Let’s have some fun with a Monk today.
Parts of this were quite a challenge and we had to check a few definitions – 17d for example. We wanted to enter CINNAMON for 25ac – needless to say we couldn’t parse it and it was almost our LOI.
We noticed the NINA which helped us in places and it was the K in WEEKLY that helped us solve 21d. The parsing took a bit longer.
Bert looked at the unches and remembered the Victoria Wood song – ‘Let’s Do it’ which we listened to as we struggled with the last few clues. You have to wait until the end to hear the line which is referred to in the NINA but it really is worth it. Click here to listen.
A cryptic definition referring to the various types of joint (tenon, dovetail, scarf etc) used in WOODWORK
CA (about) R (run) in SAB (saboteur – ‘destroyer’)
An anagram (‘flying’) of RELATION
RIAL (foreign currency – of Iran, Oman, Saudi Arabia etc) TO (for). We had to check the definition here – it’s not in Chambers, but we did find it online and in our dead-tree version of Collins
MASs (service) without the last letter or ‘short’ round or ‘collecting’ TIN (money)
TRAIN (process) in NET (web) with the I (current) moving to the front or ‘surging first’
BLOOD (family) RANG (called) round O (old) + E (English)
ANAL (obsessive) + CITY (UK finance centre) reversed or ‘withdrawn’
TENNER (£10 note – ‘cash’) reversed or ‘back’
IN (cool) reversed or ‘turned’ + yELLOw without the first and last letters or ‘exposed’
PTO (please turn over – ‘maybe there’s more’) round I (single) MIEN (air) – a rather vague definition for a sweet pepper
SET (arranged) + alternate letters (‘intermittently cancelled’) of aT wOrSt
CARD (tease) MOM (‘old lady’) round or ‘pinching’ A
BOxER (fighter) without the middle letter or ‘disheartened’ + RAW (harsh) reversed or ‘rejected’
EDGE (move stealthily) H (hard) ILL (difficult) – a reference to the English Civil War battle
SAT (positioned) ROAd (course) without the last letter or ‘almost’, all reversed or ‘recalled’
An anagram (‘dire’) of STRAITS A
MA (mother) + a homophone (‘reported’) of LAYER (hen)
A and THE (articles) separately inserted into an anagram (‘revolutionary’) of RED. In the USA, electrical circuits are ‘grounded’ as opposed to ‘earthed’
An anagram (‘prepared’) of SPECIAL COOK around or ‘enthralling’ ID (papers)
THOU (you, once) inside or ‘blocking’ OUSE (Yorkshire runner/river)
An anagram (‘could make’) of NUT GLEAM
An anagram (‘stirring’) of US IN + NEW (novel)
Last letters of (‘finally’) concedeD woE iS + TROY (ancient besieged city)
LP (record) LATE (passed, as in died) – an L-PLATE demonstrates that the driver has not passed the driving test
A reversal (‘overturned’) of KRAMER which refers to the film KRAMER v KRAMER – a legal drama starring Dustin Hoffman
For once, a Nina spotted though, unlike B&J, with a family hardly yet stirring, I felt playing “Let’s Do It” at top volume might cause domestic friction. I’ve re-read the lyrics though: doesn’t it go on?? But in a good way. I’m amazed Victoria Wood kept up the standard right the way through. And, then again, I’m not: she was truly witty. (Lyrics are here for anyone who wants to actually see the on the page).
Our songstress is namechecked in the brilliantly misdirectional WOODWORK, KALEIDOSCOPIC is a splendid anagram, RENNET is beautifully clued, KRAMER is a clever spot by our setter, I liked the construction of BLOOD ORANGE and I was delighted to discover, on hesitantly checking Google, that NIELLO is, indeed, a black alloy. I’m sure it exists but UNSINEW is a truly horrible word which I cannot picture in use. And, if may be permitted a quiblet, I was surprised at the equation of barn with OUTHOUSE. The latter is surely at best a shed and frequently a toilet.
Thanks Monk and B&J
Well, there were a few times I said to myself “I can’t do it, I can’t do it!” but then spotted the nina which helped a lot. I felt UNSINEW was an ugly word and was surprised it existed. This and NIELLO were new words for me.
I assumed REMARK was a “Kramer v Kramer” reference but have never seen it (a Seinfeld reference would’ve been better for me) and RIALTO was a bung in from wordplay.
Accidentally entered “Tsarista” for 4d (maybe mixing it up with “barista” somehow) but managed to solve INTRANET which allowed me to correct my error.
I noticed the Nina quite early on and, apart from the enjoyable ear worm, I did find it helpful. Like B&J I did spend a while trying to justify cinnamon at 25a
Thanks to Monk for the fun brain-stretching and B&J for the blog
Monk always sends a shiver up my spine, and the first read-through got me but three solutions. Took a hint from the blog – thank you, Bertandjoyce – without reading any actual answers, and went on steadily from there. Didn’t get unsinew: what a terrible word, and my predictive text has just objected to it! Loved rennet, kaleidoscopic and L-plate. Thanks to Monk for the work-out.
Well not so good for me.. I could blame the grid which gave no first letters for half the clues .. so the Nina was no-go from the start… but my first trawl was even worse than JayJay@4… just read like gibberish… finally got started with the anagram of 10ac but then slowed to less of a crawl more of an occasional twitch… parsing was tricky also and rarely seemed to help the solve.. occasional enjoyment 1dn, 14ac, 5dn, 19ac, 15dn … altho felt that def was stretching it, amongst others..
thanks Monk n Bertandjoyce
I agree that UNSINEW is a horrible word. Plenty of alternatives would fit with the crossers, but not with W at the end for the nina.
If I’m going to have a nit-pick, though, it would be with 16d. Strictly speaking a “metallic amalgam” has to contain mercury, and gunmetal doesn’t. It’s an alloy, but it’s not an amalgam.
Monk is always quality and a great purveyor of the Nina.
I recall at an S&B meet I told him I was excited to possibly use the Nina ‘klaatu barada nikto’ in an a puzzle at some point as it was cool and unlikely done before. Of course, he kindly and gently pointed out that he had already done it! Another great Nina here bringing happy memories – when Wood was good she really was untouchable.
As an aside, I can now publicly admit that the cause of the kerfuffle upon my visit to Belgium’s Orval Abbey was not the excess of the beer wot I drunk therein, but in fact my adherence to the spirit of B+J’s first sentence in their always-entertaining blog.
Great puzzle as usual from Monk. No problem with UNSINEW, if it was in a Shakespeare soliloquy people would probably think it great. Thanks S & B’s.
And it is in Hamlet!
We got it almost all right – we had an unparsed ‘insinew’ for 17dn, having read ‘take strength’ as meaning ‘gain strength’. We worked out what the nina was, and it helped getting our last few answers, but have to confess that it didn’t make much sense to us as we were never fans of VW (although we had vaguely heard of Let’s do it.
Quite a challenge but worth it for a number of gems such as SCARAB, MATINS, EARTHED and DESTROY.
Thanks, Monk and B&J
Another big defeat for me. Got about a third of it before giving up.
My Saturday plans saved me a whole heap of pain, as I therefore sought help to quickly complete today – I now fully realise many answers would have been beyond me/my knowledge. Spotted the Nina to a point, where again its apparent obscurity eluded my understanding. Nurse! Thanks all