Tees fills the mid-week slot this week.
We found this rather easier than we expected for a Tees. Unusually (for Tees) there are some connected entries – a theme? There was one clue that we had to check – again not uncommon in a Tees puzzle.
W (with) + an anagram (‘absurd’) of THATCHERISM IS
MAMBa (snake) with O (nothing) replacing the ‘a’
An anagram (‘for cooking’) of USE BANGER
TED (Teddy boy – 1950s ‘rock and roller’) round or ‘carrying’ RAIN (bucket down)
An anagram (‘disturbance’) of EAST BERLIN AS DHL – a reference to one of the leading characters in Steig Larsson’s Millennium series of books – ‘The Girl with the 21d (Dragon) 23 (Tattoo)’ was the first in the series.
RABBIt (talk) without the last letter or ‘cut short’
First letters or ‘beginners’ in Studio Photographed As
C (cold) ALE (beer) B (first or ‘initial’ letter of bought). The one clue we had to check – again not unusual in a Tees puzzle. He could have used CELEB instead.
DONE (finished) GAL (girl)
MISTER (‘man’s address’) round or ‘encompassing’ N (new)
GAME ON (‘begin play’) round MaN without the middle letter or ‘eviscerated’, after or ‘by’ A
An anagram (‘drunk’) of AS THE
Hidden (‘concealed’) in FrODO URgently
T (tons) in EXE (river) + MORE (added to) round or ‘holding’ P (pressure)
SCAR (mark from wound) round or ‘cut by’ I (one) MIT (German for ‘with’, as spoken in Bavaria)
C (constant) RIME (frost) A (first letter or ‘beginning’ to abate)
T (temperature) in A SOUNDING (measurement at sea)
A (adult) MUSED (thought)
ABEL (‘first victim’ – as in the Bible) in ISLAm (religion) without the last letter or ‘endlessly’
TWEEd (material) without the last letter or ‘finally deleted’
REAL (genuine) after or ‘supporting’ (in a down clue) SIDE (team)
An anagram (‘painfully’) of wATCHED without or ‘losing’ the ‘w’ (wife)
SECOND (‘s’ ) HOME (in) a crafty ‘lift and separate’ clue
BUNG (stop) ‘providing a roof for’ (coming before in a down clue) A LOW (disreputable)
An anagram (‘mad’) of BIDDERS round or ‘accepting’ E (European)
DRAG ON (inhale smoke from – as in smoking a cigarette)
MITE (child) round or ‘receiving’ NU (Greek letter)
ThAT without or ‘liberating’ ‘h’ (husband) TOO (as well)
E (English) + IRE (anger)
Some typically clever clueing in Tees’ first offering of the New Year with a few that really stood out for me. The whole clue/surface/construction for SCIMITAR referencing the Bavarian duelling tradition, the anagram /insertion for BIRDSEED and the lovely use of measurement at sea in ASTOUNDING. I liked the misleading New York in MINSTER and the cheeky surface in SUBGENERA. SECOND HOME is outstandingly good to my mind. What a lot of wordplay from just the three letters of ‘sin’!
My only – very slight – criticism relates to the linked clues insofar as “Girl with the something something” is pretty well known as book/movie/phenomenon and rings such an immediate bell that, together with the enumeration, it gave me four write-ins. It was only a question of backchecking the parsing.
Thanks Tees and B&J
This was good fun. My only difficultly was in parsing SECOND HOME, so thanks to B&J for the explanation, which lifted this one into my long list of favourites alongside WHITE CHRISTMAS, SUBGENERA, MINSTER, SCIMITAR and BUNGALOW.
Thank you, Tees and B&J.
Typical Tees – clever stuff and great fun
Thanks to him and B&J
A nice, steady solve with several excellent clues as mentioned already. I wasn’t mad keen on 14, 18d as I have not read the book or seen the film. Having said that, I did correctly guess the name from the fodder and the crossers and then checked it was correct.
On the side issue of the new layout, I have to say I prefer the printout version to the previous one and like the ability to choose a lower ink copy. I still wish they could get rid of the second blank page so I don’t have to keep remembering to only print page 1. I also prefer how multi-light clues are handled, without the numerous repeats of old, but wish they were properly cross-referenced. So, for example, in the down clues, 18d should appear with see 14 across.
Didnt BUNGALOW originate from BENGAL LOW HOUSE and questionably became used for a one storey building in England
So when an Englishman visits a friend in Australia who is living in a single storey des res, the latter may be slightly put out when his visitor says
“Nice bungalow this”
Back to theme-obviously liked the original better but the remake did have some interesting sound from Trent Reznor
I liked the living in sin clue btw
I used to think The Girl with the 21 23 was or should be Lisbeth Salamander, but probably more in hope than belief. Anyhow I liked the anagram with the picture of DHL causing bother in the old East. (I was there when the wall came down. It wasn’t quite like Atomic Blonde for me, but pretty exciting anyway.)
Great puzzle. I couldn’t get a ciggie-paper into any of the super-tight clues, and it was easy and fun.
A typically enjoyable Tees puzzle. It’s been so long since I read “The Girl With The DRAGON TATTOO” that I had no hope of remembering the name of the main character but the answer was gettable as pointed out by Hovis @4. Otherwise no major hold-ups and even the Biblical/classical answers went in confidently from wordplay, despite having no idea that CALEB was a ‘spy in Canaan’.
Favourite was the surface for SUBGENERA. I’ll be having some for dinner tomorrow night.
Thanks to Tees and B&J
I needed the explanations for AGAMEMENON and SECOND HOME, but now all very clear. I too have noticed that the new format handles split-numbered clues more satisfactorily, though as Hovis says @4 it would be even better if there was a cross-reference. Thanks Tees and B&J.
Couldn’t parse second home, so thanks to Bertandjoyce for that, and it went straight in as clue of the day. Really enjoyed the misdirection of New York, too.
I’d echo Hovis @4: the print version with a reduced ink option is very welcome. The grid prints a bit bigger as well, which is nice.
Thanks to Tees – very enjoyable- and B& J
What PostMark said. + was Agamemnon a hero? Maybe in the sense of a central character in a play, but otherwise not in my book.
The second enjoyable Tees puzzle of the day for me – my goodness he’s a prolific setter these days!
Personal favourites were DONEGAL, AMUSED & ISABELLA -the latter simply because it happens to be the name of my beloved young granddaughter.
Thanks yet again to Tees and to B& J for the review.
I googled “dragon tattoo” to get 14a/18d because I’d never read or seen it. Also, failed to spot the lift and separate in 15d. Other than that, managed to parse everything ok.
Thanks to Tees and B&J.
Doesn’t classical mythology claim Agamemnon as one of its heroes? I think ‘hero’ in that sense equates most readily to ‘major player’.
the last plantagenet@13 Not in the classical sense of hero, no special attributes, no divine origin, just a series of morally dubious acts, like sacrificing his daughter.
For those who haven’t seen it the original Swedish version of the Millennium Series is currently on BBC iPlayer (in 6 parts) and well worth watching – though not for the weak of stomach!
I think fat blokes who drink too much wine can be heroes. Also the wiki page for Greek Heroic Age affords the daughter-slaughterer an entry, in the Generation of the Trojan War bit, on the very same page as bloody Achilles. And Brian Cox really is also there. And wasn’t Saffron Burrows just SO perfect as Andromache?
Thanks B&J and all who took an interest.
Nice coincidence that I started re-reading The Iliad last night.
I’ve never read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, nor seen any dramatisation, but I remembered the name from somewhere.