The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28480.
Matilda, having been a stalwart of the Quiptic for quite a while, has been alternating between Quiptic and Cryptic for a year now. This one has a theme, announced in 21,26A.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | THE ARTS |
Creativity of that bloke is shown in pastry (3,4)
|
| An envelope (‘is shown in’) of HE (‘that bloke’) in TARTS (‘pastry’ as a collective term, to justify the plural). | ||
| 5 | PLUNGED |
Dove in America perched eyes down, primarily to take a breather … (7)
|
| An envelope (‘to take’) of LUNG (‘a breather’) in PED (‘Perched Eyes Down, primarily’), for the principally North American past tense of dive. | ||
| 9 | LOBES |
… parts of which being low, best left incomplete (5)
|
| ‘LOw BESt’ ‘left incomplete’. The ‘parts’ would refer particularly to the lung from the previous clue. | ||
| 10 | MULTITOOL |
Love to follow dictator hiding in Scottish island? It’s handy! (9)
|
| A envelope (‘hiding in’) of TITO (Josip Broz, Yugoslav ‘dictator’) plus O (‘love’) in MULL (‘Scottish island’). | ||
| 11 | NANOSECOND |
Does cannon shot flash? (10)
|
| An anagram (‘shot’) of ‘does cannon’. | ||
| 12 | ON TV |
Front view partially screened (2,2)
|
| A hidden answer (‘partially’) in ‘frONT View’. | ||
| 14 | NAIL CLIPPER |
Groomer getting fix by the Cutty Sark? (4,7)
|
| A charade of NAIL (”fix’) plus CLIPPER (ship, ‘Cutty Sark’, with the question mark for the indication by example). | ||
| 18 | TALLAHASSEE |
Treat all these as a capital (11)
|
| An anagram (‘treat’) of ‘all these as a’, for the capital city of Florida. | ||
| 21, 26 | BODY PARTS |
Bad typos scattered around the back of newspaper, some of which are here (4,5)
|
| An envelope (‘around’) of R (‘back of newspapeR‘) in BODYPATS, an anagram (‘scattered’) of ‘bad typos’. | ||
| 22 | DOSTOEVSKY |
Parties veto motion by broadcaster and writer (10)
|
| A charade of DOS (‘parties’) plus TOEV, an anagram (‘motion’) of ‘veto’ plus SKY (‘broadcaster’). | ||
| 25 | OBEDIENCE |
Naughty niece after honour at last redeemed for good behaviour (9)
|
| A charade of OBE (Order of the British Empire, ‘honour’) plus D (‘at last redeemeD‘) plus IENCE, an anagram (‘naughty’) of ‘niece’. | ||
| 26 |
See 21
|
|
| 27 | NASTIER |
Naming and shaming starts and row gets worse (7)
|
| A charade of NAS (‘Naming And Shaming starts’) plus TIER (‘row’). | ||
| 28 | KEEP MUM |
Just get rid of dad but don’t let on! (4,3)
|
| Double definition, kind of. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | TALENT |
Ability to get an old coin (6)
|
| Double definition. | ||
| 2 | EBBING |
Be back before Crosby’s decline (6)
|
| A charade of EB, a reversal (‘back’) of ‘be’; plus BING (‘Crosby’). | ||
| 3 | ROSE SUNDAY |
What Jesus did for breakfast? (4,6)
|
| Double Christian definition, the first a reference to Easter Sunday, and the second (with a lift and separate) to the fourth Sunday in Lent (or the third in Advent), when the period of fast is relaxed. | ||
| 4 | SUMAC |
Spice up writer (5)
|
| A reversal (‘up’ in a down light) of CAMUS (Albert, ‘writer’), Apart from identifying the ‘up’ as referring to the ‘writer’, not the ‘spice’, the latter is not the first thing that comes to my mind for the shrub, but apparently the dried fruits of some species of sumac are ground for a spice used mainly in Middle Eastern cookery. | ||
| 5 | POLO NECKS |
After sporting event, kisses for high jumpers (4,5)
|
| A charade of POLO (‘sporting event’) plus NECKS (‘kisses’). | ||
| 6 | UNIT |
One’s continually upset to some extent (4)
|
| A hidden answer (‘to some extent’) reversed (‘upset’ in a down light’) in ‘conTINUally’. | ||
| 7 | GROWN-UPS |
Adults can be wrong on purpose? Nothing odd in that (5-3)
|
| A charade of GROWN, an anagram (‘can be’) of ‘wrong’; plus UPS, the even numbered letters (‘nothing odd in that’) of ‘pUrPoSe’ | ||
| 8 | DELIVERY |
Labour’s end pitch (8)
|
| Double definition, the second being a reference to baseball, for example. | ||
| 13 | NICE PEOPLE |
Pleasant folk found in Provence? (4,6)
|
| A play on NICE as ‘pleasant’ or the city on the French Riviera. | ||
| 15 | IN A CORNER |
Where spiders might be up against it? (2,1,6)
|
| Double definition. I do not think that CORN counts as a body part. | ||
| 16 | STUBBORN |
Difficult objections raised and delivered (8)
|
| A charade of STUB, a reversal (‘raised’ in a down light) of BUTS (‘objections’) plus BORN (‘delivered’). | ||
| 17 | PLODDERS |
Slow movers ultimately suffer in misusing dope and LSD (8)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of R (‘ultimately suffeR‘) in PLODDES, an anagram (‘misusing’) of ‘dope’ plus ‘LSD’. | ||
| 19 | ASHRAM |
Like hotel stuff in place of seclusion (6)
|
| A charade of AS (‘like’) plus H (‘hotel’) plus RAM (‘stuff’). | ||
| 20 | GYPSUM |
See back covered in adhesive plaster (6)
|
| An envelope (‘covered in’) of YPS, a reversal (‘back’) of SPY (‘see’) in GUM (‘adhesive’). | ||
| 23 | TWEAK |
Make adjustments to the bottom of chainsaw when cutting wood (5)
|
| An envelope (‘when cutting’) of W (‘bottom of chainsaW‘) in TEAK (‘wood’). | ||
| 24 | GIGI |
Colette’s soldiers (4)
|
| GI (‘soldier’) twice, for Colette’s novella. |
Thanks for highlighting the body parts, PeterO. Whilst I spotted the theme, I forgot to look for them – it would have sped up the solution of 1ac.
I enjoyed this crossword. Thanks Matilda.
Liked PLUNGED, DELIVERY, MULTITOOL, CAMUS.
Did not parse KEEP MUM (the dad bit) or fully understand how to parse RISE SUNDAY apart from ‘what Jesus did’. Oh, I see now it is ROSE not RISE. I still would not have parsed it as I never heard of Rose Sunday even though I attended an Anglican girls school!
Thanks, P+M
As the first clue churned out of the printer in a NANOSECOND, I thought ‘here we go again’, yet another write-in this week – but I was wrong as usual, and relished this delightful puzzle from start to finish – which was (LOI) – GIGI, best clue of all. Had to wonder how many Brits would stall over TALLAHASSEE, but suppose they could always TWEAK the answer with so many solving MULTITOOLS at their disposal. Dropped across the DELIVERY clue somewhere else this week, but never saw old Fyodor pop up in a puzzle before
Thanks for a great puzzle, Matilda, I could have waltzed all night with it ……
Thanks Matilda for a nicely constructed crossword. I had many favourite clues including EBBING, SUMAC, GROWN UPS, ASHRAM, and GYPSUM. Interesting to see DELIVERY (vis a vis labour) when we just saw EXPRESS DELIVERY yesterday. I missed ROSE SUNDAY because I failed to parse breakfast as “break fast,” otherwise I might have seen it given my years in Catholic school. Thanks PeterO for the early blog.
Being a liturgically ignorant heathen, didn’t know the Lent breakfast bit. And being none too sharp, didn’t spot the body parts, so 21,26 was another fill and shrug. Rodshaw @3, Russians, and Russian authors, are occasional regulars and I think Dostoevsky has appeared before. A nice stroll (compared with the Nutmeg which I enjoyed but needed a bit of help with), thanks M and P.
… and similarly clued too, Tony S @4, to do with labour ending and birth…
Ear lobes?
Thanks Matilda and PeterO
Heart is there in 1A. Nose in 11A. Lip in 14A. Toe in 22A.
To lower the tone, tit in 10A, ass in 18A.
Thanks to PeterO for his succinct as ever parsing. And to Matilda for puzzle.
Enjoyable solve but failed to spot the body parts.
Don’t really see why spiders are necessarily IN A CORNER. Ours are usually in the bath.
Like our blogger, only heard of sumach as tree or bush… not a very nice one at that. Its fruits are called slippers and apparently no longer can germinate. The tree can now only reproduce by suckering.
Many thanks, both.
Started so well but got bogged down in the NE corner. Not helped by banging in ‘hair’ clipper and. ‘roll’ neck! There were lots of lovely clues as already highlighted and overall a very enjoyable puzzle. ( I’ve also never heard of Rose Sunday. ) Thanks Matilda and PeterO.
I found it tough to get started but then it came together nicely. Some delightful clues, such as PLUNGED and GROWNUPS and some neat surfaces such as 11a and 5d. Only one which I struggled to parse was ROSE SUNDAY but PeterO comes to the rescue of this C of E churchgoer who does have sumac in his spice cupboard. Thanks both for a pleasant start to the day
As a confirmed heathen I too had no idea about ROSE SUNDAY and I failed to parse GROWN UPS, so thanks PeterO.
Lots of good clues. Fun start to the morning. Thanks Matilda.
There were some clever bits I liked such as dove/dive, but also several that left me scratching my head. E.g. capital normally indicates the government centre of a country, not a of a country subdivision, and how does “what Jesus did” relate to 3d? Is “Rose Sunday” supposed to be the same as “Rose on Sunday”?
Ravenrider @13: that’s how I read it.
ROSE SUNDAY was last in, and a bit of a guess. Favourites were NANOSECOND, PLUNGED and GROWN-UPS. The bottom half went in more easily than the top, which initially looked rather impenetrable. Many thanks to Matilda and PeterO.
Thanks PeterO, despite my Sunday schooling I had to look up Rose Sunday to check it was a thing having considered an exotic breakfast sweet “Rose Sundae” (lack of homophone indicator persuaded me away from it).
I was also confused by the positioning of “up” in the clue for SUMAC but know the spice because my wife always complained that she could never find it anywhere (until a holiday in Cape Town when she bought about a kilo of it, which I don’t think she has ever used).
My own grumbles: I think of “polo” as a sport rather than a sporting event (eg tennis is a sport, Wimbledon is an event) which marred an otherwise fantastic clue for me, but maybe I am just a bit grumpy today. Also i think of nail clippers exclusively in the plural.
Overall good fun with lots of variety, thanks Matilda.
ravenrider @13: I think US state capitals are also often used in puzzles; and ‘rose Sunday’ is an Americanism, as in (e.g.) “Let’s meet Tuesday”. So there’s a bit of an American theme alongside the body parts.
Thanks Matilda and PeterO
I found this difficult but satisfying. I’m another who hadn’t heard of ROSE SUNDAY, so that needed a Google. PLUNGED was very clever, and another example in quick succession of meaningful ellipses.
“Corner spiders” have been spreading north with global warming. They are the very long-legged ones. They prey on other spiders.
I use SUMAC quite often. It has a sort of earthy/woody taste. It goes well with baked chicken.
Re you self-styled heathens ( not a term I would use): I am a life long church-goer and have never heard of Rose Sunday. Nice to be back here after a long time. Really enjoyed today’s offering.
Thought PLUNGED particularly clever and misleading. Took me a while to convince myself that ROSE SUNDAY had to be the right answer. Not entirely sure if the body part in the middle of 10ac was meant to be revealed along with the others, and was wondering when on the same clue whether a word that had TITOO inside it (with love pursuing the dictator) would ever become something handy. Lots of nice clues, though, today…
That was a lot of fun this morning and just on the right side of possible. I didn’t really feel it was a ‘themed’ puzzle though – I spotted the body parts quite early on but it was a bit of a mix of parts and organs so I’m not sure it counts but that is me in my usual bad mood.
5a was a wonderful misdirection on the bird vs. word – having done bird in the US between the ages of 9 and 14, my son has picked up quite a few Americanisms and still uses the words ‘DOVE’ and even ‘DOVED’ (as in ‘he dove for the ball’). As he’s nearly 20 I fully expected his code switching to have gone by now but no…
[muffin @18: mention of SUMAC brings to mind the singer Yma Sumac and her famously huge vocal range. My Great Aunt (sadly a COVID victim in the Nofim Tower tragedy in Jerusalem last March) used to cook a mean dish of Denis fish (a type of sea bream) stuffed with whole garlic cloves and smothered in Sumac on a bed of rice. It’s both dry and citrus and often added to Za’atar.]
Thanks to Matlida and PeterO
Enjoyed the gotcha/got me moment with ‘dove in America’ . Lapsed Anglican. In years of Sunday school never heard of Rose Sunday. Interesting that one our Australian celebs, Nicole Kidman, has a child called Sunday Rose, immaculately (through the wonders of modern medicine) conceived. . At one stage with the letters I had I thought Jesus WORE SANDALS, but that was a bit indigestible.
SUMAC I love as a spice, but how do you tell which is the def and which way is up?
It’s good to see Matilda back in the cryptic slot – with a nicely constructed puzzle, as Tony Santucci said @4. I concur with his favourites, too – and with Cryptocyclist (nice to see you back) @19 re ROSE SUNDAY.
Thanks to Matilda for a fun puzzle and PeterO for the blog.
Thank you Matilda & PeterO – that was fun.
Rose Sunday is also known as Mothering, Refreshment or Laetare Sunday! Rose coloured vestments are worn I think to symbolise hope amidst the Lenten austerity. Also it was a day to visit one’s ‘mother’ church where you were baptised. Nowadays it’s ok to simply 28 happy.
I believe it was John Donne who said “No MULL is an island” and Chambers concurs that it’s a peninsula or promontory?
Another attempted sequential solve meant I didn’t get the theme hint til late in the game and then jumped to the conclusion that 27a must be nostril but sadly it didn’t parse.
Time to go and sojourn in my uncle Joe’s ASHRAM
Paddymelon@22 – Immaculate Conception does not mean what you seem to imply. It means “born without original sin”. Virgin Birth is what you were thinking of – a common misconception (pun intended).
Ah but there’s an Isle of Mull so ignore my previous ramblings 🙂
The Scottish Isle of Mull is definitely an island, Bodycheetah @25. Are you getting mixed up with the Mull of Kintyre? [Please, no horrible dirge-like earworm!] A pleasant solve, despite my thinking early on that it looked tough. Like many others, I have NHO ROSE SUNDAY (and missed the breakfast part altogether). We also have SUMAC in our spice drawer – never heard of it as a shrub, though.
I was glad to find time for a weekday cryptic at last, and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I could highlight several clues, but I will just say that I am in agreement with many contributors here.
Thanks to Matilda and PeterO.
I got a bit stuck in the SE corner but otherwise the solutions rolled (or crawled) in.
Another one ignorant of ROSE SUNDAY. I did see the BODY PARTS fairly early on – it didn’t help much with the solve but was a pleasure to find them at the end. I think we have had that interpretation of dove before but I was still fooled for a while (although the lung was a help with that one).
I liked PLUNGED, POLO NECKS and GROWN-UPS.
Thanks Matilda and PeterO.
SPIDERS, the tool used in snooker, are usually in the corner.
My grandparents had a sumac bush in their garden when I was a boy, and from about the same time I remember a character called Trampas (I think?) in the TV series The Virginian who was the first person I ever heard say ‘dove’ for the past tense of dive; I used it sporadically for many years.
I nearly went astray by entering YLE (=’see back’?) in 20d for the obscure (make that “non-existent”) plaster GYLEUM, but I didn’t even have to look it up know it was going to be wrong. And I resisted HAIR CLIPPER (unlike JerryG @10!) for long enough to eventually see NAIL. Apart from that this was a steady and enjoyable solve, completed with the amusing but unheard of ROSE SUNDAY – it couldn’t have been anything else, really. Favourite was MULTITOOL, which I was pleased to have worked out from the parts, but surely Matilda didn’t intend the middle three letters as part of the theme?
Thanks to Matilda for an enjoyable solve, and to PeterO for a comprehensive blog and highlighted grid.
Interestingly (or not depending on your interests!) neither NANOSECOND nor MULTITOOL are in Chambers. Thanks for an excellent puzzle Matilda!
Sheffield hatter @32 or the last four letters in MULTITOOL !?
Worked out the anagram in 17a to PODDLERS. Sure enough, found “PODDLE” in the online Chambers, meaning to amble along: so pleased to have learnt a new word and solved the clue. Bit of let down to find the actual answer was the mundane PLODDERS. But I’m going to use poddle at every opportunity now
Online Collins, not Chambers.
Looked formidable, but turned out to be both clever and witty. Loved the American dove, and the two great writers, though Spark was my original choice for ‘Spice up writer’. Every clue contributed something to the puzzle’s considerable pleasures. Thanks Matilda and Peter. More please.
Bodycheetah@34 So a MULTITOOL has more than one part? That’s something to Mull over by the Sound of it.
I’m very much enjoying Ladies’ Week, and Matilda’s offerings are always snappy. ROSE SUNDAY was a lot of fun.
I agree with Peter on The clue for SUMAC, though. It just feels back-to-front.
[I met Rose Sunday when I sang for three years in the choir of St. Mary the Virgin, the highest of the high Anglican churches in New York City, which used so much incense it was known as Smoky Mary. So I am more acquainted than I might otherwise be with High Church doings. St. Mary’s had a huge collection of vestments for any number of special occasions, and I certainly remember the gorgeous rose-colored ones on Rose Sunday (or Refreshment Sunday, thanks for the reminder wynsum@24). The women were laid off (this was a paid gig) over the summer, so we went over to St. John the Divine, whose choirboys were off on summer vacation. I can still remember the director saying “It’s so wonderful to work with sopranos who can read!”]
William @9 What happened to sumac trees so that their fruits can’t germinate?
Tony@4 and ginf@9 Please don’t discuss answers to other puzzles on the blog for this one.
ravenrider@13 We’ve had the occasional state capital before, though I don’t see why people outside the US should be expected to know them.
Welcome back, cryptocyclist@18!.
Anna@31 My ignorance of cricket pales before my ignorance of snooker. I’d never have got that spider, so thank you.
Thanks to Matilda and PeterO for an entertaining session last night and this morning.
Toby @33; NANOSECOND is in the Chambers Thesaurus under ‘Times and periods of times’. Strange it’s not in the main dictionary then.
Anna @31 Yes, snooker furniture can sometimes be propped in the corner, though there are usually hooks to keep them under the table. Good to see you back. Had you gone for a long rest?
[Robi@41 You might have missed it. It was there for a very short period of time]
[Penfold@42 Nice!]
Toby @33, Robi @41 – NANOSECOND doesn’t have its own headword entry in Chambers Dictionary, but it’s there in the entry for the combining form nano- : “Denoting: 10^-9, as in nanogram and nanosecond“
Robi@41 – In Chambers the definition of nano- as a prefix includes ‘nanosecond’ as an example: it is their general practice not to mention all such measures.
Miche and peterM; thanks, I see it now.
peterM @45; that must be why I can’t see Nano-Mouskouri!
wynsum @43; good one!
Tassie Tim @ 28 , how dare you mention M*** ** ******E without a prior warning ? It strikes fear into the heart of anyone with taste.
Anna @31 , good spot. I vaguely remember a pub with a snooker table and the rests and cues and spider thing were always stood up in a corner, people could not be bothered to store them correctly.
NANOSECOND is in my Chambers 93 page 1119. It is actually a very long time period on a particle physics scale, not really a flash.
Smashing crossword – spent some time looking up lesser known writers such as NIMUC and ILIHC before deciding that although not as grammatically satisfactory, the UP referred to the writer and the answer to the latest and usually ignored addition to the spice cupboard SUMAC, I’ll try some recipes suggested here!
Thanks to PeterO for the blog, and more from Matilda please!
sheffield hatter @32 – Matilda’s never been a shrinking violet with clues before, so I’m assuming TIT went in deliberately and with rather a grin on Matilda’s face.
Enjoyed that, even if I found it much harder work than usual for Matilda (the failure was mine). Hope it doesn’t mean we lose the easier ones as well – as Peter O notes Matilda is one of the Quiptic regulars, and unusually smooth ones at that.
Apologies if it’s already been mentioned but Lobes are also a body part.
Thanks Matilda and PeterO
Oh, and Multitool was an absolutely fantastic clue. I had Mull immediately from the final L crosser but it took me forever to think of Tito. I thought that first O was the love and was looking for an answer ending in “oll”.
Also “corn” in 15 could be considered an unwanted body part.
I was thinking of sandal for 3 down and then got Sunday. I’ve not heard of Rose Sunday either
Lapsed Catholic and longtime church musician here: As PeterO pointed out, there are actually two Rose Sundays: Laetare Sunday (fourth Sunday in Lent, better known as Mothering Sunday) and Gaudete Sunday (third Sunday in Advent). The term derives from the liturgical color that is used (in place of the usual color for that liturgical season) for vestments and hangings on those days. The candle in an Advent wreath which represents the third Sunday is pink (as opposed to purple, like the others) for the same reason.
Thanks to Matilda for a really enjoyable puzzle, and to PeterO for the blog.
Thanks Matilda and blogger.
I’m another for whom Rose Sunday was new despite a Catholic upbringing and marriage. Lately it has become an option to break the fast on all the Sundays.
Another for whom ROSE SUNDAY was a NHO, but Wikipedia was very helpful. and then the L&S on ‘breakfast’ dawned and aha!
I got BODY PARTS before any of them. I had LOBES as a guess as part of a ‘breather’, but I was looking for a whole answer as another word for LUNG(S)
Like so many others, I was unaware of Rose Sunday. Apropos de rien, many people, even lovers of Victor Hugo, may be equally unaware that the first Sunday after Easter is known as Quasimodo Sunday.