The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28473.
I found this straightforward for a Brummie, and if there is a theme, it passed me by (and surely not the suggested Bloomsday).
| ACROSS | ||
| 4 | SUPINE |
Drink after drink — going topless, very laid back (6)
|
| A charade of SUP (‘drink’) plus [w]INE (‘drink’) minus its first letter (‘going topless’). | ||
| 6 | INVENTED |
False name employed in evident chicanery (8)
|
| An envelope (’employed in’) of N (‘name’) in INVETED, an anagram (‘chicanery’) of ‘evident’. | ||
| 9 | LARIAT |
Latin song by tenor: The Cowboy’s Accessory (6)
|
| A charade of L (‘Latin’) plus ARIA (‘song’) plus T (‘tenor’). | ||
| 10 | BAEDEKER |
Aircraft manufacturer, Dr Kee’s manoeuvring guide (8)
|
| A charade of BAE (‘aircraft manufacturer’) plus DEKER, an anagram (‘manoeuvring’) of ‘Dr Kee’. | ||
| 11 | VALEDICTION |
Farewell drink interrupts Victor’s speech (11)
|
| An envelope (‘interrupts’) of ALE (‘drink’) in V (‘victor’, radio code) plus DICTION (‘speech’). | ||
| 15 | TRUNDLE |
Roll along clumsily? Not ruled out when short of oxygen (7)
|
| An anagram (‘out’) of ‘n[o]t ruled’ minus the O (‘when short of oxygen’). | ||
| 17 | BAY TREE |
Elder’s after nook for ornamental garden feature (3,4)
|
| A charade of BAY (‘nook’) plus TREE (‘elder’, unannounced indication by example). | ||
| 18 | CONCEALMENT |
Suppression of college at one time associated with mental disorder (11)
|
| A charade of C (‘college’) plus ONCE (‘at one time’) plus ALMENT, an anagram (‘disorder’) of ‘mental’. | ||
| 22 | VIOLENCE |
Force instrument on ex-vice president — no pressure! (8)
|
| A charade of VIOL (‘instrument’) plus [p]ENCE (‘ex-president’) minus the P (‘no pressure’). | ||
| 23 | ENDIVE |
Tip: one has to be cut for a salad ingredient (6)
|
| A charade of END (‘tip’) plus I’VE (‘one has’, with ‘to be cut’ indicating the contraction). | ||
| 24 | DISASTER |
Sid’s snapped flower — calamity! (8)
|
| A charade of DIS, an anagram (‘snapped’) of ‘Sid’ plus ASTER (‘flower’). | ||
| 25 | STALLS |
Holds up part of theatre (6)
|
| Double definition. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | UNPAID |
Pun about helper working as a volunteer? (6)
|
| A charade of UNP, an anagram (‘about’) of ‘pun plus AID (‘helper’). | ||
| 2 | INSATIABLE |
Consumed by fashionable South African furniture, one’s voracious (10)
|
| An envelope (‘consumed by’) of I (‘one’) in IN (‘fashionable’) plus SA (‘South African’; Chambers gives just South Africa, which might be good enough) plus TABLE (‘furniture’). | ||
| 3 | TENDENCY |
Bent figure study, extremely clunky (8)
|
| A charade of TEN (‘figure’) plus DEN (‘study’) plus CY (‘extremely ClunkY‘). | ||
| 4 | SALIVATE |
It’s vital swimming in rough sea to look forward with relish to good food (8)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of LIVAT, an anagram (‘swimming’) of ‘vital’ in SAE, an anagram (‘rough’) of ‘sea’. | ||
| 5 | PERILOUS |
Oil production in South American country’s very risky (8)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of ILO, an anagram (‘production’) of ‘oil’ in PERU’S (‘South American country’s’). | ||
| 7, 21 | TAKE VOWS |
Nick, having very old wife, finally says: ‘Enter a nunnery!’ (4,4)
|
| A charade of TAKE (‘nick’, steal) plus V (‘very’) plus O (‘old’) plus W (‘wife’) plus S (‘finally sayS‘). | ||
| 8 | DIRK |
Free up king’s ceremonial weapon (4)
|
| A charade of DIR, a reversal (‘up’ in a down light) of RID (‘free’) plus K (‘king’). | ||
| 12 | CREW-NECKED |
Snogged after party, Jersey-style? (4-6)
|
| A charade of CREW (‘party’) plus NECKED (‘snogged’). | ||
| 13 | ARTERIAL |
Right time to burst above the ground, like a tube (8)
|
| An envelope (‘to burst’) of R (‘right’) plus T (‘time’) in AERIAL (‘above the ground’). | ||
| 14 | FEATHERS |
After exploit, the woman’s down (8)
|
| A charade of FEAT (‘exploit’) plus HERS (‘the woman’s). | ||
| 16 | DECREASE |
Slim, stop crushing Rex! (8)
|
| An envelope (‘crushing’) of R (‘Rex’) in DECEASE (‘stop’, perhaps close enough). | ||
| 19 | LENGTH |
Advanced, gaining ground initially — hour’s duration (6)
|
| A charade of LENGT, an envelope (‘gaining’) of G (‘Ground initially’) in LENT (‘advanced’); plus H (‘hour’). | ||
| 20 | AVID |
Keen to back singer (4)
|
| A reversal (‘to back’) of DIVA (‘singer’). | ||
| 21 |
See 7
|
|
Yes, remarkably straightforward for a Brummie. I didn’t spot a theme either. Also wondered re decease and stop not really being synonymous and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it other than in past tense. Thanks to Brummie and PeterO, always nice for those of us down under when there is an early blog.
Quite a coincidence, this morning I thoroughly enjoyed an excellent example of on old prize cryptic (#23,287) from 2004 and – lo and behold – the setter was Brummie (for historical context, this was in the very same month that the cultural game-changer Desperate Housewives made its debut on TV).
So imagine my surprise when I saw today’s edition.
The present puzzle took about about a fifth of the time to solve as the earlier one, but provides a great example of the fact that clues can be set at any level of difficulty and still be thoroughly enjoyed.
Among the many clues enjoyed – BAEDEKER, VIOLENCE (FOI), CONCEALMENT, TENDENCY and FEATHERS (LOI).
So many thanks, Brummie, for quite literally making my puzzle-day. I’m already looking forward to your next puzzle.
Thanks PeterO and Brummie.
This started out with DISASTER, and nothing more. I thought it was going to be super hard, but after a couple of hours sleep, it all fell out quite easily.
No theme ideas from me either.
Yes, gentle for a Brummie. The only one I had difficulty parsing was ENDIVE, but I thought ‘to be cut’ was included as much for the surface as to indicate a contraction of ‘one has’. I liked BAEDEKER which I’ve never seen in a cryptic before.
Thanks to Brummie and PeterO
This went quickly for me too. I failed to parse VALEDICTION, having got too hung up on VALE = farewell and VALEDICTION = speech. DECEASE = stop made sense when I put it in but the more I think about it, the less I like it: CEASE means stop, certainly, but does DECEASE? I expect someone will say that it is in the dictionary. Many thanks to Brummie for a puzzle that was definitely on my wavelength and to PeterO for the helpful (and helpfully early) blog.
I didn’t like the unannounced indication by example in BAY TREE [homework question: how can you like or dislike something that doesn’t exist?] but I liked the rest.
Didn’t see a theme, as others have said.
Thanks Brummie, this was fun with clues like VALEDICTION, UNPAID, TENDENCY, and FEATHERS among others. Didn’t know BAEDEKER and couldn’t come up with CREW-NECKED but on the whole this crossword unfolded more quickly than I was expecting. Thanks PeterO for the early blog.
Not the hardest I’ve done in the last week – I’m sure I recall tougher Brummie challenges though my memory doesn’t go back to 2004. Mainly held up by entering DIVA instead of its reverse so struggled with VIOLENCE and DISASTER (Funnily enough Dave Ellison @3 my last one in). Roz mentioned BAEDEKER yesterday so it made me smile to see it come up today – very nicely clued. ENDIVE only appears in one song to my knowledge – in the spoken intro section of the Bonzo Dog Band’s Shirt so I give you my morning’s earworm. Psychedelic lunacy.
Thanks Brummie and PeterO
Thanks Brummie and PeterO
First pass of across clues yielded only VIOLENCE, but once SALIVATE went in the rest went quickly.
Two more problems with BAY TREE: “tree” is used in the same sense in the wordplay as the solution; and ours is culinary rather than ornamental!
Is “back” OK for a reversal in a down clue?
Favourite CONCEALMENT.
…by that, I mean an elder is a tree and a bay tree is a tree.
A nice straightforward Wednesday morning with some nice clues. Favourite = VALEDICTION. LOI = ARETERIAL. Thanks Brummie and PeterO
Got all the way to 24a before solving any clues, after which they all went in steadily.
Thanks to Brummie and PeterO
Like others, this was a straightforward solve for me, unlike previous Brummies, held up only by ARTERIAL. This is exactly the kind of crossword I’d show a beginner, with very neat clues, and loads of variety in techniques and wordplay. My only quibble is shared with Dr WhatsOn @6, re the use of ‘elder’.
I’ve no issue with DECEASE used intransitively, though of course it’s very uncommon, or the slight quibble from PeterO in the blog re SA in INSATIABLE as ‘South American’; something like ‘US table’ would certainly be good enough as either ‘America + table’ or ‘American table’, surely?
Thanks to Brummie and PeterO.
Like Conrad @13, I was only held up by ARTERIAL. Having been wrestling (mostly successfully) with old Bunthornes, this was definitely at the easy end of the spectrum, but some nice clues such as FEATHERS and SUPINE. Thanks to Brummie and to PeterO.
Found this easier (and more enjoyable) than yesterday’s. Was helped to get started by the lovely straightforward clues for INSATIABLE and VALEDICTION. And managed to parse all but DECREASE and TENDANCY (duh).
Favourites include: DISASTER, CREW-NECKED, FEATHERS, TRUNDLE
Thanks to Brummie and PeterO
You never know with Brummie whether to expect a theme or not. I can’t see one, either.
Brummie’s surfaces can be quite clunky but today I particularly enjoyed those for INVENTED, VALEDICTION, VIOLENCE, PERILOUS and TAKE VOWS, which made me smile, thinking of Hamlet’s ‘Get thee to a nunnery!’ to Ophelia.
Thanks to Brummie for the puzzle and PeterO for the blog.
Not at all sure why BAY TREE can be defined as an ‘ornamental garden feature’. Together with TREE = elder, this makes for an untypically ropy clue for this setter.
Also not convinced by CONCEALMENT = suppression, and crew = party is somewhat loose.
Final query, BAEDEKER was a publisher, not a guide, so were his guides referred to as Baedekers?
Nothing too troublesome this morning with the exception of BAEDEKER which was a DNK (not having had time to properly read yesterday’s blog, by the sound of it…
Nice to see ENDIVE making an appearance (I used to pop-over to Brussels every-other week for a while and favourite snack was their ‘witlof met ham en kaas,’ endive wrapped in ham and baked in a rich cheesy béchamel sauce) but of course as PostMark has given us the Bonzos, what else can I offer than…
Chick Corea. https://youtu.be/15IHNYq6stw
Thanks to Brummie and PeterO
I usually struggle with Brummie, but not today.
I had a DNF as 13d escaped me, but one DNF for this dismal solver represents meteoric success.
10a was a check with Mr. Google, though the wordplay was clear enough to derive the answer.
Did my usual with 20 and put in the singer rather than the answer until a checker came along.
Thanks both.
Very enjoyabe solve.
Favourites: VALEDICTION, SUPINE, UNPAID, CONCEALMENT.
Thanks, B+P.
After a couple of difficult days when I needed to use ‘aids’ to finish it was great to finish today in good time without resort to outside help. My only unparsed answer was ENDIVE. Which went in based on crossers when radish had been ruled out. Thanks for the explanation PeterO. But I’m still puzzled about 1d. How is AiD a helper? Surely it’s help. Aide could be helper. What am I missing? Thanks Brummie I enjoyed this.
I found this very methodical but no smiles along the way. I salute anyone that can pluck a theme out of this lot. I agree with the comments on BAY TREE and thought CONCEALMENT was good. Thanks Postmark @8 for reminding me of the inimitable Bonzos.
Ta Brummie & PeterO
Like everyone else we found this morning me of Brummie’s easier puzzles to solve but no less enjoyable for that with a good range of clue types and surfaces to match. ARTERIAL was our last one in as well and our favourites were as Eileen’s. Thanks to Brummie and PeterO.
I thought of ENDIVE for the salad ingredient, but parsed it as a combination of DIVE = TIP plus (O)NE (ONE “cut”).
Thanks, Brummie & PeterO
Couldn’t parse ARTERIAL, and last two in the intersecting SUPINE and UNPAID. My Dad used to have a DIRK tucked down his sock when in his ceremonial highland regimental gear, I seem to remember. Think it might still be in the attic somewhere. Nice puzzle today…
Me @23: that’s ENDIVE at 23a, of course.
Maybe the theme (if there is one) is to do with the Baedeker raids which Wiki tells me were a series of attacks by the Luftwaffe on English cities during the Second World War. Other clues CONCEALMENT, VIOLENCE, DISASTER. Don’t know enough about this but putting it out there.
Baedeker was a nho and needed help but otherwise cruisy as folk have said. Few loosies, like conceal for suppress and crew for party, and tree for elder is a bit naughty, but no tar or feathers needed. Ta B and P.
William @17
We’ve had several holidays where “where’s the Baedeker?” was a regular question. I’m not keen on trade names being used in crosswords, though.
CanberraGirl @21
A disability aid?
[MaidenBartok @18 – well, thank heavens you linked us to Chick Corea rather than Chicory Tip, which must have been tempting given the clue. Maybe you are blessed with a memory that has suppressed all recollection of Chicory Tip .
I was taking my two teenage sons to see Chick C at the Barbican last spring before Covid intervened and. sadly, he has subsequently died. I saw him live twice (with Miles at Antibes in 1969 and with RTF at Oxford in 1974), but they now never will. Alas.]
HoofItYouDonkey @19. “…this dismal solver” – how very rude! What has poor Brummie done to deserve this epithet? Most commenters so far have indicated enjoyment, and I would join them in that.
William @17. “BAEDEKER was a publisher, not a guide, so were his guides referred to as Baedekers?” Yes, I believe so – it’s a few years since I read Sherlock Holmes stories, but didn’t he look up trains in his Baedeker, referred to as such?
Thanks to Brummie, and also thanks to PeterO for parsing ARTERIAL and ENDIVE, my last two in.
Apologies to HoofItYouDonkey – I read your comment as “setter” when of course it says “solver”! Oops!
[Bradshaw’s for trains but I am sure Baedeker was used in exactly the same sense. ]
William @18, supplementary. ‘Yes, “Baedeker” was used to denote the guide, and in an intervention by Roz yesterday, to which I think MB@18 is obliquely referring, she cited TS Eliot’s poem, ” Burbank with a Baedeker : Bleistein with a Cigar ” as one of his works that was not included in Qaos’s themed puzzle. In final confirmation, this is from the opening paragraph of Henry James’s 1877 novel, ‘The American’, where the central character, Christoper Newman, is described taking in some of the great works in the Louvre: “He had looked out all the pictures to which an asterisk was affixed in those formidable pages of fine print in his Bädeker; …”
[ …. same sense for hotels , tourism etc ]
[Spooner’s catflap @30: Why thank YOU! I was only 6 when that hit the Top 40 so the intervening 49 years had managed to expunge that from my head; until this morning, that is… I must go and find another bottle of mild green Fairy liquid, a small funnel and a periscope.
Jazz is not normally my style at-all but I’ll make an exception for Chick Corea. As I sit here this morning crossing out more concerts in my diary for this year grace-a de Pfeffel and his merry band of morons I’ve been reflecting on how many really great musicians have been lost this past 18 months and thinking exactly about those that have lost the chance to see them do what they do best – perform live. Off soapbox.]
[ See if you can track down the 1972 Chick Corea album , title – Return to Forever – NOT the actual band at that stage. Basically CC and Flora Purim. On vinyl of course, ECM . ]
[William@17: I expect Brummie is thinking of those cute little bay trees in expensive pots, elegantly trimmed into columns or spheres, that usually come in pairs outside restaurant doors. My thirty foot untidy specimen is certainly a feature of my garden, but ornamental…?]
When I was young (a long time ago) people would often shoud ‘Decease!’ at children who were misbehaving. Is this no longer the case?
Meant shout of course – decease here meaning ‘Stop it!’ More forceful than ‘Cease!’
As most have said, another in a run of straightforward though enjoyable puzzles. It felt like yet another Monday so we must be due something thorny soon.
I agree with the quibbles about BAY TREE, really should have an example indicator.
LOI was FEATHERS, which was also my favourite.
Thanks to Brummie and PeterO
Thanks PeterO for the blog and Brummie for the fun solve.
I first came across the name Baedeker in EM Forster’s A Room With A View, so always tend to think of it as referring to the book(s) rather than the person. It comes up in Chapter 2, titled “In Santa Croce with no Baedeker”, which includes this wonderful passage:
Certainly they had seemed a long time in reaching Santa Croce, the tower of which had been plainly visible from the landing window. But Miss Lavish had said so much about knowing her Florence by heart, that Lucy had followed her with no misgivings.
“Lost! lost! My dear Miss Lucy, during our political diatribes we have taken a wrong turning. How those horrid Conservatives would jeer at us! What are we to do? Two lone females in an unknown town. Now, this is what I call an adventure.”
Lucy, who wanted to see Santa Croce, suggested, as a possible solution, that they should ask the way there.
“Oh, but that is the word of a craven! And no, you are not, not, NOT to look at your Baedeker. Give it to me; I shan’t let you carry it. We will simply drift.”
I still think BAEDECKER is the key clue, and not being fixated on the guide (which I didn’t know), I found something @ 27 which no-one has commented on,
Further googling has come up with a link to DIRK Bogarde, and then this: A BEGINNER’S BAEDEKER TO THE GENIUS OF FASSBINDER
Any thoughts?
[Excellent, widdersbel@42; thank you. Although I have, at some time or another, read all of his novels and have taught ‘A Passage to India’ occasionally, I’m afraid that my Forster lags sadly behind my James.]
Correction BAEDEKER.
[ The Baedeker guides were German and allegedly the maps inside were used to find targets for the German bombers ]
Sheffield Hatter @32, but you wished there was a ‘delete’ button! No offence taken!
Roz @33 Bradshaws figured prominently in Agatha Christie’s excellent ‘The ABC Murders’
Roz@46. I found that too. Interesting, but I can’t yet get the theme.
Kenneth Thomas @39/40 – with my grandad (same one who didn’t do a handstand for the National Anthem, see last week) it was always ‘Desist!’
Spooner’s/MB: Chicory Tip… wasn’t that by the Andrews Sisters?
[essexboy @50. Yes, desist is what I remember being shouted in my general direction on a number of occasions, but decease would have done just as well. But I’m not sure how much my support is worth, having already mixed up Bradshaw and Baedeker today, not to mention setter and solver. Luckily, I can hear a beer calling – it’s like WD40 for the brain, don’t you know. Or at least, if it doesn’t actually unblock the brain, one is left not caring quite so much about it.]
Something I forgot to mention last night: if there is such a thing a a natural way to read a cryptic clue, then isn’t the way you have to read the clue for SUPINE rather unnatural? It is telling you to think of drink1 (wine) and drink2 (sup) and put drink1 (wine) after drink2 (sup), but drink2 (sup) is the one that is made topless, according to the way I read it anyway.
Many of the surfaces made no sense — 1, 10, 15 and 25 across and 15 and 19 down.
Too many trees i 17a — BAY, elder and TREE.
A helper (person) is an aide, not an aid. A thing, something that helps, is an aid, but we don’t call it a helper.
I dunno about DECEASE without its D (“If you eat that you’ll decease”) but it works as a noun.(“I’ll ascribe your decease to the toadstools.”)
MB@36 What’s with the fairy liquid (I have learned what that is from Rumpole stories) and the funnel?
Thanks, Brummie for the puzzle and PeterO for the blog.
[Valentine @53: …to wash my ears out after being subjected to SC’s ‘musical’ suggestion…]
[Valentine @53: ‘Fairy’ is identical these days to the US ‘Dawn’ brand.]
[ Paddymelon@49, yes I was responding to your idea and I remembered the bit about the maps, and maybe I vaguely recall it could have been cities that were popular with tourists and hence had a guide published. Still could not get further with a theme though. Maybe you have a great idea for a future crossword ]
[ HYD @48 yes that does make a lot of sense. Were the train times linked to the possible murders ? ]
Agreed, a straightforward and very enjoyable puzzle from Brummie.
Canberragirl @21, Offspinner@29, Valentine @53: I too was misled by thinking “helper” was “aide,” and trying to work this out as a homophone with “pun” cluing that, but in a sense like “memory aid” or “study aid,” “helper” seems like it could be used interchangeably.
“Baedeker” is one I’d heard of from older British books, and could even go along with Qaos’s theme from yesterday as TS Eliot had an obscure poem called “Burbank with a Baedeker, Bleistein with a Cigar.” (Deservedly obscure if you’re familiar with the controversy around it.)
[HYD@48, Roz@57: Surely they were ABC Rail Guides rather than Bradshaw’s?]
Matt w @ 58 and 59 . I put the same poem in the blog yesterday and said it was fortunate it was not in the theme. it is probably the worst of quite a few awful examples.
ABC murders I do no know, I just thought HYD had found a good example where Bradshaw’s might be important.
[Roz @60: The ABC guides were an alternative version to Bradshaw’s and still exist (I think?) in some form. The Agatha Christie connection is that the murders were carried out in alphabetical person and location order and that a copy of the ABC Guide was left with the victim. There is some connection to the name of a potential murderer (which I forget) through the letters ‘ABC’ and I think the implication is that the murderer was a travelling salesman who, in those times, would have lived by a copy of the ABC Guide to know how to get from place-to-place.
It’s a good yarn and worth searching out the version with John Malkovich as Hercules Poirot.]
[Roz, MaidenBartok & others, there is an informative section in Wikipedia’s article on Bradshaw’s Guide, which details mentions of it in literarary works. Of those cited, I knew ‘Dracula’ and ‘The Copper Beeches’, but there are several others, including two by Agatha Christie (but not ‘The ABC Murders’, as seems now to have been established through the efforts of other contributors here).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradshaw%27s_Guide#References_in_literature ]
[ Thank you MB @ 61, very interesting . Never heard of ABC guides, must have passed me by. I will try to track down the book. My explanation for entropy is in the blog for Monday ]
BAEDEKER was new to me, but otherwise a rather Monday-esque puzzle…
After a difficult couple of days, both significant DNF’s, it was good to complete one. Mostly enjoyable, apart from Bay Tree as per earlier comments. Thanks Brummie and PeterO.
( re SpoonersCF@30, I worked for many years with a property lawyer who claimed to be Chicory Tips first keyboard player but was kicked out just before they recorded Son of my Father!)
[Kenneth Thomas @39 – if they shouted “Decease!” at you, you could justifiably carry on what you’re doing, by the logic that if “Cease!” means stop, then de-cease must mean the opposite…]
Spooner’s catflap: So sorry, went out after posting re BAEDEKER, so failed to thank you. Your background notes make the clue even better.
MaidenBartok @61 From memory, the murderer did in people alphabetically who lived in a location that corresponded with the first letter of the victim , i.e. Adams in Andover, Brown in Basingstoke etc, etc. The idea was to create the impression that it was a psychopath at work. The actual motive was premeditated to murder ‘C’ in Carlisle, and had been from the start.
Luckily HP was on hand to bring the murderer to justice.
I need to get out more!!
Roz @46, 56
There were certainly the Baedeker raids of WW2 – a campaign aimed at towns with cultural value rather than industrial,
HoofIt @68: well, perhaps Roz @63 will feel that she can put less effort into tracking down the book, now that you have told her what happens. Sigh!
[ S.C @70 I will still try, it does seem interesting with the railway connection, I thought it was always the butler who was the murderer. ]
[ Doofs @69, thanks for the information. Paddymelon had a similar idea, I was trying to recall the details. Do you know which places were targetted .]
Roz @72, A was Andover, B was Bexhill on Sea, D was Doncaster, I can’t remember ‘C’
I think Roz was asking about Baedeker raids, of which Coventry was one?
C was some small place in Devon, called something like Churston Ferrars?
[Roz @72. In case doofs @69 has retired for the evening, leaving only us obsessive late owls, here is the Imperial War Museum site about Baedeker Raids. I know you say you do not ‘do’ links, but it is only a click away:
https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-were-the-baedeker-raids ]
[HoofItYouDonkey @68. The idea was to create the impression that it was a psychopath at work. The actual motive was premeditated to murder ‘C’ in Carlisle, and had been from the start. That’s interesting – it seems to have been an idea that was picked up by Ian Rankin for one of his Rebus books (or, to be fair, he may have thought of it for himself) – but I won’t say which one in case anyone wants to find it for themselves! Of course, anyone who can contemplate murdering two or three “innocent” people for the sake of covering themselves for the murder of someone they *really* want to kill is, pretty much by definition, a psychopath.]
[ HYD @73, many thanks, think I had better read the book.
SC@75, thank you , I appreciate the effort and others may make use of the link. I will give it my special stare and special sigh that I usually reserve for people at work attempting to engage me in technobabble. ]
[HIYD @68:Ah yes – I remember now having had a little Googling time. There seems to have been an attempt by the murderer to frame one Mr. Alexander Bonaparte Cust (ABC) just to add to the cryptic nature of Agatha Christie’s writing. I seem to remember it being one of the better of the genre, light and fluffy though they are…
Apropos nothing, Hercules Poirot is known in this household as ‘Massive Leak’ by means of total bastardisation of the French language… Simple people round these parts…]
Very late to the party tonight but MB@18 I take your Chick Corea and raise you Denim’s On a chicory tip from their novelty rock album. If you suffer any psychological trauma from this earworm the negronis are on me
[Roz @77: You are channelling your inner Elliott Carver – ‘Spare me the techno-babble please…’]
[sheffieldhatter@76: I’ve read some mysteries with a similar theme; there’s a French mystery where someone commits a murder and then murders some apparent witnesses; the plan was always to murder one of the witnesses, and the original murder was committed to draw suspicion away from the person with a motive to murder that victim.
There’s the Chesterton mystery where Father Brown comments that the best place to hide a leaf is the forest, and the best place to hide a murdered body is a battlefield….]
Pleasant enough, and I enjoyed it, but there are three clues which strike me as weak going on downright bad.
4A is an across clue, so what is “drink – going topless” doing? Especially as (a) “uncorked wine” would have been unobjectionable and (b) the word order is wrong because sup (drink) does not come after (w)ine.
In 17A, as has been observed, elder is an example of a tree – as Ximenes remarks, a potato is a tuber but not all tubers are potatoes. And when “tree” is part of the solution…?
16D – I am with those who are troubled by “stop” = “decease”. Chambers only gives decease = die.
I don’t understand the phrase “unannounced indication by example”. Can’t see anything wrong with the clue. Bit like a Monday crossword this one but thanks Brummie and PeterO
Timmytimtim @83
The convention is that the clue contains the definition, and the answer contains, or is, the word defined. In 17A, the word ‘elder’ is in the clue, and the – loose – definition TREE is in the answer. Conventionally again, the latter is permitted if indicated by a device such as ‘elder, perhaps’, or at least a question mark at the end of the clue to suggest that something dodgy is going on.
I agree that it would require some special pleading to make 4A work properly – perhaps reading it as “Drink; after(wards), drink going topless”.
[ MB @80 – Elliott Carver has passed me by I am afraid ?? I will rack my brains after my swim has cleared my head . ]
[Roz @85: Sorry! Bond film quote from ‘Tomorrow Never Dies.’ Elliott Carver is the media mogul hell-bent on world domination who has employed an IT geek to handle intercepting and misdirecting a GPS signal. The line is ‘Spare me the techno-babble’ – Carver is played very well (actually probably the best character in the film which is the usual formulaic 007 nonsense) by Jonathan Pryce.]
MB @86 does sound like me but I do not have to actually speak. I just fold my arms and have a special stare and sigh , and the IT geeks ( your phrase ) soon learn to keep quiet.
They are actually very good and very helpful.