Found this tough, and had to guess and check 20dn at the end – still not sure about the parsing. Lots to enjoy, especially 8ac, 24ac, 2dn, 5dn, 11dn, and 17dn.
A lot of clues make references to silent film comedies.
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | HOGWEED |
Don’t split small dead plant (7)
|
| HOG=keep for yourself=don’t share/split with others + WEE=”small” + D (dead) | ||
| 8 | SAVELOY |
Removing wrappers to use gas oven, Lloyd prepared food (7)
|
| reference to Harold Lloyd [wiki]
outer letters/”wrappers” removed from u-S-e g-A-s o-VE-n L-LOY-d |
||
| 9 | CORE |
Keystone Cops’ initial material, worth mining (4)
|
| reference to Keystone Cops [wiki]
C-ops + ORE=”material worth mining” |
||
| 10 | DUTCH BARN |
Director mistakenly cut Roach’s last saloon number in storage on farm (5,4)
|
| reference to Hal Roach [wiki], founder of Hal Roach Studios
D (Director) + anagram/”mistakenly” of (cut)* + roac-H + BAR=”saloon” + N (number) |
||
| 12 | DEBAR |
Keep out of steep enclosure for entry to barbican (5)
|
| DEAR=”steep” (as in high prices), around first letter/”entry” of B-arbican | ||
| 13 | ENTREATS |
In every other Sennett reel, artist begs (8)
|
| reference to every other letter from s-E-n-N-e-T-t R-e-E-l A-r-T-i-S-t |
||
| 15 | BRAY |
Clamour for return of Fatty Arbuckle in small part (4)
|
| reference to Roscoe Arbuckle [wiki]
reversed/”return” and hidden/”in small part” inside Fatt-Y ARB-uckle |
||
| 16 | TEALS |
Poach cycling ducks (5)
|
| definition: a type of duck, as in the bird
(steal)*, with steal=”Poach” “cycling” here may indicate a specific type of anagram, with the letters remaining ‘in order’ and the first letter moving to the end |
||
| 17 |
See 22
|
|
| 18 | VESPUCCI |
He went from Italy to America by scooter to join fashion house, squandering silver (8)
|
| definition: Amerigo VESPUCCI [wiki]
VESP-A=”Scooter” + G-UCCI=”fashion house”, minus the AG (chemical symbol for “silver”) |
||
| 20 | MUMMY |
Boatman’s following silent film, a universal horror (5)
|
| definition: The Mummy [wiki] was a 1999 film released by Universal Pictures
MY=”Boatman’s”, after MUM=”silent” |
||
| 21 | APPETISER |
Drunken parties with pineapple and edam starters as canapé (9)
|
| anagram/”Drunken” of (parties p e)*, including the starting letters from P-ineapple and E-dam | ||
| 22, 17 | NORMALLY |
Normand — one in supporting role as a rule (8)
|
| reference to Mabel Normand [wiki]
Thanks to AlanC + George+K: “Normand” becomes ‘Norm / and’, so NORM and ALLY=”one in supporting role”
|
||
| 24 | LINFORD |
Athletic Chaplin for head of Disney! (7)
|
| reference to Charlie Chaplin [wiki]
Linford Christie is the “Athletic Chap” [wiki] LIN + FOR + D-isney |
||
| 25 | CAPRINE |
Clap Purviance, unevenly acting like a goat (7)
|
| reference to Edna Purviance [wiki]
“unevenly” => removing the even letters from C-l-A-p P-u-R-v-I-a-N-c-E |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | POGO |
Dance seen in pantomime Our Gang orchestrated originally (4)
|
| reference to the Our Gang films [wiki] by Hal Roach
definition: a dance involving jumping up and down (as if using a pogo stick) first letters of/”originally”: P-antomime O-ur G-ang O-rchestrated |
||
| 2 | SWEET BAY |
Was absent, yet recast? Not Stan Laurel (5,3)
|
| reference (and in 3dn) to Laurel and Hardy [wiki] who worked with Hal Roach Studios
definition: a type of laurel tree anagram/”recast” of (Was absent yet)*, minus the letters of “Stan” |
||
| 3 | TENDER |
Communist trap? On the contrary, not Hardy (6)
|
| RED=”Communist” + NET=”trap”, all reversed/”On the contrary” | ||
| 4 | MACHETES |
Hapless Chase met agents to make cuts (8)
|
| reference to Charley Chase [wiki] who worked with Hal Roach Studios
anagram/”Hapless” of (Chase met)* |
||
| 5 | RETAKE |
Buster Keaton missing on second shooting of scene! (6)
|
| reference to Buster Keaton [wiki]
“Buster” is split into “Bust / er”, leading to an anagram/”Bust” of (er Keaton)*, minus “on” |
||
| 6 | TOON |
Funny film shortened — would be, too, if the ending was cut (4)
|
| definition: shortened form of ‘cartoon’
if the ending of TOO-N was cut, it “would be TOO” |
||
| 11 | THE LADIES |
For some, WC Fields blowing his top with hate is outrageous (3,6)
|
| reference to WC Fields [wiki]
definition: WC as in toilets F-ields, minus the top/first letter, plus “hate”, going into an anagram/”outrageous” (ields hate)* |
||
| 12 | DIRGE |
Langdon’s heart captured by desperate lament (5)
|
| reference to Harry Langdon [wiki]
heart/central letter of lan-G-don, inside DIRE=”desperate” |
||
| 14 | TALLY |
Quite forgetting to count (5)
|
| ‘to-TALLY’=”Quite”, minus “to” | ||
| 16 | TACITURN |
Silent comic ain’t curt (8)
|
| anagram/”comic” of (ain’t curt)* | ||
| 17 | ARM IN ARM |
Clue to warming together (3,2,3)
|
| ‘Arm in arm’ in a crossword clue could indicate ARM inside WING, giving “warming” | ||
| 19 | POP OFF |
Old Russian clown is said to die (3,3)
|
| homophone/”said” of ‘Popov’ – as in Oleg Popov [wiki] | ||
| 20 | MARRAM |
Coarse grass laid down and shooting up (6)
|
| not sure about the wordplay here – is it just describing MARRAM as a palindrome, reading the same whether ‘down’ or ‘up’? | ||
| 21 | A BIT |
Boatman has appeal but not much (1,3)
|
| AB (able seaman, “Boatman”) + IT=[sex] “appeal” | ||
| 23 | RUNT |
Garvin finally accepted in routine, the smallest of the brood (4)
|
| reference to Anita Garvin [wiki] who worked with Hal Roach Studios
garvi-N inside RUT=”routine” |
I thought that this was superb, using all these silent movie figures to clue totally unrelated words and Boatman, typically using his moniker in different ways. I liked LINFORD and NORMALLY, although some may not favour this lift and separate device. I thought CAPRINE was obvious but only appreciated it fully, when I googled the actress, Edna Purviance and similarly Mabel Normand, both leading ladies in Chaplin films. (Who ever remembers those wonderful female comics’ names apart from film buffs?) My favourite was VESPUCCI followed by SAVELOY and the nicely hidden ENTREATS. DUTCH BARN was new.
Ta Boatman & manehi
Thanks for the crossword and the blog. I think that 22,17 should be read as ‘Norm’ and ‘one in supporting role’. Mark’s it just a little simpler.
That should read ‘makes’!
Very enjoyable. Good mix of devices with a couple of well hidden lift and separate. Didn’t get all the references but the theme was clear from the clues.
Failed on MARRAM, as nho but a quick google sorted that out. I think your parsing is the only option manehi.
Thanks both
Enjoyed this a lot, thanks Boatman and manehi. I think MARRAM is just a palindrome, more verbosely indicated than usual, and in 22, 17, Normand is to be read as NORM and ….
Most enjoyable puzzle from a setter with whom I have struggled in the past.
One eyebrow raised at CORE = keystone, but I see the similarity.
Spent some time debating TEALS vs TEAL. Decided in the end that I would say, “There are a lot of teal on the lake today”. But equally, “I believe those ducks are teals”.
DUTCH BARN comes readily enough but it’s a rather clumsy surface, I thought.
The TALLY clue prompted me to think about what an interesting word “quite” is. From the rather vague, “It’s quite warm today” to the emphatic, “It’s quite out of the question”.
Isn’t English splendid?
COD for me was a dead heat between VESPUCCI and ARM IN ARM.
Many thanks, both, lovely stuff.
Goodness, but that was tough going at times.
Some really ingenious cluing from Boatman, with, I think, VESPUCCI, MUMMY, LINFORD, NORMALLY, TOON, TALLY being the favourites (though as AlanC @1 observes, you need to be alive to Boatman’s fondness for the lift-and-separate).
I’m sure manehi’s parsing of MARRAM is correct, and the clue is probably the weakest one.
I was puzzled by the parsing of ARM IN ARM but as manehi explains it, the clue is really neat (though, of course, yet another lift-and-separate).
Thanks to Boatman and manehi.
I also think 22,17 has Normand split into Norm + and. I echo Alan C’s comments, although I thought the grid was demanding with 4-letter clues without helpful crossers.
Started off well and got about half way through quite quickly then slowed down and the last four took me ages.
Enjoyed it – lots of good clues including: DUTCH BARN, TENDER, THE LADIES, TALLY, POP OFF, TEALS
Even noticed the references to old comedy movie stars.
Thanks Boatman and manehi
Fantasic puzzle! I particularly enjoyed LINFORD, VESPUCCI, DUTCH BARN and THE LADIES. Many thanks to Boatman and manehi.
Quite liked the gentle theme referencing silent movies in the clues. The subtleties of such mentions as Purviance and Normand went over my head though as I know very little about that era of film.
I also liked THE LADIES at 11d, manehi et. al.
In the end, a DNF for me because of the unfamiliar 7a HOGWEED and 20d MARRAM. TILT (aside from a learning curve about the silent movies) was 25a CAPRINE, which must share its derivation with the star sign of Capricorn. I had to smile at the image of VESPUCCI on his scooter in the House of Gucci (18a). Thanks for the fun, Boatie, and for the blog, manehi.
I spotted the lift and separate for NormAlly but did not for the Chap-Lin clue at 24a. It probably wouldn’t have helped as I’ve only vaguely heard of Linford Christie. I biffed in Milford as there is Milford athletic and I found on google that Charlie chaplins first wife was called Mildred but it seemed a stretch! Otherwise enjoyable but challenging. Thanks boatman and manehi.
A few days ago some people were discussing the night sky and stars, etc. a great free app is SkyView Lite. You point your camera at the sky and it tells you everything. I assume it works anywhere.
Thanks Boatman and manehi
I really liked THE LADIES, and enjoyed LINFORD, though there isn’t an indication for just his first name.
I thought 6d was a reference to “Loony Tunes”, so had LOON.
Although I’ve been a birdwatcher all my like, I’ve never heard TEALS – the plural of “teal” is “teal” (though this doesn’t apply to all ducks – mallards and pochards are used).
To be hyperpedantic, VESPUCCI, though from Florence, didn’t go from Italy to America; his voyages were on behalf of Spain and Portugal.
A very clever and entertaining puzzle. I had ticks for VESPUCCI, THE LADIES and LINFORD. Three (at least) lift-and separates! (22a Norm-and, 24a Chap-lin and 5d Bust-er.) But I suppose once you’ve seen one you’re more prepared for the next one!
As usual, when you’ve figured that one “Boatman” is an actual boatman (21d), you can be fairly sure the other is going to be I/me etc (20a).
Many thanks Boatman and manehi.
Perhaps the 1932 The Mummy with Boris Karloff would be a more era-appropriate reference, although I did enjoy the Brendan Fraser version. 🙂 Good crossword and a helpful blog, thank you both.
Haven’t got those links right, have I. 🙂
I didn’t think I would complete this but got there in the end. Generally I thought it good, but clues where you have to insert or remove “noise” aren’t my favourite, e.g. 9ac remove the comma from “material, worth” and 24ac insert space in “chaplin”. There seemed to be a lot of these.
Loads of really good stuff. Great fun. Thanks Boatman and Manehi.
Very enjoyable with a well-worked theme. But a couple of little grumbles – I’m no Ximenean zealot but thought the ‘lift and separate’ overused (although maybe just because Mr. Christie defeated me!) and surely the Universal has to be capitalised? Well, enough pedantry as overall this was superb. (And Chambers has teals as a valid plural.)
Good setting to include all the themed references.
My picks for today were THE LADIES, LINFORD and ARM IN ARM. Muffin @14, as you say, VESPUCCI came from Florence, so in that sense he went from Italy to America (but I’m doubtful he used a scooter).
Thanks Boatman and manehi.
Chambers says for TEAL: (pl teals or teal)
Ingenious stuff here, and I enjoyed the silent-movie theme, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many lift-and-separates in one crossword. Didn’t spot LINFORD, and life’s too short to toil through the laborious parsing of DUTCH BARN. I liked the clever TOON and the use of LAUREL and (not) HARDY as definitions, but I think my favourite was VESPUCCI, though if I hadn’t known the right bits of GK I’d probably be complaining about it.
[The 1932 version of The Mummy was also a Universal film, so that’s probably the one Boatman had in mind.]
Excellent crossword, with a theme obvious even to me, and I’m no movie buff. I wondered if BRAY is an intentional reference to the production company (there is also Bray Studios in the UK, but that didn’t get started until the 1950s). Favourite included HOGWEED and VESPUCCI. Like JinA@11, I didn’t know CAPRINE but it was easily deduced from the Latin root.
Re TEALS, there are actually several species of the bird, and one could validly say “there are several different teals”.
Thanks Boatman and manehi.
I breezed through this, unexpectedly. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing – I spent a while trying to find a charade containing Mabel (Normand) until I realised the clue was another lift-and-separate (a device I like a lot!).
A pervasive theme, but the puzzle didn’t require any knowledge of silent movies to solve it (but familiarity with British sprinters was required).
Favourites were VESPUCCI and the lovely ARM-IN-ARM.
Plurals without S are standard when out hunting: shooting pheasant and teal rather than pheasants and TEALS.
Thanks to manehi and the sailor man
Loved it. We’ve had HARRY KANE and now BUSTER KEATON this week – who’s next? Muddy Waters, Stormy Daniels …
Great clueing, although the last few took me a while – 8a , 14a and 11d – what a great misdirection that I only spotted right at the end!
Thanks to both.
Another fan. I like a good lift-and-separate (or whatever the correct term is) and there were some excellent ones today, especially the ‘Athletic Chaplin’. Managed to have heard of most of the silent film personalities referred to, but ‘Normand’ and ‘Chase’ were new to me.
Plenty of favourites – ARM-IN-ARM, VESPUCCI and the palindromic MARRAM (another two ARM(s), anagrammatically anyway) to give a few.
Thanks to Boatman and manehi
Generally Boatman picks themes that lend themselves well to cryptic clues, but this one didn’t, I think. Where there are thematic names in the clues we’re usually just picking letters out of them – a couple of first letters, two lasts, one middle, two alternates, and some chopped up anagrams. It made it seem a bit forced. Nor is mummy a film.
I liked VESPUCCI, ARM IN ARM, TALLY.
Thanks Boatman & manehi
Going against the general mood with this one. Didn’t much enjoy it, thought that some of clues were very clumsily worded just to fit the theme. Couldn’t parse DEBAR, and couldn’t get the split NORM ALLY, and therefore ARM IN ARM. Sorry, nearly everybody else’s cup of tea today, but not mine. Though I did like THE LADIES – well, I still do actually…
Tough puzzle. I found some of the surfaces hard to read, and most of the theme stuff went over my head. I needed online help for GK. I think this would have been good as a Saturday Prize puzzle.
I liked: TEALS, VESPUCCI, ARM IN ARM.
New: DUTCH BARN, Linford Christie for 24ac, Normand (in 22/17) – had no idea that this was a ref to an actress I never heard of – and I still don’t really understand who Norm is supposed to be but am not fussed about it; HOGWEED; SWEET BAY.
I did not parse 6d apart from TOON = cartoon; 20d MARRAM; 12ac DEBAR.
Thanks, both.
michelle @31: NORM isn’t supposed to be a person. The convention when a long word is split is that both parts have to be proper words in their own right (as I’m sure you know!). That is the norm!
That was fun. Thanks to Boatman and Manehi. Surely ‘Mack’ not ‘Mark’ Sennet in 13A?
Very short on time today but a quick post to say I’m firmly in the ‘enjoyed it’ camp. Recognised quite a number of the references but learned some new ones too. COTD – ARM IN ARM which I thought was splendid. Didn’t know VESPUCCI and failed on LINFORD, having spotted and enjoyed the other clues involving separations. Even NORM ALLY – though I’m normally not a great fan of splitting words across lights.
Thanks Boatman and manehi
Thanks, Manehi and all – glad you enjoyed it!
Lift-&-separate clues are not to everyone’s taste, I know, and I was very much aware that there were several of them here. If I’m reading the comments fairly, the consensus seems to be that they’re fun in small quantities (at least, that’s how I feel about them as a solver) and that the number in today’s selection were just about within acceptable bounds – is that a fair summary? If you found the rest of the puzzle easier than usual, that’s because I’d otherwise turned down the level of difficulty slightly to compensate.
… and CanberraGirl @12 – Mildred / Milford / Linford is an excellent near miss! If only I could actually be that sneaky and get away with it …
A further reflection on the puzzle: when setters opt for a hypertheme the linked words are usually spread between wordplay and solutions. Here, Boatman has not put any silent movie stars as solutions (which would have made the crossword much more difficult) but instead all the references are in the wordplay. The only personages to appear amongst the solutions are LINFORD, VESPUCCI and POPOV; although Oleg Popov was a mime, he wasn’t born until 1930, after the introduction of the ‘talkies’.
“Drunken parties with pineapple and edam starters as canapé” has to be one of my favourite surfaces in ages 🙂
Thanks for the blog , classic Boatman today , AlanC @1 ( yet again ) speaks for me .
Agree with Camilla and Gladys for the early Mummy film.
BARN in again and still no particle physics.
Slight grumble for 16AC, it works both ways, I always do the across clues first and put in STEAL. Had to get to machetes to correct it.
manehi – a little correction re ENTREATS: it’s Mack Sennet, not Mark.
A couple of footnotes on the VESPUCCI clue. The country/continent where I and some others here live is named after him (his first name, that is). And Pucci is also an Italian fashion designer, to add to the fun.
Thoroughly engaging puzzle with Boatman’s lift and separate style of clueing in full effect. cotd shared between ENTREATS, VESPUCCI and THE LADIES
Thanks to Boatman and manehi
Thanks both,
There are lots of species of teal, so if you were talking at a species level the plural would be teals. E.g. ‘The teals are all ducks’.
Place me firmly in the pro camp for this one – wasn’t such a fan of splitting NORMALLY but was happy with the clue itself, just a taste thing.
Interesting to see Boatman @35 suggesting they dialled down the difficulty elsewhere to compensate for the lift and divides – I suspect I’d quite enjoy a Boatman Quiptic, as someone who is both a beginner and (generally) in a hurry…
That was most enjoyable — devious enough to be fun but not so convoluted as to be impossible for me. Loved RETAKE and the splitting apart of Buster; other favourites included DEBAR, SWEET BAY, TENDER, and THE LADIES — the latter just might be my clue of the month so far. I missed LINFORD and MARRAM but my DNF did not detract from my overall satisfaction. Thanks Boatman and manehi for the blog.
This took some work over several sessions but I thoroughly enjoyed it. There is a (perverse?) pleasure in staring at a clue for ages and then suddenly you see something really clever that you’d previously missed eg ‘For some, WC’. Boatman provided plenty of those moments today so thank you to him and manehi.
… and of course – Tony @45 – your name rhymes with one of the solutions, which must have been additionally satisfying …
[Roz @39: Commiserations that 100 square femtometres hasn’t yet appeared in a Guardian puzzle. Perhaps setters are reluctant to use the abbreviation of a non-standard SI unit! (Presumably ‘b’ was chosen because ‘c’ was already spoken for – from the phrase ‘couldn’t hit a cow’s arse with a banjo’ 🙂 )]
Roz @39: I haven’t the foggiest about particle physics but I did think of your recent BARN comment. Remain in awe…
Thanks manehi for the comprehensive blog and links to some well-known and other never-known stars of the silent age, have enjoyed reading about them (and about VESPUCCI), like you I can’t see past MARRAM as an elaborate but apt surface setting out the palindrome, and thanks to Boatman for such an entertaining crossword bringing some of those characters back into the light with some cunning tricks to boot- JerryG@46 yours was also my reaction to many of these clues!
I thoroughly enjoyed this impressive tribute to the silent era.
Thanks Boatman & manehi
Can we include another film reference at 3d? The Tender Trap.
Really, really excellent all round puzzle. Some superb clueing with favourites being VESPUCCI, LINFORD and SWEET BAY.
Some great misdirection and construction! More please!
Thanks Boatman and manehi
You are too kind AlanC@49 . We all have our specialities, mine do not turn up very often in crosswords so I have to clutch at straws.
Boatman @47: Yes, indeed, and with a very amusing surface to boot!
Super crossword, which I did surprisingly well with, just running aground in the SE corner. I didn’t know the American. I didn’t know the grass either.
A BIT seems strange, is it actually a bona fide expression?
Thanks both, loved the theme, I still watch Laurel and Hardy from time to time. Catch up with ‘Night Owls’, the bit where Stan and Ollie try to break into the house is hilarious.
Such a clever puzzle – totally enjoyed it! I admit I was defeated by LINFORD and MARRAM (never heard of the latter before now…)
[Jay @57
In Britain, marram grass is very important in stabilising seashore sand dunes. Do you not have an equivalent in the US? (though I realise that you must be somewhat distant from a seashore!)
It’s very pointy and spiky, and not a lot of fun to walk through.
Pretty tough in its liberties this one, fun but if I’d got stuck on any of the lift-and-separates I might have felt differently.
Thanks Boatman, and thanks manehi for the links.
Muffin and Jay (@57 & 58) – think the USA prefers to call it beachgrass, although the USA has a different Ammophila species. Oddly, despite growing on sand dune systems, I seem to recall that it’s not actually very salt tolerant – it’s being able to cope with the quick draining sand and punch back through metres of freshly deposited dune that gives it its advantage.
Thanks BenT
Stanchion @52 – Oh, very clever!
Loved the theme. VESPUCCI has to be the COTD. Managed all but 3 unaided but right at the edge of my limited solving ability.
Thanks Boatman
A DNF as was stuck on 6d. Eventually did a word search on *O*N and stopped at MOAN(a).
I did not know pogo was a dance. It thought it was a stick with a spring and foot pegs that you jumped up and down on.
I put in a mention yesterday of an app to watch the night sky. I was trying to be helpful. It is neither here nor there to me. You lie on your back, point the camera at the sky and it tells you everything. Biggest problem is your arm will get sore.
muffin@58 (If you’re still reading this blog) Another plant that does a similar job in the US is ice plant, which isn’t a grass at all but a succulent. I heard somewhere that the creators of Golden Gate Park (the “Western Lands” of San Francisco, on dunes) used it as a first stage of stabilizing the sand. Looking on Wikipedia, I seem to find they used something called “bent grass.”
Thanks, Boatman and manhehi.
[Thanks Valentine. I’ve seen it in gardens, and, in Portugal, even on golf courses. It’s pretty much impossible to play out of!]
Thanks both. Very clever of setter I thought to weave in all those references.
But…I don’t see any difference between NORMALLY as parsed and as it was crossed out…..?
I don’t suppose I ever will now.
Tim I can help here. The original took NORM as a shortened version of the name NORMAND and then added ALLY.
The better version takes NORMAND as two words, NORM + and . It now reads NORM and ALLY to make NORMALLY .
Ah thanks Roz