’ve really enjoyed this week, even the torturing from Vlad in Tuesday.
It is needless for me to point out how good Nutmeg’s cluing is, but a special shout-out to DAYDREAM: a clue consisting almost entirely of anagrinds. I also very much enjoyed LORD LUCAN, POMPEII and THE PLOT THICKENS.
Thanks scchua and Nutmeg. Let’s hope Paul does a proper Prize tomorrow and not one of those iffy alphapuzzle things.
Not surprisingly stumped by throwing in KEPT WELL CLEAR without thinking! Good fun. Thanks both!
Given that Nutmeg has hidden the occasional theme, I looked doubly hard at this one and can’t spot anything – though I do like the juxtaposition of LEFT WELL ALONE down the left and RIGHT OF CENTRE down the right.
Both THE PLOT THICKENS and LORD LUCAN made me laugh and LARK AROUND is delightful. Other ticks for HAUTEUR, EPSILON and POMPEII.
Thanks Nutmeg and scchua
NeilH@5, per my parsing, “sickens” = is horrid, or ‘s horrid (after contraction of “is”), the “‘s” coming from “… bed’s …”.
As Muffin says @8, TIME-SERVERS aren’t opportunists, but – as the words say – are serving out their time i.e. waiting to leave. Otherwise all good fun, and for once I’m on Nutmeg’s wavelength. Didn’t know allegretto or immure, so DNF. Thanks to Nutmeg, and scchua
Not a tough Nutmeg but lots of clever clues. LORD LUCAN certainly helped with getting DISAPPEARING ACT.
Amusing clues including TIME SERVERS (I’m sure we’ve worked with a few of those), THE PLOT THICKENS, DISH THE DIRT and my COD, LEFT WELL ALONE, (tho I take your point r@ 2). I must confess I was trying to work poop into POMPEII but thankfully it was a bit more sophisticated. I could not parse OBLATES.
Interesting to note the positions of the two long down clues, nice touch. Another great week of maintaining my sanity.
Ta Nutmeg & scchua
I also had a problem with KEPT WELL CLEAR which I thought fitted the definition very well (and had all the right crossers except one). Meant I couldn’t get 23a. I had unparsed TIME WASTERS at 25a which meant I also couldn’t get 17d and 18d (but now I’m here I don’t think I’d have got them even with the correct entry at 25a). Apart from that I found it all went in quite smoothly and enjoyably.
Not at all difficult but what a joy to solve
Thanks to Nutmeg and scchua
Wondered how non-cricket nationals would go with ‘tip-and-run’. Loved tilth…reminded me of coolth, a sub-sub ’60s in-word. It’s a fair while since the disappearing lord, er, turned up. Didn’t have William as a kid, but guessed E V must have been a lithper. And guessed oblates (only vaguely familiar to an old atheist), but couldn’t parse…[j]obs around late…der! 18d, is there a souther too? Never saw either without ‘-ly’, but hey ho. Enjoyable Spice Lady as ever, thanks both.
Excuse me, muffin@6, but there is another meaning to “time-server” as seen here:
https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/202128?redirectedFrom=time-server#eid
muffin @6 and HarpoSpeaks @13
TIME-SERVER can have the meaning that you’re used to – but you know Nutmeg better than that.
Collins: a person who compromises and changes his or her opinions , way of life, etc to suit the current fashions
Chambers: a person who cynically or servilely suits his or her opinions to the times or those in authority for the time
(Neither of them gives the other meaning.)
Sorry scchua – we crossed.
Here’s a classic example of a time-server.
After Spoonerisms and Carrollisms, we now have a Violetelizabethism. All in favour. (Reminds me of Tethered Island (Dithkth), which almost got me shot at dawn last year.)
Lots of other great clues too, and like PM and AlanC I thought the LEFT and RIGHT were a nice bit of grid-framing.
(But shouldn’t 20ac be ‘conducted’, for the sake of the surface meaning if not the wordplay?)
Thanks Nutmeg and scchua.
Thanks scchua @18 and Eileen @19. Meaning 3 of your link, scchua, is what I knew.
I did Google, but the first couple of pages were all computer references!
Me@4 I meant 6d and would VEB not have said THICKENTH?
Nutmeg sets the bar so high that I find even the slightest shortfall perturbing e.g. the MAN in HAUTEUR had maybe a hint of definition by example?
Can we just accept that some people may have been offended by the use of the lisp gag in THICKENS and just leave it at that for once?
r@2 I read this as neither Jack nor Jill left the well alone as they left it (more-or-less) together !
Typically elegant puzzle from Nutmeg – nothing grates.
Like muffin I was only familiar with the ‘treading water’ meaning of TIME SERVER, but the solution was obvious. And like essexboy I was delighted to have both Lewis Carroll and Richmal Crompton in the same week.
LORD LUCAN and DAYDREAM were favourites – great surfaces. And a mention for SALON – another clever surface to disguise a hidden word.
[AlanC @14: “Another great week of maintaining my sanity.” How about those of us who were sadly lacking on the sanity front before all this started?!]
Back to the IT discussions of yesterday, there is of course the use of TIME-SERVERS as the devices on the Internet that desseminate the Network Time Protocol (and various others…) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_server
No mention of Martin Jarvis as yet? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMtvm5VTxIM
Eileen @20: I really enjoyed your link and I wonder why such a clever piece of writing remains anonymous.
Fun puzzle. I found the top half much easier than the bottom half, and was helped by the two long ones, both of which I solved first and parsed later. I managed to solve 1d before 21ac.
Favourites: EPSILON, DAYDREAM, TIME-SERVERS.
New for me: Violet Elizabeth’s lisp (thanks, google) – I have never read the Just William books, but the series sound like a lot of fun.; TILTH; NORTHER (although I have heard of northerly winds).
Did not parse: OBLATES (new word for me).
Thanks, Nutmeg and scchua.
Like others found this easier than some this week although didn’t manage to parse ALLEGRETTO (so clever) and a few others including DAYDREAM (I just didn’t get the description – do now of course).
Favourites include: POMPEII, CHIC, NEAREST, HAUTEUR, TENDRIL, EXPUNGE
Thanks to Nutmeg and Scchua
What cryptic sue said. I’m another who was unfamiliar with that meaning of TIME SERVERS, being familiar with that mentioned by muffin@6. Dnk Violet Elizabeth, so that was unparsed. But so much to enjoy. Thanks to Nutmeg and scchua
AlanC @28 – here’s some more information (but no light shed on the authorship).
MaidenBartok @27 – many thanks for your second link. I’m too old to have had Martin Jarvis’ delightful recordings in my childhood – I had to read the books myself and loved them – but he’s brought them to sparkling new life for later generations and, as a review said, made them his own.
While we’re at it, ALLEGRETTO reminded me of this
Very enjoyable. The LORD LUCAN and DISAPPEARING ACT link was clever.
Thank you scchua for explaining OBLATES! I managed to enter the right answer from the crossers and looking up the word, but for some reason could not see the parsing. I even toyed with the idea that there used to be a chain of restaurants called something like Hob Plates (“former filling stations”) with the first letters missing (“unopened”)…
Many thanks Nutmeg and scchua.
The usual high standard from Nutmeg, although I didn’t find it easy.
There were many good clues including, for me, those for IMMATURE and NORTHER. Gf @17; souther is in Chambers.
Thanks Nutmeg and scchua.
It took me far too long to find Lord Lucan. If constitutional experts were like some of our scientists, there might be some concern about equating bill and act. [I thought The Vicar of Bray was by Goldsmith but that’s the Vicar of Wakefield. The Vicar also gives his name to a theory of why sexual reproduction exists ]
[Eileen @32: Thanks for the ear-worm – NOT. I’ve been trying to 4d that since 1974…
Surprised you didn’t link their Glasto fandango – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADJg9giuQgg ]
[Eileen @32/ MB @36: thanks! I wonder if you ever came across this?
Sub terra, in terra, wombulantes,
Wombuli Wimbulae sumus ipsi…
Floreat cantus Wombulorum!]
Petert @35
I was a civil servant for some years and supported Ministers taking several Bills through Parliament at which point if successful they became Acts of Parliament – so I did have some concern. But hey….
[essexboy @37: Oh – that is WONDERFUL!
By strange and utterly unrelated quirk-of-cod-Latin fate, I’ve just sent out a link for the section of the Vivaldi Gloria we are working on this evening – “Propter magnam gloriam” which is obviously “A decent ice-cream would be lovely…”]
Thanks, essexboy @37 – no, I didn’t. 😉
I love that, too, MaidenBartok – having sung it so many times. It’ll never be the same again.
Thanks scchua, i found the bottom half very difficult, eventually needing wordsearch for OBLATES and HAUTEUR and couldn’t understand the latter even then. Only knowing one meaning of time-server (thanks for further explanation Eileen) puts me in good company but didn’t help, i didn’t know that sport could be a verb (except in the sense of wearing something), and NORTHER took a long time to arrive from wordplay. But thanks to an article somewhere else recently I did at least know the lisping Ms Bott despite not having read the books. TIP AND RUN, POMPEII and TENDRIL lose out by a whisker to the twisty DAYDREAM as my favourite, thanks Nutmeg.
Again late to this today, and OBLATES and LARK AROUND were the last intersecting pair to slip in snugly to complete a satisfying solve. Another Nutmeg gem…
Thank you, Nutmeg, that was fun, and I even got the sliding-letter one in NEAREST! Favourites ALLEGRETTO and POMPEII, but they’re all good.
Same quibble about TIME SERVERS – maybe it’s in process of changing its meaning. Thanks Essexboy @37 for the cantus Wombulorum (which my spellchecker just tried to change into a cactus: you have to keep a close eye on those things!)
Cannot understand the parsing of 18 down. (I did get the answer).
phil elston @45: it’s middle of Channel = N and different = OTHER with ‘r’ for resistance in the middle.
Tx !
Most sheerly enjoyable crossword of the week. The LEFT / RIGHT answers, the LUCAN pairing, decent surfaces and, maybe apart from Violet Elizabeth (which I loved) no look-at-me recondite constructions. Yippee.
schuua @10a — is there another religion that has a pope? There are others who have a supreme central person — the Dalai Lama, perhaps — but surely the word “pope” is restricted to Roman Catholicism.
LARK AROUND is new to me, so having got “lark” I stared at the rest of it for a good while.
Couldn’t figure out AT in IMMATURE. Thanks, scchua.
What is “sought” doing in the definition of OBLATES?
Wouldn’t a NORTHER be a wind from the north anywhere in the world? [Here in New England we have go more in for nor’easters.]
essexboy @37 Thank you! I’ve never seen the Wombles, but the Womble jingle is firmly in my head and I love this translation! Wombling free indeed!
MB@39 Speaking of the Vivaldi Gloria, a friend of mine translated “Esurientes implevit bonis, et divites di as “he has impleved the esurient with bones, while the divites have been dismissed inane.”
Eileen, if you hadn’t brought in the Vicar of Bray I would have, though some of the finer historical points in it are lost on me.
Great fun and no torture — I got the whole thing last night. Thanks Nutmeg and scchua.
Valentine @ 49 The Coptic and Greek Orthodox churches have, or had, Popes.
Thanks for the helpful blog.
Guessed OBLATES from the crossers, not in my personal lexicon with that meaning, but very slow to parse. What function does “sought” have in the clue?
Very hesitant with NORTHER too.
Wretch == louse?
Didn’t like the “man averse” = hater in HAUTEUR – “one averse” would be better, unless there is such a thing as a hateress.
Thank you Nutmeg for a lovely puzzle and scchua for a helpful blog.
Valentine @49 the head of the Coptic Church in Alexandria is titled Pope.
I enjoyed the puzzle and the contributions of our Wimbledon Common correspondents Eileen, MaidenBartok and essexboy (The Wombling Three).
I used to have a Womble pepper mill, but just couldn’t get the hang of it. Everything was either underground or overground.
Thanks Nutmeg and scchua
[Valentine@49, a couple of eastern orthodox churches also have a “Pope” as head, so the old rhetorical question of whether the Pope is a Catholic could be answered “Probably not” if you are statistically minded.
I don’t know the exact population stats but I think there are fewer polar bears than total of other species so the defecatory ursine equivalent should still hold.]
Valentine and Andy Smith: I too wondered what ‘sought’ was doing there. Then decided the clue was asking you to seek dedicated people in the answer. (but in which case, should it be underlined as part of the definition scchua?)
Anyway, enjoyable end to the week.
Looked for a theme with left and right and Lord L, but no.
[Loved the Oblates’ “Abbey Road” picture – thanks scchua].
[Kingsley @56 OBLATES, ob-la-da, life goes on. Sorry, wrong album.]
Souther, Easter, Wester winds anyone?
I remember Just William on the wireless(!) when I was a child. About teatime I think: “Will…liam” “Alright Mother, I’m coming”. I still couldn’t parse 6d though. I struggled a bit with the lower half (I’ve never heard of NORTHER), in fact it seems to have been a difficult week. However, lots to enjoy today. Thanks Nutmeg and scchua
[Andy Smith @58
Westlin winds perhaps?
[Andy Smith @58: they’re neither here nor there.]
Kingsley@56: Possibly less amusing now that London isn’t so full of tourists: before lockdown you could guarantee to see an attempted album cover every few minutes: the Abbey Road Crossing live webcam…
Sorry: link will not work for me. Google Abbey Road live webcam.
Nice crossword to end the week with. Am I the only one who finds it odd that Jack and Jill went up a hill in search of water? It always struck me as the least sensible place to look, even as quite a young kid.
Once again my lack of GK (LORD LUCAN and his DISAPPEARING ACT) prevented a finish for me but there was still plenty to enjoy. Nutmeg’s surfaces are the smoothest in the business and clues like DISH THE DIRT, EPSILON, TIME-SERVERS, and TENDRIL among others were a joy. I’ve always heard LET WELL ALONE as “let well enough alone” but I got the gist. Thanks to both.
I’ve only just now questioned the logic of the Jack and Jill nursery rhyme, and it makes no sense. What idiot builds a well on top of a hill? That’s as far away from the water table as you can get. You’d have to pointlessly dig the entire height of the hill, just to get to the same place you’d have been if you’d started at the bottom of it.
Lovely crossword, mind.
BigNorm and MarkN I think it’s intentionally nonsense.
Is there anything in the rhyme that says that there’s a well at the top of the hill? I know it’s the assumption that that’s where a pail of water would come from, but…..
Great puzzle, great blog – thanks to both setter and blogger.
[In the James Taylor song “Lo and Behold”, the chorus contains the line, several times repeated, “There’s a well on the hill”. This is possibly just nonsense too, but could there be a reason why a well might be on a hill?]
[essexboy @21: I’m glad the firing squad had a lie in that morning!]
I’m another of the small group that doesn’t know what ‘sought’ is doing in the clue for OBLATES. I got it just from the crossers and the definition ‘dedicated people’. I’m not convinced by Pedro’s explanation @55 (sorry!), having thought of it myself and dismissed it. Is it meant to read like an advert in “situations vacant”? Pretty weird if so. It must have been a compelling reason for Nutmeg to put the definition in the penultimate place in the clue. I don’t suppose we’ll ever know.
Like some others I was perplexed as a child by the pictures that always accompanied the Jack & Jill rhyme which showed a traditional well on the top of a rounded knoll. But what if they lived in an area with impermeable rock below but porous rocks higher up, so they went up the hill, though not necessarily to the top, to get water from a spring. (It doesn’t help the clue if there’s no WELL, of course.)
I am always too late in the week, everything has been said. Just want to say thanks for a lovely crossword and a very informative blog.
Thanks Nutmeg, sschua and y’all.
On the subject of popes see this.
17D – I remarked to my husband that we had to shoehorn it in. “It’s a cluehorn!”, quoth he, thereby creating our favourite new word!
Relieved to find I’m in good company while wondering about sought in the OBLATES clue. Not much time yesterday (Friday) so 3 left infilled but enjoyed the process. Thanks scchua and Nutmeg.
Yes, “sought” was a bit odd. I hope that someone might be able to explain it.
Re “sought”: I took it as a description. In addition to being dedicated, oblates, being volunteers, are/have to be also sought. Hence I read the clue as “… dedicated people (who are also) sought.”
Muffin@79, sschua@80
As Pedro suggested @55, I think, I read this as ” a word meaning dedicated people is what is sought by solvers”. It works at a push but then setters could put “sought” after every definition. Unnecessary but in this case put in for the surface.
There were several I could not parse and then there was 20a, LINED, which held me up completely until the penny dropped on the excellent 7d. My problem was that I’d got the last three letters by presuming “round home” was a reversal of den. This left me flummoxed as to the rest.