Our daily mental workout (in a good way) comes from Knut today.
It’s Tuesday so I was on the lookout for a theme. I thought I’d found it in the SE corner with two apparently related words at 28a and 30a, but those turned out to be red herrings. Further investigation revealed that there was something fishy going on. But it wasn’t until I’d almost finished that I thought to check the edges for a Nina – which of course is what we’re looking for. From the top left going clockwise: SO LONG AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH. According to The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, this is the last message from the dolphins (who turn out to be the most intelligent species on Earth) as they leave the planet shortly before its destruction. We also have a number of specific fish in the grid: SMELTS, MULLET, SALMON, LOBSTERS, [es]CARP and [taxir]IDE. If you really want to labour the point there’s a reversed EEL in 6d, a reversed GAR in 17d, and FISH as part of the wordplay for 15a.
Apart from all the themed clues, I particularly liked 8a and 9a for their smooth sport-related surfaces that had nothing at all to do with the actual solutions – especially 9a for its sneaky definition. Thanks Knut for all the fish (and everything else).
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 8 | HAIRDO |
Tricky over claiming India’s opener – 14 for one (6)
|
| HARD (tricky = difficult) + O (over, in cricket scoring), containing (claiming) the opening letter of I[ndia].
Definition by example: 14a MULLET is an example of a hairdo (hairstyle). |
||
| 9 | FRAULEIN |
Dortmund miss final, rue getting knocked out (8)
|
| Anagram (knocked out) of FINAL + RUE.
German (so for example in the city of Dortmund) title for a young woman, equivalent to “Miss” in English. |
||
| 10 | SMELTS |
Caught a whiff of sulphur (or fish) (6)
|
| SMELT (caught a whiff of) + S (chemical symbol for sulphur).
Common name of various species of fish. |
||
| 11 | STATE AID |
Cuppa served in sober surroundings which uses government money (5,3)
|
| TEA (cuppa) surrounded by STAID (sober = not showy). | ||
| 12 | INTEREST |
Return to grab some attention (8)
|
| Double definition. The financial gain from investing money; or to attract someone’s notice. | ||
| 14 | MULLET |
Turn over alien, is it red or grey? (6)
|
| MULL (turn over = think carefully about; I’m more used to the phrasal verb “mull over”, but “mull” by itself seems to have become more common) + ET (the alien from the Spielberg film).
Name for various species of fish, including two commonly known as “red mullet” and “grey mullet”. |
||
| 15 | FADDISH |
Like a Vogue commercial director’s boring angle? (7)
|
| AD (short for advertisement = commercial) + D (abbreviation for director), inserted into (boring) FISH (angle, as a verb = to catch fish).
Fad = vogue = a short-lived fashion. |
||
| 18 | IVY-BUSH |
Four year US President which can be a source of irritation (3-4)
|
| IV (four in Roman numerals) + Y (year) + BUSH (surname of two former US Presidents).
Ivy leaves contain a chemical that can cause skin irritations. |
||
| 22 | ESCARP |
Starter of eel, followed by small freshwater fish for Cliff (6)
|
| Starting letter of E[el] + S (small) + CARP (freshwater fish).
A steep slope or cliff face; perhaps more commonly “escarpment”. |
||
| 24 | AURICULA |
A primrose having a golden quality Dulac discovered (8)
|
| AURIC (golden, or a word used in naming chemical compounds of gold) + [d]ULA[c] without the outer letters (dis-covered). For the surface, the 19th-century French botanist Joseph Dulac seems the most likely candidate from a few people with this name. | ||
| 27 | HITS HOME |
Sadly, this family residence sinks in (4,4)
|
| Anagram (sadly) of THIS, then HOME (family residence).
Sink in = hit home = finally become understood. |
||
| 28 | UGRIAN |
Upper-class grandmother describing independent people like Magyars (6)
|
| U (upper-class, as in “U and non-U”) + GRAN (short for grandmother), containing (describing) I (abbreviation for independent).
Historic name for various people groups including the Magyars (Hungarians). |
||
| 29 | TAXI RIDE |
Travel with Uber-sailor catching 11 fish (4,4)
|
| TAR (slang for a sailor) containing XI (11 in Roman numerals), then IDE (a freshwater fish whose name is very popular with crossword setters).
Uber = a company that (among other things) matches passengers with drivers for private travel. Other providers are available. |
||
| 30 | SLOVAK |
East European declaims sluggish carpet cleaner (6)
|
| Homophone (declaims = says out loud) of SLOW VAC (sluggish vacuum cleaner). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SALMON |
Hairdresser punched by Mike Parr? (6)
|
| SALON (hairdresser = a hairdressing salon) with M (Mike in the radio alphabet) inserted (punching it).
Parr = a young salmon. |
||
| 2 | OR ELSE |
Words used to threaten family members in Old English (2,4)
|
| RELS (colloquial shortening of “relatives” = family members) inserted into OE (Old English).
Words used to warn of a consequence often left unspecified: “You’d better behave yourself, or else.” |
||
| 3 | LOBSTERS |
A dash of lemon sorbet ordered with second seafood dish? (8)
|
| First letter (a dash) of L[emon] + anagram (ordered) of SORBET + S (second). | ||
| 4 | OFF-SITE |
Cryptically, I set WFH (3-4)
|
| Reverse anagram: SITE is an anagram (OFF) of I SET. I wasted some time trying to make an anagram of I SET WFH; I suspect that was Knut’s intention.
WFH = working from home = not at one’s official place of work = off-site. |
||
| 5 | NAPALM |
Friend captured in war zone where this was used? (6)
|
| PAL (friend) inserted into (captured in) NAM (short form of Vietnam, used by US soldiers referring to the war there).
Extended definition: a very nasty incendiary substance used extensively in the Vietnam War. |
||
| 6 | GLEE CLUB |
Golf celeb formed inclusive large university choir (4,4)
|
| G (Golf in the radio alphabet) + anagram (formed) of CELEB, around (inclusive = enclosing or including) L (large) + U (university).
Originally a small group of (usually male) singers performing glees (part-songs), but the phrase later came to be used for larger university choirs. |
||
| 7 | AIRINESS |
Fresh quality repair in Esso garages (8)
|
| Hidden answer (. . . garages = encloses) in [rep]AIR IN ESS[o]. | ||
| 13 | TOD |
Fox seen in Stroud every now and again (3)
|
| Alternate letters (every now and again) of [s]T[r]O[u]D.
A male fox. |
||
| 16 | AESTIVAL |
“Amps not loud” say Glastonbury, happening in the summer (8)
|
| [f]ESTIVAL (for example the Glastonbury Festival, with “say” = for example), with the initial F (f = forte = musical term for loud) replaced by A (amps = amperes = measure of electrical current).
Adjective meaning “relating to summer”, from Latin aestas. For me the word will always be associated with Sir Andrew Davis’ use of it in a Last Night of the Proms conductor’s speech, or rather song: he rewrote Gilbert and Sullivan to declare “This is the very model of a modern music festival”, but found that there are very few words to rhyme with “festival” apart from this one. |
||
| 17 | DRAG SAIL |
Gladiators failed to put out sea anchor (4,4)
|
| Anagram (failed) of GLADIA[to]RS, with TO put out.
A device used to stop a vessel drifting in deep water, consisting of a large canvas bucket or canvas-covered wooden frame trailing from a rope in the water. |
||
| 19 | VIRTUOSO |
Master versus riotous assembly? (8)
|
| Anagram (assembly) of V (versus) + RIOTOUS.
A master musician, or someone similarly highly skilled in another field. |
||
| 20 | UTU |
Compensation sought in NZ for topless dancer’s skirt (3)
|
| [t]UTU (a skirt worn by ballet dancers) without its first letter (top, in a down clue).
Maori term for compensation or reward. |
||
| 21 | CATERER |
Domestic nurse consuming unlimited stew provided by her? (7)
|
| CARER (domestic nurse) containing (consuming) [s]TE[w] without the outer letters (limits).
Extended definition: caterer = someone who provides food. |
||
| 23 | PHOBIA |
Fear Dad being visited by devil incarnate initially (6)
|
| PA (Dad = informal term for father) containing (being visited by) HOB (a nickname for the Devil) + initial letter of I[ncarnate]. | ||
| 25 | CARE OF |
Agency address for Ace Skips (4,2)
|
| Anagram (skips, as a verb = dances) of FOR ACE.
An address to which correspondence can be delivered, typically not the recipient’s normal place of work or residence. |
||
| 26 | LIANAS |
One leaving trail heading north to escort advanced climbers (6)
|
| SNAIL (a creature that leaves a trail), reversed (heading north = upwards in a down clue), containing (to escort) A (advanced, as in A-level exams).
Climbing plants typically found in tropical forests. |
Thanks Quirister and Knut. A very enjoyable offering, as always from Knut – particularly liked the FRAULEIN clue, also AIRINESS (“garages” is very nice) and LIANAS. Hard to miss the several fish hidden in the grid but the Nina completely passed me by. Well spotted!
Never heard of UTU or UGRIAN but both very fairly clued and gettable. I also wasted some time trying to make an anagram of I SET WFH before the penny dropped.
A most enjoyable fishy treat
Thanks very much to Knut and Quirister
A particularly fine puzzle from our Sheffield Lad in Freiburg
I met the great man once. Great was the word-he had to sell books to fit into the bigger seats on aircraft. Bravo all round
I couldn’t find UTU anywhere online (maybe didn’t look hard enough) but it had to be that. Apparently, Fräulein is considered an offensive word in Germany nowadays, so stand by for complaints from German solvers. You have to be so careful nowadays! Thanks Knut and Quirister.
Given the theme, I thought 4d had to be WET FISH (almost an anagram of “if its WFH”) but it was as Wrong as BORUSSIA (rue with the final missing in the middle of something).
Another TOD TODay, this one not on its TOD this week.
Petert @5: you just beat me to it. I felt mightily smug when filling in that particular solution.
Very clever all round with lots of favourites. Whilst it’s a grim topic, NAPALM was a neatly done clue in particular and I loved the snail.
Thanks both
Very enjoyable. I wasn’t the only one to clock the fox making another appearance.
I thought FRAULEIN was brilliantly well disguised and thought AIRINESS and NEPALM fiendishly clever and smooth too but the whole puzzle was class.
Thanks Knut and Quirister.
I spotted the Nina very early (first time ever, I think) which helped move things along. Saw the obvious anagram at 4d, which fitted the theme, but luckily thought that was just too easy to be true, so I didn’t write it in and the crossers soon put paid to wet fish. Several new words for me, so thanks to Knut for the education and the fun, and to Quirister for the explanations.
Wow! A theme and a nina together – and they’re related. We guessed both the theme and that there was a nina fairly early on, and completing the nina helped us to finish although it didn’t mean much to us not being TH-HGTTG aficionados (one of us did manage to read a few chapters before deciding it wasn’t our scene).
We found the parsing tricky in places – such as 17dn – and failed to parse LIANAS; the answer was obvious but we were trying to make something out of a reversal of ‘trail’.
UTU was new to us, but easily got and confirmed in Chambers
Plenty to like, though, including HAIRDO, FRÄULEIN, UGRIAN, SLOVAK and VIRTUOSO.
Thanks, Knut and Quirister