Another round with our one-eyed friend.
This one didn’t put up much of a fight.
For a change I solved it in the mag itself, with a pencil, and thoroughly enjoyed it and got into the swing of solving.
Indeed I think I solved it in one pass this time (I’m sure I hadn’t read the clue to 27A before attempting it, my only doubt is whether I had more than one go at earlier clues, in particular after getting more crossing letters). If so it’s something I haven’t managed for a very, very long time. These days I usually solve on the computer and make notes as I go so it is clear where I attempt and fail to solve.
The only notes I made here were: 1 first, 27 last
This must have been constructed recently judging by the reference to Biden’s visit in 6D Indestructible.
I will nominate 17D Loophole as my favourite clue – I’ve been waiting for Looe to be used in wordplay for years
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | STRIP | Band wanting sex and drug experience (5) S[ex] TRIP (drug experience) |
| 4 | ADDICTIVE | Like drugs? Dicky did when on the go outside (9) (DID)* AInd: dicky, inside ACTIVE (on the go) |
| 10 | UNDERLINED | Stressed – but showing less than your fair share of wrinkles? (10) Double Definition with the second a bit cryptic |
| 11 | GORY | Bloody work – royalty disheartened (4) GO (work) R[oyalt]Y |
| 12 | CLERIC | Minister‘s corrupt circle (6) (CIRCLE)* AInd: corrupt. |
| 13 | ENSHROUD | Hours wasted in final cover up (8) (HOURS)* AInd: wasted, inside END (final) |
| 14 | MALIGN | Put in line following Macron’s lead – which is rubbish (6) M[acron] ALIGN (put in line). Definition is in the verbal sense |
| 15 | REPOSE | Have a lie-down … er, to get round model (6) ER< POSE (model) |
| 18 | GOVERN | What Boris is supposed to do with one of his ministers – rotten, gutless (6) GOVE (one of his ministers – currently nowhere to be seen) R[otte]N |
| 19 | VACATE | Hoover put away – clear off (6) VAC (hoover, slang for vacuum cleaner) ATE (put away) |
| 21 | OPEN-PLAN | ‘Love cage’ project for a possible house layout (4-4) O (Love) PEN (cage) PLAN (project) |
| 23 | IGNORE | Disregard Italian bloke, going topless (6) [s]IGNORE (Italian bloke, topless) |
| 24 | SOAP | Get into a lather when a fool grabs Obama’s top (4) O[bama] inside SAP (fool) |
| 25 | DISCLAIMER | Hell! Declaration by Brenda amounts to refusal to accept responsibility (10) DIS (hell) CLAIM (Declaration) ER (Brenda) |
| 26 | WELL MEANT | Weak politician welcomes all men, perhaps, with the best of intentions (4-5) (ALL MEN)* AInd: perhaps, inside WET (Weak politician) |
| 27 | FLASH | Expose member, ‘Gordon’? (5) Double Definition, the second ref. Flash Gordon |
| Down | ||
| 2 | TINKLE | A peer makes one phone call (6) Double Def. |
| 3 | INEBRIATE | One beer ain’t affecting a piss-artist (9) (I BEER AINT)* AInd: affecting |
| 5 | DUNGEON | Shit! Long time lockdown sufferer’s dark place (7) DUNG (shit) EON (long time) |
| 6 | INDESTRUCTIBLE | Boris’s description of a certain special relationship: “upset bride with insult, etc” (14) (BRIDE INSULT ETC)* AInd: upset. A recent reference: Guardian news article |
| 7 | TIGER | Golfer makes great start getting into row (5) G[reat] inside TIER (row) |
| 8 | VIRTUOSO | Pathetic suitor crushed by very round master (8) (SUITOR)* AInd: pathethic, inside (crushed by) V[ery] O (round) |
| 9 | ELECTION PLEDGE | Broken, once in office? Choice president’s first step (8,6) ELECTION (choice) P[resident] LEDGE (step) |
| 16 | POTENTIAL | Note: it somehow enters China as a possibility (9) (NOTE IT)* AInd: somehow, inside PAL (China – CRS: China plate / mate) |
| 17 | LOOPHOLE | Prince on vacation in West Country resort – a means of evasion (8) P[rince] HOL (vacation) inside LOOE (West Country resort) |
| 19 | VENISON | Steven is on-screen – in possession of a joint? (7) Hidden (in possession of) in SteVEN IS ON-screen |
| 20 | BRIEFS | Underwear items – they don’t make a big statement (6) Double Def. |
| 22 | NEPAL | Writer standing up against a large kingdom (5) PEN< (write, standing up) A L[arge] |
Bloke, lost in the wilderness, stumbles into a camp.
“God! I’m glad to find you!” he said. “I’ve been lost for three days.”
“Don’t get your hopes up” the chap at the campfire replied. “I’ve been lost for three weeks.”
Thanks for the blog, fairly straightforward but if you did it in one pass that is impressive. Do you mean all the across and then all the down on first reading ?
I got about half of each doing them in order then attacked each corner so two passes really.
Can’t seem to find any clues that are dubious or any particularly nice, all much of a muchness this week.
What I call “first pass” is certainly not cold solving all clues!
“First pass” ends when I have attempted the last clue (I generally put a dot by a clue attempted). That could happen in any order, it mostly depends upon the clues solved. Starting with the clues that deliver the most first letters – 1A in this grid. I then attempt clues where I have a first letter, if not that then clues where there are most crossing letters. In many ways the easiest next step. Also, (this is probably the crucial point) when I get more crossing letters to clues I have already attempted I will have another go at them. Essentially, anything goes till I dot the last clue. I find this a natural order of solving.
I did try to stop myself trying clues I already dotted but found that takes away the pleasure of solving, and anyway I cannot stop myself thinking about them again.
Yes I see, still pretty impressive. I am totally opposite, every across clue in order and then every down clue in order without looking at the grid, Then anything goes.
I’m letting it go, but I expect to see a letter in Pedants’ Corner next issue about 22D.
Nepal stopped being a Kingdom back in 2008.
Kingdoms were run my kings
I guess its now a country.
It must be about time I got modded!
Thanks beermagnet and Cyclops. It’s guaranteed that if you found it an easy one, I had struggled with it. Got there in the end and after solving some clues I couldn’t see why I found them so tricky. 10a was my favourite and I liked 29d as a hidden clue.
Struggled a little to begin with on this one, brain didn’t seem to want to engage, but got started in bottom right corner and worked backwards from there. The INDESTRUCTIBLE FLASH definitely helped me, would appear that Gordon is indeed still alive.
I adopt the Roz approach but suffer accordingly. My first pass gave me only five clues. My ‘anything goes’ next step yielded 21 and I needed a second session to blast off the final 7. But I got there and liked Tinkle the best.
But why does DIS=HELL?
DIS is from Dante’s Inferno, one or maybe several circles of Hell. Turns up quite often, probably because Dis appears in a lot of words.
Thank you!!!!
I actually thought this was pretty difficult, but perfectly logical.
I agree, Tinkle is best and I’ve only just got it! (The explanation, that is, I got the answer.)
Underworld regiion almost in Norfolk(3)
I always go straight through the clues trying each in order first time. I used to try and read through every clue without attempting to solve them, just filling in any write-ins, to appreciate the surfaces. Second pass would be a serious attempt to solve each in turn. After that it was wherever the chances looked best. These days I start at step two to save time, but I still sometimes go through them all in order twice before free-styling.
In 26ac LLMEAN is only just an anagram of ‘all men’: the A just shifts a few places.
Had to giggle when I realized how to pronounce “peer” in 2dn.
I loved 12ac, CLERIC. It’s a clue that’s so good you think someone must have thought of it before. (Not trying to suggest Cyclops didn’t think it up independently.)
Copmus @5&6 … or grew up!
My mum was evacuated to DISS in the war. Later we used to visit the family there when I was a kid. On the way there, we never tired of making jokes about Diss and dat.
I have thought about changing my approach for Azed, look at connecting entries to any solutions I enter, Having letters is more important for Azed. It is the only crossword I time myself and I seem to have hit a plateau.
Pajodr @4 — there is indeed a mention of Nepal in the Eye’s Summer Pedantry Special.
Just started doing eye crossword….what does alnd mean in your answers…
AInd = Anagram Indicator (a.k.a. anagrind).
U.S. solver here, got 2D by sheer guesswork, but can’t understand the double definition.
Hi Originalph – all UK slang (always interesting to know what has made it over to you and vice versa): to pee = to urinate so a peer is one who pees, the sound thus produced being commonly known as a tinkle (I suppose onomatopoeia – to go for a tinkle is thus to go for a pee), and tinkle is also colloquially used as a synonym for a phone call (Give me a call/Give me a bell/Give me a tinkle) presumably from the old ringing tone. Probably not so common these days in the era of smartphones. So if a UK friend asks you to give him/her a tinkle it is almost certainly the second sense being used although this may depend on the precise nature of your relationship. Hope this clears it up.
Thanks beermagnet, apart from TINKLE I thought GOVERN was a nice Eye clue.
@Gazzh, NOW it makes sense. Urine my A-list of clue elucidators!