Julius presents this morning's FT challenge.
This was a strange solving experience for me. I looked at the puzzle, filled in maybe a dozen answers, then hit a wall. I went and had some toast, and the powers of hot bread (which I suspect are otherworldly) provided me with the inspiration to compete the rest, although I'm unsure of my parsing of KENYATTA.
As to the puzzle, I thought there may have been a theme (ZIMBABWEAN, KENYATTA, PRETORIA…), then I thought it was going to be a triple pangram when I saw the number of Js, Xs and Zs in the puzzle, but Julius was teasing – it isn't even a single pangram (no V unless I have missed one in my scan of the letters) and there's not enough Fs, Gs, Ms, Qs and Ws to make a triple pangram. Was the lack of a V an oversight, or was Julius playing with us, forcing us to think of other solutions that may have the elusive V.
Only he will know the answer to that.
Thanks Julius.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | CARJACKING |
Charlie, using ganja with Rick, holding up a vehicle (10)
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C (Charlie, in the phonetic alphabet) + *(ganja rick) [anag:using] |
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| 7 | JINX |
Put the mockers on jounalist’s debut in Times (4)
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J(ounalist) ['s debut] + IN + X (times, in arithmetic) |
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| 9 | QUIZ |
Question 1: what’s the capital of 28? That sort of thing? (4)
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Qu. (question) + I (one) + Z ("the capital of" answer "28"ac) |
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| 10 | CRYSTAL SET |
Harry Styles track endlessly played on this? (7,3)
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*(styles trac) [anag:harry] where TRAC is TRAC(k) endlessly A crystal radio (or a crystal set) was a simple radio receiver, popular in the early days of radio. |
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| 11 | TIDY UP |
Thirdly, puppy goes walkies regularly so look smart! (4,2)
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T(h)I(r)D(l)Y (p)U(p)P(y) [regularly – i.e. letters of "thirdly puppy" regularly go walkies] |
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| 12 | UNICYCLE |
On which I wheel away to my lectures? (8)
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A UNI(versity) CYCLE may be one way of getting to one's lectures. |
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| 13 | KENYATTA |
Livingstone, for one, to speak loudly about East African statesman (8)
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KEN (Livingstone. for one) + homophone [loudly] of YATTER ("speak") Jomo Kenyatta was the first President (and first Prime Minister) of an independent Kenya. |
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| 15 | AUDI |
Catalan architect getting rid of German car (4)
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(Antoni) (g)AUDI ("Catalan architect") getting rid of G (German) |
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| 17 | ZACK |
Zulu king holding account in Sydney worth 5cents (4)
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Z (Zulu in the phonetic alphabet) + K (king, in chess notation) holding AC (account) A zack is a coin worth 5 cents in Australia. |
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| 19 | TERIYAKI |
Atwitter, I yak incessantly about Japanese food (8)
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Hidden in [about] "atwitTER I YAK Incessantly" |
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| 22 | REST-CURE |
Others smoke in rehab (4-4)
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REST ("the others") + CURE ("smoke") |
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| 23 | THORAX |
Place kiss on Ms Hird’s chest (6)
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Place X ("kiss") on THORA (Hird) |
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| 25 | COPYWRITER |
One employed in advertising firm making wry tripe? (10)
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Co. (company, so "firm") + *(wry tripe) [anag:making] |
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| 26 | BOIL |
Gassy lawman sounding sore (4)
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Homophone [sounding] of (Robert) BOYLE, the originator of Boyle's Law (although that's disputed by the French) that the pressure of a gas increases as the volume of its container decreases. |
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| 27 | JERK |
In Monte Carlo, I join Royal couple in tug (4)
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JE ("I" in French, so "in Monte Carlo, I") join R (rex) + K (king, in chess notation) ("royal couple") |
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| 28 | ZIMBABWEAN |
Southern African citizen who may have a hugely inflated opinion of his worth (10)
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The clue refers to the hyperinflation of the Zimbabwean dollar in the early part of the 21st century. |
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| DOWN | ||
| 2 | AZURITE |
Gaza jury cites completely exposed compound (7)
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(g)AZ(a) (J)UR(y) (c)ITE(s) [completely exposed, i.e. their outer layers removed) Azurite is a mineral and a source of copper |
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| 3 | JAZZY |
Gaudy bird snatching forty winks? (5)
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JAY ("bird") snatching ZZ ("forty winks?") |
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| 4 | COCKPITS |
Caught Spock violently grabbing it in battlegrounds (8)
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C (caught, in cricket) + *(Spock) [anag:violently] grabbing IT |
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| 5 | IF YOU CAN’T BEAT ‘EM |
Statement of resignation broadcast by Uta on FaceTime (2,3,4,4,2)
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*(by uta on facetime) [anag:broadcast] |
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| 6 | GOTHIC |
Old time greeting in good Conservative style from way back (6)
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O (old) + T (time) + HI ("greeting) in G (good) + C (Conservative) |
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| 7 | JELLY BABY |
Sweet, wobbly little ‘un? (5,4)
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JELLY ("wobbly") + BABY ("little 'un") |
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| 8 | NEEDLED |
Like a Christmas tree cross (7)
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Double definition |
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| 14 | YAKETY-YAK |
A pair of Tibetan cattle eating English Tewkesbury peeled rhubarb (6-3)
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YAK + YAK ("a pair of Tibetan cattle") eating E + T(ewkesbur)Y [peeled] |
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| 16 | PRETORIA |
Airport constructed outside European capital (8)
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*(airport) [anag:constructed] outside E (European) Pretoria is the administrative capital of South Africa. |
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| 18 | AWESOME |
Shocking! American females (nameless) swallowing ecstasy tablets (7)
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A (American) + WOME(n) ("females" without the N (name), so nameless) swallowing Es ("ecstasy tablets") |
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| 20 | KHALIFA |
Arab ruler last seen in Thirsk (Yorkshire town) having X-ray taken (7)
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[last seen in] (Thirs)K + HALIFA(x) ("Yorkshire town" with X (X-ray, in the phonetic alphabet, taken) |
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| 21 | QUARTZ |
It’s Rocky, ordering at least four pints (6)
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Homophone [ordering] of QUARTS ("at least four pints") I'm not entirely convinced by "ordering" as a homophone indicator, but I suppose it could be stretched to "asking for out loud" such as in a bar. |
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| 24 | OXBOW |
Type of lake beast going over front of ship (5)
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OX ("beast") going over BOW ("front of ship") |
I also thought something must be going on with the preponderance of unusual letters such as J, Z, Y etc but couldn’t see what. Probably kick myself later.
Parsed KENYATTA & QUARTZ as in blog. Wasn’t sure about the parsing for 28a.
Slight difference in my parsing for 12a. I split the clue in 2: “On which I (1) wheel” & “away to my lectures” (uni cycle).
Thanks Julius and loonapick. I too wondered why there was no V. One possible thought is that Julius may have been trying to get the maximum possible Scrabble value of all the letters used – or is that too far-fetched?
Pedantically on 11ac, I think we need “goes walkies” to mean that we take alternate letters out, which of course has the same result as leaving alternate letters in. In case anyone has not heard this one before, I am reminded of the story where someone is supposed to have said “Half the members of this council are crooks”. When he was asked to withdraw this slur, he said “All right. Half the members of this council are not crooks.”
Another splendid treat from Julius – add me to the ‘couldn’t find a V anywhere’ list
Lots of favourites so I’ll just single out 12a, 3d and especially 7d
Thanks to Julius and loonapick
Another splendid treat indeed.
I’ll add 15 and 23ac and 20dn to crypticsue’s favourites.
Many thanks, Julius and loonapick
I was struggling with the SW corner, so I worked out that the only letter I was missing was a ‘V’. Still missing it. I did wonder what was going on with all the Zs, Ys, and Ks. Maybe Rob will tell us later.
Wow, great puzzle and like others, I was down to 18, my LOI, and still hunting the elusive V. I also thought of Scrabble – too lazy to work out the score but this would make excellent use of the triple word scores!
A typically entertaining Julius grid in which there so many gems so I’ll just pick YAKETY-YAK and, like Eileen, THORAX as my favourites.
Thanks for the parsing, Loonapick.
Another who thought there was likely to be a multiple pangram, but no V and only one G as far as I could see. This had challenges apart from trying to spot the pangram though and I couldn’t parse KENYATTA, BOIL (missed the ‘Gassy lawman’ – very good) and ZIMBABWEAN. I did like CRYSTAL SET for the memories of listening under the bedclothes with an ear piece to a barely heard crackly broadcast, and UNICYCLE.
I had one slight quibble in that ‘rehab’ is not a REST-CURE. Patients are meant to actively work towards achieving goals, not just sit back in a wicker chair on the terrace of a country house sipping pink gins and puffing on the Sobranies.
Anyway, enough pedantic sermonising. All very enjoyable and thanks to Julius and loonapick
Dear loonapick, Many thanks for your blog and thanks to those who have left a comment. For some reason, I decided to fill a grid with plenty of lesser-used letters; I’ve really no idea why. I can confirm that there is no theme, and no attempt at a (multiple) pangram. I found writing the clues for this puzzle quite hard – I think this was probably the challenge I set myself – and I don’t think this is by any means my best work.
(By the way, in case anyone wonders about the anagram fodder in 5d, my wife is called Uta, named after the C13th statute of Uta von Naumburg in the Dom there)
Anyway, best wishes to all- Rob/Julius
@me comment 8…statue, even
I did appreciate Frau Julius being included but I was beaten by the best clue which
was BOYLE/BOIL
Danke
Thanks to Julius for an entertaining and relatively straightforward puzzle – had to resort to the dictionary for ZACK, but otherwise a write-in. I don’t usually notice things like pangrams, so was feeling very pleased with myself when I thought I had detected one very early on, with lots of odd letters appearing. So I ended up as another V hunter, which was pointless…Oh, well. Particularly liked BOIL.
As a general comment/question, in 14d “Tewkesbury peeled” obviously had to be TY, but in general wouldn’t “peeled” usually mean removing the first and last letters and using the middle of the word? eg my first thought for “Gaza peeled” would be that it indicated AZ, not GA. If a recipe specifies an onion, peeled, it means with the outside removed. Just a thought.
I don’t get 21D.
A quart is 2 pints is it not?
Mark_A@12
So, in order to get quartS (plural), you would need at least four pints
Thanks Julius for a stimulating crossword. I also went on the pangram chase. I failed on ZACK (not knowing that term) and I tried my best to put a “v” in that word, thinking the “5” in 5 cents would be it. My lack of GK forced me to use a word finder for KENYATTA, THORAX (hadn’t heard of Thora Hird), and the alternate form of caliph, KHALIFA. Favourites included JINX, JERK, and YAKETY-YAK. Thanks Loonapick for the write-up.
Thanks, Julius and loonapick. Echoing most above comments. Hard to pick favorites – so many clues cleverly constructed! Loved the use of unusual letters, and I was also looking for a pangram. I didn’t get JINX, not knowing “put the mockers on.” Liked YAKETY-YAK and the very clever “Gassy lawman” for BOIL.
I loved this. Having solved it, I checked for the pangram and was very pleased to find it wasn’t one. I obviously know how hard it is to write fun clues for Q/J/Z (I’m currently struggling with PIZZICATO), so I appreciate all the ideas which I can now copy.
Whenever Julius is the setter, I know that it will be an entertaining and fair challenge.
I finally managed to complete it – all correctly, but needed loonapick’s excellent blog to clarify seven of them!
Thanks too for all the other positive input which added to the enjoyment of the solve.
With all the Qs and Zs floating around we too thought there might be a multiple pangram, but no, just an enjoyable crossword. We did wonder why ‘Tewkesbury’ in 14dn when ‘Timperley’, being the name of a variety of rhubarb, would have made a superb surface. OK, somebody now tell us there’s a Tewkesbury variety as well.
Favourites were UNICYCLE and QUARTZ.
Thanks, Julius and loonapick.
Nice puzzle, Julius, Eileen and crypticsue have identified my favourites, my cod being 26a BOIL.
[ Some people wondered if Julius was going for a top Scrabble score with all the Zs and Qs. An interesting challenge for setters might be (a) to create a 15×15 grid (if one doesn’t already exist) with a light in the centre, and having exactly 100 lights, and then (b) fill the grid with the 100 letters available in a Scrabble game, and (c) make the highest possible score with those letters. Mind you, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that this has already been done. ]
Tackled today and enjoyed, especially Boil.
Thanks Julius and loonapick
Fell behind quite quickly from last weeks puzzles – Io will do that ! Found this one reasonably solid going as well, though. First 8 minute session resulted in no changes to the empty grid.
Finally saw the German car and slowly gained momentum from there, but it did take another few sittings to complete it, being quite confident that the plethora of Z’s, X’s and Q’s meant that there was some sort of multi-pangram going on.
Lots of interesting clues and unsurprisingly ZACK presented no problems when I finally got to it. KENYATTA and needed help to finish it off after suspecting that the first part would be KENYA—. It was the third to last to go in before finally uncovering my erroneous TRICYCLE to get IF YOU CAN’T BEAT ‘EM and then see the obvious correct UNICYCLE.