Bobcat’s puzzle is a headscratcher.
I was unable to complete this puzzle to my satisfaction. I’m fairly confident I have all the answers in the right place, but I couldn’t satisfactorily parse MOTORCADE or YOM KIPPUR without assistance, and if my parsing of LATTE is correct, then I think it is unfair on the solver (as YOM KIPPUR may be). There were some really good things in here (straightening the sides of a U to get V in VALVE, for example), but things like using “at the top” in an across clue soured the experience a bit.
As usual, I await my betters telling me that I have got the wrong end of the stick, and that the clues I struggled with are just fine. Every day is a learning day, and I can’t wait to see how YOM KIPPUR, LATTE and MOTORCADE should have been parsed.
[Edit: Rudolf has satisfactorily explained YOM KIPPUR (although he needs to answer POOR to the anagram fodder) and MOTORCADE to me – obvious when pointed out – still to be convinced about LATTE though – thanks! As I said, every day is a learning day, and I might have eventually arrived at the MOTORCADE parsing, but I’d never have worked out YOM KIPPUR]
Thanks Bobcat.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | GORILLA |
Mortgagor ill-advised to accommodate thug (7)
|
| Hidden in [to accommodate] “mortgaGOR ILL-Advised” | ||
| 5 | PAPYRUS |
Manuscript account taken from pope’s office by Russia (7)
|
| A/c (account) taken from PAP(ac)Y (“pope’s office”) by RUS (Russia) | ||
| 9 | REMIT |
Give up on university (5)
|
| RE (“on”) + MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, so “university”) | ||
| 10 | CLEARANCE |
Go-ahead king seduced by risk, losing last of wealth (9)
|
| (King) LEAR seduced by C(h)ANCE (“risk”, losing [last of] (wealt)H) | ||
| 11 | FORCE-FEED |
Journo goes after church involved in misguided offer to indoctrinate (5-4)
|
| ED (“journey”) goes after CE (“Church” of England) in *(offer) [anag:misguided] | ||
| 12 | ASSAM |
Tea service returned following introduction of annulment (5)
|
| <=MASS (“service” returned) following [introduction of] A(nnulment) | ||
| 13 | ENNUI |
Tedium induced, essentially, through unlimited court action? (5)
|
| (ind)U(ced) [essentially] through [unlimited] (t)ENNI(s) (“court action”) | ||
| 15 | YOM KIPPUR |
Rumpy-pumpy with poor Kiki moving twice this fast (3,6)
|
| *(rumpy po ki) [anag:pumpy] where PO and KI are PO(or) and KI(ki) “moving twice”
If I have parsed it correctly, this is nonsense.- [edit – see comment no 2 below] |
||
| 18 | INTERCEPT |
Cut off fungal growth in between toes (at the top) (9)
|
| CEP (mushroom, so “fungal growth”) in INTER (“between”) T(oes) [at the top]
“at the top” works better as an initial indicator in a down clue. |
||
| 19 | ARENA |
Ground hosting final of competition? (5)
|
| AREA (“ground”) hosting [final of] (competitio)N and &lit. | ||
| 21 | VALVE |
Worth having sides of uniform straightened for regulator (5)
|
| VAL(u>V)E (“worth” with the sides of U (uniform) straightened (to form a V)) | ||
| 23 | PARTRIDGE |
Servant secures right to free gift from Carol (9)
|
| PAGE (“servant”) secures Rt. (right) + RID (“to free”)
The first of the Twelve Gifts of Christmas was a PARTRIDGE in a pear tree |
||
| 25 | CARNIVORA |
Order troops to disrupt most of festival (9)
|
| OR (other ranks, so “troops”) to disrupt [most of] CARNIVA(l) (“festival”) | ||
| 26 | GENET |
I’m like a cat, say, knocking back fish (5)
|
| <=E.G. (“say”, knocking back) + NET (“fish”) | ||
| 27 | OBSCENE |
Indecent part of former pupil’s act? (7)
|
| OB (old boy, so “former pupil”) + SCENE (“part of act”) | ||
| 28 | ENDEMIC |
Destroy rodents circulating disease (7)
|
| END (“destroy”) + <=MICE (“rodents” circulating) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | GIRAFFE |
Government department once implicated in blunder is one of high standing (7)
|
| IR (Inland Revenue, now HM Customs and Excise, so “government department once”) implicated in GAFFE (“blunder”) | ||
| 2 | REMBRANDT |
Artist must change image to accommodate mass market in the end (9)
|
| REBRAND (“change image”) to accomodate M (mass) + (marke)T [in the end] | ||
| 3 | LATTE |
Drink flat white after sustaining losses on both fronts (5)
|
| (f)LAT + (whi)TE [after sustaining losses on both fronts]
If I have parsed this correctly, then I don’t like the clue, as it is asking the solver to remove different numbers of letters from each source word without any indication of how many letters, which is not fair on the solver. |
||
| 4 | ARCHETYPE |
First model to bend over backwards on top of classic Jag (9)
|
| ARCH (“to bend over backwards”) on top of E-TYPE (“classic Jag” i.e. Jaguar car) | ||
| 5 | PLEAD |
One refuses to be seen in tartan without naked sex appeal (5)
|
| I (one) refuses to be seen in PLA(i)D (“tartan”) without (i.e. outside) [naked] (s)E(x) | ||
| 6 | PER CAPITA |
90% appreciate being represented by heads (3,6)
|
| *(appreciat) [anag:being represented] where APPRECIAT is [90%] APPRECIAT(e) | ||
| 7 | RUNES |
New ruse in Scrabble? Marked tiles! (5)
|
| *(n ruse) [anag:in scrabble] where N = new | ||
| 8 | STEAMER |
Vessel needs time in deep water, both home and abroad (7)
|
| T (time) in SEA + MER (“deep water” in English and French, therefore “both home and abroad”) | ||
| 14 | ISRAELITE |
Jew from Eilat is disgruntled with religious education (9)
|
| *(eilat is re) [anag:disgruntled] where RE = religious education | ||
| 16 | MOTORCADE |
Way to transport Manx politician around? (9)
|
| Can’t parse, sorry! [edit – see comment 2 below] | ||
| 17 | PSEUDONYM |
Spurious name setter’s rejected for sobriquet (9)
|
| PSEUDO (“spurious”) + N (name) + <=MY (“setter’s” rejected) | ||
| 18 | IN VACUO |
Outside term-time, university is granted nothing without specific application (2,5)
|
| IN VAC (“outside term-time”) + U (university) is granted O (nothing)
Vac is an abbreviation for vacation, especially within the university environment, according to Chambers. |
||
| 20 | ASEPTIC |
Free from contamination after a month in charge (7)
|
| A + SEPT (September, so “month”) + IC (in charge) | ||
| 22 | LARKS |
Fun to be had, as poet’s not at home (5)
|
| (Philip) LARK(in)’S (“poet’s” not IN (“at home”)) | ||
| 23 | PROVE |
Test for the value of banks? On the contrary (5)
|
| PRO (“for”) + [the banks of] V(alu)E | ||
| 24 | RIGID |
Papers providing support for doctor’s firm (5)
|
| ID (identity “papers”) providing support for RIG (“doctor”) |
Remembered this time to look for the ailurophile’s nina and found a Manx one, or perhaps a crooked tail!
More felines in 26a and, best of all, 4d; a gleefully suggestive surface with my all?time favourite car (and cat); 16d ties in nicely. Loonapick, I’ve no idea if this is right but I had MO.DE (way) with TO + CAR (transport) inside. MANX conjured motorsports for which the island is known…
13a was a very neat nod to the Wimbledon fortnight and 23a had a lovely definition, as did 10a. There was so much more besides.
Though this coffee-drinker hopes that the conflation of a flat white and a cafe latte remains firmly in crosswordland.
Thanks, Bobcat; it was a blast. Cheers too to Loonapick for the welcome unpicking.
Some ideas on the clues where you ask about parsing
(RUMPYPUMPY + KIKI)* gives YOM KIPPUR twice over
MOTORCADE = (TOR[y] + CA) in MODE
LATTE seems fair enough to me as, in addition to the wordplay, the surface provides a reference to “flat white”
I thought like this: Rumpy “PUMPY POOR KIKI” with the letters coming twice in each word moving (removed)
Rudolf’s explanation is more convincing.
Rudolf,
You’re right, of course for MOTORCADE and I think the definition is ‘to transport politician’.
Also didn’t have a problem with the parsing of [cafe] LATTE, just that this (which is just milk, anyway) is not the same as a flat white since it contains more milk as its full name suggests. Nice surface though.
But where do you get the o in Yom Kippur?
Rudolf@2
Your parsing of MOTORCADE is spot on!
Diane@4!
I didn’t notice that o was missing in Rudolf’s explanation. So my take on YOM KIPPUR seems ok?
Yes, it sure was a head-scratcher as Loonapick says.
I didn’t enjoy this at all. Only got less than half out. The only clue that elicited a smile was 21a.
Rudolf@2 – thanks, although I think the fodder is actual RUMPY PUMPY POOR KIKI.
LATTE: Agree with loonapick that the clue is somewhat unfair, though the parsing seems all right.
loonapick@9!
Finally… 🙂
Sorry, meant to say that
RUMPY PUMPY POOR KIKI
can be rearranged to give
YOM KIPPUR YOM KIPPUR
Hope I’ve got it right this time!
Definition in case of MOTORCADE: A combo of CAD and Cryptic Def, I guess.
KVa@13 I think the clue for MOTORCADE is an & LIT because the whole clue provides both the definition and the wordplay. “to transport” in the wordplay is acting as a containment indicator.
Yea. Clue as Def (CAD) is the same as & LIT. Right? Or am I mistaken?
Tho’ I thought it was an & LIT thing, I somehow felt the clue was providing more
of cryptical def than a straightforward def.
Anyway, discussed enough (my quota is over). 🙂
PS: MODE transporting TOR+CA is clear. No doubts there.
Not easy! I had an H for “Hard” against 6 clues (could have been more) and had no hope parsing YOM KIPPUR; Rudolf @12 seems to have nailed it. I missed out on the ‘sides of uniform straightened’ at 21a so entered an incorrect VALUE. I still don’t know what ‘on the contrary’ is doing for PROVE at 23d and think the def for ENDEMIC is ‘circulating disease’, in which case ‘circulating’ is part of both def and wordplay.
Interesting to see that the customary Bobcat feline Nina is truncated, though there’s a D just below and to the right of the last letter.
Thanks to loonapick and Bobcat
I’m surprised that no-one has object to 28A: “endemic” means something that is particular to a specific place or area. In relation to a “disease” we could say that malaria is endemic to tropical areas. The disease in this case is “malaria”, not “endemic”.
Methinks the setter has been confused with the current “pandemic” that is Covid19. In this case the disease is Covid19 and it is a pandemic problem as it covers “pan” = “all” and “demic/demos” = “people”.
Thanks, loonapick, for the explanation of 18D: we don’t speak much Latin in Australia. I do remember amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant from my English-based childhood. Not to forget talking to the table!
Thanks Bobcat and Loonapick
15ac: I think this has now been sorted. I had it the same way as shown by Rudolf@12, correcting his earlier comment as indicated by Loonapick@9.
3dn: I took this one as (f)LA(t) (whi)T(e) (af)TE(r). This gives the “losses on both fronts”. It may have been kinder to the solver to indicate that the losses were of varying lengths, but I cannot see an easy way to do that without ruining the surface of the clue.
Actually, having seen my parsing of 3dn posted, I am not so sure about it now. Does “both” refer to shortening words at both ends or to shortening two words?
Yes, Wordplodder @16,
What I meant by the crooked tail!
With regard to 28ac, Chambers 2014 gives under endemic “n an endemic disease or plant”, so I was quite happy with that one: to me, “disease” is a sufficient definition.
KVa@15 Sorry to have mistaken your meaning: for what it’s worth, my understanding of clue-as-definition clues is that & Lit clues form a subset of them. The distinction being that the whole of an & Lit clue is wordplay: that need not be the case for CAD. But I may well have got that wrong! You live and learn.
Peter@17 Chambers lists “endemic” both as an adjective and as a noun. The adjectival meaning is the one you mention, the nounal meaning it gives is “an endemic disease or plant”.
Thanks Bobcat, Loonapick
Haven’t tried a Bobcat puzzle before, but the blog intro and number of comments was tempting. I managed to work out all but MOTORCADE, for which thanks to Rudolf. Otherwise the many elaborate tricks were enjoyed, particularly YOM KIPPUR and RUNES, and the clue for ARENA was a neat take on a common solution. PSEUDONYM was the only slightly disappointing one, with the definition appearing also in the wordplay. I wondered if it had been changed from an &lit. version.
Woops, sorry Diane @20. Didn’t read your first comment closely enough. A crooked tail indeed.
Not at all, Wordplodder. You simply give another tantalizing hint for anyone yet to discover it.
“Nice” as he said in jazz Club.
Diane@25 I like your crooked tail, having now spotted it, but think that might perhaps have been fortuitous. Have you looked in the central row? It seems that the Nina is in two parts.
Thanks for the blog , nice to see so much clever word play in the clues. I would say MOTORCADE is almost an &Lit, around only contributes to the definition and not the word play. I agree with you for LATTE and the second thoughts of Pelham Barton @ 19, both is referring to the front of both words. Perhaps unequal/different losses in the clue would have been better.
REMBRANDT was a very neat construction.
Yes, Rudolf @27 – always liked that saying!
If there are many more Bobcat’s like this I will have to place him on my no-fly list — I had too much unsolved/unparsed for this to be a good use of my time. I did like the clue for ENNUI because it made me think of Roz and her disdain for Wimbledon i.e. the tedium of unlimited court action. Thanks to both, particularly to loonapick who had the unenviable task of parsing this beast.
I tend to agree with Tony @30. I have solved one Bobcat after a long struggle but had a very meagre number of clues solved today. All very clever but out of my league.
BTW I am enjoying the tennis.
For me, a ridiculously difficult puzzle, and unnecessarily so. Yes of course entries such as Yom Kippur must be hard to clue, but really. Is this ‘all very clever’? I am sure that must be a satirical remark.
‘Rumpy-pumpy with poor Kiki’ is still ‘nonsense’ to me, as the indicator doesn’t apply to either rumpy or pumpy. The Lord only knows how this one passed muster.
Lady Gewgaw @33: Try comparing the way the anagram structure in 15ac is set up with the way it is done in 14dn. The first is like “coffee with milk stirred” and the second is like “coffee stirred with milk”. The fact that the anagram in 15ac gives the answer twice is a further complication, but that is a separate matter from the anagram structure itself.
I quit at about 75% done. I probably would have found a few more tomorrow but generally above my pay grade.
Thanks loonapick, and Rudolf for 16d. Despite miserable failure in the SW I parsed 15a and 3d so can head to bed with my tail, crooked or otherwise, held at least mid way high. I thought LATTE ok as 1a was a relative gimme so we had the L which essentially tells us where to start in each word. On the other hand I write a U with straight sides and a curved ‘bottom’ so had no idea about 21a, but good to see some new tricks in play. 2d,4d and 15a all stood out, thanks Bobcat.
I think we have more than enough puzzles at the easier end of the scale and I am glad to see Bobcat push the boundaries a bit and I hope the next one is harder still.
Roz@37 Yes, indeed, I entirely agree that it’s not good to see a new(ish) setter being savaged on this site for daring to show originality. The clues here seemed to me to be well constructed and I don’t see anything where it is justifiable to cry foul. Challenging, certainly, but fair, and isn’t that what a good puzzle should be? The original purpose of this site was to provide explanations of clues (so that solvers could come here to gain insight and thereby gradually improve their solving prowess), not to discourage setters. I valued that highly.
(In 16A, by the way, the word “around” gives the CA.)
Roz,
I agree with your sentiment regarding the level of this puzzle – I enjoy tackling grids of varying style and degree of difficulty. It’s good to be challenged but an impeccably clued crossword at the lighter end of the spectrum always slips down nicely.
To be clear, most of the difficulty I had with this puzzle was entirely my fault. I should have seen MOTORCADE, and maybe if I had all day, I’d have come up with the parsing fur YOM KIPPUR, which I actually like now it’s been explained. Setters should push the envelope but they still have to be fair to the silver, which is not the case in LATTE, and to a much lesser extent, in the “at the top” in a down clue. Also, as usual, I missed the Nina!
Rudolf @ 38, thank you , for some reason I had TOR(Y) CA(T) in mind. It will teach me to not go so fast .