Monk provides our daily mental workout this Thursday.
I found this quite tricky, and struggled with several of the clues. Cryptic crosswords generally make a point of using less-common meanings of well-known words, but there’s a grey area between “oh, yes, it means that too” and “no, I’d never have thought of that meaning”. Monk seems to be operating towards the far edge of the grey area, with some very obscure or archaic meanings – though to be fair he does generally indicate the archaic ones as such. This leads to a certain amount of “think of a word that might conceivably have that meaning, then see if a dictionary recognises it”; some will like that process more than others.
Despite the struggles I found plenty to like here: 12a is neat despite a superfluous word in the surface, 25a made me smile, 2d is (appropriately) eccentric but clever, and I liked the “tiny measure” in 7d. And, while I’m sure they’re coincidental, the surfaces of 16a and 23a suggest a fervent wish for some better news in these troubling times.
Monk’s puzzles often include a Nina, so I’ve looked very hard . . . The two long entries at 10a and 25a seem to be opposites, describing someone in exactly the right place or exactly the wrong place, but I can’t see anything further. I’m sure someone will point it out if it’s there. Thanks Monk for the challenge.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | INDICATE |
Charge European for taking in a show (8)
|
| INDICT (charge, as a verb) + E (European), taking in A. | ||
| 5 | AVATAR |
Two trios from Bratislava backing a film (6)
|
| Reverse [b]RAT[isl]AVA (backing) and then take two sets of three letters from it.
James Cameron’s 2009 sci-fi film. |
||
| 10 | TO THE MANNER BORN |
Perhaps police suspect bent on lorry’s contents getting circulated as accustomed? (2,3,6,4)
|
| Anagram (suspect) of BENT ON + contents (outer letters removed) of [l]ORR[y], around (getting circulated) THE MAN (slang for the police, or generally for someone asserting their authority over others).
Phrase meaning “accustomed to something from birth”, or alternatively “naturally suited to something as though born to do it”. |
||
| 11 | SKIER |
Being on a slippery slope, Keir Starmer primarily screwed up (5)
|
| Anagram (screwed up) of KEIR + initial letter (primarily) of S[tarmer].
A human being sliding down an icy slope. |
||
| 12 | PRECISELY |
Quite sketchy summary, see? (9)
|
| PRECIS (a sketchy summary of a longer piece of writing or speech; though “sketchy” doesn’t really add anything to the meaning) + ELY (see = a bishop’s area of responsibility).
Quite = precisely = expressions of agreement with what’s just been said. |
||
| 13 | STRAW HATS |
Boaters in Wash start marshalling (5,4)
|
| Anagram (marshalling = organising) of WASH START.
Flat-topped straw hats, once associated with rowing boats. |
||
| 15 | SAUCE |
Caught spring in lip (5)
|
| Homophone (caught = heard) of SOURCE (spring).
Sauce = lip = cheeky speech. |
||
| 16 | ENVOY |
Hostility once stopped by old diplomat (5)
|
| ENVY (hostility once: “hostility or ill-will” is an obsolete meaning of “envy”), containing (stopped by) O (old). | ||
| 18 | AS YOU WERE |
Return to position with ease — your shot (2,3,4)
|
| Anagram (shot = destroyed) of W (with) + EASE YOUR.
A military command cancelling an order and instructing troops to return to their previous position. |
||
| 20 | DEMEANOUR |
Clergyman introducing measure about solvers’ and setter’s behaviour (9)
|
| DEAN (a clergyman), containing EM (a printer’s measure) reversed (about), then OUR (belonging to crossword solvers and setters). The “about” isn’t really needed for the wordplay, because we could insert either EM or ME into DEAN, but it’s needed for the surface. | ||
| 23 | DRAKE |
Duck out of initially destructive inclination (5)
|
| Initial letter of D[estructive] + RAKE (inclination, as in a raked stage or raked seating in a theatre = sloped to improve viewing angles for the audience). | ||
| 25 | A FISH OUT OF WATER |
Perhaps flounder on deck? I’m uncomfortable in this situation (1,4,3,2,5)
|
| Double definition, the first cryptic: flounder = example of a fish, which would be out of the water if on the deck of a boat.
Expression meaning someone in a situation that they’re not capable of dealing with. |
||
| 26 | TRENCH |
Ditch fish around river (6)
|
| TENCH (a fish) around R (river). | ||
| 27 | LEO SAYER |
Famous singer in Queen on sign, for example (3,5)
|
| ER (the Queen), added to LEO (a sign of the zodiac) + SAY (for example).
Singer who was famous in the 1970s; I wouldn’t have said he’s really a household name these days, though it seems a remix of one of his earlier songs was very successful in 2006. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | IOTAS |
Traces icon that’s appearing intermittently (5)
|
| Alternate letters (appearing intermittently) of I[c]O[n] T[h]A[t’]S.
As in “not one iota of . . .” = not even a trace of something. |
||
| 2 | DOTTIER |
More eccentric, as Sheila is to Gemma according to Morse (7)
|
| In Morse code, the letters of the name SHEILA are encoded mostly as dots with only two dashes, so you could say it’s “dottier” than GEMMA which uses mostly dashes. | ||
| 3 | CLEAR AWAY |
Remove cover from extremely large plant boxes (5,4)
|
| Outer letters (extremes) of L[arg]E, contained in (. . . boxes) CARAWAY (a plant).
Cover = a place-setting at a dining table (cutlery, napkin, glass etc); clear away = remove a place-setting. |
||
| 4 | TRAMP |
Run into pack round walk (5)
|
| R (run, in cricket scoring), inserted into TAMP (pack round = to pack sand or clay around an explosive charge). | ||
| 6 | VERDI |
Silver disc is too much for a composer (5)
|
| Hidden answer (. . . is too much for = contains this and more) in [sil]VER DI[sc]. | ||
| 7 | THOREAU |
Tiny measure restricting mostly genuine US author (7)
|
| THOU (short for “thousandth of an inch” = tiny measure), containing (restricting) REA[l] (mostly = all but the last letter).
19th-century US writer. |
||
| 8 | RUNNYMEDE |
Cryptically deem a place for sealing? (9)
|
| DEEM could be clued cryptically as RUNNY MEDE = an anagram of MEDE.
Location by the Thames where King John agreed to the Magna Carta by applying his wax seal to it. |
||
| 9 | UNDERSAY |
Terribly nerdy USA state in contradiction some time ago (8)
|
| Anagram (terribly) of NERDY USA.
Archaic word (some time ago) for “state in contradiction” = answer giving the opposite viewpoint to what’s just been said. |
||
| 13 | STEADFAST |
Firm quick to pursue advantage (9)
|
| FAST (quick) after (to pursue) STEAD (advantage, as in “to stand someone in good stead” = to be to their advantage).
Steadfast = firm = determined. |
||
| 14 | ANALOGUE |
Trite magazine having heads sacked, as Time demonstrated by a show of hands? (8)
|
| [b]ANAL (trite) + [v]OGUE (fashion and lifestyle magazine), both with the first letters removed (heads sacked).
An analogue clock shows the time by the position of hands, as opposed to a digital clock showing the time in numbers. |
||
| 15 | SHUTDOWNS |
More than one shop’s closing in flood contained by locks (9)
|
| DOWN (adverb meaning “in flood”, according to Chambers) contained by SHUTS (locks).
Plural of shutdown = a business ceasing to operate (closing), either temporarily or permanently. I wouldn’t associate the word specifically with shops, but it could apply to them. |
||
| 17 | VAMPIRE |
Patch up rage that can never die (7)
|
| VAMP (patch up = make a temporary or improvised repair to) + IRE (rage).
Vampire = an undead creature in folklore; for the grammar of the definition we need to read it as an adjective rather than a noun. |
||
| 19 | EXACTLY |
Just finished play, having censored the odd bits (7)
|
| EXACT (as an adjective = finished, according to Chambers) + [p]L[a]Y with the odd-numbered letters removed (censored).
As in “just right” = exactly right. |
||
| 21 | AD HOC |
One-off publicity on unlimited Dairy Box collection, say (2,3)
|
| AD (short for advertisement = publicity) + [c]HOC[s] (short for chocolates, for example the milk chocolate collection sold as “Dairy Box”) without the outer letters (un-limited). | ||
| 22 | RHONE |
Right to perfect red or white wine (5)
|
| R (right) + HONE (perfect, as a verb = improve by repeated practice).
Wine from the Rhône region in south-eastern France, known for both red and white wines. |
||
| 24 | ERROR |
No time to fear slip (5)
|
| [t]ERROR (fear) without the T (time). |
DOTTIER:
I see it this way-S is 3 dots, whereas G is one dot.
On second thought, Quirrister seems right!
Must be full names instead of just the first letters.
AD HOC:
Was thinking of cHOCKy so as to make use of ‘say’.
Leo who?
Quite a tricky set of clues with slight hints of a theme-made his puzzle yesterday seem straightforward!
The parsing for LEO SAYER left no doubt but as you say, quirister he doesnt exactly set the pulse racing – I heard he lost most of his money in a dodgy pension scheme so maybe a sympathy vote.
My breakthrough in this was SAUCE a cheeky homophone
I really liked the simple RHONE
Thanks Q and Monk
Otherwise fine. Very clever. Had me beaten all ends up. Thanks.
Like Quirister said, some very obscure meanings here, so much so as to be absent from my versions of the best dictionaries. I needed wordlist help for several, but eventually completed it. Thanks Monk for the mental exercise and Quirister for the blog.
Second one on the trot from Monk after his toughie in the FT yesterday. This one wasn’t as hard but there were still some bits I couldn’t parse such as DOWN for ‘in flood’ at 15d and VAMP for ‘patch up’ at 16d. There were a few little presents in the grid yesterday, but none that I can see here today. I feel as though I might be missing something though.
Favourites were the defs for RUNNYMEDE and ANALOGUE (and I like “One Man Band” by LEO SAYER!).
Thanks to Monk and Quirister
Thanks to Monk for the enjoyable brain stretching and to Quirister for the blog
I was fine until the SE corner. Perhaps “little-known singer” would have been better for the definition in 27A? Did not know that meaning of “down” and cannot really imagine how one would use it in real life. On the other hand there were many excellent clues, the definition of ANALOGUE being my favourite.
As Quirister says, archaic and obscure meanings aplenty. I don’t use dictionaries, so if I don’t get it, I just don’t get it, and I certainly didn’t. Gave up about half way through and read the blog, so my apologies to Monk and my thanks to our more persevering blogger.
I cannot undersay Quirister. Obscure meanings in down, but some excellent clues as well.
Didn’t take too long considering how many mysteries it contained. I liked RUNNYMEDE and LEO SAYER.
I think Chambers is particularly unhelpful giving down as ‘in flood’ without explanation. Nor is there a separate entry under flood for ‘in flood’. It seems backwards. A river has to be up to flood. Why is then down when it has? I hope Monk understands the sense of it.
Well, it’s all very good, but I found 5, 10 & 16 across, 23, 9, 14 and 15 down impossible to get from the clues, and so sort of pieced them together from the bits that were gettable, and crossers. Weird puzzle, in that it is totally fair for technique (for me), but unfair for the meanings used (for me). Strange!
Sorry, that’s 2, 3, 9, 14 and 15 down.
We found this a lot easier than Monk’s offering in the FT yesterday, although that may be because we were still tuned to his wavelength and on the lookout for obscure words; we did need a wordfinder for 19dn even though it’s not EXACTLY obscure (sorry!) having first thought of an unparsed ‘enacted’. And that helped us finish, having been held up in the SE corner. We liked the two long across entries, which we found quite easy.
Thanks, Monk and Quirister.
Little-known Leo Sayer indeed. “The peak of his career came in 1977, when he achieved two consecutive number one hits in the United States, first with the disco-styled “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” (a Grammy Award winner for the year’s best Rhythm and Blues Song), followed by a romantic ballad, “When I Need You” (1977), which reached number one in both the United Kingdom and United States. ”
Eimi @17: fair enough! “You make me feel like dancing” is a classic. We should not forget who created it.
Alliacol @ 10: surely you’re thinking of the Leo Sayer who in the 1970s was the little-known plumber from East Leeds?
Oh Lord, I’m never going to live this down! In fact I was thinking about a karaoke singer from Bismarck, North Dakota, coincidentally a plumber, who was briefly featured on the KQDY ratio station by mistake and cut off halfway through a cover version of “My Way”.