You find me blogging this a few days after Truss & Kwarteng set the wheels in motion so that they fall off the cart that is carrying the country.
They seem to be trying to crash it even faster than they have been doing the last 12 years. Presumably to sell the bits that can be salvaged to their mates at knock-down prices. But as no-one seems to know how to get rid of the idiots in charge of us all, and with Putin prepared to blow up his own pipelines, disappear dozens of his own people and ‘bluff’ about nuclear war, I don’t know if anyone will be here to read this when it is published. So I might as well copy the 500 page dystopia I wrote as a teenager here in case anyone is alive to read it …
… Damn. Can’t find it now. Maybe next time.
So this was the kind of crossword we know and love from Cyclops and the Eye and long may they continue.
Before I say anything else I must highlight the clue for 17d: How is it I’ve been attempting cryptics for over 40 years and this is the first time I’ve seen this clue?
It’s an absolute cracker.
Solving: Did not start well but revived and finished in an average time.
Despite getting 1d on sight, I got confused by the linked across clues, even with their first letters. For 10a I pencilled-in Taxicab without being fully convinced till eventually confirmed by all the crossers. About half done by the end of the first pass, mostly on the left hand side.
Although 10a’s guess proved to be correct I had to fix a couple of other incorrect entries before I finally wrote in the last which was 21d Threat – a particularly knotty clue.
Ref 13a. Tarot. Not many people in the UK know about the tarot game as played in France. No occult associations. 14 cards per suit (4 Royals: Roi, Reine, Cavalos and Valet instead of just K,Q,J), 21 Trumps and an “Excuse”. 1 and 21 of trumps and the excuse are very special. With 78 cards it’s quite a handful to deal and the whole pack is dealt so each player gets a big hand apart from the 6 cards which go in “le chien”, the dog. After that it gets more complicated, and like my juvenile oeuvre, this is not the place. So I will leave it for those that are interested to research. Suffice to say, a series of games can go on for many hours, and an awful lot of pastis might be consumed. Recommended.
Help needed with wordplay for 14A – What am I missing?
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1/18 | COST OF LIVING | Vlog’s fiction? Unfortunately, it’s become a real threat to many people’s material wellbeing (4,2,6) (VLOG’S FICTION)* AInd: Unfortunately. “Unfortunately! Cost of Living! Don’t get me started, I expect we all would rather it was fictional – I ‘ad that Sean Connery in the back of cab once”. |
| 3 | GREGARIOUS | King George, say – different when topless, matey (10) GR (King George) EG (say) [v]ARIOUS (different, topless) |
| 10 | TAXICAB | Hackneyed opinions forced on its rear occupant? (7) Cryptic Def. referring to the way taxi drivers voice their opinions and their passengers agree (even if they don’t really agree) just in case they don’t actually reach their destination the quickest way. “Just takin’ a shortcut” |
| 11 | DILEMMA | Cap reversed – a novel predicament (7) LID< (cap, reversed) EMMA (a novel) |
| 12 | HYPOCRITE | Awful pity heroic Cyclops abandoned two-faced type (9) (PITY HEROIC – I (Cyclops))* AInd: Awful. |
| 13 | TAROT | Card sticks a Republican in drink (5) A R[epublican] inside TOT (drink). |
| 14 | LEEWAY | Assassin’s first approach room? (6) LEE (assassin, ref Bruce or Christopher ? ) WAY (first approach?) Wordplay here not fully understood Edit: Commenters put me right. LEE from Lee Harvey Oswald (Assassin’s first [name]) then WAY (approach, as in method) |
| 15 | PRODUCER | One who makes expert on crude mad (8) PRO (expert) (CRUDE)* AInd: mad. |
| 20 | STALAG | Camp sailor at first thanks old convict (6) S[ailor] TA (thanks) LAG (old convict) |
| 23 | SALON | Establishment also engineered Corbyn’s end (5) (ALSO)* AInd: engineered. [corby]N |
| 25 | UTTER RUIN | Say collapse leads to complete bankruptcy (5,4) UTTER (say) RUIN (collapse). Where Truss and (not quite but nearly a-) Kwarteng are taking us. |
| 27 | ACCOUNT | Bill puts a Conservative on list (7) A C[onservative] COUNT (list) |
| 28 | DIARIST | Saudi aristocratic holding John Major, Private Eye style (7) Hidden in SauDI ARISTocratic, and definition referring to the Eye’s long running diary feature which is normally someone close to the current PM, but for a while starred the PM himself John Major writing to his friend Bill. |
| 29 | PALMERSTON | Bribe-takers associated with Blair – not finished as a PM! (10) PALMERS (bribe takers) TON[y]. I do not believe Palmerston ever wrote for the Eye. After all, he is the Foreign Office Cat. |
| 30 | SNIP | Excellent deal for a vasectomy? (4) Double Def. Though a good deal is “a snip” whereas the other is “The Snip” |
| Down | ||
| 1 | CATCH | Nick the whip starts to chase Hunt (5) CAT (the whip) C[hase] H[unt] |
| 2 | SEX APPEAL | Attraction of Congress request (3,6) SEX (congress) APPEAL (request) |
| 4 | RABBIT | Talk of ex-deputy PM losing a scrap (6) RA[a]B (ex-Deputy PM , Dominic Raaab, losing an “a” (he won’t notice)) BIT (a scrap) Talk in the Chas’n’Dave sense, ex-Deputy PM with no sense |
| 5 | GADGETRY | I say procure the extremes of really ingenious devices (8) GAD (I say!) GET (procure) R[eall]Y |
| 6 | RELATED | Told about defunct Democrats’ leader (7) RE (about) LATE (defunct) D[emocrats] |
| 7 | ORMER | Pissed more with right Guernsey oyster? (5) (MORE)* AInd: pissed. R[ight] |
| 8 | SMART DRUG | Mustard spread over todger’s tip, good cognitive enhancer (5,4) (MUSTARD [todge]R)* AInd: spread. + G[ood] You’ve got to choose which end of todger to use in this |
| 9 | ACACIA | A US state spies for Bush? (6) A CA (US state, California) CIA (spies) |
| 14 | LOOK SHARP | Buck up king found underneath throne with tart (4,5) LOO (throne) K[ing] SHARP (tart) |
| 16 | COLLUSION | Consul besotted with oil, leading to intrigue (9) (CONSUL +OIL)* AInd: besotted. |
| 17 | IN QUOTES | Question about where you can stick speech? (2,6) (QUESTION)* AInd: about. |
| 19 | VENTURE | Wind up beginning with er, topsy-turvy enterprise (7) VENT (wind) U[p] (up, beginning) ER< |
| 21 | THREAT | In that place that’s rid of earth hazard (6) THEREAT – E (In that place, -E[arth]) Last on in – and I’m not apologising for that |
| 22 | STUDIO | “Sexual athlete over the moon!” – film company (6) STUD (sexual athlete) IO (the moon of Jupiter often inhabiting crosswords) |
| 24 | LOCAL | Oh, out of alcohol – terrible for a boozer! (5) (ALCOHOL – OH)* AInd: terrible. |
| 26 | NOT UP | In bed but failing to get hard (3,2) Double Def |
Now Brian has determined he is to be known as King Charles III I expect the Post Office will rebrand as C3PO
Re 14a, Lee Harvey Oswald was JFK’s assassin. Thanks for untangling THREAT for me!
Thanks beermagnet. Re 17d (aah!), I had convinced myself that it was a kind of double definition; by putting things in quotes particularly ‘air’ quotes one is questioning the veracity of it. Thank you also for parsing 21d which stumped me. Re 14a I came to the same conclusion as Lurkio.
Beermagnet,
I took it to be LEE (Harvey Oswald) being ‘assassin’s first’ [name]) followed by WAY (‘approach’, way of doing something). Not entirely sure about the ‘first’.
Thanks Lurkio and Diane. I have corrected the wordplay explanation at 14d.
Thanks to Beermagnet for a great blog and the cute postal quip.
This was much fun and I really liked SNIP (different articles notwithstanding). More eye-watering perhaps than 8d, it seems, if you know how to apply the ‘mustard’.
I’m afraid I cocked up UTTER RUIN (sheer? total?) and so resorted to some skulduggery to finish the delightful STUDIO and IN QUOTES.
The only thing you are missing BM is Tucker Carlson (and maybe maybe that marjorie woman)
They almost make Putin look sane. Thank God for crossword puzzles
Diane @5, I had lightly inked in TOTAL RUIN because I couldn’t fully parse it. It took me ages to get to UTTER. Once it’s written down, however lightly, the brain seems to latch on to it.
Like Guinness is good for you, I’m guessing Colman’s had “apply to your tip and ne’er make a slip”
Thanks for the blog, I have played TAROT with the French students, so many ridiculous rules, sometimes I think they just make them up to annoy me. Unusual that you deal in sets of three to each player and eighteen cards is a lot to hold.
Really enjoyed the puzzle , so many good clues, I like the double meaning of Hackneyed for the cab itself and the driver’s comments. RABBIT was very neat and PALMERSTON.
Great as usual but I got RAB as deputy prime minister from R A Butler, universally known as RAB, rather than from Dominic Raab for 4 down.
Right answer either way!
“Putin prepared to blow up his own pipelines,” wow, that’s Naive! Biden admitted that was a US plan, before it happened.
Careful Priscilla, you might be charged with talking the country down, or the western alliance, or whoever we are now.
I’ve got to get into practice believing six impossible things before breakfast: I’ve just found out Dominic Raaab, who is temporarily the local MP, is coming to our village library’s 50 year celebrations – that could put a downer on our “Friends of” party.
Agree the ‘question’ anagram is brilliant. Btw, here‘s where you can stick a speech. Quick, read it before they decide you’re not allowed to and block the site!
I always blow up the pipes when I want my hot water to stop running … so much easier than turning off the tap and you don’t have to wait long for the pressure to drop enough for it to stop flowing.
I read “assassin’s first” as ‘the name of an assassin comes first in the answer’ but that’s no more satisfactory than ‘assassin’s first name’.
Never heard of the French card game, but your numbers don’t seem to add up.
Never heard of an ORMER, either, but found it on the internet.
I thought 14dn, LOOK SHARP, was both clever and amusing.
Thanks beermagnet as I didn’t know the card game and despite spotting the mechanism was confused by THREAT as I didn’t know THEREAT as one word so didn’t know where the AT came from. It took me ages to think of LHO for the Lee and like others was nearly ruined by the wrong sort of ruin, but overall another fine puzzle, i would add LOCAL to the other highlights mentioned.
Tony@12, 14×4 + 21 +1 = 78 cards. Four players 4 x 18 + 6 = 78 cards.
My French students love it.
Tarot. The 4 player game is quite hard.
We generally play 3 people: Myself, my partner and her old Mum – she’s late 80s and we’re trying to help her brain keep ticking over – so the 3-player game is fine. Grandmere can still play the game but is finding it increasingly difficult to accurately add up the points at the end after she has “taken the game”.
Dealing for 3 people is still 3 cards at a time but the card for the dog is not dealt on the first or last round, so you still get 6 in the dog.
24 cards in a hand is certainly a handful, even for me! Also the cards are generally larger than the usual playing cards.
I much prefer the 5 player game but it is rare we have enough people who know the game. 15×5 with only 3 in the dog and the person who takes “calls a King” to nominate a partner (who is not allowed to say anything) so the main part of the game is 2 (with a supposedly strong game) vs. 3 – but for often quite a long time you don’t know who is playing against who!
Roz & beermagnet, thanks. Must be fun when you know it, but I don’t think I’m going to start playing now. When I did a German exchange with my school, the Germans taught us skat, which is another excellent game with complicated rules. You can look it up if you want to know. It is for three, as I recall. Jacks high.
The only crosswords I’ve ever been able to complete have been the Graun/Observer quick and speedy, and the Metro quick. Had an awareness of cryptics from my teenage years as my Express-reading mother liked doing them, but could never solve a single clue on my own — only other experience I had was going through one with a barman a few years ago where he explained one all the way through; sporadic attempts to tackle one solo since have come to naught.
Happened to glance at this one in the Eye and shoved AMBLIN into 22D without thinking much about it (was thinking ET/ED homophony, and I know some clues can just be a stretch) — then found myself adding TAXICAB/SEX APPEAL, COST OF LIVING, LOCAL and having a hunch about CATCH and SMART DRUG without quite understanding why. Came here to investigate CATCH and despite my best efforts to defocus my eyes and cover the screen, accidentally saw THREAT which led me to UTTER RUIN confirming that my first step on the film company had been incorrect. A bit more careful research and another accidental reveal of GREGARIOUS while looking at Eye 738, a couple of inferences and…I’ve (sort-of) finished my first ever cryptic crossword at the age of thirty-six!
This is a somewhat life-changing moment for me, I no longer feel like a complete dunce. Wouldn’t have happened without this site (and a couple of others). Ta.
Way to go, Si!!!!! I started looking at the Eye crossword in about 2004 at the tender age of 49!!! My target was to finish at least half of the clues each time. I too had had a dip into cryptics in my first job….my office partner took the telegraph and we used to try a bit each day….starting with one clue per day on average but soon building up to completion in general.
However, I reckon I got my first solo complete solve in 2010 or so!!!!
You’re a mere whippersnaller.
Another oldie here, I’m 62 this month and I only started doing these very recently. A pal with a mutual interest in word games thought I might like to try a cryptic crossword and a couple of months ago presented me with a copy of Eye 725. First time I’d ever had a go at a cryptic and it took me the best part of a week, but piqued my interest. I got more answers wrong than I got right but enjoyed the challenge. As I moved on through Eyes 726 and 727 I started to grasp the idea and even managed to complete the puzzles fully and correctly, without help. I’ve gradually got quicker and solved Eyes 735, 736 and 737 in under a day each, which I’m satisfied with. I’ll admit that at the start I had a couple of ‘completed’ puzzles where answers fit but were incorrect, which is how I discovered Fifteensquared, where I now come to double-check my answers. 17D was one I got relatively easily, and I do agree, it was a great clue, but isn’t it the ‘a-ha’ moment of such clues that makes these puzzles so enjoyable? Many thanks to beermagnet and mc_rapper67 for keeping me on the straight and narrow with their solutions.
Winsor@18, I don’t think you really meant to call Si a whippersnapper — or even a whippersnaller (sic). You probably just meant something like stripling or youngster, didn’t you?
(I wrote a much longer reply earlier, with links, which disappeared in a technical glitch. You’ll have to do your own research, sadly; I haven’t got time now.)
Oh, here you go . I still had this one open in a tab.