A fun puzzle from Buccaneer
This was a fairly quick solve, with a good mix of clues and just the right amount of general knowledge to keep me entertained.
Short of time this morning, so apologies for the short commentary, but I have made a couple of comments in the entries below.
Thanks, Buccaneer.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SCREAM |
Second best comedian (6)
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S (second) + CREAM ("best") |
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| 5 | UPPERCUT |
Drug getting diluted is blow (8)
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UPPER ("drug") getting CUT ("diluted") |
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| 9 | PUT-UP JOB |
Accommodate long-suffering figure in scam (3-2,3)
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PUT UP ("accommodate") + JOB ("long-suffering figure" in the Bible) |
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| 10 | REPORT |
Some journalism on the left (6)
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RE ("on") + PORT ("the left") |
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| 11 | ULSTER |
What’s hidden by mogul’s terrific old coat (6)
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Hidden in "mogULS TERrific" |
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| 12 | IDEALIST |
Dreamy sort’s appeal drawing in excited ladies (8)
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IT ("appeal") drawing in *(ladies) [anag:excited] |
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| 14 | BROWNIE POINT |
Cake and ale, eating doughnut for reward (7,5)
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BROWNIE ("cake") + PINT ("ale") eating O (doughnut) A British term for an imaginary social currency gained for doing something good for someone. In the case of a married man, these are definitely imaginary as no matter how many you earn, they can immediately be wiped out by one careless remark!) |
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| 18 | REDECORATION |
Colour green helping makeover (12)
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RED ("colour") + ECO ("green") + RATION ("helping") |
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| 22 | IMMODEST |
Setter’s two different ways to be brash (8)
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I'M ("setter's") + MODE + St. (street) (MODE and STREET are "two different ways") |
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| 25 | REVEAL |
Bare back in Prada party clothes (6)
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[back in] (prad)A clothed by REVEL ("party") |
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| 26 | IN CASE |
Where wine may be found, should the need arise (2,4)
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Double definition |
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| 27 | INTEREST |
Grab outfit from Milan and set off (8)
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INTER(nazionale) (football team, so "outfit" from Milan) and *(set) [anag:off] |
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| 28 | ESTIMATE |
Reckon one million’s invested in property (8)
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I (one) + M (million) invested in ESTATE ("property") |
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| 29 | SUSSEX |
“Dubious relations” is appellation given to Harry and Meghan (6)
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SUS (short for suspicious, so "dubious") + SEX ("relations") |
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| DOWN | ||
| 2 | COUPLE |
Join the French Revolution, at first (6)
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LE ("the" in "French") with COUP ("revolution") at first |
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| 3 | EQUITABLE |
Calm hosting information technology fair (9)
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EQUABLE ("calm") hosting IT (information technology) |
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| 4 | MAJOR-DOMO |
One serving PM, with party second (5-4)
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(John) MAJOR ("PM") with DO ("party") + MO ("second") |
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| 5 | UMBRIAN |
Old Italian – I’m not sure he wasn’t the Messiah (7)
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UM (a sound made while hesitating, so "I'm not sure") + BRIAN (who "wasn't the Messiah" in Monty Python's Life of Brian) |
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| 6 | PURSE |
Prize money in contract (5)
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Double definition (for the second, think of "pursing your lips") |
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| 7 | REPEL |
Drive back from Rochdale, perking up (5)
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Hidden backwards in [from…up] "rochdaLE PERking" |
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| 8 | UPRISING |
Mirabeau finally forcing a revolt (8)
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(Mirabea)U [finally] + PRISING ("forcing") |
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| 13 | AMP |
American legislator’s current measure (3)
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A (American) + MP (Member of Parliament, so "legislator") |
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| 15 | EMIGRATES |
Airline welcomes grand moves abroad (9)
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EMIRATES ("airline") welcomes G (grand) |
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| 16 | OMNIVORES |
More vino’s drunk – they put everything away! (9)
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*(more vinos) [anag:drunk] |
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| 17 | TERMINUS |
Perhaps American word for endpoint (8)
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TERM IN U.S. ("American word, perhaps") |
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| 19 | CAD |
Rogue in Conservative Party Political Broadcast, say (3)
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C (Conservative) + AD (advertisement so "party political broadcast, say") For the benefit of non-Brits, party political broadcasts are short TV advertisements extolling the virtues of a particular party (or more often these days, gainsaying the policies of a rival party) which can be shown at any time, but which become more common on the run up to an election. |
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| 20 | ASTAIRE |
Dancer’s picked up one-step? (7)
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Homophone of [picked up] A STAIR ("one step") |
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| 21 | LASSIE |
Film star in Hollywood area’s oddly suited (6)
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LA's ("Hollywood area's") + [oddly] S(u)I(t)E(d) Technically, Lassie is a film character, not a film star, as the dogs who played Lassie on film were actually called other names in real life, such as Pal, Boy, Lucas etc (even though Lassie was a bitch) |
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| 23 | OMANI |
European country’s out of bounds for Arab (5)
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(r)OMANI(a) ("European country" missing (out of) bounds (boundaries)) |
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| 24 | ENEMA |
English with last word about evacuation procedure (5)
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E (English) with <=AMEN ("last word" about) |
Thanks for the blog and lovely comments, BROWNIE POINTS are only awarded to husbands for the specific pleasure of taking them away later.
This was super, I did not like SUS but the rest is great.
Will just mention UMBRIAN from a long list of favourites. Brian was in fact a very naughty boy.
Great crossword. Being unmarried, I can happily accept all brickbats aimed at husbands. To paraphrase a philosophical conundrum “if a husband says something and his wife is not around to hear him – is he still wrong?”.
Super crossword – not as tricky as some Buccaneer outings but no less enjoyable for it.
OMNIVORES and PUT-UP JOB were ticks but my overall favourite was, like Fox’s, UMBRIAN.
Thanks Buccaneer and Loonapick for a wry blog.
Sorry Roz @1 (not Fox!)
Well, I enjoyed it, and wasn’t even aware it was having a dig at husbands.
Okay Diane , I quite like Fox , I presume it is the dreaded auto-correct thing.
Geoff @5 I think the comment of loonapick for 14AC was light-hearted as was mine @1
FWIW, we use the phrase “brownie points” similarly in the US.
At the lighter end of JBs spectrum but still full of goodies.
UPPERCUT was my fave as def was BLOW which is well known in Ali G circles (so I’m told)
I also liked SUSSEX
A fine day of puzzles
Thanks all
Another delightful Buccaneer, very welcome to me as I found yesterday’s Monk rather too strained, in its efforts to include ninas, a pangram etc. For me, today’s was ideal and almost every answer satisfying.
Late to the party – I’ve been out for most of the day – but had to add my appreciation. I’m sad that the FT puzzles don’t attract more comments.
Like others, I ticked PUT-UP JOB, BROWNIE POINTS, SUSSEX, OMNIVORES and, of course, the hilarious UMBRIAN. I also liked REDECORATION.
As copmus said, a fine day of puzzles.
Many thanks to Buccaneer and loonapick.
I do the FT later in the day and like Eileen feel they deserve more contributions, especially as many setters are the same as the G (and I). I enjoyed the BROWNIE POINT clue and comments – I’ve given up trying to earn them and just concentrate on staying out of the dog house :-). Thanks to Buccaneer and loonapick.
I’ve been fighting a losing battle on Brownie Points! My understanding is that the expression goes back to a 19th Century American railroad engineer called Brown who had a system of DEMERITS for dealing with infractions of his rules. Three Brownie Points and you were sacked! Therefore not a reward at all.
That was very satisfying, thanks Buccaneer. Favourites included UPPERCUT, UMBRIAN, and LASSIE but I don’t think there was a bad clue in the bunch.Thanks loonapick for parsing.
[Diane @4, Roz @6: I always disable autocorrect. The last straw was when my sister’s name “Maria” was changed to “mafia.” Italian-Americans continually battle being stereotyped as mobsters and we don’t need insults by autocorrect!]
Perhaps the FT actually has a proper crossword editor, standards are far more rigorously applied here. For example compare Io to Enigmatist .
[There is something even worse called auto complete on emails which actually adds words to sentences. I got our IT people to remove both or I would have snapped this Chrome book in half.]
Alan @12: I had remembered a similar story, but there is no support for it in my millennium edition copy of Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, which says: “The expression probably relates to brown-nose but has become popularly associated with the Brownies, and is thus often spelt with a capital letter.”
Eileen@10: We share your disappointment that FT puzzles don’t attract more comments – but OTOH having few comments means there’s more scope for us to add ours. Another puzzle blogged here regularly attracts up to 100 comments, sometimes more: what can one usefully add?
As to this puzzle, we found it tricky in places but completed it in the end. PUT-UP JOB and OMNIVORES were among our favourites. And we’d always thought BROWNIE POINTS was a reference to the Brownies (junior Girl Guides) or to the mythical creatures they’re named after. Our rather old edition of Brewer doesn’t even mention the expression so no help there.
Thanks to Buccaneer and loonapick.
Many thanks for the crossword Buccaneer as it was a lovely way to spend a bit of time on a cold, wet afternoon.
Eileen, and others, I always read the blog but I don’t always comment unless I feel there is something I need to lend a bit of weight to. The main problem being the crossword appears around noon here and the blog is usually not up when I check, so I read this with my breakfast coffee the next day. But I definitely appreciate the contributions others make.
And thanks for the blog Loonapick as there are often parsings of which I am unsure.
Pelham Barton @16. If you Google Brownie Points you will find quite a lot of discussion about its American railroad origin. All seems to me much more likely than the junior Girl Guides explanation?
Thanks Buccaneer and loonapick
This one spilt over a couple of days due to a couple of deadlines at work – still it didn’t take all that long in actual solve time. As enjoyable as always with the variety of devices, some neat charades and subtle definitions. Liked the humour in the surface of SUSSEX and the discussion here on the BROWNIE POINTS.
Didn’t end up seeing the parsing of REVEAL, although it looks so simple after the explanation.
Finished in the SW corner with OMANI (which I seen close variants before, so not sure why it was toward the end), TERMINUS (clever, and beggared myself a bit by initially having written in TERMINAL) and ESTIMATE (held up by that erroneous L).
I thought this was a delight from start to finish. Thank you to Buccaneer for the fun and to loonapick for unpicking it. What Eileen said – I was even later to this. Yesterday evening, I was trying to explain to Swiss friends how cryptic crosswords work and why we English-speakers are so privileged in being able to play with our unruly language. I took the glorious UMBRIAN as an example, and that worked because they know and love the film. We screeched the lines in unison.
@ everyone who commented re brownie points:
The wonderful World Wide Words is still online, though the author, Michael Quinion, no longer updates it. The index opens into a treasure trove of topics as rich as Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Here is the very detailed and well-researched piece on Brownie points.
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-bro3.htm