In the fifteensquared archive I can only find two previous puzzles set by Quince, so he/she is still a fairly new setter.
The two previous puzzles attracted quite a lot of comment, so I wonder what this one will generate.
I liked the clue for 1 across with its two internal clues comprising the wordplay.
I’m not sure how the containment indicator works at 13 across (E-COLI). I assume ‘spreading’ is the indicator. I suppose if you spread something it gets into something else, but I’m not convinced.
It’s possibly a coincidence, but it is interesting to see the word ‘sale’ included in a clue for CHELSEA football club at the moment.
There were some quite quirky definitions throughout the puzzle. Overall I enjoyed solving this puzzle.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 |
Clues for "swan" and "gnu" get one fired shortly (4-3,7) SAWN-OFF SHOTGUN (type of weapon with a shorter gun barrel — typically under 18 inches) SAWN OFF (cryptic crossword clue for SWAN where SAWN is the anagram fodder and OFF is the anagram indicator) + SHOTGUN (cryptic crossword clue for GNU where GUN is the anagram fodder and SHOT is the anagram indicator) SAWN OFF SHOTGUN |
| 8 |
Outstanding business going places needs supply (5,4) LOOSE ENDS (unfinished [outstanding] business) LOOS (place where people go; going places) + an anagram of (supply [derived from supple]) NEEDS LOOS E ENDS* |
| 9 |
Brad and Greg discovered off the beaten track (4) RARE (seldom encountered; off the beaten track) RA (letters remaining in BRAD when the outer letters B and D are removed [dis-covered]) + RE (letters remaining in GREG when the outer letters G and G are removed [dis-covered]) RA RE |
|
11 |
Revolutionary sale excited football team (7) CHELSEA ([Premier League] football team in London) CHE (reference CHE Guevara [1928-1967], Argentinian revolutionary) + an anagram of (excited) SALE CHE LSEA* |
| 12 |
Capital Radio occasionally plugs "Rockin, Robin" (7) NAIROBI (capital city of Kenya) AI (letters 2 and 4 [occasionally] of RADIO) contained in (plugs) an anagram of (rockin’) ROBIN N (AI) ROBI* |
| 13 |
Old spreading outbreak of lice and nasty bug (1,4) E-COLI (a nasty bug causing disease) O (old) contained in (spreading [?]) an anagram of (outbreak of) LICE E C (O) LI* |
| 15 |
Yen to buy it? (5,4) DEATH WISH (a desire, conscious or unconscious, to end life for oneself or another) DEATH (‘buy it’ is a colloquial term for dying) + WISH (desire; itch; yen) DEATH WISH |
| 17 |
Children inspiring good passion, and tact (3,6) KID GLOVES (delicacy; tact) KIDS (children) containing (inspiring) (G [good] + LOVE [passion]) KID (G LOVE) S |
| 20 |
Cat close to falling in line (5) TIGER (large fierce cat) G (last letter of [close to] FALLING) contained in (in) TIER (a row or line) TI (G) ER |
| 21 |
Launching unlimited new release (7) UNCHAIN (release [from CHAINs]) Anagram of (new) LAUNCHING excluding the outer letters [unlimited] L and G UNCHAIN* |
| 23 |
Part of Russia is a ruefully backward Orwellian state (7) EURASIA (one of the three fictional superstates of George Orwell’s dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four) EURASIA (reversed [backward] hidden word in [part of] RUSSIA IS A RUEFULLY) EURASIA< |
| 25 |
Either side of washroom being covered in dirt (4) WORM (small animal [being] found in the soil [dirt]; being covered in dirt) WORM (the outer letters of [sides of] WASHROOM are W OR [either] M) W OR M |
| 26 |
I’ll duck, after warships almost shelled American (9) ARMADILLO (American mammal with long snout, tubular ears and large front claws, an edentate whose body is covered with bands of bony plates; shelled American) ARMADA (group of warships) excluding the final letter (almost) A + I’LL + O (character representing zero or duck score in cricket) ARMAD ILL O |
| 27 |
Surplus EU’s saying America is behind (7,7) GLUTEUS MAXIMUS (outermost muscle of the buttocks and hip; behind) GLUT (surplus) + EU’S + MAXIM (pithy saying) + US (United States; America) GLUT EUS MAXIM US |
| Down | |
| 1 |
Solitary till the end, for Narcissus? (4,8) SELF CHECKOUT (a checkout at a supermarket or shop where the consumer rings up the prices and pays for the goods him/herSELF without assistance from store employees) SELF CHECKOUT (a cryptic way of describing suicide, for someone like Narcissus who focused on himself) double definition SELF CHECKOUT |
| 2 |
Spanish cheer after headers from West Ham United (5) WHOLE (complete; united) WH (first letters of each of [headers from] WEST and HAM) + OLE (Spanish word for an exclamation of approval, such as a cheer) WH OLE |
| 3 |
Too many people spell ‘phosphorus’ in a bad way (9) OVERSPILL (descriptive of there being too many people) OVERS (a cricketer can bowl a spell of OVERS) + P (chemical symbol for Phosphorus) + ILL (in a bad way) OVERS P ILL |
| 4 |
Slough‘s fine, next to no-good part of the UK (7) FENLAND (low marshy land often, or partially, covered with water; a morass or bog.; slough) F (following) + ENGLAND (part of the United Kingdom) excluding (no) G (good) F ENLAND |
| 5 |
Rebuilt Noah’s new ark’s helm:praise be! (7) HOSANNA (exclamation of praise to God) Anagram of (rebuilt) NOAH’S + N (new) + A (first letter of [helm] ARK) HOSAN* N A |
| 6 |
Bones in the foot – is heel turned over? (5) TARSI (bones in the foot) (IS + RAT [unpleasant character; heel]) all reversed (turned over) (TAR SI)< |
| 7 |
Pulling out in the air, jumper can start to gloat (9) UPROOTING (pulling out) UP (in the air) + ROO (kangaroo; jumper) + TIN (can) + G (first letter of [start to]) GLOAT UP ROO TIN G |
| 10 |
Crimes reportedly why children can’t go on rollercoasters (4,8) HIGH-TREASONS (betrayals of the sovereign or state; crimes) HIGH TREASONS (sounds like [reportedly] HEIGHT REASONS [why children can’t go on rollercoasters]) HIGH TREASONS |
| 14 |
Conservative‘s alma mater (3-6) OLD-SCHOOL (those whose ways, thoughts or attitudes are such as prevailed in the past; people of a conservative nature tend to support the preservation of established views, customs, institutions, etc and are opposed or averse to change) OLD SCHOOL (alma mater [term applied by alumni to their university, school or college]) double definition OLD SCHOOL |
| 16 |
Renegade disrupted the rodeo with a kiss (9) HETERODOX (holding an opinion other than or different from the one generally received; apostate; renegade) Anagram of (disrupted) THE RODEO + (with a) X (symbol for kiss) HETERODO* X |
| 18 |
"Five gold rings!" garbled aunt in country (7) VANUATU (island country in the Pacific Ocean) V (Roman numeral for 5) + (AU [chemical symbol for gold] containing [rings] an anagram of [garbled] AUNT) V A (NUAT*) U |
| 19 |
In sum, the gutless prime minister’s relative newcomer (7) STEPMUM (step mother; a new relative; relative newcomer) (TE [letters remaining in THE when the central letter H is removed [gutless] + PM [Prime Minister]) all contained in (in) SUM S (TE PM) UM |
| 22 |
Notice German with grant (5) ADMIT (allow; grant) AD (advertisement; notice) + MIT (German word for ‘with’) AD MIT |
| 24 |
Beer bottled by M&S set up in trial location? (5) SALEM (The SALEM witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693) ALE (beer) contained in (bottled by) M + S reversed (upset; down entry) S (ALE) M< |
I enjoyed this with SAWN-OFF SHOTGUN my favourite. From memory, it seemed more straightforward than this setter’s previous offerings.
I don’t think I knew VANUATU but it was readily derivable by following the instructions in the clue.
One of the definitions in Chambers for “spread” is “to force apart” so I think “spreading” is quite an inventive containment indicator.
Many thanks to Quince and to Duncan.
Having just read Duncan’s preamble, I scrolled down to see if there were any comments, keen to suggest an interpretation of ‘spreading’ and RD has beaten me to it. That’s the way I saw it. I’m afraid I only know of VANUATU as one of those places soon to be lost to rising sea levels …
I found the parsing of 1d a little awkward – not the second cryptic def but the the first def/cd. However, it was more than made up for by the splendid DEATH WISH – I wonder how many others were trying to think of something to be purchased from Japan.
Thanks Quince and Duncan.
This one wasn’t as difficult as Quince’s previous puzzles (as I remember them) but there was plenty to enjoy. My favourites were the original double reverse anagram SAWN-OFF SHOTGUN and the unexpectedly non-Japanese (as pointed out by PM @2) DEATH WISH.
I’m probably showing my ignorance here, but I thought ‘spreading’ at 13a worked as an insertion, rather than containment, indicator.
Incidentally Quince is a he. In the blog of Quince’s first puzzle on 06/12/2021, Tony Collman posted a link to an article written by Quince which you can find here. He sounds as though he’s got a brain or two.
Thanks to Duncan and Quince
Wonder no more PostMark. I got hung up on ‘peach’ something with the link to Japan and setter. Not for too long but enough to feel like an idiot when penny dropped.
Lovely crossword. Thanks to Duncan and quirky Quince.
I found this a tricky but most enjoyable crossword
Thanks to Quince and Duncan
The four outside long ones were all beauts, and all in different ways.
Self-checkout isn’t referring to suicide, but to Narcissus staring at his own reflection (until he died, yes, but that just happened, I suppose as a result of having nothing to eat except for passing fish).
Thanks Quince, Duncan
I convinced myself that the answer to 15a was going to be a Japanese fish and came here to find out what it was and to complain that the clue relied solely on GK with no wordplay to lead the ignorant to the answer. So you felt like an idiot Salad@4. How do you think I feel?
Thanks Quince for an excellent puzzle and Duncan for an equally excellent blog.
Thought this was very witty indeed. Annoyed by failure at STEPMUM and a tea-tray (but a chuckle) on reveal and I was never going to get SELF-CHECKOUT or HIGH TREASONS (at least I understand that one).
SAWN-OFF SHOTGUN was a lovely clue and GLUTEUS MAXIMUS was satisfying to solve (I think this can be referred to as a ‘Lego’ clue (UPROOTING similarly)). All in all great entertainment and a comprehensive blog (and while I can see what James@6 is saying about Narcissus that interpretation leaves ‘the end’ as a trallywaggler – no?).
Thanks to Fed and duncanshiell
With the A and H in place for 15 across I tentatively wrote in READY CASH, but was relieved to be wrong as it wouldn’t have been a great clue. A clever puzzle and a helpful blog. Thanks, both.
Alphalpha @8, as he died of it, I suppose both things were meant. Trallywaggler is intriguing; I googled it, but you are the top and only hit.
I thought this was extremely good, not as hard as previously and some great defs. A fine run of Indy puzzles just recently. Many thanks to Quince and d_s (and Eimi)
Lovely stuff – a little easier than his previous ones but no less entertaining. A name to watch.
James@: Turns out it’s a family word – my apologies. Just means a loose end, a dangling thread. I suppose every household has some, but I didn’t realise this one was one of ours. Another tilt.
A busy day meant I only got to the puzzle in late evening, but I really enjoyed it. It just seemed to have the right level of challenge, and a style that just “clicked” for me. One of my favourites of the year so far.
A very enjoyable puzzle to solve. We liked the quirky definitions which Duncan mentioned in the preamble.
Thanks to Quince and Duncan. Looking forward to another Quince.
I’ve been miles behind on the daily puzles for a while, but almost caught up now.
I don’t know why, but this one flew in (by my standards). The same as Sheepish @14 the style of clueing just worked for me for some reason.