A wide assortment of cryptic devices today, requiring some rather recondite explanations, including one that I cannot quite explain. All good fun, though.
As is customary with a BOBCAT, please note the crossing central feline ninas of BENGAL TIGERS. I am not entirely satisfied with my parsing of 22D, so I would appreciate any ideas on that or anything else that I missed.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | LION CUB |
Youngster on short cut through library (4,3)
|
| ON + CU[T] (the word “cut” “short”) inside (through) LIB (library) | ||
| 5 | BAPTISM |
Bread is consumed by the Masons at initiation ceremony (7)
|
| BAP (bread, i.e., a soft roll) + IS inside (consumed by) T[HE] M[ASONS] (the first letters of “the” and “masons,” or “at initiation”) | ||
| 9 | GABLE |
Former Hollywood star not right in Ibsen role (5)
|
| GABLE[R] (Ibsen role [i.e., Hedda Gabler] minus “r” [not right]), i.e., Clark Gable | ||
| 10 | OBSCURING |
Bus travelling around top speed in circles, causing confusion (9)
|
| Anagram of (travelling) BUS around C (top speed, i.e., the speed of light) all inside (in) O + RING (two circles) | ||
| 11 | CHICKWEED |
More than one drug-taking bumpkin’s a potential nuisance in bed (9)
|
| C (i.e., cocaine) + WEED (i.e., marijuana) (more than one drug) around (taking) HICK (bumpkin), i.e., in a garden bed | ||
| 12 | BURKA |
Garment exchange in old country involving thousands (5)
|
| BURMA (old country, now Myanmar), with a “k” exchanged for the “m,” where both “k” and “m” are “thousands” | ||
| 13 | LOANS |
See solution to debts? (5)
|
| LO (see) + ANS[WER] (solution) | ||
| 15 | ANNUITANT |
Articles about Parisian night beginning to take – I’m due payment (9)
|
| AN + AN (articles) around (about) NUIT (Parisian night [French]) + T[AKE] (beginning to the word “take”) | ||
| 18 | SCOTCH EGG |
Picnic food and drink get endlessly knocked back at Glyndebourne’s première (6,3)
|
| SCOTCH (drink) + GE[T] (get “endlessly”) reversed (knocked back) + G (first letter or “première” of “Glyndebourne”) | ||
| 19 | EMCEE |
One directing space scheme’s oddly deficient (5)
|
| EM (space, i.e., in typography) + [S]C[H]E[M]E (omitting the odd letters, or “oddly deficient”) | ||
| 21 | NATAL |
Part of presentation at a lecture on birth (5)
|
| Hidden in (part of) [presentatio]N AT A L[ecture] | ||
| 23 | HAIRSPRAY |
The essence of beehive control? (9)
|
| Cryptic definition, i.e., a beehive hairdo, which requires a great deal of hairspray | ||
| 25 | BESPANGLE |
Brightly decorate ornamental band securing unusual gift (9)
|
| BANGLE (ornamental band) around (securing) ESP (unusual gift, i.e., of clairvoyance) | ||
| 26 | UMAMI |
I’m not sure china from Sèvres displays taste (5)
|
| UM (I’m not sure, i.e., expression of hesitancy) + AMI (china from Sèvres, i.e., French word for “mate” via Cockney rhyming slang, “china plate”) | ||
| 27 | GENTEEL |
Dope needing support on course originally looked refined (7)
|
| GEN (dope, i.e., information) + TEE (support on [golf] course) + L[OOKED] (first letter of “looked,” i.e., “originally”) | ||
| 28 | TOPONYM |
Name going with position – highest attainable with dodgy money out east (7)
|
| TOP (highest attainable) + anagram of (dodgy) MON[E]Y (i.e., the word “money” omitting “e,” or “[leaving] out east”). A toponym is a place name. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | LOGICAL |
Sensible pub drinks – just half a small measure? (7)
|
| LOCAL (pub) around (drinks) GI[LL] (just half [of the word “gill”] a small measure, equivalent to one quarter of a pint) | ||
| 2 | OBBLIGATO |
Essential part of music from Bilbao got mislaid (9)
|
| Anagram of (mislaid) BILBAO GOT, a musical part that should not be omitted in performance | ||
| 3 | CHEEK |
Brass taps keep losing power when turned (5)
|
| C + H (taps, i.e., Cold and Hot faucet markings) + KEE[P] (minus “p” [losing power]) reversed (when turned) | ||
| 4 | BROKERAGE |
Commission Vogue to undermine Man after change of hands (9)
|
| RAGE (vogue) beneath (to undermine) BROKE (man or “bloke” “after change of hands,” i.e., switching “r” [right] for “l” [left]) | ||
| 5 | BASED |
Settled since apparently retiring (5)
|
| AS (since) inside BED (literally in bed, or “apparently retiring”) | ||
| 6 | POURBOIRE |
Autobiographers could be aghast if this payment’s withheld after editing (9)
|
| Compound anagram: If POURBOIRE is withheld (after editing) from “autobiographers,” the result is “aghast.” Does this word have any currency in the world of publishing? If so, nice surface. I know it only in the context of waiting tables. | ||
| 7 | ICIER |
It’s cooler, but more risky, to go topless (5)
|
| [D]ICIER (more risky, “to go topless”) | ||
| 8 | MIGRANT |
One leaving friend abroad exposed is heading for storm (7)
|
| [A]MIG[O] (friend abroad [in Spanish], “exposed,” i.e., with the outer letters removed) + RANT (storm) | ||
| 14 | SICK LEAVE |
You shouldn’t be fit to take this opportunity for self-improvement (4,5)
|
| Cryptic definition(?) If there is more to this clue, I do not see it. | ||
| 16 | NEGLIGENT |
Officer got up and left: one fellow paying no attention (9)
|
| GEN[ERAL] (officer) reversed (got up) + L (left) + I (one) + GENT (fellow) | ||
| 17 | ASCERTAIN |
Athens on vacation’s sure to be divine (9)
|
| A[THEN]S (removing the middle or “on vacation”) + CERTAIN (sure) | ||
| 18 | SANDBAG |
Hit hard, and bound to start going into decline (7)
|
| AND + B[OUND] (first letter of “bound,” i.e., “to start”) inside (going into) SAG (decline) | ||
| 20 | ELYSIUM |
Emily’s dancing with us in state of bliss (7)
|
| Anagram of (dancing) EMILY + US | ||
| 22 | TYSON |
A heavyweight boxing-wise by profession (5)
|
| A reference to Mike Tyson. |
||
| 23 | HEGEL |
Who, in brief, held the fundamentals of Geist and Essence to be innate? (5)
|
| &lit. G + E (the first letters or “fundamentals” of “Geist” and “Essence”) inside (to be innate) HEL[D] (“held” foreshortened or “in brief”), appropriate buzzwords for Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. I learned (perhaps apocryphally) in philosophy class that as a Swabian he pronounced Geist as “guysht,” so thereafter I was amused to imagine his tedious prose rendered in his charming native accent. | ||
| 24 | STUMP |
What’s left of tree found in hollow? (5)
|
| Cryptic definition (‘what’s left of tree”) mixed with extra wordplay: T (leftmost letter of “tree,” or “left of tree”) inside (found in) SUMP (hollow). Does this qualify as a partial &lit? |
I think the parsing for TYSON is a heavyweight = ton boxing (containing) Ys (homophone of wise) but I’m not entirely sure how that links with an all-in-one or extended definition
baerchen@1: OK, I’ll buy that. I had considered “ton” at one point, but could not see anywhere to go from there. If I parsed the other clues correctly, there are a number of &lit or partial &lit clues–I am not entirely sure how to classify this style of clue.
I agree with your parsing, baerchen @1 (wise by ‘profession’: Ys)
Guess it qualifies as an &lit.
Sorry, Cineraria! Seen your post just now.
My reading of 14D is that it’s both a CD (whole clue) and a DD. First D = “you shouldn’t be fit to take this” (ie you should be ill), second D = “opportunity for self-improvement” (provision for recuperation).
I think 24D is an &Lit = whole clue definition and wordplay. I agree that 22D is an &Lit.
Wow, this was a toughie. Failed to fully parse a few (GABLE, BURKA) and was pleased to discover that POURBOIRE was a word. Got HEGEL but do not know enough about him so guessed the &lit must work.
Failed on one: TOPONYM (irritatingly) but otherwise this went in quite steadily with a huge helping hand from the central nina spotted early on.
I liked ANNUITANT, POURBOIRE, BESPANGLE and CHEEK most.
I did need help with parsing several though including TYSON. Thanks to Cineraria and Baerchen.
And thanks to Bobcat for an absorbing puzzle.
Rudolf@5: I agree that 24D could be an &lit with a generous reading (thus my “?”). As you suggest, 14D does contain a DD of a sort, although the two “different” meanings are not really all that different from each other, in this case–or perhaps are best described as two sides of the same coin, which is how I read it. It is a clever clue, regardless.
I’m still getting used to Bobcat and this blog helped
I got snagged by BURMSA/BURKA-(rather clever)
I’ll be looking out for his next outing
I’m not sure that I have seen “ans” as an abbreviation of answer – re 13A.
In 18A, isn’t a Scotch egg meant to be eaten when hot? Hardly suitable for a picnic.
I still cannot work out how 6D works. The answer is French for “for the drink” and I understand its meaning in a restaurant sense but I cannot relate it to the clue.
Re 20D: the only trouble with this “state of bliss” is that you have to be dead to enjoy it. So much for bliss!
Peter@10: All noteworthy points. I have never seen, much less eaten, a Scotch egg, but according to Wikipedia, “Scotch eggs [I assume served cold] are a common picnic item.” The article goes on to report that they may have nothing to do with Scotland at all, but rather may have originated in a Mughlai dish called nargisi kofta, “Narcissus meatball”–why? Because it resembles a narcissus bulb? I don’t know. Eventually, I imagine, some setter will work MUGHLAI CUISINE or NARGISI KOFTA into a grid, and a commenter will reminisce about eating them when they lived in Pakistan.
Thanks Bobcat and Cineraria
18ac: I always eat Scotch eggs cold, so no problem with that one.
Scotch eggs almost always eaten cold in salads or picnics.
Finished all but 6D.
But failed to fully parse about 6 others.
Tough … especially after yesterday’s
Failed miserably with this one
Scotch eggs – hot or cold – are lovely. Second only to a pork pie, which, I believe is never eaten hot.
Thanks for the blog, great set of clues many favourites.
I would agree that TYSON and STUMP are &Lit .
HEGEL just fails, Who is not in the word play, great clue though.
BURKA was very clever and POURBOIRE a great compound anagram.
Scotch eggs – commonly eaten hot in Norn Iron, I’ve never seen them eaten hot elsewhere.
Thanks Bobcat. I assumed LION CUB was the customary cat reference and I never saw the BENGAL TIGERS. I found this moderately difficult and I missed a few. I never would have solved POURBOIRE without a word finder and I couldn’t parse it at all. That being said I mostly enjoyed this with ticks going to BURKA, SCOTCH EGG, UMAMI (never would have solved this a few years ago), LOGICAL, BROKERAGE, BASED, and ASCERTAIN. Thanks Cineraria for the blog.
Failed miserably. Only 50% or so completed.
Ps. Isn’t using a word finder a fail?? I never do.
Moly@ 20 You really shouldn’t be so hard on yourself! When I first started to solve crosswords I used to think I was doing very well if I could solve about a third of the clues, and it was several years before I was sufficiently proficient to have a reasonable expectation of completing them more often than not. But even now I often use wordsearch facilities to discover what will fit if I cannot at first understand a clue – that still means I have to parse the clue before I can be sure which possible fit gives the right answer. It’s certainly not cheating, and helps the learning process. To solve 50% of a puzzle that expert solvers say is hard looks pretty impressive to me. Don’t despair – there is a lot of pleasure to be got from puzzles which you don’t manage to complete, and blogs like this are here to help.
I will make one or two passes at a cryptic puzzle on my own steam, and usually, I can get at least half to three-quarters of the way done that way, but after that, I make liberal use of whatever solving aids I can think of. Mostly this is a matter of expediency, since I could not devote the time necessary to pondering over blanks in the solution, and I would simply have to give up the pastime, inasmuch as I have a career to attend to. The mental exercise is great, but there is no point racking my brain for words, names, or general knowledge that I simply do not know and cannot possibly guess. Also, cryptic puzzles regularly use extremely obscure words and/or many UK-centric expressions that are not familiar to me. I greatly admire the crossword geniuses who (reportedly) can blast through every puzzle unaided. Bully for them. Most of the fun for me is ascertaining the parsing, if I am able to do so. All that said, I am contrariwise a purist when it comes to American-style puzzles (such as the New York Times), which I always solve unaided.
Thanks for the blog, Cineraria. I must disagree with you, though. This was not fun. It was the worst FT crossword I’ve seen for months.