A typically enjoyable puzzle from the ever-reliable Picaroon. I made rather a slow start on this but it all worked out very satisfyingly in the end. Thanks to Picaroon.
| Across | ||||||||
| 1 | HUNGER‑STRIKER | One with good cause to be a fare dodger? (6-7) An extended cryptic definition, with “fare” referring to food |
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| 10 | INTUITION | Home schooling makes sense (9) IN (home) + TUITION |
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| 11 | INTEL | Low-down beam, large only at one end (5) LINTEL with only one of the surrounding Ls |
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| 12 | DEUCE | Devil of a stalemate in court (5) Double definition |
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| 13 | EMERGENCY | Info caught in material on file reveals crisis (9) GEN (information) + C[aught] in EMERY |
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| 14 | EXHIBIT | Old AC/DC popular song covers in show (7) EX (old) + BI (bi-sexual, AC/DC) in HIT (popular song) |
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| 16 | TRACHEA | Group of motorists with articles about gas pipe? (7) RAC (Royal Automobile Club) in THE A (definite and indefinite articles) |
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| 18 | SOD’S LAW | Why things go wrong in ground cabbage dish (4,3) SOD (earth, ground) + SLAW |
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| 20 | COSTARD | Ace fish wraps in cooker (7) STAR (ace) in COD – a costard is a variety of cooking apple |
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| 21 | IN THE LOOP | Knowing where to spend a penny, then another (2,3,4) IN THE LOO (where to “spend a penny”) + P (another penny) |
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| 23 | OUTDO | Better soldiers leaving in the open air (5) OUTDOOR less OR (Other Ranks, soldiers) |
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| 24 | INDRI | Primate seized by bird, nimbly from behind (5) Hidden in reverse of bIRD NImbly. The indri is a type of lemur |
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| 25 | WAISTLINE | Ordered a wine list — it’s sizable for gourmands (9) (A WINE LIST)* – referring to a gourmand being a greedy person, rather than one with “a discerning appreciation of good food and wine”, which might not necessarily lead to a large waistline |
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| 26 | BREAK ONE’S WORD | How to make new doors fail test of reliability (5,4,4) If you BREAK (i.e. rearrange) ONE’S WORD you get “new doors” |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 2 | UNTOUCHED | Little nude cavorts around virgin (9) TOUCH (a little) in NUDE* |
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| 3 | GUISE | Outspoken men making an appearance (5) Homophone of “guys” |
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| 4 | RAIMENT | Pierre’s really ditching very dated clothes (7) VRAIMENT (French “truly”, “really”) less V – “dated” because it’s an old word for clothes |
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| 5 | TANGENT | Touching line from male who’s been on sunbed? (7) The man on the sunbed might be a TAN GENT |
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| 6 | ISINGLASS | Fishy product occupies schooner, say (9) IS IN GLASS (e.g. a schooner) – familiar from “The Surrey With the Fringe on Top”: “With isinglass curtains y’ can roll right down, In case there’s a change in the weather.” |
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| 7 | ELTON | John Bull’s back in wealthy English institution (5) Last letter of bulL in ETON (wealthy school, or school for the wealthy) |
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| 8 | KINDRED SPIRIT | Nice wine and a lot of hard liquor for someone like me (7,6) KIND (nice) + RED (wine) + most of SPIRIT[s] |
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| 9 | PLAY HARD TO GET | Tease in literary work, not easily understood (4,4,2,3) PLAY (literary work) + HARD TO GET (not easily understood) |
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| 15 | BALLERINA | Dancers here are in dances — she may be one of them (9) BALL (where dancers are found) + (ARE IN)* |
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| 17 | HEALTHIER | Try to keep lithe, training to be so? (9) LITHE* in HEAR (to try, as in a court) |
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| 19 | WHO’S WHO | Promoters of health resort show influencers here (4,3) WHO (World Health Organisation) + SHOW* |
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| 20 | CAPSIZE | Flip over how big an accessory is? (7) CAP SIZE – a cap can be a clothing accessory |
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| 22 | TUDOR | Henry’s house party in revolutionary groove (5) DO (party) in reverse of RUT; the royal house of King Henrys VII and VIII |
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| 23 | ON TOW | Where nail may be caught, getting pulled (2,3) Homophone of “on toe” |
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Slow but steady going. 23dn was LOI because for some reason I missed ‘caught’ as meaning a homophone.
I loved this: I thought there were some really good clues, except for one.
In 12a, assuming “stalemate in court” refers to tennis, then that is not what DEUCE is. A stalemate is “a situation in which neither side in an argument or contest can win or in which no progress is possible” (Collins). Deuce in tennis is a temporarily drawn score that acts as a launching point for a 2-point game win. So it’s quite unlike a stalemate. (Unless I’ve misunderstood something, always possible.)
Challenging and enjoyable to solve.
New for me: INDRI (lemur), COSTARD (cooking apple).
Favourites: KINDRED SPIRIT, DEUCE, RAIMENT, TANGENT, ISINGLASS, INTEL, CAPSIZE (loi).
Thanks, both.
I had the opposite experience to our blogger with a very fast start: no idea why I twigged the cryptic def for HUNGER STRIKER but I did. And then nothing from any of those delicious starting letters for all the down clues. Nothing. Oddly enough, the acrosses kept solving so I was left with quite an odd looking grid – into which I was then able to insert the rest with COSTARD last one in (saying to myself ‘it’s an apple but I can’t see how it’s a ….. Doh!’)
Picaroon on top form today, rather like his recent Prize. I loved TRACHEA, EMERGENCY, DEUCE and SOD’S LAW from the horizontals, RAIMENT, ELTON, BALLERINA and WHO’S WHO from the verticals. Andrew used the word satisfyingly: I’d echo a huge feeling of satisfaction right through this solve.
Thanks to Picaroon and Andrew
Advantage Dr. WhatsOn @2
+1 for SOD’S LAW and RAIMENT.
Thanks Picaroon and Andrew
Indra was a nho while costard and isinglass have appeared before, I think, but too far back to help. So, there was a bit of biff and a bit of guess and check going on. Lots of neat ones from the pirate today, like 1, 11, 12 and 18 across, and 2, 8 and 19 down but, really, no moans about any of them, though I’d say in rather than on tow.. hardly a quiblettino. Thanks P and A.
Similar thoughts to Dr W @2 re DEUCE, but I kind of accepted it in the end with the justification that when, for example, the umpire calls ‘Deuce!’ for the nineteenth time in a game, it certainly feels like a stalemate.
Andrew, there’s a C (caught) missing in the parsing for 13a. Many thanks to you and Picaroon.
Yes no you’re right about 12a, Dr. Wh @2. I started thinking oo as in nil-all, which is probably why deuce slid by the eyebrow.
“Nice wine” for “vin” was not to be, for a change – quite fooled by Picaroon.
Isinglass certainly not familiar to me from your quote, but I know it from its use in wine clarification.
Thanks for the blog, Andrew, and Picaroon for an enjoyable, steady solve.
Thanks Picaroon and Andrew
Easier than usual for a Picaroon, but still entertaining. I was sure 8d would start VIN too, Dave. Also held up on a couple of parsings, though they eventually gave in – I thought 18a was ODS inside SLAW, and 20 OST inside CARD (for “ace”), though that would have needed a DBE indicator.
Wouldn’t a man on a sunbed be a tanned gent, rather than tan gent?
There will probably be comments that knowing the French for “really” (I thought it was “truly”, in fact) is above and beyond in an English crossword – not from me, though, as I did remember it from school French.
Favourite ISINGLASS.
I thought this was excellent, and full of wit. It was puzzles like this that got me hooked all those years ago.
I was another expecting 8D to begin “vin” and the truth was slow to dawn. Thanks to Andrew for explaining EMERGENCY – the emery board didn’t come to me. I was another who couldn’t quite equate deuce with stalemate, but it wasn’t really a problem.
I particularly liked PLAY HARD TO GET, BREAK ONE’S WORD, and COSTARD.
The final crossing pair of INTEL/ELTON delayed my completion slightly.
I look forward to crossing swords with Picaroon again soon.
Wouldn’t “Much married monarch” or similar have been fairer (though less cryptic) than “Henry” in 22d? Six of our Henrys weren’t Tudors.
Also for 12a, though this may be put into the ‘latte is not coffee’ class of quibble both for frequency and futility, ‘in court’ is not same as ‘on court’, however many setters pretend it is.
The ones you don’t get always seem like the best clues afterwards: 26a today, rats
Thanks to Picaroon, Andrew
When you get to the tenth deuce in a game you might start agreeing with the esteemed Pirate.
Cracking puzzle JB
Very nice: thanks Picaroon and Andrew. I didn’t remember (v)RAIMENT from school French, but I should have, so I’m not complaining – and I thought 8d was going to be VIN something, too. Failed to parse EMERGENCY apart from the GEN bit, or EXHIBIT which I thought was INHABIT for some reason. All the long ones were good fun, especially the fare dodger: also IN THE LOOP, BALLERINA, SODS LAW and ELTON.
COSTARD is a very old name for a big apple (didn’t know it was specifically a cooking apple) which gives us the word for a London barrow-boy: the COSTARD-monger or costermonger.
In addition to DEUCE, there’s a few other things that might be heard in SW19: INtel, OUTdo, IN the loop, waistLINE, BREAK one’s word, PLAY hard to get, BALLerina.
I agree with James @13, 26a was my LOI but it’s brilliant! I found so many of the clues really witty and clever. Slow start, with nothing on my first read through, but then 1a and 2d and 5d came right away on my second, then slower but managed to fill the upper eastern side before having a break. NHO Indri but it was in the clue. Thought deuce and guise both rather clever despite dictionary definition. I think Americans say ‘tan’ meaning tanned. All in all great fun, thanks Picaroon and Andrew.
This took a while today to get going and to start with I had INTEL and very little else. I even struggled over the longer phrases which are normally my way in.
ISINGLASS was a DNK and needed help; INDRI was a DNK but cluing was very clear. In fact, with Andrew’s parsing, everything is clear but it certainly wasn’t at 7.15 this morning!
Thanks Picaroon and Andrew!
Another lovely puzzle from Picaroon.
I’m sure you’re right re DEUCE, Dr WhatsOn @2 but it didn’t occur to me when solving and it certainly doesn’t spoil it for me.
My other favourites were HUNGER-STRIKER, SOD’S LAW, IN THE LOOP, BREAK ONE’S WORD, RAIMENT KINDRED SPIRIT and ISINGLASS (I can’t possibly resist giving you this link to the ‘quote’, Dave @9).
Many thanks to Picaroon for the usual fun and Andrew for the usual fine blog.
Thanks Picaroon and Andrew
Bunging a perfectly-parsing WEIGHT-WATCHER in 1A as soon as I looked at it meant the top half took a great deal longer than it should have.
Just when cryptic skies are gloomiest, along comes a ray of light to make it all seem worthwhile. I enjoyed everything about this puzzle, with almost each hard-won clue providing a chuckle.
The four exterior longies were each a delight in their own right – especially BREAK ONE’S WORD. Working through the interior, TRACHEA, IN THE LOOP, RAIMENT & ISINGLASS were among the many noteworthy, right down to LOI (COSTARD) – having bunged-in the latter I stared long and hard for the definition, until the final ‘duh’ moment.
Thanks very much Picaroon – I suspect we are KINDRED SPIRITS, and I shall remember this puzzle almost as long as I’ll remember Eleanor Bron.
Nicely spotted Penfold @16. There are more INs than OUTs: as well as INtel and IN the loop, there’s INtuition and INdri (plus a few hidden INs in kindred, ballerina, isinglass, waistline). Coincidence? Maybe, but I’d guess not, with your examples. MURRAY with a fringe on top would have settled it.
A thought on stalemate: does the situation have to be permanent or can it be temporary? The Somme has been described as a stalemate and yet it was eventually resolved. Negotiations between employers and unions have frequently reached stalemate (or impasse or deadlock) and yet, eventually, move forward.
If I may use a football cliche, this was a game of two halves for me. With the bottom complete, I had to do some chores before the top finally came together. As has been said, this was a great cryptic with lots of tough but satisfying clues. 3dn wasLOI as I missed the obvious homophone for far too long. Thanks to P and A.
[Thanks Eileen@19 Whilst I have heard this song many times, I have never really listened to it. The diction is good, apart from this one quote, and if I hadn’t been prompted to it I am sure I would never have made it out. Did they really make curtains from fish bladders?]
Re ISINGLASS: having looked it up, it has two meanings, the fish-bladder stuff and “thin transparent sheets of the mineral mica (US)” which is what the surrey curtains must have been.
INDRI my first one in! — familiar from David Attenborough’s TV documentaries about Madagascar fauna.
muffin @10 I think TAN GENT refers to his colour rather than his degree of bronzage
Thanks to Picaroon for a lovely puzzle, which I found to be easier than average – most probably due to the solver-friendly 4x perimeter lights in this grid.
@Simon S…I’m not sure how “weight-watcher” would parse
@James BUT LATTE ISN’T COFF*shot rings out*
Terrific puzzle; the pirate goes from strength to strength. Like others, I made a slowish start but thoroughly enjoyed the challenge. My favourites have mostly been mentioned, but HUNGER STRIKE, TRACHEA and WAISTLINE raised a smile. INDRI and COSTARD were NHOs for me, but gettable from the wordplay, which is entirely as it should be. Thanks indeed to Picaroon and Andrew.
[Andrew Re 25d: isn’t the GOURMET the one with “a discerning appreciation of good food and wine”?]
Thanks anyway for the blog – despite having been doing cryptics for longer than I care to remember, even if I manage to complete one with the help of the check button and word searches, there’ll always be some I still can’t parse. And thanks to Picaroon, too, for the brain workout!
Pleasantly piratical puzzle with far too many good clues to enumerate.
Like Dave Ellison @9 I was convinced at first that ‘Nice wine’ was VIN – the crossing letter I seemed to confirm it. Was this a deliberate ploy by Picaroon? Se non è vero è molto ben trovato.
LOI for me was RAIMENT – with a groan when the sou dropped!
Thanks Picaroon and Andrew
The use of ISINGLASS in wine production made the clue for 6d even better, I thought. My mistaken search for cooking apples when cooker appeared in a Paul puzzle recently bore fruit today.
I knew “VIN” would be a red herring-I saw HUNGER STRIKER straight away but thought it too good to be true and didnt enter it until I had some crossers-such is the nature of CDs.
I also had WEIGHT-WATCHER for a long time. It parses nearly as well as HUNGER-STRIKER, since they both have reason to avoid food. The ‘good cause’ part tips the argument in favour of the latter, I concede.
Muffin @12: very good point about our Henrys. We’re so used to referring to your “much married” one as Henry Tudor, that we overlook the others.
I, too, was queasy about DEUCE. Game, set and match to DrW I’d say.
Most elegant puzzle from the KINDRED SPIRIT. Many thanks both.
Like many others, this was a slow start but a very satisfying solve of a super puzzle.
I’ve got many ticked, too many really, but here they are anyway: EMERGENCY, EXHIBIT, INTEL, TANGENT, PLAY HARD TO GET, RAIMENT, ELTON and WHO’S WHO. I agree with PM @23, that stalemates don’t have to be permanent, so I think Picaroon is off the hook. Unfortunately, mrpenney might get stuck on (v)RAIMENT with his self-acknowledged lack of French, but he might be cheered by being referenced (twice) in IN THE LOOP!
Thanks to Picaroon for a dazzling crossword and Andrew for a comprehensive blog.
Thanks for the blog. Is INTEL actually a word ? My Chambers is probably out of date here.
ISINGLASS is an old favourite of setters, must work with certain letter combinations that turn up, nicely clued here.
Roz @38 Chambers App has it as “military slang”
Thank you , my Chambers 93 is a bit out of date. I suppose low-down is sort of slang to go with it.
Personally, I found this quite a struggle at first, but one by one the lightbulbs popped on, and I found myself thoroughly enjoying the experience. Last two in were COSTARD (nice with lashings of Custard) and the sneaky GUILE…thanks to Picaroon and Andrew
[Gladys @26: Ah! Thank you for pointing out the use of ISINGLASS for Mica in the US! I knew I’d heard the word before but couldn’t associate it with fish and it turns out that a VERY old valve-based power amplifier (that’s ‘tubes’ for Americans) I once had used ‘isinglass capacitors’ which are what would be known now as mica capacitors, mostly using muscovite mica. Which just goes to prove that I didn’t know either of the usages thereby making me doubly thick!]
Dandy puzzle. I got the last six this morning without “check” or “reveal.”
18a Sod’s Law is unknown in the US — it’s Murphy’s Law here.
We also don’t have the verbal distinction between cookers and eaters, though we certainly use both — the quintessential American dish would be impossible without the latter!
Thanks for parsing OUTDO, Andrew. I missed the subtraction, even though I’ve learned OR from these blogs. And thanks for the Oklahoma! reference, Andrew and Eileen — I know bits of the songs but not that bit, apparently. And the only thing I know about isinglass is that people used to store eggs in it — it didn’t sound like something you could make into curtains. Thanks to commenters for the clarification on that one.
I’ve never heard ON TOW, and resisted it for a long time. I’ve only ever hears “In tow.”
Top class as we’ve come to expect from Picaroon. I also went down the VINTAGE route to start with and was pleased with myself for spotting the 26a reverse anagram or whatever this device is called. Lots of ticks for me – I don’t think GUISE has got a mention yet.
Many thanks to Picaroon and Andrew.
[Whenever I hear DEUCE it reminds me of this .]
[Oops. The link should be ]
[https://youtu.be/FL44WaVRkgE]
Interesting that GinF and Valentine would use “in tow”. It’s always “on tow” in England (and presumably Britain). That’s what the sign hung on the back always says!
Indri have the most amazing song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DseB-6pp0t8
[Chris Jobson
Square brackets sometimes interfere with links – better not to use them (or leave spaces after and before them) when posting links.]
Valentine @ 43 do you not mean cookers for your apple pie ? Do you get Bramleys ? The finest fruit in creation.
Thanks Andrew, I had the same initial experience as PostMark@4 and the same endgame as Times Refugee@11, these sandwiching a lot of tricky but very fair (and in some cases eg INDRI generous) clues which puts me in general agreement with the gang, though on reflection I do sympathise with the DEUCE stalemate and in vs on court, and am lucky that (like yesterday) I had just enough GK but not too much, for TUDOR in this case. I keep meaning to start brewing my own beer and my CAMRA book of classic ale recipes makes frequent mention of ISINGLASS or that would have been impossible. My first stab at 8D was VINTAGE SETTER (Etter is a big producer of schnapps etc round here) which I thought was a bit big-headed of Picaroon so am glad it was way off – thanks for a great puzzle, my favourite WHO’S WHO.
[ Andy@49: that sound brings back memories of a holiday in Devon: the little Shaldon Zoo specialises in lemurs, and that call echoed for miles across the Teign Estuary.]
gladys @26
Long ago, I wondered what the “isinglass curtains” in Oklahoma were: the gelatin-like ‘fishy product’ of 6D would, I take it, be brittle when dry and lose all strength when wet; and the mica is not sufficiently flexible to “roll right down”. This clue prompted me to do a little digging – at least, to consult Wikipedia. They go for the mica, not as an entire window but as a peephole in a flexible waterproof blind.
eileen @19
A suitable parsing for your link would be I SING, LASS.
Waking up to see some discussions that in certain tennis matches a long series of deuces seems like a stalemate (I sympathise), I thought I’d dust off my mathematics degrees and see how often that happens. Well actually what I did was calculate, all things being equal, if there is a deuce what is the expected number of subsequent deuces (in that game). The answer is 2. Not very stalematey!
Very nice puzzle from Picaroon, but isn’t ‘a lot of’ superfluous in the clue for 8D? Thanks to our blogger, especially for parsing RAIMENT. It’s a long time since my French O-level, but I did get a grade A pass so disappointing that I missed that one despite a few minutes staring at it.
BigNorm @ 56. ‘hard liquor’ is SPIRITS, so ‘a lot of’ triggers the removal of the final S.
BigNorm @56
I wondered about “a lot of” too, but I reckoned that if you are referring to hard liquor, “spirits” is less ambiguous than “spirit”.
Just another suggestion for Deuce. In French it is egalite with an acute accent on the final e.
So perhaps Picaroon could have used equality instead of stalemate.
But who am I to quibble with such a great setter!
Thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours thanks to Picaroon
PeterO @54
I’ve just done some digging and found
Goliath (Philistine) 2015: Carol, girl supporting compiler, gets some jelly (9)
Brummie 2013: Brummie squeals, “Miss Gelatine”
Chifonie 2008: I inform against woman, thus clearing agent.
Most of the other examples took the schooner route.
[Valentine @43: Eggs used to be stored in waterglass (sodium silicate solution) rather than ISINGLASS (gelatine from the swim bladders of sturgeons)]
Thanks Dr W @55. That sounds about right, but I wonder if your calculation method takes account of psychological effects, eg the ‘absolutely-got-to-win-this-point’ feeling when your opponent has break-point against you?
Btw the record number of deuces in a game is thirty-seven.
HUNGER-STRIKER was among my last few solved, having suffered a brain freeze. CDs are either dead easy or totally impossible, and though I recognised the hint of ‘fare’, I was stuck for some time with SUPPER!
Then I managed to get stuck on 7d and 11a as well – I had ELSAN (‘institution’=sanitorium=SAN) for the former, but didn’t write it in as ‘wealthy’ was left dangling. Had to resort to the check button to finally get rid of the idea, so a DNF by my standards.
Gutted to see that Maiden Bartok had INTEL as first in, but some consolation to find myself in the company of Times Refugee also struggling with those two at the end.
Thanks to Picaroon, Andrew and commenters.
Thanks Andrew, and Picaroon.
Imogen in March ’21 had: Fish product, ready to drink (9)
Ilippu @64 – yes, as I said @60, there have been several IS IN GLASS parsings.
Excellent puzzle! Having just graduated from 30 years of Everyman reprinted in our local rag I’m like a kid in a toy shop with all the online options. Along with a few GK gaps the only parsing device I wasn’t too familiar with was in the very clever 26 so this is about the right level. Any pointers as to other puzzles / setters I should explore?
Hello Paul, I learnt with Everyman myself quite a few years ago now. Most Guardian setters are fairly friendly these days. Try Nutmeg yesterday and Vulcan on Monday, both a bit easier than today.
Cheers Roz. I’ll give them a go. Hear there’s a game on over there so didn’t expect such a prompt response.
Hi Paul @ 66, if you’re still there
Welcome to the site if you’re new – and my apologies if I’ve missed your name so far and you’re not.
I’d say that, if the only stickler you had today was the tricky 26ac, from one of our top setters,, you’re doing pretty well and should carry on trying the wide variety of puzzles on offer and visiting the blog if you’re stuck.
All the best – and looking forward to hearing from you again. 😉
Crossed – sorry!
Another WEIGHT-WATCHER here. When I got the real answer my initial reaction was that hunger strikers don’t always represent a good (as in noble or moral) cause – quite the opposite sometimes – then it dawned that “good cause” can mean “well-defined reason”. That sorted, I went on to enjoy this superb puzzle which was one of Picaroon’s best – and he’s set the bar high for some time. This is a setter on storming form and his puzzles are a joy to solve.
Paul, Tutukaka @68
Welcome to this corner of fifteensquared.
As an Everyman blogger, the name is quite familiar. For those who do not know, there has long been a thriving community of New Zealanders on the Everyman thread (although a good number of them are none too happy with the new setter). As Paul says, the puzzles are reprinted – three weeks or so after they appear in the Observer, so few people see their comments, apart from themselves and the bloggers. Go back to any Everyman blog over a month old, and you may see for yourself.
Roz @51 We make apple pie from what we call cooking apples, though they aren’t marketed as such. Never seen Bramleys over here, or costard or Cox’s orange pippin either — those are all exotica that people have in books. Our principle cooking apple is the Granny Smith, or as the French call it, Granit Smith. (They’re hard, but not that hard.) Also recommended are Rome, Jonathan and Northern Spy.
Thanks for the warm welcomes Eileen & PeterO. The NZ Herald has slipped to 6 weeks behind the times now which was the final theprompt for my great leap forward in time & technology. For me the ‘new’ Everyman’s departure from his/her rather formulaic predecessor has expanded my solving toolkit which makes these puzzles less intimidating. This site has been a great help too and I’m pleased that with this puzzle (unlike Everyman) I didn’t have to wait a week for the blog. Thanks again, Paul.
I thought fare dodger very clever. Also, I misread stalemate as “statement” so “deuce” not controversial at all as the umpire announces it. Haha.
Thanks Picaroon and Andrew.
Paul@68 yes we have this game where men chase a ball around and fall over and start squabbling.
I do not know why the umpire does not give them a ball each, have they never had to deal with toddlers ?
Enjoy your crosswords, I will look out for your name in the Everyman Blog.
Valentine@73 Granny Smith is my favourite eating apple, never cook with it, ours are small and hard and very dark green.
Bramleys are a very large apple, twice the size of normal. Pretty sour, never used for eating, perfect for apple pie or crumble, no added sugar.
It’s generally accepted that the medieval “costard” apple, whatever it was like, no longer exists in cultivation.
[Roz@77 Granny Smiths are much too sour for me, though they hold up well when cooked. My preferred flavor is in the Macintosh-Cortland-Gravenstein range. Macintosh is widely known; the other two are local — well, probably regional — varieties centered respectively in upstate New York and California .]
Valentine @79 I prefer a sour apple , we also get Cox apples which are sour when in season. We do get Macintosh Red apples but too sweet for me.
Gladys @ 78, very interesting but perhaps not surprising , I have heard that many varieties have died out. I read once that all the Bramley trees come from just one tree that was in someone’s garden.
muffin @ 58 I just saw liquor=spirit and couldn’t work out what “a lot of hard” was doing there. I’m sort of satisfied with liquor = spirits, plural but it doesn’t have to be. The “hard” is surely only necessary in America isn’t it?