Another sound crossword from Everyman, marred only by its very late appearance online last Sunday. Which is hardly his fault.
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 Iron edicts, fierce instructions
DIRECTIONS
(IRON EDICTS)* with ‘fierce’ as the somewhat interesting anagrind.
6 Regularly reimburse Australian natives
EMUS
The even letters of rEiMbUrSe. An opportunity (now that DuncT has reminded me) for an obligatory Pierre bird link. It’s a big beast, endemic to Australia, and can reach a speed of over 30mph when it’s minded. I’d be giving it a wide berth myself.
9 FBI agent hollers for Spooner and associates
BEDFELLOWS
A Spoonerism of FED BELLOWS. My least favourite form of clue, but some folk like them.
10 Loudly performed hornpipe for navy?
BLUE
A homophone of BLEW, which is what you would have done if you gave us a tune on the hornpipe, for example.
12 Celebratory music describing monarchs with horrible droning
DRINKING SONG
An insertion of KINGS in (DRONING)* The insertion indicator is ‘describing’ and the anagrind is ‘horrible’.
15 Makes peer and earl run away from home, twice
EQUATES
A rather left-field definition and unusual wordplay meant this was my last one in. It’s a charade of E and QUA[R]TE[R]S. Hmm.
16 Primarily strongly tasting, it’s legally trademarked (of necessity!)
STILTON
The initial letters of the last seven words of the clue, and a cad. Stilton as a name for the cheese is indeed protected legally and it can only be made in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire (in a village not far from me, as it happens). But not in Stilton, Cambridgeshire.
17 Sheep cries about what pig becomes in the islands
BAHAMAS
An insertion of HAM in BAAS. The insertion indicator is ‘about’.
19 Earnest European getting behind how metric system counts
INTENSE
A charade of IN TENS (which is indeed how the metric system works) and E.
20 Where music heard awfully regularly, carry tune? Can do!
COUNTRY DANCE
(C[A]R[R]Y TUNE CAN DO)* The anagrind is ‘awfully’.
23 With temperature dropping, blended Tokay wine may taste like this
OAKY
([T]OKAY)* I was tempted to enter OKAY, but of course ‘blended’ tells us to make an anagram.
24 Hobnobs and a slice is so refreshing
SOCIALISES
(A SLICE IS SO)*
25 Protective cover idiot’s pulled back
TARP
A reversal of PRAT and an abbreviation for TARPAULIN.
26 A glutton, Stu baked goods earlier including piping
GREEDY GUTS
An insertion of REEDY in two Gs for ‘goods’, followed by (STU)* The anagrind is ‘baked’ and the insertion indicator is ‘including’.
Down
1 Smears fingerprints
DABS
A dd.
2 Republicans: ‘Commies!’
REDS
Another dd. The first definition is based on the fact RED is the colour of the Republican Party in the USA (on maps on election night, anyway).
3 O my! The carrot, surprisingly: technically a fruit!
CHERRY TOMATO
(O MY THE CARROT)* And as any fule no, TOMATOES are botanically fruits.
4 At first, not doing splendidly for ‘Months in Islam’: ‘… Christmas, Easter etc?’
ISLANDS
Everyman is inviting you to replace the M (for ‘months’) in ISLAM with NDS for the initial letters of the third, fourth and fifth words of the clue.
5 Beginners understood insects, we’re told
NEWBIES
A homophone of KNEW BEES.
7 French ‘pain’: ingredients make you bellyacher
MALCONTENT
A charade of MAL and CONTENT. The misdirection is that the clue leads you to think of pain as the French word for ‘bread’; but it’s actually the French translation of ‘pain’ as in ‘ache’. Mal à la tête, mal à l’estomac, mal au dos, mal aux oreilles for headache, stomachache, backache and earache, for example.
8 Arrest Fred’s accomplice for something spicy
STEM GINGER
Great clue, but I will fess up to only getting to the accomplice after considering BARNEY (Yabba Dabba Doo) and, rather worryingly, ROSEMARY (bodies under the patio). But it’s the female partner in the dancing duo we need, after STEM for ‘arrest’.
11 In self-centred fashion, off I go, etc? I’ll say!
EGOISTICALLY
(I GO ETC ILL SAY)* with ‘off’ as the anagrind.
13 Robots care about language
SERBO-CROAT
(ROBOTS CARE)* with ‘about’ as the anagrind.
14 President and spin doctor getting something to eat in Australia
BUSH TUCKER
A charade of BUSH (choice of two) and TUCKER. The second element might have been unknown to overseas solvers, I imagine: it’s referencing Malcolm TUCKER, the profanity-spouting spin doctor in the BBC TV series The Thick of It, a political satire. He is seriously good at swearing: if you want to be reminded of how good, or to discover him for the first time, here’s a clip. Parental warning: contains very strong language. It’s long, but you’ll get the idea in the first couple of minutes.
18 Henry’s wife certainly upset when beheaded, love
SEYMOUR
A charade of YES reversed and [A]MOUR. The reversal indicator is ‘upset’ and the removal indicator is ‘beheaded’. Jane SEYMOUR was wife number two three for Henry VIII, installed the day after the first second lost her head. She did not suffer beheading: she died shortly after giving birth to a son who became Edward VI.
19 A strong drink imbibed by Everyman, twice: fancy that!
IMAGINE
An insertion of A GIN in I and ME. The insertion indicator is ‘imbibed by’.
21 Isaac’s son given some thesaurus
ESAU
Hidden in thESAUrus.
22 No time for chores: big ones are onerous!
ASKS
[T]ASKS, referencing the phrase ‘that’s a big ask’.
Many thanks to Everyman for this morning’s puzzle.
Lovely puzzle with several that made me smile. Managed to do most of it last Sunday but four clues eluded me until yesterday – partly because I misspelled SEYMOUR (as Seymore) so could not work out GREEDY GUTS. Guessed ASKS but could not parse it or EQUATES.
Loved the two homophones (which I often don’t get) NEWBIES, INTENSE. They made me laugh. As did BAHAMAS, BUSH TUCKER – also liked MALCONTENT which was one of my last four.
Looking forward to today’s puzzle.
Thanks to Everyman and Pierre (and I too considered Rosemary before I got Ginger for Fred’s partner)
By the way, Jane Seymour was wife number three. The first was Katherine from Spain who was divorced so he could marry Anne Boleyn who was beheaded so he could marry Jane.
Favourites: INTENSE, MALCONTENT, SEYMOUR, BAHAMAS, EQUATES (loi).
New for me : DABS = fingerprints; STEM ginger; Malcolm Tucker = spin doctor / the fictional antihero of the BBC political satire The Thick of It (thanks, google). It was solvable because I know of BUSH TUCKER and parsed it after solving.
Did not parse: ISLANDS.
Like Pierre, I also thought about the Flintstones when trying to solve 8 down.
Thnaks, Everyman and Pierre.
Thanks Pierre, it’s eons since I saw Capaldi eff ervescing in that role, so no memory of his character name, hence bush tucker, tho obvs, was a shrug. I don’t mind the odd Spoonerism, so fed bellows got a bit of a grin. 12ac reminded me of hearing The Barley Mow in a folk club in ’67 (in Preston, I think). And Esau reminded me of the “…is an hairy man” skit which someone linked to recently. Pleasant associations, thanks P and E.
No rhyming or alliterating clues, I noticed, but there was a bit of a SONG and DANCE. No real problems, though I didn’t know of a spin doctor Tucker (and couldn’t be bothered to find out). BUSH TUCKER is pretty well known here. 11d was a bit of a holdup as I couldn’t fit ‘egotistically’ into it – I didn’t know the laternative without the first ‘t’. Thanks, Everyman and Pierre.
Thanks, Everyman, for the excellent puzzle, with some nice misdirections, e.g. in 7d, putting PAIN in italics and quotes thus leading me to bread ingredients. I needed parsing help with 15a EQUATES, 26a GREEDY GUTS, and 14d BUSH TUCKER, never having seen The Thick of It. So thanks, Pierre for the elucidations and for the link to the Michael Tucker clip – if ever you want an OTT performance, Peter Capaldi is your man.
Nice crossword , thanks for the blog. Not so many rows of dots ….. this week which is good, although they were there for ISLANDS which was a very good clue.
Thank you for the correction to Tudor history, Fiona Anne. There have been enough documentaries/film adaptations about the man for me not to make that egregious mistake. Blog amended.
Thanks Everyman and Pierre
Stilton is so-called not becuae it was ever made there (as you say, Pierre), but because it was sold in the coaching inn, a regular stop on the Great North Road.
That was actually an enjoyable Everyman. Thanks. And thanks Pierre for the witty blog, and for parsing EQUATES. The SONG and DANCE should have hinted at the right context for Fred’s partner, but I was searching in Bedrock too.
I almost didn’t do this last week due to the late publication. But glad I found some time on Sunday evening to enjoy Everyman’s range of anagrams and indicators. I loved the definition for EQUATES – ‘peer’ was used by Tramp midweek and stimulated some discussion about its usage. Everyman’s is unusual but perfectly valid in my book.
I often fail with replacement style clues but ISLANDS solved and earned a big tick for misdirection, as did the ‘pain’ trick explained by our blogger in MALCONTENT. I thought CHERRY TOMATO was delightful, as did Molesworth, and smiled a lot at the surface for COUNTRY DANCE. Finally, I share Fiona Anne’s appreciation of the homophones for NEWBIES and INTENSE. My only ‘meh’ of today is nothing to do with Everyman and that’s being reminded of the horrific West couple. Gloucester is only 20 miles or so away – I nearly said ‘on the doorstep’ which would have been bad taste but at least lightened the mood. I do well recall the pall that hung over the area in the aftermath of their discovery.
Thanks, Pierre, for the clip prompted by BUSH TUCKER which remained unparsed. Not familiar with the program so wouldn’t have understood that allusion in a month of Sundays.
Thanks Everyman and Pierre
Fiona Anne @2 Jane SEYMOUR was also the only one of Henry’s wives to become a Bond girl.
EMUS are Australian natives, but Rod Hull was from Kent.
+1 from me for NEWBIES and INTENSE.
Thanks Everyman and Pierre of the Peaks
I solved this using the .pdf for once and that had ‘Moments in Islam’ for 4D (LOI). I was going to complain but I see it’s been changed.
I found this a bit harder than the usual Everyman contribution; maybe I was just feeling sleepy. I liked the clue for SEYMOUR; no doubt Paul would have done a homophone here. I suppose the meaning of fierce that might make it an anagrind is ‘wild’ but I didn’t particularly care for its use.
I see that the Mal in 7D appears as the spin doctor.
Thanks Everyman and Pierre.
In defence of Spoonerisms I quite liked BEDFELLOWS with its Cold War associations, Fred and Ginger are becoming quite frequent visitors to crossword land. I am waiting for someone to use the famous line ” I do everything he does, but backwards in high heels.”
A very pleasant puzzle. The “robots care” / SERBO CROAT anagram was excellent.
Luckily Fred and Ginger was the first partnership that came to my mind for 8d. (A while ago there was an article in the Guardian in which the drummer in Cream was referred to as having been Ginger Rogers. Whether this was a slip-up or intended as a joke was not quite clear, but I quite like the image of her accompanying Eric and Jack. Slightly more bizarre would be the idea of Ginger Baker dancing with Fred Astaire.)
Many thanks Everyman and Pierre.
Stop, Lord Jim, you are carving deep blue fissures thru the tissues of my mind…
I learnt from the Saga quiz last month that both Balanchine and Nureyev considered Fred Astaire to be the greatest dancer of the 20th century, something that I’ll happily go along with, despite my ignorance of dancing.
But it does seem a rather rash statement considering that neither of them saw out the century.
Lord Jim@15 Thanks for the laugh. I was reminded of the Bonzo’s The Intro and the Outro. We could have ‘on drums’ -Ginger Rogers.
Wil @17
His screen test report was “Can’t act, can’t sing, can dance a bit”
Thanks for the blog Pierre – but does 6a not meet the OPBL criteria?
Whoops. Thank you, DuncT. Link now inserted.
Big fan of Fred and Ginger (the explainer for the famous dancing on the ceiling scene from Royal Wedding is worth the look). However, I did not know about stem ginger so could not even decide whether to enter blue or blew.
Bush Tucker was new to me as was the spin doctor so a DNF but there was plenty to like in this one.
[Having seen emus snatch sausages out of peoples’ hands – and even an action figure from a kid, thinking it was edible – and having seen their evil looking eyes and large sharp beaks up close, I agree 100% with you, Pierre, about giving emus a wide berth.]
Like Across+The+Pond, I failed on BUSH TUCKER, not knowing either the phrase or the character (although TThe Thick of It is in my queue of shows to watch someday). STEM GINGER is also an unfamiliar term to me, but I was able to guess it from the wordplay.
As a US citizen, I often feel bad about how much we inflict our politics on the rest of the world’s attention. Our “red / blue” terminology appears to be yet another example of such an export.
I wouldn’t say the red/blue thing was inflicting your politics on us, Ted (although somebody needs to explain the elephant and the donkey business to me one of these days). More confusing for us is that here in the UK, Labour (left-leaning) is red, and Conservative (right-leaning) is blue, so seeing your electoral maps turn those colours on your election night needs a double-take.
[In my youth, US TV news often color-coded political maps the same way as you: the more left-leaning Democrats were red and the Republicans were blue. I don’t know if this was universal, but it was at least quite common. The current color coding dates from about 2000 and has now become firmly cemented.]
Mr Tucker is not known here but bush Tucker is.
Still don’t get equate even with the explanation but eluate is what you get when run water through something!
I’m struggling with Equates too, I guess ‘peer’ here means ‘equal’.
Some dodgy surfaces and Newbies doesn’t sound like knew bees to me.
Another 6/10.
I’m happy with newbies, but equates didn’t equate to too much in my book.
The rest was fairly okay, but not as challenging as previous puzzles.
One’s peers are one’s equals.
So ‘makes peer’ can be interpreted a ‘makes equal’ i.e., equates.
Legitimate clue, I reckon.
Loved bedfellows for fed bellows
Big ticks for 19a & 4d; the latter’s clever misdirections took me quite some time. I rushed into the OKAY trap for 22a so failed to complete 14d, having never heard of the PR character. Thanks again Pierre & Everyman.