Serpent has provided a puzzle to both test and entertain us this Thursday.
I found that he both tested and entertained me in equal measure, on a grid that accommodated a good few short entries. It was also a grid that lent itself to some kind of Nina, and if you read around the perimeter from the NW corner clockwise you find REINVENT THE WHEEL and reading anti-clockwise, LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST. I assume that there is no connection between these two half-perimeter Ninas other than that they can both be carved up into 4-letter chunks, in itself a clever spot by Serpent.
Both 10 and 16 were new words for me, but they could be teased out confidently from the wordplay and then checked in Chambers. My favourite clues today were 1A, once I had twigged that we had two homophone indicators in the clue; 5, 8A, 19 and 22, all for construction and/or originality; and 6 and 17, both for smoothness of surface.
All in all, a great way for me to start the day, for which thanks go to Serpent.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| ACROSS | ||
| 01 | REIN | Dictator’s time in power reportedly drops form of control
Homophone (“dictator’s”, i.e. when dictated, read out) of “reign (=time in power)” + homophone (“reportedly”) of “rain (=drops, of water)” |
| 03 | VENT | Opening screen secures names
N (=name) in VET (=screen, check) |
| 08 | LICIT | Common feature of publicity explicitly solicited within the law
The solution is hidden in each (“common feature of”) of “pubLICITy”, “expLICITly” and “soLICITed”! |
| 09 | CLOSE-KNIT | Writing material put back in cupboard and bound together
KNI (INK=writing material; “put back” indicates reversal) in CLOSET (=cupboard) |
| 11 | VINEGAR | Anger reflected by very wearing bad mood
V (=very) + IN (=wearing, as in She was in a red dress) + EGAR (RAGE=anger; “reflected” indicates reversal); vinegar can be a bad temper or mood |
| 12 | HAULAGE | Cost of transport spoils date
HAUL (=spoils, loot) + AGE (=date, i.e. become old-fashioned) |
| 13 | RECRUDESCENCE | New flare-up involving clubs in offensive incident on playing field
REC (=playing field, i.e. recreation ground) + {C (=clubs, in cards) in [RUDE (=offensive, impolite) + SCENE (=incident, as in to cause a scene)]} |
| 15 | WEIGHTLIFTING | Women’s boat crew taking up another sport
W (=women) + EIGHT (=boat crew) + LIFTING (=taking up, raising) |
| 20 | LARGEST | Spectacular gesture’s most generous
Hidden ( ” ‘s “) in “spectacuLAR GESTure”; e.g. the most generous sizes or portions are the largest ones |
| 22 | AIRLINE | Travel company in outskirts of Barnet for Londoners
Barnet (fair) is Cockney rhyming slang for “hair”, so cryptically, the <h>airline could be the “outskirts of Barnet”, with the “h” dropped, of course, to mimic Cockney pronunciation |
| 23 | BATH STONE | British novel that’s about English rock
B (=British) + *(THAT’S) + E (=English); “novel” is anagram indicator; Bath stone is a building stone quarried at Bath |
| 24 | AVAIL | Benefit from Virginia getting into trouble
VA (=Virginia, i.e. US state) in AIL (=trouble, afflict) |
| 25 | OURS | Heard substantial chunk of Time is owned by US?
Homophone (“heard”) of “hours (=substantial chunk of time)”; “ours” is owned by us, i.e. me and you; the upper-case letters have to be read as lower-case in both halves of the clue |
| 26 | LOST | Missing pair of sale items finally returned
LOTS (=sale items); “pair … finally returned” means last two letters swap position |
| Down | ||
| 01 | RECONVENE | Meet again about detaining prisoner in flat
[CON in EVEN (=flat, level)] in RE (=about, i.e. regarding) |
| 02 | INTEGER | Football team stopped by for one or two?
E.G. (=for one, for example) in INTER (=football team, i.e. Inter Milan); an integer is any whole number, e.g. 2 |
| 04 | EXECUTE | Discharge from canal found in river and mouth of estuary
CUT (=canal, duct) in [EXE (=river, in Devon) + E<stuary> (“mouth of” means first letter only)]; to discharge a duty is to execute or perform it |
| 05 | TANGA | Bikini Atoll tests gained notoriety after initially going wrong
“initially” means that first letters of “A<toll> T<ests> G<ained> N<otorierty> A<fter>” are used in an anagram, indicated by “going wrong” |
| 06 | ACCREDITATION | Accountant helping to check correct authorisation
EDIT (=correct, amend) in [ACC (=accountant) + RATION (=helping, portion)] |
| 07 | SOPHISTICATED | High-tech concession disliked restricting one’s time in charge
SOP (=concession) + {[I’S (=one’s) + T (=time) + I/C (=in charge)] in HATED (=disliked)} |
| 08 | LOVE | Passion seen in counter-revolution
Reversed (“counter”) and hidden (“in”) in “rEVOLution” |
| 10 | THEW | Article with literary strength and moral quality
THE (=article, in grammar) + W (=with); “thew” is a literary term for “strength, moral quality” |
| 14 | CONFIDANT | Intimate papers stolen by Tory supporter close to government
ID (=papers, to prove one’s identity) in [CON (=Tory, i.e. Conservative) + FAN (=supporter) + <governmen>T (“close to” means last letter only)]; an intimate is a close friend, a confidant |
| 16 | GREASER | Gang member in musical based on Romeo
GREASE (=musical) + R (=Romeo, in NATO alphabet); a greaser is a member of a gang of long-haired motorcyclists |
| 17 | TORNADO | Rent trouble’s spiralling problem for housing
TORN (=rent (asunder)) + ADO (=trouble); a whirling tornado can destroy buildings, hence is a “spiralling problem for housing”! |
| 18 | SLAB | Flag up string of characters in global search
Reversed (“up”) and hidden (“string of characters”) in “gloBAL Search”; a flag is a flat paving-stone, hence slab |
| 19 | HEEL | Divorced legend’s despicable character
If you “divorce”, or split the word “legend”, you get “leg end”, which is the heel! |
| 21 | RATIO | Speech ignoring case for proportionate measure
<o>RATIO<n> (=speech; “ignoring case” means first and last letters are dropped; in maths, a ratio expresses a proportion, so could be described cryptically as a “proportionate measure” |
Another splendid crossword from Serpent with a double Nina that I spotted fairly early on. My particular favourite was 8a
Many thanks to Serpent and RR
Brilliant as ever
Well done RR for spotting that pair of well-hidden Ninas, I did look but missed them. As one who was born, raised and educated in Barnet, I’m always happy to see my home town referenced, even though suggesting that all Londoners drop their aitches is a bit much. Thanks Serpent and RatkojaRiku.
Thanks, Serpent and RR!
13 A
Offensive: RUDE instead of CRUDE.
My fav: AIRLINE and LOTS
They don’t come much better than this. Thoroughly enjoyed the struggle but got there in the end. That little 4-letter word LOST caused me the most trouble to parse. As ever with Serpent, I applaud the cleverness of the nina(s).
Thanks Serpent, RatkojaRiku
Serpent grids always aesthetically pleasing even (or maybe especially) when unusual.
In 15a, W gives women’s rather than just women (it is given as both in Chambers).
Overthink of the day: for HEEL, I think the divorced actually hindered me from understanding the clue. We’ve had such an avalanche of leg-ends etc. recently that an unindicated split would have seemed normal. Divorced can mean split, but split can refer to cutting something in two as well as separating two things, whereas I only understand divorce to refer to the latter*. So the two parts of legend can be divorced from each other, but legend as a whole can only be divorced from something else. If you want to divorce the parts of legend you have to split it first, and then the divorcing is unnecessary.
As in ‘They distract divorced American men entertained by mate’s dancing’ for AMUSEMENTS (Serpent, 10,702)
Some crossword purists don’t like Ninas as solving aids but I was happy for any help available to get this one out, even if I’d only vaguely heard of THEW and couldn’t parse HEEL (v. good) or LOTS. I wondered if 16d might have something to do with “West Side Story” but apparently not.
Entertaining puzzle with the two Ninas, some vocab. building in GREASER and TANGA and a bit of grey matter exercise for SOPHISTICATED at the end.
Thanks to Serpent and RR
Many thanks to RatkojaRiku for the excellent blog and to everyone who has commented thus far.
The puzzle was inspired by something twencelas said when reviewing one of my recent puzzles (“A potential future challenge … to use a clue answer within a hidden message.” – ). It’s not too difficult to find phrases that split into words (obviously!) but it was hard to find phrase that split into words that were not part of the phrase itself. REINVENT THE WHEEL and LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST were pretty much the only two, at least for 4×4 chunks. (I am dabbling with chunks of different sizes but haven’t found anything particularly appealing and/or useful yet. But keep your eye out for a similar device in a future Serpent puzzle!)
Oops I obviously forgot to close the link tag properly! I wish one could preview comments before hitting post.
The grid pattern suggested something might be going on and as soon as we got REIN and VENT as our first two in we thought ‘Aha, something is going on’ and it wasn’t long before we spotted the ninas which helped us finish. We did wonder if the two were connected in that they both refer to wasted effort. A super puzzle and not too difficult.
Thanks, Serpent and RatkojaRiku
Thanks to Kurukveera for spotting the typo at 13, now corrected in the blog.
Many thanks to blog and Serpent
It was only after finishing it that I had a fresh look and hey ho
Delightful
I did find this one tough, 10 and 13 were new to me and several clues that I should have seen didn’t click. That doesn’t mean there was no enjoyment – not least when I got enough crossers to see 17D and loved the definition.
Delightful crossword to solve. Clever to incorporate the four-letter words.
I particularly liked LOST/lots and HEEL. There’s a missing ON/about in the blog for BATH STONE.
Thanks Serpent and RR.
Thanks, Serpent. For the first time in my crossword career I found (all) the Ninas! But I was forewarned that Serpent often includes them.
Another lovely puzzle, not this setter’s hardest, I thought. (I’m definitely not getting smarter).
Thanks to Serpent & DuncanShiell
Ingenious stuff. I live in Barnet and I reckon 22 across ain’t ‘alf bad.
Very impressive stuff Serpent. Something new is great to see
Agreed, very impressive indeed. I was puzzled when trying to parse “recrudescence” as I thought it was “involving” = re + “c” inside “crude scene” and then I couldn’t see what the playing field was there for. Favourites were AIRLINE and INTEGER I think.
James @6, I had exactly the same difficulty as you with “legend”. Finally I decided that the foot (“leg-end”) had to be split into two to give the heel.
Death is the twin of sleep they say, for I shall rise renewed. Free from the cramps of yesterday, clear-eyed and supple-thewed.
Fashion may have moved on and left me behind but I understand a bikini to be a two piece garment of which one half may be tanga style. A monokini could be synonymous with tanga. Inclined to agree with James re “ heel”. Otherwise a good workout.
Thanks to Serpent and RR